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Suggestions?
By RaiderFan92 from the RaiderFan92 department, Section Diaries Posted on Wed Aug 29, 2007 at 01:26:49 PM PST Tags: (all tags)

I want a bottom feeder becasue they usually look really cool and keep the tank pretty clean of scraps.

Any bottom feeder suggestions? Im not using them to substitute aquarium maintence, just to keep extra food waste at a low, and maybe control algae.
Not a pleco because I have live plants, and not a snail because I just dont like them and I have live plants.
I had a CAE but he KILLED HIROSHIMA! My pregnat guppy that was soooooooo close to giving birth! So now hes in my parents 50 Gallon goldfish tank, I think it will be big enough for him to have his own little plot of land and keep to himself.

< Sneaky Bristlenose | well, i'm wondering about this new order... >

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Suggestions? | 11 comments (11 topical, 0 editorial, 0 hidden)

Re: Suggestions? (none / 0) (#1)
by Jaymi on Mon Jun 05, 2006 at 11:02:32 AM PST

Get a trio of cories, they are adorable, and non-aggressive.

A weird fact about cories is they blink. It really gave me a fright the first time I saw it.

Jaymi, are your sure they weren't just (none / 0) (#2)
by unclescott on Mon Jun 05, 2006 at 02:24:06 PM PST

winking at you? ;)

RaiderFan, I glad your algae eater is in your folk's big goldfish tank. If they keep goldfish that well, they will know to watch the algae eater and his behavior as he/she gets older. :)

And I bet you will NEVER again buy a fish again, without reading up on it habits, diets, needs and potential size ahead of time. :)

Jaymi's suggestion is one of the very best for you. And your aquarium is lightly enough populated that, despite s bit of an ammonia spike after they are introduced, the Corys should do well.

I think you would know this, but you must make sure that Corys get some food. And yet the tank shouldn't have any flakes on the bottom after 10 minutes.

A terrible mistake some aquarists make is to assume that Corydoeus eat fish feces. In nature they eat insect larvae, fish eggs, worms and things of that sort (no flakes there.) In an aquarium if they are actually eating fecal material, they are starving to death and are desparate for any nourishment.

I think you are wise to avoid suckermouth catfish in your aquarium. It sounds like there is no algae for them to eat. And you would have to supplement the algae with veggie tablets and/or flakes after a bit anyway. If they attacked your plants, (sounds a little like the Cory scenario above) that means that they too would be starving to death.

There was a diary recently (June 1) which cleverly asked, "Which fish play well with fancy guppies?" If you didn't catch it, take a look at the answers at
http://www.guppylog.com/displaystory/2006/6/1/184411/5305

All the best!
unc

[ Parent ]

Re: Jaymi, are your sure they weren't just (none / 0) (#3)
by RaiderFan92 on Mon Jun 05, 2006 at 05:38:55 PM PST

I went to petco and looked at the cory prices, 5 bucks each! ow! I browsed around a little and came across some lillte itty-bitty catfish, otocinclus catfish. They only get about 2 inches big at tops. There not aggresive at all and eat extra food scraps. When the clerk asked me what I wanted I replied a scavanger, she pointed to the tank with these little buggers and said that they would do. There body still and coloring looked exactly like my CAE at first, but a little more time and bending over for a better look, showed there was a world of diffrence.

Thanks for all the help with this recent major problem guys!

"The only thing we have to fear, is fear itself."-FDR. True, unless your playing against the Oakland Raiders.
[ Parent ]

Re: Jaymi, are your sure they weren't just (none / 0) (#4)
by Jaymi on Mon Jun 05, 2006 at 07:18:13 PM PST

The thing with those is they aren't nearly as hardy as cories,so you will have to be very careful with them.

Thats odd about the cories being $5 each, here I can generally get one for half that.

[ Parent ]

Sorta (none / 0) (#5)
by RaiderFan92 on Mon Jun 05, 2006 at 07:32:33 PM PST

They sorta are, only for the first month or so that you have them. There really hard fish to "acclimate" or whatever. Hes not my Spaz but hes still a pimp in training.
"The only thing we have to fear, is fear itself."-FDR. True, unless your playing against the Oakland Raiders.
[ Parent ]

Re: Sorta (none / 0) (#6)
by miskairal on Mon Jun 05, 2006 at 11:32:36 PM PST

Raider I'm sure those otinoculus things (however it's spelt) are the ones that unc used to recommend. Corys aren't so tough here anway. I've lost 5 over the last 2 years or so and only have the original one left who is now about 2 1/2 years old. They all seemed to start off fine for months and then suddenly they went paler and died. The albinos went whiter instead of the healthy pinkish white colour.

