Looking for advice

[Tasker1983]

Hi I'm a new member, on my 2nd tropical tank now the juwel Trigon 190l I am currently setting it up just now as a planted aquarium, it's only been running a week now, but been researching cleaning fish for much later down the line does anyone have any good advice for fish that will help clean the tank but not wreck the plants?

 

[AmberLucy]

We have albino bristlenoses, they are super at cleaning, them seem to do better at cleaning every inch of the tank and the plants than ordinary bristlenoses. All our plants are still in tact too.

 

[Circus]

Nerite snails are good glass cleaners, although they will lay sterile egg sacs about the size and color of half a grain of rice. Very little bioload. I usually have 1 per 10 us gallons, so long as there are no loaches present.

 

[Tasker1983]

We have albino bristlenoses, they are super at cleaning, them seem to do better at cleaning every inch of the tank and the plants than ordinary bristlenoses. All our plants are still in tact too.

I was told by my local fish shop to stay away from as they wouldn't necessarily eat the plants but would destroy them as they cleaned them.

 

[Tasker1983]

Nerite snails are good glass cleaners, although they will lay sterile egg sacs about the size and color of half a grain of rice. Very little bioload. I usually have 1 per 10 us gallons, so long as there are no loaches present.

Thanks for the advice I'll look in to them.

 

[AmberLucy]

I was told by my local fish shop to stay away from as they wouldn't necessarily eat the plants but would destroy them as they cleaned them.

Hm I’m not sure then. Our plants are doing well still and that’s with 4 Bristlenose in there. Green plants seem to last longer than coloured plants though.

 

[Tasker1983]

Hm I’m not sure then. Our plants are doing well still and that’s with 4 Bristlenose in there. Green plants seem to last longer than coloured plants though.

Thanks for your help, I'll do some digging, you aren't the only person saying that.

 

[nik_n]

I kept bristelnose plecos in my planted tank for 5 years, and I never saw them eating the plants. I think its just a myth that plecos eat plants. They will eat algae and make sure that you have enough driftwood, because it's important for their diet. Oto cats are a great alternative and you can keep more of them. Get at least 6. I keep nirate snails and they don't eat plants unless they are dead. You can also keep cory catfish and shrimp, as well as loaches (they don't go with snails). It all depends on what other fish you want to keep.

 

[Essjay]

I have nerite snails and they don't harm my plants.

Don't forget that no creature cleans a tank in the sense of removing the debris from the bottom of a tank. That's the fish keeper's job. If there's uneaten food on the bottom of the tank, feed less. And bottom feeding fish need their own food, they can't live on leftovers.