The Puffer Forum

Just in case the tank gets dirty and the filter can't handle it, is there any sterile fish or shrimp that I could use as a clean up crew?

I don't think so... I've heard Clown Loaches feed on what they miss, but mine hunt for about 30 mins after feeding, so thats not a problem of mine... But I think I've asked and none... BW makes it difficult too...

Define clean up crew for us? I have a knight goby and a molly in with mine...the molly sure picks on algae (not diatom algae though) and the knight clean up bits of meaty foods.

Other than that, I'm the clean up crew!

Eric

If you mean scavengers,
My BBG and Knight gobie eat left overs. Anything on the substrate is quickly gobbled up by my FW sole (aka flounder), but I have to feed him extra food sometimes to be sure he doesn't starve, so that's not very helpful with the bio-load. The flounder is also an easy target for a curious puff.

My mollies pick at algae on my plants, but not enough to make a difference.

Sorry, but like everyone else said, you're going to be your F8's janitor

Clean-up crews are meaningless in freshwater and brackish aquaria, and only mean something in reef tanks. You don't need them in ordinary (non-reef) marine tanks anymore than in freshwater tanks.

The idea in a reef tank is that you cannot easily disassemble the corals and living rock, and if a bit of food or a dead fish gets stuck somewhere awkward, it helps to have scavengers that quickly break it down into something the filter, protein skimmer, and water changes can remove. Likewise, you cannot easily use a siphon to suck up detritus because you risk remove small inverts and damaging corals in the process.

In a tank without corals and living rock, you can usually easily move rocks and wood to remove corpses, and use a siphon to clean the sand or gravel. Plants aren't damaged by siphoning. Thus, you don't need a clean up crew because it is always better to remove unwanted things directly. At the very least, by removing a dead fish or a bit of food directly, you avoid problems of adding nitrates to the water or anaerobic decay in the sand.

Also misunderstood is the effect scavengers have on a tank. They increase nitrates and phosphates, and in doing so, promote the growth of algae. Even a plec, a so-called "algae eater", will eat some algae, and may well clean the glass, but in the process will increase the rate of algal growth and elevate the level of pollution in the tank.

This isn't to say you shouldn't have scavengers or algae eaters in an aquarium, but you should recognise that you are adding them for your amusement, and not to serve a practical purpose. In a brackish water aquarium there are a variety of fish that work well in this niche. Mollies and florida flagfish work nicely as algae eaters, and there are at least 3 species of genuinely brackish water plec (see here). Violet and Awaous gobies are very effective eartheaters, and will remove small food items from the sand. Orange chromides, like other cichlids, are remarkable generalists, and usually eat a variety of small food items other fish miss.

Cheers,

Neale

>Just in case the tank gets dirty and the filter can't handle it,
>is there any sterile fish or shrimp that I could use as a clean
>up crew?

...another excellent article Neale!

Agreed, thank you for all of that information. Very easy to understand, and very simply put.

Now that is the best explanation i've heard, can that be stickied or put in the library for future reference for others?

lol, what I think everyone wants it an animal that will eat other animals poo so they don't have to work at it... And trust me, I've asked the same question, wanting an easier way out, but I'm sorry to say it simply doesn't exist... At least not effectively... Cuz think... even if there were an animal that did that, it poo's too? lol, so yea...

We need to keep this article to reference similar questions to.

Thanks Neale, article is stickied!

try bumble Bee gobies, my goby eats anything that the puffer misses.

...please tell me you didn't just suggest that.... How many times have we discussed all this before? Check before you make redundant and inaccurate suggestions....

OraLacerta wrote:If you mean scavengers,
My BBG and Knight gobie eat left overs. Anything on the substrate is quickly gobbled up by my FW sole (aka flounder), but I have to feed him extra food sometimes to be sure he doesn't starve, so that's not very helpful with the bio-load. The flounder is also an easy target for a curious puff.

That was to Dawgz, not OraLacerta... Sorry for all that got confused... I was stating OraLacerta already suggested that and Dawgz turned around and said the same thing...