suggestions for scavenger fish?

RWaltman

hey guys new to the site...I'm looking for suggestions for a scavenger to eat unwanted food bits, plant matter and algae any ideas? I currently have 3 baby angelfish, 2 mollies and a bichir (still a baby about 4") and I don't want anything that will annoy or disturb my bichir....if anyone has any suggestions I'm anxious to hear them....thanks~!

Byron

Welcome to the site.

The only real way to deal with these issues is regular tank maintenance by the aquarist. However, some fish do help us out. Catfish generally spend their time (or most of it) on the substrate searching for edible bits but they might not eat everything. By plant matter I'm assuming you mean decaying plant leaves and nothing that I know of will eat this; some fish will eat plants but only living ones. As for algae, it depends upon the type. Normal (as I call it) green or brown algae that grows on plant leaves, rocks and wood and even the glass sides of the tank will be grazed by Otocinclus (they will devour it) and some other fish, but nothing will eat brush algae or the green slime algae. Algae is normal in a healthy tank, but if it is excessive it is a sign of toom much light and nutrients (beyond what the plants can utilize, so algae being opportunistic takes over) and can be brought into normal limits by reducing either or both.

Busgod

corydors, zebra loaches ,clown loaches (but they get big),Chinese Algae Eater just to name a few

aunt kymmie

Hi there and welcome to the forum! It's exactly as Byron states, some fish do help us out as far as our tank maintenance but a pristine tank requires manual labor on the aquarist's part. I keep loaches, otocinclus, siamensis, etc. and while they all do their jobs very well I still get my hands wet up to the elbows every week in order to keep it "perfect".
What size is your tank? Just curious about the size before I start making suggestions for tankmates...