looking for a bottom feeder

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kellymarie1081

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Nov 25, 2006
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i am a beginner and i have a 20gl set up for about a month now. i have 3 neon tetras, 2 black tetras, 2 dalmation mollies, a gold algae eater and an african dwarf frog. i would like to get a bottom feeder to collect any extra food that makes it to the bottom. does anyone have a suggestion about what to get? if you have a suggestion i would like to know why so i can learn as much as i can about fish. i love my tank and want to know as much as possible!
ps. i won't be adding a bottom feeder for another few weeks, so don't worry! :)

-kelly
 
1. don't overfeed your fish. if you have a lot left on the bottom, you are feeding too much, which will lead to algae outbreaks and other water quality issues.
2. i would not recommend a bottom feeder in the same tank with an adf, as is it difficult to get the frogs to eat without any interference, let alone with another fish always trying to eat its food. cories would fit in the tank, but they are active and will compete with the frog.

you should do weekly water changes on your tank to remove nitrates. use a product like the python, which hooks up to a sink and uses suction to remove water, right down the drain. it makes it very easy to clean the gravel and get all that food and fish poo out of there.



you should fill out your tetra schools -
 
They may be small...but about 5 ghost shrimp can work wonders.
The thing about Cory cats is that they do better in groups of 3 or more...do you have room for them?
Some cats are peaceful while some can be a menace to smaller fish types.
Loaches aren't a bad choice, but also need to be kept in groups of 3 or more.
As stated about with the adf it may be a slight problem.
 
i always forget about ghost shrimp. probably because they last about an hour in my tanks before being consumed. they are so fun to watch, do lot of cleaning, and easy to replace.
 
Wouldn't the crayfish be aggressive towards the adf?
 
I'd say more defensive. From watching mine, they seem to like to keep the area around their burrows clear, and defend the area from insurgents. They don't bother my wee 1.5" Striped Raphael at all. They do fend off the bully Lemon Jack very effectively. If you do want to try a cray, I'd suggest going to the local bait shop and paying cents for one rather than the LFS and spending $20 or more for one. And that's no exaggeration, the LFS charges $19.99 for the bait crays that I paid $4.00/dozen for. Oh - and if you don't mind spending the cash, you can get dwarf crays that grow to a max of 1.5"
 
i have 2 clown loaches

i have 2 beautiful clown loaches, they are so fun to watch and get on well with the other fish and each other.
 
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