fish_lovers

I was wondering which bottom feeder is the best. My tank is 31 gallons. I have read lots of bottom feeders dont need algae or dont eat this or that. Let me know what you think.

Isabella

Well, all algae eaters/loaches you get should be supplemented with an appropriate diet in addition to the algae they eat in the tank. The algae in the tank alone will not be enough. Unless you have an algae problem in your tank, you don't really need an algae eater (or unless you simply like algae eaters and would like to have them as other fish in the tank). For a 30 gallon tank, you could get a couple of Otos, or 1 Siamese Flying Fox (only make sure it's the true one, not the false one), or 1 Bristlenose Catfish - either one of the three choices would be good for your tank. And all of these algae eaters should have a good diet as well (algae tabs, etc ... some algae eaters will even eat fish flakes, brine shrimp, and blood worms as well). Just make sure that whatever the algae eater(s) you're adding, they'll not make your tank overcrowded.

fish_lovers

I dont really need an algae eater persay more I need a cleaner fish, on tthat will clean up the fish waste and fish flakes.

Butterfly

There are plenty of fish to clean up flakes and other food that falls to the bottom but there aren't any fish that will clean the poop up thats why you have to vacuum the bottom of your tank.
Carol

Isabella

LOL ... yup No fish will eat another fish's poop! YUCK! You'll have to perform regular water changes in your tank, and it's best to siphon the wastes out of the tank with each water change. You can get a simple and cheap gravel vac (a siphon tube) at any fish store. If you vacuum your gravel with each water change, you're keeping your water clean and your fish healthy.

Wolfman

I have panda corys and they are alot of fun to watch, when I feed them they all get together and seach the gravel

chris632

Any of the corydoras species would do fine. the bottom feeder only eats fish food not fish waste. corydoras are clever catfish, they bury the fish waste which the BACTERIA is used to break the waste down!

Butterfly

Corys are cute clever little fish as well as useful but I have to respectfully disagree they don't bury waste so the bacteria can break it down. You have to vacuum the substrate to get rid of the waste. I'm sure some waste materials do get left in the tank and some of it does get broken down by the bacteria but if the substrate isn't vacuumed very soon the Nitrates will skyrocket.
Carol