Best Bottom Feeders

I'm new to this particular part of auspet forums. i was wondering what the best bottom feeder is. i have a 29 gallon tank. Thanks!

 

Dwarf cories are pretty cool in groups and usaly aren't that expensive.

 

i would say a clown loach

 

What other fish are in the tank?

Cories are good for eating left over food but they don't really do anything for algae. Otos are good for eating left over food and cleaning up green & brown algae. Clown loaches will eat left over food and snails, but they prefer to be in groups and will eventualy need a larger tank (they do grow extremely slowly, though so you'll have a few years). A bristlenose pleco would eat some green algae and left over food but it won't do much for brown algae. I wouldn't get a common or sailfin pleco for a 29 gallon.

-Chelle

 

Like 5 ottos! :y_the_best:

 

I've heard that if you don't want to be supplimenting their diet a whole lot, it's best to only have 1 oto/10 gallons. That way they can almost sustain themselves on the algae they find and you only need to throw in an algae waffer every week or so.

I know my single oto completely cleared my 20 gallon of brown algae (& there was a bunch of it) in about 3 or 4 days. My african fry in that tank get a veggie/spirilina based diet so just the one oto does pretty good with keeping the algae under control and eating some of the left overs from the fry.

-Chelle

 

Thanks everybody. I had the tank running for about 6 years, then it just got to dirty and i new it couldn't be healthy for my fish, so i started over. i started it on sat. and am letting it run for 1 week before i put any fish in it. i wanted to start out right this time, so i thought i'd start with a good bottom feeder, thanks for all your suggestions! i think i'll try an oto. so do i go into the store and say, i would like to buy an oto or is there a name they will know this particular fish by?

 

First, if you're going to cycle it with fish, really keep a close eye on your water parameters and do frequent water changes.

And otos are also called otocinclus, dwarf suckers, and when I got mine it was called some other name but I can't remember what it was (so and so's catfish).

-Chelle