Creatures to aerate 7 gallon?

[Gianna]

I have a recently started 7 gallon filtered/heated fresh tank which is moderately planted with leafy plants and has a fair amount of rocks and sand/gravel substrate. 1 female betta and a school of 6 white clouds. I am new to some of the long-term maintenance aspects and have some concerns about aerating and cleaning the substrate, especially as the tank is planted. I'm hearing some people who are vehemently against ever vacuuming or cleaning since it can deplete good bacteria/food for plants, while there are also accounts of increases in toxic gas if you don't.

My tentative maintenance plan is to test water 2x/weekly for ph, nitrate, nitrite and ammonia, and perform a weekly partial change of 25-30% of the water, as well as cleaning glass and rocks etc. as needed. The biggest concern of mine is whether to vacuum the substrate, and if so how much and how often.

I have considered also getting some kind of bottom feeders, fish or invertebrate, to aerate the sand, but don't want to increase biomass too much. I'm considering potentially nerite snails or amano shrimp for that but still researching compatibility with those. Some people mentioned cajun dwarf crayfish but others have said conflicting things about their temperament.

Does anyone have any recommendations for aerator/cleaner invertebrates, any advice about whether or not to vacuum, or other advice?

We are also considering the possible addition of a clown pleco or two down the road as there's a fair amount of driftwood in the tank, but I'm concerned about too much biomass with that, especially after getting a couple aerators/cleaners.

Thanks.

 

[myswtsins]

With 1 betta and 6 white clouds you are pretty much stocked already. Adding a nerite or 2 or a couple amano shrimp would be ok but about as far as I'd suggest going. Clown plecos have VERY high bio-loads and I would not recommend putting them in a 7g at all.

How deep is your substrate? Deeper substrates lend to a higher possibility of gas build ups. How many rooted plants is there? Usually vacuuming a planted tank is only needed in the areas with no plants/roots because the gunk that falls there is not being utilized by the plants and just decays. Malaysian trumpet snails are excellent at stirring up the substrate though IF you still feel the need for it. They do reproduce very readily though so be sure to not overfeed if you get them.

 

[SnakeIce]

Gas buildup because a substrate is anoxic is generally only a problem in non planted tanks, or in areas where there are no roots. Roots need oxygen and if the area is lacking will carry oxygen down there to fix that issue.

You may not be at much risk of lack of oxygen in the substrate depending on what your substrate is, how deep it is, and how well your water is oxygenated. Fine sand and mixed size grains have a larger risk, as does deeper substrate, and if there is less oxygen in the water to begin with there is less to get into the substrate. So if you have a plant substrate or gravel, not deeper than 2 inches/5 cm, and have a filter or some source of water movement to help oxygenate the water, and your gravel has plant roots all through it your risk of having gas build up is really low.

 

[Gianna]

The sand/gravel gets up to about two inches in places, and there are a couple higher spots but those are planted. Most of the tank is closer to 1in deep. We have about ten plants with plans to plant the substrate and add more leafy plants in the future. We also do have a filter and a long bubble stone on the back wall.

Yeah, did some more research last night and had pretty much decided to save the clown pleco until we have a larger tank. Thanks for the info about amanos though, we will probably get a couple of those guys down the road and call it good!

Thanks very much for all the helpful information.