Small Bottom Cleaners?

Hi:
I've got 6 H Rasboras in a 7 gallon tank. I'd really like to get some
sort of bottom feeder that could clean up any food that sinks to the
bottom. I've tried ghost shrimp, but I had a couple die on me so I don't
want to kill any more. Obviously it would have to be something small, so
the load on the tank wouldn't be too great, and like to be solitary
since I could probably only put one in. Any ideas?
TIA,
Freud

Freud wrote:
Hi:
I've got 6 H Rasboras in a 7 gallon tank. I'd really like to get some
sort of bottom feeder that could clean up any food that sinks to the
bottom. I've tried ghost shrimp, but I had a couple die on me so I don't
want to kill any more. Obviously it would have to be something small, so
the load on the tank wouldn't be too great, and like to be solitary
since I could probably only put one in. Any ideas?
TIA,
Freud

A mystery snail could work. It will find any food the rasboras miss but
might be killed by whatever killed the ghost shrimp. Do you have trace
ammonia or have you ever used copper in the tank?

--
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In article ,
says...
Freud wrote:
Hi:
I've got 6 H Rasboras in a 7 gallon tank. I'd really like to get some
sort of bottom feeder that could clean up any food that sinks to the
bottom. I've tried ghost shrimp, but I had a couple die on me so I don't
want to kill any more. Obviously it would have to be something small, so
the load on the tank wouldn't be too great, and like to be solitary
since I could probably only put one in. Any ideas?
TIA,
Freud

A mystery snail could work. It will find any food the rasboras miss but
might be killed by whatever killed the ghost shrimp. Do you have trace
ammonia or have you ever used copper in the tank?


I can't detect any ammonia & I've never used copper. I've been hesitant
to put in any snails because I've read about people having problems with
too many snails. Will they be likely to proliferate? Also, I have a fair
amount of a dark brown algae, are they likely to eat that directly or
will they stick to bits of food?
Thanks,
Freud

Freud wrote:
In article ,
says...

Freud wrote:

Hi:
I've got 6 H Rasboras in a 7 gallon tank. I'd really like to get some
sort of bottom feeder that could clean up any food that sinks to the
bottom. I've tried ghost shrimp, but I had a couple die on me so I don't
want to kill any more. Obviously it would have to be something small, so
the load on the tank wouldn't be too great, and like to be solitary
since I could probably only put one in. Any ideas?
TIA,
Freud

A mystery snail could work. It will find any food the rasboras miss but
might be killed by whatever killed the ghost shrimp. Do you have trace
ammonia or have you ever used copper in the tank?



I can't detect any ammonia & I've never used copper. I've been hesitant
to put in any snails because I've read about people having problems with
too many snails. Will they be likely to proliferate? Also, I have a fair
amount of a dark brown algae, are they likely to eat that directly or
will they stick to bits of food?
Thanks,
Freud

Maybe your fish picked on the shrimp. Sometimes even small fish see
them as food.

Mystery snails reproduce sexually. That means one snail = one snail.
Even if mystery snails breed, they lay their eggs in big, obvious
clutches above the water line. http://applesnail.net has more info about
them.

Mystery snails like soft green algae, dead plant bits, algae wafers, and
fish food of any kind. They eat quite a bit - I feed mine pieces of
sinking algae wafers to keep him happy because there isn't much algae in
his tank. I don't know whether they eat brown algae.

You know, you can just siphon out uneaten food and brown algae. Small
tanks need a thorough weekly gravel vac and 50% water change anyway.
That should help with the brown algae too.

--
Put the word aquaria in the subject to reply.
Did you read the FAQ? http://faq.thekrib.com

On Tue, 28 Feb 2006 22:53:15 GMT, Altum wrote:

Freud wrote:
In article ,
says...

Freud wrote:

Hi:
I've got 6 H Rasboras in a 7 gallon tank. I'd really like to get some
sort of bottom feeder that could clean up any food that sinks to the
bottom. I've tried ghost shrimp, but I had a couple die on me so I don't
want to kill any more. Obviously it would have to be something small, so
the load on the tank wouldn't be too great, and like to be solitary
since I could probably only put one in. Any ideas?
TIA,
Freud

A mystery snail could work. It will find any food the rasboras miss but
might be killed by whatever killed the ghost shrimp. Do you have trace
ammonia or have you ever used copper in the tank?



I can't detect any ammonia & I've never used copper. I've been hesitant
to put in any snails because I've read about people having problems with
too many snails. Will they be likely to proliferate? Also, I have a fair
amount of a dark brown algae, are they likely to eat that directly or
will they stick to bits of food?
Thanks,
Freud

Maybe your fish picked on the shrimp. Sometimes even small fish see
them as food.

Mystery snails reproduce sexually. That means one snail = one snail.
Even if mystery snails breed, they lay their eggs in big, obvious
clutches above the water line. http://applesnail.net has more info about
them.