I really like the corys, they are sort of gentle but get their own way however next time I am in the market for a bottom dwelling fish I will check out those otos.
--
Repeat after me,
I will read the Immediate Help
[ Parent ]

Otos are touchy. They, like so many of the wild (none / 0) (#7)
by unclescott on Tue Jun 06, 2006 at 01:24:15 AM PST

suckermouths, also carry a lot of diseases. Ideally I would quarantine them and treat for parasites.

I learned this when a buddy gave me some Otos and I wiped out a lot of 8-10 year old catfish in a community tank.

Also, they will need veggie matter in their diet. A guppy flake mix may work. Otherwise a veggie flake a day or a small algae tablet would be beneficial.

They are really neat fish. They are not beginner's fish though. That's why I haven't been mentioning them recently, though I might have mentioned them to a more experienced miskairal. :)

Good luck anyhow and all the best!
unc

[ Parent ]

Re: Otos are touchy. They, like so many of the wil (none / 0) (#8)
by RaiderFan92 on Tue Jun 06, 2006 at 07:10:34 AM PST

I knew they were to good to be true. I looked into the tank and I saw there (Should the Junior High starting running-back be saying this?).................cute faces, I knew something was to good. They were cheap, cool, and just what kind of fish I needed. I was right about them being to good to be true, there hard to keep alive. At least I didnt get another CAE!
Will they eat extra flake food that is on the ground? Do you have any veggie suggestions?

P.S.- I named him Oto. And I got another guppy to take Hiroshimas spot. That Petco has really healthy and nice guppies. No more wallmart fish for me.

"The only thing we have to fear, is fear itself."-FDR. True, unless your playing against the Oakland Raiders.
[ Parent ]

Go to any pet shop and ask for spirulina or (none / 0) (#9)
by unclescott on Tue Jun 06, 2006 at 09:41:29 AM PST

veggie flakes or tablets. If you Google images of vegetable fish foods you will see there are a lot. I like to vary brands - a handy excuse for visiting new shops or ships while we are on vacation. (If the package is really dusty it is too old.)

Also, see the bristlenose diary above for a few homegrown foods.

Googling Guppylog will offer more ideas.

ATB
unc

[ Parent ]

Re: Go to any pet shop and ask for spirulina or (none / 0) (#10)
by RaiderFan92 on Tue Jun 06, 2006 at 10:07:45 AM PST

Is there any foods that my guppys and my lil catfish would both eat? Im to young to have a job and even if I was older I cant drive so I have to compete for a job at the 2 local gasstations, small town economy, so money is my main barrier of keeping fish happy.
I set a bug trap this morning, will guppies eat flies, not fruit-flies, just flies?
"The only thing we have to fear, is fear itself."-FDR. True, unless your playing against the Oakland Raiders.
[ Parent ]

They will both eat veggie flakes. Actually (none / 0) (#11)
by unclescott on Tue Jun 06, 2006 at 12:11:12 PM PST

guppies benefit from having some veggie flakes in the diet. Ken's guppy blend looks to me like regular flakes with veggie flakes added.

Sometime when your mom plans on some peas for dinner, as if you could have a few after they are cooked, but before any seasoning or butter is put in with them.

Let them cool a bit. Pop the inside out of the shell. Split the halves and crush one up a bit and drop it in the tank. You will learn how much to crush them. Try one shell to see if the Oto will eat it. (Probably has to do with how full he is after the flakes and soft peas.)

I would be really curious if the Oto will take the shell. Maybe one day feed the shell first and wait to see what happens.

If that works for you, you probably could toss a couple dozen cooked peas in a zip-lock bag and freeze it. Defrost in a little Luke-warm water before feeding the gups.

There is even a certain amount of entertainment value in watching the peas get devoured. :) (More for those of us w/o lives.) ;)

I was surprised to see you here this morning and them, LOL, I realized SCHOOL IS OUT!

Enjoy! Enjoy!

atb!
unc

[ Parent ]

Suggestions? | 11 comments (11 topical, 0 editorial, 0 hidden)

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