Snails, Shrimp, or other(cories, catfish, bottomfeeders)

Shrimp, Snails, or Other?

  • Shrimp (Ghost, Cherry, etc...)

    Votes: 8 42.1%

  • Snails

    Votes: 7 36.8%

  • Other (Cories, Catfish, Algae Eaters, etc..)

    Votes: 10 52.6%

  • None

    Votes: 1 5.3%
  • Total voters
    19
  • Poll closed .
B

bobandfiona

AC Members
Dec 13, 2005
114
0
0
Dallas, TX
Which is the preferred for bottom cleaning of excess food and algae control? Any suggestions on your favorites? Please list size of tank and bioload impact if available. :idea:
 
Red ramshorn and Malaysian trumpet snails are by far my favorite. Cherry shrimp are way up on the list behind the snails. ghost shrimp don't do algae(very well), but are great with other things. Fish of different assorted types are fine, but most have limitations in one way or anther.
Dave
 
Snails. They'll take the scraps most fish, including Cories would overlook.
 
Shrimp are my preferred bottom-feeders.

Amongst these, Macrobrachium carcinus is one of my favorites (though not, however, an efficient algae-eater):


EDIT:

Max. Total Length: ~60 cm
Tank Capacity: 100(+) US gallons for adult specimens
Bioload: Comparable to that of a carapace-length predatory cichlid

For community setups, Xiphocaris elongata is a fine choice.
 
Last edited:
missing the point

your question is what would do bottom scraps and algae well, and my answer is "none". Shrimp will eat scraps, snails will do OK on algae, but there's not much out there that does double duty and does it well.

My kuhli & shrimp are good scrap clean up crew, and the snails & hillstream handle the algae (LOL I have one large clean up crew that only has five "non-cleaner" animals).
 
Yes, I think you are right. I was kind of wondering if there was a such thing as a "double-dutier." I also did the poll because I see alot of posts about shrimp or snails, or what would be the best algae eater and I thought everyone would think it was neat to see a poll on the favorites. Great posts all, keep them coming so we can find out the favorites and the best in both clean up areas! Thanks!
 
I guess technically you can just use snails or just shrimp to do both jobs, provided you used more than one species of each. Some shrimp will pick off algae fast while others will take up the scraps of leftover food. Same with snails. I just prefer snails though I still like the shrimp. :)
 
My tag-team of cleaners for my 55g planted tank include kuhli loaches, red ramshorns, a few pond snails, and MTS's. They do a decent job, along with help from my constantly grazing swordtails and redtail shark. Plants help too.
 
lol most of my tank is cleanup crew

corys shrimp and an otto
then the only thing that isnt a cleaner is the 3 or 4 guppies
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
AquariaCentral.com
Top Bottom