Mystery snails like soft green algae, dead plant bits, algae wafers, and
fish food of any kind. They eat quite a bit - I feed mine pieces of
sinking algae wafers to keep him happy because there isn't much algae in
his tank. I don't know whether they eat brown algae.

You know, you can just siphon out uneaten food and brown algae. Small
tanks need a thorough weekly gravel vac and 50% water change anyway.
That should help with the brown algae too.

Small snails can be unsightly, but larger ones are attractive to my
eyes. I have 3 in a 10 gal tank and 1 more in another. They are
about the diameter of a dime. I have had them from plants I bought
for about 3 years. I keep hoping they will multiply, but nothing so
far, whereas I have smaller snails in the tank with the 3 larger
snails that the population grows and shrinks. They can be unsightly.

So, great at cleanup, and can be attractive, but choose carefully.

dick

Hi:
I've got 6 H Rasboras in a 7 gallon tank. I'd really like to get some
sort of bottom feeder that could clean up any food that sinks to the
bottom. I've tried ghost shrimp, but I had a couple die on me so I
don't
want to kill any more. Obviously it would have to be something small,
so
the load on the tank wouldn't be too great, and like to be solitary
since I could probably only put one in. Any ideas?
TIA,
Freud


I find a Cory of some sort does the trick,
http://badmanstropicalfish.com/profiles/profile78.html there are plenty to
choose from and they all do a great job, I have one an albino that I have
never seen stop still for more than 10 seconds its always rooting through
the gravel.

HTH

Mark

On Wed, 1 Mar 2006 11:55:12 -0000, "H"
wrote:

Hi:
I've got 6 H Rasboras in a 7 gallon tank. I'd really like to get some
sort of bottom feeder that could clean up any food that sinks to the
bottom. I've tried ghost shrimp, but I had a couple die on me so I
don't
want to kill any more. Obviously it would have to be something small,
so
the load on the tank wouldn't be too great, and like to be solitary
since I could probably only put one in. Any ideas?
TIA,
Freud


I find a Cory of some sort does the trick,
http://badmanstropicalfish.com/profiles/profile78.html there are plenty to
choose from and they all do a great job, I have one an albino that I have
never seen stop still for more than 10 seconds its always rooting through
the gravel.

HTH

Mark

Corys are shoaling fish, and a lone cory in a tank of strangers would
be a stressed cory. Corys are not garbage collectors, they have their
own dietary needs - they will eat some leftover food from the gravel,
but that does not mean they will like it, it will mean they are hungry
enough to eat anything. Your tank is small enough that it would only
take a few minutes a couple of times a week to siphon detritus from
your gravel using a small diameter siphon hose or even a piece of
rigid airline, connedted to an airline hose.

-- Mr Gardener

snip

You know, you can just siphon out uneaten food and brown algae. Small
tanks need a thorough weekly gravel vac and 50% water change anyway.
That should help with the brown algae too.

I do a weekly siphon which certainly helps, though not as much as 50%,
more like 20%. Right now I don't have any plants, that might help with
the algae problem by removing some of the excess nutrients. I'm
certainly going to look into a snail.
Thanks,
Freud

In article ,
says...
On Wed, 1 Mar 2006 11:55:12 -0000, "H"
wrote:

Hi:
I've got 6 H Rasboras in a 7 gallon tank. I'd really like to get some
sort of bottom feeder that could clean up any food that sinks to the
bottom. I've tried ghost shrimp, but I had a couple die on me so I
don't
want to kill any more. Obviously it would have to be something small,
so
the load on the tank wouldn't be too great, and like to be solitary
since I could probably only put one in. Any ideas?
snip

Corys are shoaling fish, and a lone cory in a tank of strangers would
be a stressed cory. Corys are not garbage collectors, they have their
own dietary needs - they will eat some leftover food from the gravel,
but that does not mean they will like it, it will mean they are hungry
enough to eat anything. Your tank is small enough that it would only
take a few minutes a couple of times a week to siphon detritus from
your gravel using a small diameter siphon hose or even a piece of
rigid airline, connedted to an airline hose.

-- Mr Gardener

Yes, I'd read that Corys are happier in a group & I really can't have
much more in this size of tank. I think I'll just keep doing my gravel
vac and maybe add a snail and a small plant.
Thanks,
Freud

On Wed, 1 Mar 2006 12:07:09 -0500, Freud wrote:

snip

You know, you can just siphon out uneaten food and brown algae. Small
tanks need a thorough weekly gravel vac and 50% water change anyway.
That should help with the brown algae too.

I do a weekly siphon which certainly helps, though not as much as 50%,
more like 20%. Right now I don't have any plants, that might help with
the algae problem by removing some of the excess nutrients. I'm
certainly going to look into a snail.
Thanks,
Freud

Fast growers and floaters like Water Sprite and Hornwort might help
with water quality as well as making the fish more comfortable.

-- Mr Gardener