What bottom feeder should I go with?

[Fish4dawin]

Hello there, my mum recently got a 15 gallon tank that is like a half moon tank. It's like this one, (https://www.pro-shrimp.co.uk/aquari...Y-ZU_yGE0F5QRTfPR-IDRsK_68gSv1hBoCk6UQAvD_BwE) just smaller and it's rounded.

My GH is 290ppm and we want to look at getting some sort of bottom feeder to help eat the food that gets to the bottom. What should we try and get?

Tank dimensions are 40 by 30 by 55cm in length by width by height

 

[Wills]

Pretty limited in that hard water and tank size, there is a type of Rosy loach that is from Lake Inle (Lake Inle fish are perfect for hard UK water).

The other ones are Oil Catfish - https://www.seriouslyfish.com/species/centromochlus-perugiae/ definitely worth a look There are some other Centromochlus that are called Ninja Catfish which are black and white and they fit the same area.

An other option if you had slightly better dimensions would have been the small Synodontis species like Nigrvintris, Petricola or Polli.

I think the loach species would be the most active though.

Wills

 

[Essjay]

I don't think any bottom feeding fish are suitable for that tank as it has such a small footprint. Bottom dwellers need a tank with a bigger footprint. Shrimps may be best option to eat any bit of food which may escape the fish feeding higher up.

However, there should be no left over food on the bottom of the tank, it should all be eaten before it gets anywhere near the bottom. Food on the bottom of the tank indicates over feeding.

 

[Fish4dawin]

Thank you both for the replies. Should I go with amano shrimp then? They get quite big for shrimp size and I don't think they would get picked on.

 

[Essjay]

What fish are in the tank? I have cherry shrimps with pearl gouramis. They don't seem to bother the adults and even some babies manage to hide somewhere to grow bigger.

 

[Boundava]

Just don't assume your bottom feeder can exist on leftovers.

 

[Fish4dawin]

Just don't assume your bottom feeder can exist on leftovers.

Don't worry there are other things they will be able to eat.

 

[Fish4dawin]

What fish are in the tank? I have cherry shrimps with pearl gouramis. They don't seem to bother the adults and even some babies manage to hide somewhere to grow bigger.

The tank came with a ruby shark 2 danios and 2 scissortail rasboras. At that time, one danio was viciously attacking the other so I moved him. Soon all of the other fish will be rehomed or moved to bigger tanks. Right now though, all of the fish are still in the tank.

 

[Essjay]

That's good that you'll be rehoming them. All those fish need a bigger tank with longer swimming room.

 

[Fish4dawin]

So what should I go with?

Amano shrimp? Or is there another catfish that is suitable. I could always go down the RO way.

 

[Essjay]

In a tank with that footprint I would go with shrimps. But I'd wait until the current fish have been rehomed - I wouldn't trust the shark or the rasboras. In the meantime, feed less so no food reaches the bottom of the tank.

Don't forget that a semicircular tank has a smaller footprint that a rectangular tank of the same dimensions - it's a rectangle with the corners cut off. And the swimming length is only next to the back wall, at the front of the tank the swimming length is non-existent.