# clean up crew??



## Amelia26 (Aug 6, 2011)

my sunburst platy just had babies either last night or this morning!!! plus my other two platies are due anyday now and my mollie has maybe 2 weeks left before she has her 2nd batch ..... what would be a good bottom feeder that wouldnt eat the fry??? if it helps i have salt in the tank... at present moment aquarium salt until im able to get marine salt( like advised in a previous thread). thank you for ur suggestions!!!


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## mousey (Jan 18, 2005)

if you have fry I would forgo the bottom feeder.
I used to have a horse faced loach THAT was afraid of his own shadow. I thought he was safe with the fry. I had a lot of fry in the tank with him for several weeks but one day I noticed that I was missing about 60 of the fry. \i did not catch on until a couple of days later i had only 10 fry. i guess he was sbnacking on them when they were sleeping on the bottom. Genaeraly bn plecs are a fish that mind their own business with platies and guppies but anyhting is fair game if it sleeps on the bottom. Even those cute little cory cat fish will hoover up live food.


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## ZebraDanio12 (Jun 17, 2011)

I know one called Octo somthing. Or ol- something. They're grey with like a black stripe. They only get like a bit over and inch, and don't eat my fry. Try one of those.  Good luck!


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## kris_41 (Aug 3, 2011)

ZebraDanio12 said:


> I know one called Octo somthing. Or ol- something. They're grey with like a black stripe. They only get like a bit over and inch, and don't eat my fry. Try one of those.  Good luck!


I have a Otocinclus catfish, and I'm pretty sure they will not eat your fry. They won't clean your tank as well as a Pleco but they should not harm your fry.


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## ZebraDanio12 (Jun 17, 2011)

kris_41 said:


> I have a Otocinclus catfish, and I'm pretty sure they will not eat your fry. They won't clean your tank as well as a Pleco but they should not harm your fry.


Yeah thats what they're called! I've got one. Hes funny


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## mousey (Jan 18, 2005)

don't forget that ottos need algae so the tank has to be well established and to have a thin film of algae on the glass and plants or the little things will die.
They don't seem too inclined to eat algae wafers either.


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## platies pwn (Nov 29, 2010)

otos live in shoals.you need at least 4.that is why they are small.


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## Amelia26 (Aug 6, 2011)

what about shrimp?? will they eat the fry or maybe a snail??


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## kris_41 (Aug 3, 2011)

Amelia26 said:


> what about shrimp?? will they eat the fry or maybe a snail??


depends on the shrimp. Some might eat the fry. I'm not sure about the snails.


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## ZebraDanio12 (Jun 17, 2011)

Amelia26 said:


> what about shrimp?? will they eat the fry or maybe a snail??


Snails wont eat fry unless they are dead. Frankly, they are too slow to catch them anyway. Snails are what I would do. They keep my tanks sooo clean and well. And get big fast... They're better than bottom feeders in my opion


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## msclark1964 (Jul 23, 2011)

ZebraDanio12 said:


> Snails wont eat fry unless they are dead. Frankly, they are too slow to catch them anyway. Snails are what I would do. They keep my tanks sooo clean and well. And get big fast... They're better than bottom feeders in my opion


Where do you get your snails from? They don't have them at the PetSupermarket of Petco near me and I don't have any local fish store. I also heard places don't ship them because they cannot be shipped across state lines without special permits or something?? Does anyone know anything about this or where I might be able to get snails?

Thanks!


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## ZebraDanio12 (Jun 17, 2011)

msclark1964 said:


> Where do you get your snails from? They don't have them at the PetSupermarket of Petco near me and I don't have any local fish store. I also heard places don't ship them because they cannot be shipped across state lines without special permits or something?? Does anyone know anything about this or where I might be able to get snails?
> 
> Thanks!


I get them at petsmart. Actually you can ship them. try aquabid?


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## lohachata (Jan 27, 2006)

try www.aquabid.com ...
see if you can get nerite snails...they will tolerate the salt much better...
most all species of catfish do not do well in salt....


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