cleaning fish

E

Egor

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Nov 8, 2009
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Im setting up a breeding tank and a growout tank and Im curious if the traditional 'cleaning' fish will eat fry or eggs. I find that if I keep those fish in my aquarium they tend to stay a lot cleaner, needing drainings less and just more healthy... notto mention I have a gf who likes to feed just a lil too much lol so its nice having those to clean up the after effects of that.

So is there any 'cleanup' fish that I could put in those tanks and not worry? atm Im breeding swordtails but may expand in the future to a few other fish, thats still to be determined
 
Most bottom feeders don't swim fast enough to eat fry. Plus fry like to stay near the surface while bottom feeders well feed on the bottom. You should be fine, but remember fish poop especially bottom feeders. So while there might be less food in the tank there will be more poop. Really the best case scenario is to feed correctly and have the grow out tank only with fry.
 
Swordtails are livebearers, thus there are no eggs, so plecos, cories, otos and the like should be fine. However, if you move on to egg laying fish, probably the only kinds of fish you'll be able to add will be otos or any of the three species of dwarf cory.
 
I am going to rain on the parade a bit here:
I dont think that you should really have a fish in your tank that will help alleviate you from properly maintaining your tank. a fry growout tank, in my opinion, requires a bit more work than the average tank and that maintenance should be performed by the tanks caretaker. you are the only 'cleaning fish', IMHO. overfeeding should be avoided and weekly/biweekly/daily water changes should be performed as necessary.

but, a BN pleco might be able to fulfil your need if you really want to do it.
 
bradlgt21 said:
Plus fry like to stay near the surface while bottom feeders well feed on the bottom.
Click to expand...

Not necessarily true. Not all fry act alike. For example, endler fry spend their first 24 hours on the substrate before venturing to other water levels. Bottom feeders can feed at all levels also. Mostly depends on the individual fish.
 
In general, BN pleco's are safe enough to keep in breeding/fry tanks without any worries. Small Cory cats (dwarf species) should also be safe enough to mix with livebearer fry.
 
as mentioned above, fry tanks are a lot of work and you really aren't going to have anything for the "cleaner fish" to clean, don't know what size fry tank you will have but they can easily sometimes turn into a tank that need water changes on a daily basis.
 
What are you wanting to clean up? Algae, leftover food, or both? If its algae, I'd get a couple oto-cats. They do a wonderful job but you'll need to make sure to supplement their diet if the algae levels get low. I also just got a couple cories for my mom's tank and they are doing a great job at cleaning up after the guppies but she also feeds them sinking pellets and stuff.
 
:o i saw this thread and my immediate thought was why would you clean your fish! oops! i agree though, nothing beats water changes, and dont over feed, much better than adding to your bioload and swapping uneaten food for extra fish poop.
 
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