Clean up Crew

[Xaltd1]

I chose the oto cat b/c they are TEENY. I really wanted a pleco, but my 29 gal isn't big enough. I plan on having 6 otos in a divided 10 gallon for my 2 boys. Butch seems amused by his otos.

[Bombalurina]

Which is fine if you don't have another school already in there. :) But otos do have quite a large bioload for such a teeny fish.

Quotation, the best algae cleaner is the human hand. ;) Alternatively, maybe a small group of amano shrimp.

[QuotationRaven]

I mean don't get me wrong I clean my tank regularly. Well I plan to I've only had it 3 weeks and I've been having issues with condensation, like if I fill my tank up so you can't see the water level because of the lid then within about 2 days it's down about a centimeter and I have no clue how to stop it.

What do you guys think of a snail.

[Xaltd1]

2 bettas + 6 otos= 8 fish, but probably 10 inches of fish in the 10 gallon. Close, but "they" say that otos need a school of 3.

I just did a quick search & "they" say you can have 10 RCS per gallon of water!! Another site says 1 shrimp per 10 gallons! Ow, my brain hurts...

[QuotationRaven]

Haha thanks for that I think i'm going to stick to how it is right now. I still want some form of cleaning crew or cleaning creature lol But i may just have to wait to find the perfect one.

[Artemis]

Ok, betta and shrimp are fine if the bettas are not overly aggressive. I have 1 ghost shrimp with my DbT HMPK male and he is fine, they have been together in the same little PetCo stacking containers and the shrimp is left alone. Ghost shrimp WILL disappear merely because of their coloration. He eats leftover pellets every now and then and I have found him munching on goldfish pooh when he was with one. We are getting a few more soon, 2 for each betta.

[QuotationRaven]

They sound good. i might see about investing in two. My Betta is pretty relaxed I mean he has the odd chase of the Tetra's but he mostly leaves them alone.

[Bombalurina]

Ghosties are no good for algae cleaning - they are scavengers and prefer a meatier diet. Cherries are ok for algae, but amano shrimp are the best.

[JBonez423]

I'm having the same dilemma right now. My two babies (one's half an inch, the other a little over an inch) are about to move into a 5 gallon with a divider. They stress easily when I do water changes, so I'm hoping between a filter and the help of a "clean up crew", I can keep them to a minimum. I asked a guy at PetCo about snails and he told me they're not a good idea because they really pollute the water when they die.

I'd like a fish that won't bother with them (I'll probably wait until they're bigger to get them so the new additions won't make a snack of my babies) and that is a small size, but won't need a school. I'm a bit of a fish noob, so I need ideas. =]

[JayPe3]

I plan on putting more Amanos in my sons tank, the algae in his tank builds up on the stupid plants pretty well, and the 1 Amano just can't work fast enough.