# Good bottom feeders...



## BigEyedFish (Jan 18, 2005)

So I have a 30 gallon tank, that has been established for several years. I finally got a 75 gallon tank, and moved my 3 clown loaches into that tank since they obviously got too big for the 30. I want to replace them with a couple of good bottom feeders, and I was wondering if you guys had any suggestions. The tank is very will filtered, and kept at a good constant temperature of 78. The pH is very stable at 7.0, nitrates are low, ammonia is good, and I've only had 4 deaths the entire time I've had the tank (made the mistake of putting two male gourami's in it together, one got beat to death, and for some reason, my tank WILL NOT keep Pleco's alive, because I've had three pass away.)

So right now in the tank, I have 1 blue gourami, 9 high fin serpae tetras, and an albino chinese algae eater. They're all been happy community fish for over a year, and I wanna replace the clown loaches with 2-4 good bottom dwellers. Anyone got any suggetions? Any catfish out there that don't get HUGE and arent' aggressive? Any and all suggetions are welcome! Thanks guys!!!!


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## ron v (Feb 24, 2005)

corys, at least 4.


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## Lydia (Feb 6, 2005)

4 or so Kuhli loaches, or like ron v said, a school of cories, would work well.


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## garfieldnfish (Jan 18, 2005)

How come you can't keep plecos alive? How large is your Chinese Algae eater? Is he aggressive? Is it possible he had anything to do with your plecos death? I have 2 CAE and one turned aggressive. He is now in a tank with dwarf puffers. The other is still behaving well (as far as I know) in my 75 gal community tank. But I recently lost 2 cory cats in this tank. While I suspect it was my bristlenose plecos that were chasing each other in a love fight and one of the cory got in the way and got hurt (he showed signs of injuries) the other was just found dead, I cannot rule out the possibility that the CAE may have had something to do with this. 
Unless you are positive that your CAE is non-aggressive, I would recommend applesnails for bottom clean up crew. Or if you decide to get cory cats, get the largest ones (barbatus corys) and only 2 of those. They do not need to be in schools since they are territorial and a 30 gal is just large enough for 2. A CAE probably would not hurt those.


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## DavidDoyle (Jan 18, 2005)

Firstly, I have not seen more effective bottom feeders than clown. 
Secondly, I had the same problem mixing clowns and plecos. I am not certain, but I would bet the clowns did away with the 6 I had in the 75 with them.
Thirdly, if I was going to replace anything on your list, it would be the acae.


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## BigEyedFish (Jan 18, 2005)

I got the Chinese Algae Eater after the Pleco's weren't working out. I only have one, and I've had him for three months or so. I haven't seen him show a single sign of aggresion. Now I know that often the aggression happens late at night when eyes are not watching, but I keep close close watch on my tank, so I really don't think it's him. As far as what I should get rid of in my tank, the Loaches have to get out of there, they're getting to big, and less and less playful as they get older, cause they just don't have the room to play. I'm leading very strongly towards the Kuhli loaches, maybe three or four of them. I'll keep a close watch on the Algae Eater, see if he starts showing any signs of aggerssion, but I think he's pretty happy in there.

Thanks for the help, keep it coming.


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## garfieldnfish (Jan 18, 2005)

In that case I would give plecos another try, especially since you moved the clowns out. It just might work out for you now.


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## BigEyedFish (Jan 18, 2005)

Yeah but I don't really want a pleco, I'm happy with my CAE. I guess the correct question I meant to ask is this:

What are good replacement botton DWELLERS...i'm not super concerned with eating the food at the bottom of the tank. I vacuum my tank at least once a month, and I'm very careful to feed my fish only what they'll eat, so I don't have a lot of extra food dwelling at the bottom of my tank.

So, any suggestions on good bottom DWELLING fish?

p.s. Yes I'm aware that most bottom dwellers are also bottom feeders, it's just not my primary concern to have bottom FEEDERS...jsut want good fish to occupy the 'bottom floor'!!!


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## Lexus (Jan 19, 2005)

Cories as suggested before


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## Lydia (Feb 6, 2005)

Kuhli loaches


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## Gunnie (Jan 20, 2005)

I love my cory cats, and also have yo yo loaches. They are similar in personality to your clown loaches and don't get nearly as big. I have 4 of them in a 20 gal. long along with 5 corys as my bottom dwellers. They all appear happy.


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