What's a good FW detritivore?

[Anonymous]

Hi fellow fish nerds,

I have a 6 gallon tank with a male and female betta. It sits by a window sill and gets a whole lot of natural sunlight. There is some hornwort and Lyodella (sp.) that grow like gangbusters. There is no water movement in the tank.

I'd like to get some kind of invert or fish that will eat uneaten food off the bottom, if it can survive in the tank. Any thoughts?

 

[fishfanatic2]

Hmm-Dwarf otocinclus would fit the tank, but they dont live very long and they are primarily herbivores, so i dont know if that would work with what kind of food you feed. A loach sp. would work for your job but I dont know of any species that wouldnt outgrow the 6.

Just a thought, maybe thisll help.

Fish nerd out!

 

[Anonymous]

Hi fellow fish nerds,

I have a 6 gallon tank with a male and female betta. It sits by a window sill and gets a whole lot of natural sunlight. There is some hornwort and Lyodella (sp.) that grow like gangbusters. There is no water movement in the tank.

I'd like to get some kind of invert or fish that will eat uneaten food off the bottom, if it can survive in the tank. Any thoughts?

you could try feeding less.

Perhaps others will chime in here. In my tanks this is simply not a question. The detritivores i use are just the snails that come in on the plants through eggs. After a few months I have a stable snail population.

But then I also have a slow mulm build up which I just don't worry about.

 

[Anonymous]

OK Matt, I have some answers you can have fun with.

I had a population of cherry shrimp in my 58, they reproduced well in the tank and seem pretty hardy. There are a number of other species available too, but I like the cherry best.

I also have some dwarf cory cats that are barely 3/4 of an inch. Unlike otocinclus, they seem super hardy.

I got all from http://www.azgardens.com/index.php

The corys are under "misc fish"

 

[Anonymous]

Ah, cool stuff Dan. Thanks for the link. I love how they say "These are a rare find in the industry--$2.59" Nothing like FW prices

Oh, BTW Bob. I could feed less but I was just thinking 6 gallons is a bit big for just two bettas. I might as well throw something else interesting in there right?

 

[fishfanatic2]

Dan, have you had good experience with AZGardens? I was looking at them a while ago, I might get some FW stuff from them.

 

[Anonymous]

Yes, but I have noticed they have a spotty record on some FW boards in vendor experiences areas. Other places have shrimp etc but never seem to have enough stuff in stock to warrant an order. I stayed on top of the order with them and it was great.

 

[Anonymous]

nuthin beats a kuhli loach for its ability to get everywhere

 

[Anonymous]

Get some snails, they clean up and the bettas like to eat the small baby snails too.

 

[Anonymous]

A clown pleco would stay small. Not sure if they could handle the water quality in a 6 gallon though.

 

[danmhippo]

Matt, I got the 10G planted, and I have about 20 feeder shrimps (ghost shrimp) in there that is already reproducing, I can see small tiny shrimps being chased by my clown loach (tiny tiny as well).

Clown loach is excellent to keep snails away from your tank, and shrimps finishes up uneaten food.

I loved khuli loach too, but too bad I couldn't get them in my area.

Dan, does your cherry shrimp's color really shows?

 

[reefann]

ghost shrimp

 

[Anonymous]

Yep, they are bright red, and stand out in the greenery. I also had another species from AZ.

 

[gpodio]

Coridoras, shrimp or snails would be my initial choice. I don't think a 6gal is big enough for a clown loach or dwarf pleco.

Giancarlo

 

[Anonymous]

I have a few White Clouds in my daughters eclipse they share this tank with an ancient 4 year old beta. The WC's are pretty good scavengers.
Andy

 

[Anonymous]

some white cloud trivia...

also known as the white cloud mountain minnow


the latin name is tanichthys albonubes - named after the Chinese boyscout Tan, who discovered the fish in 1932, ichthys means fish. albonubes= white cloud, after the place of origin, the White cloud mountains.

 

[SnowManSnow]

wouldnt a golden or black mystery snail help out a lot ?

 

[gpodio]

If I'm not mistaken they will also tollerate colder waters which makes them a great choice for unheated or non tropical tanks.

Giancarlo

 

[gpodio]

wouldnt a golden or black mystery snail help out a lot ?

Problem with these is that there are 4 (if I remember correctly) distinct species and only one is safe is a planted tank. It's often not easy to tell them apart. You may be safer with nerite snails, the olive nerite is a great help in any tank, it will not eat plants and will also not reproduce unless given space out of the water where to lay it's eggs (may reproduce sparingly along the top rim of the tank if water level is a little low, but certainly not a pest snail).

Giancarlo

 

[Anonymous]

If I'm not mistaken they will also tollerate colder waters which makes them a great choice for unheated or non tropical tanks.

Giancarlo

That is right. I keep them in our fish pond all year long. There are hundreds of fry in the spring.