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	bottom feeder needed, suggestions please
hembo666 Big Fish Posts: 350 Kudos: 288 Votes: 3 Registered: 01-Apr-2005	the tank is a very bright 15g with sand substrate and plastic plants. i plan on keeping a male betta with either 3 females, 6-8 glowlight tetra or the 5 cherry barbs i have in there cycling the tank at the moment. what i need is a suitable bottom dweller to deal with keeping the substrate clean. i dont want cories as i dont think the tank could take a large enough school. please post suggestions
Posted 26-Jan-2006 12:07
Babelfish Administrator Small Fry with Ketchup Posts: 6833 Kudos: 8324 Votes: 1570 Registered: 17-Apr-2003	Sand substrate just begs for malaysian trumpet snails . They burrow in the substrate keeping it properly turned to prevent anerobic pockets. If you had or plan on getting a few live plants in the future they wont eat the plants. They do great with algae and finding the leftovers. If your in the habit of overfeeding the tank they'll reproduce like crazy (you might be able to set up an exchange with your LFS ), so long as you don't overfeed you wont' have massive population growths . ^_^ [hr width='40%']"I'm alright, I'm alright It only hurts when I breathe"
Posted 26-Jan-2006 12:07
Nick Fish Addict 33 Posts: 553 Kudos: 668 Votes: 509 Registered: 09-Aug-2004	i plan on keeping a male betta with either 3 females, 6-8 glowlight tetra or the 5 cherry barbs This is off the topic you had asked for...as i probably would've suggessted corys(I think they'd have enough room if you got something that didn't get too big, but anyways)...but I couldn't help notice this. Would you be planning on keeping male and female Bettas together??? Last edited by Jessnick at 25-Apr-2005 18:09
Posted 26-Jan-2006 12:07
_wendy_ Enthusiast Posts: 174 Kudos: 164 Votes: 64 Registered: 18-Mar-2005	we were thinking 1 male and a couple of females. would this be a problem??
Posted 26-Jan-2006 12:07
sirbooks Moderator Sociopath Posts: 3875 Kudos: 5164 Votes: 932 Registered: 26-Jul-2004	The trouble is, most male bettas will not tolerate females. Usually, when a male betta is kept with a female/females, they fight. A lot. In fact, (for breeders) the female must be removed after she has released her eggs, lest the male harm or kill her in the act of guarding 'his' nest. I'd just go with three female bettas, and lost the male. That way, there won't be any ugly fights going on in there. And when he gets to Heaven, to Saint Peter he will tell: "One more Marine reporting, Sir! I've served my time in Hell."
Posted 26-Jan-2006 12:07
hembo666 Big Fish Posts: 350 Kudos: 288 Votes: 3 Registered: 01-Apr-2005	if thats the case i will go with the male and the barbs or some glowlight tetra, and leave out the females. any other suggestions for bottom dwellers for this tank other than snails? Last edited by hembo666 at 26-Apr-2005 10:07
Posted 26-Jan-2006 12:07
sham Ultimate Fish Guru Posts: 3369 Kudos: 2782 Votes: 98 Registered: 21-Apr-2004	It's hard to think of a small bottom dweller that isn't schooling. All I have is loaches or cory(both schooling) or small plecos. I think there's plenty of room for a school of smaller cory such as pandas or possibly kuhli loaches. You really do need a much larger tank heavily planted to keep male and female bettas together. I had a 60g outside pond for spawning paradise fish and the females still got beat up some. Bettas are usually worse.
Posted 26-Jan-2006 12:07
hembo666 Big Fish Posts: 350 Kudos: 288 Votes: 3 Registered: 01-Apr-2005	ok, so forget the female bettas, how would this be? male betta cherry barbs or glowlight tetra (best choice?) khuli loach what numbers of each would work best?
Posted 26-Jan-2006 12:07
greenfootball Fish Addict Posts: 613 Kudos: 360 Votes: 0 Registered: 23-Jul-2001	male betta 5-6 cherry barbs 1-2 khuli loaches ever thought about some type of ghost shrimps? they are small, dont need schools and do clean the bottom. of course not as efficient as other bottom feeders tho
Posted 26-Jan-2006 12:07
Babelfish Administrator Small Fry with Ketchup Posts: 6833 Kudos: 8324 Votes: 1570 Registered: 17-Apr-2003	Depending on the temperment of the bettas and the barbs ghost shrimp are likely to end up dinner . I thought I was safe having a few dozen in with some gold barbs...turned out the gold barbs, even with their little mouthes cleaned up the shrimp :%). If you do want to consider shrimp, go for something a bit larger . Although considering around here ghost shrimp are sold as feeders (10 for $1) it might not be that expensive an experiment just to see if they work. ^_^ [hr width='40%']"I'm alright, I'm alright It only hurts when I breathe"
Posted 26-Jan-2006 12:07
hembo666 Big Fish Posts: 350 Kudos: 288 Votes: 3 Registered: 01-Apr-2005	ghost shrimp are not that cheap here, wa considering armoured shrimp but dont know if they would be a risk to the fish. (now 5 cherry barbs and 4 ottos with a male betta to be added at a later date) what do you think? are armoured shrimp suitable?
Posted 26-Jan-2006 12:07


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