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need compatible "food scraper" cleaning fish in oscar tank

16K views 13 replies 8 participants last post by  iamntbatman 
#1 ·
Howdy.

My 150+ gallon tank is filled with 2x tiger oscars, 6x silver dollars. I just bought them at the pet store and they're less than 3-4" each.

I am looking to add some type of cleaning fish that eats up all the wastes/leftover food that the other fishes leave out and settle onto the gravel.

Any recommendations?
 
#2 ·
There's no such thing as a "cleaning fish" really. Any fish you add to the tank is going to add to your bioload, not reduce it. Bottom dwelling fish like a pleco will eat foods that land on the aquarium floor, but they won't eat fish poop or rotting food, and produce a lot of waste themselves. In order to clean this stuff up, you really just need to do gravel vacs on a regular basis.

However, if you're looking for a bottom dweller that will work with the fish you've got, you want something large enough not to get eaten and tough enough to defend itself in need be. I would suggest a larger pleco like a sailfin, a larger species of synodontis catfish, or a school of larger loaches like Botia modesta.
 
#10 ·
Synodontis nigriventris is commonly called the upside down catfish. I know they like to feed off the surface. Not sure if they eat off the gravel though.
 
#11 ·
I think Synodontis nigriventris will eat off of just about any surface. I've seen them root through the substrate just like corydoras.

Pictus are a bit more predatory than something like a loach or true bottom-feeding catfish. They won't be great at eating stuff off of the substrate, but they should still make good additions to your aquarium. The channel cat, on the other hand, would get much too large for even a 150g tank.
 
#12 ·
Hi folks, due to a severe ich infection the pictus catfishes have died. I'm currently controlling the outbreak via elevated temperatures and salt. Once the outbreak has been controlled, I'll still occasionally use conditioning salt to benefit the fishes.

Since pictus catfishes don't do well with salt, can you recommend a fish (that can be gotten at petsmart) which will are bottom dwellers and eat flakes/flood that fall to the bottom?

Thanks!!
 
#13 ·
First of all, I'd like to agree with what others have said...if you don't overfeed you won't need anything to clean up the extra food.

Now then, any of the medium/large plecos or any synodontis would be great additions to your tank, and would eat food off the bottom. I personally prefer synodontis, very cool looking catfish. You might need to find a pet store that specializes in fish to get some of the more interesting varieties though. PetSmart/Petco generally have a bland selection. I avoid those stores anyway, my fish survival rate is much higher with the good independent store I patronize than with Petsmart/Petco.

You're on the internet, find a local independent pet store that carries a lot of fish. Even if it's a 30 minute drive it's probably going to be worth the trip. You'll see many more varieties of fish than PetSmart provides.
 
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