Habitat - Indoor :: Cleaner Fish

[Safdar]

Hey
I wanted to know what fish i can get thatll clean the tank and not get eaten by Tito
I need a fish thats big enough to not be eaten by Tito
and not that big thatll crowd my tank

Any ideas

[xsavingsaturdayx]

Anything that you put in the tank has the potential to become food, there is no such thing as "a fish that my turtle wont eat".

I once had a pleco in with my two turtles a long time ago, after placing it in the tank, 20 minutes or so later, i came back and all that was left was the plecos head..poor thing. Yeah maybe your turtle wont eat it, but I know of so many people who have had plecos in with their turtles for years, and then one day, BAM! It becomes lunch. Plecos and other 'bottom dwelling fish' sometimes get huge too..especially the more common cheap ones (well cheap as in 5$ or more..do you realy want to spend that much for a fish that may get eaten?)

I think, with a good filter you shouldnt need fish, they dont realy clean up that good anyway and produce waste of their own so in the end all it does is add more work for your filter.

[Tenodera]

When you mean clean are you talking about cleaning algae or waste or extra food?

[Safdar]

You know the dirt at the bottom, that my filter doesnt pick up

and hes like 1 1/2 inch

[xsavingsaturdayx]

For extra food or debri you can use a fishnet, for algea you can use something like an algea mit or just leave it alone. Algea isnt harmful.

[Safdar]

it selltes at the bottom of the tank and its hard

I used a syringe today to get it out
Yes, a syringe, i borrowed it from my uncles clinic

[xsavingsaturdayx]

I dont think its hard to collect debri with a fishnet. But you can buy a python and quick vaccum sweep on the bottom is fast, easy and swift.

How big is your tank and what kind of filter are you using? Just curious..

[Safdar]

Hes 1 1/2 inch
and i use a Marineland Penguin Bio-Wheel 200B

[xsavingsaturdayx]

and how big is your tank?

[Safdar]

20 long

[xsavingsaturdayx]

I believe that filter is rated for 50 gallons right? If so then thats good filteration for a tank of that size, good job

It's your choice whether to use a fish such as a pleco to eat all the crap on the bottom but remember that the fish CANT live off of that alone. They too require a proper diet, and hiding spots, etc. And like I mentioned they also dont do that good of a job at cleaning anyway, they produce waste as well so they actually add to the bio-load, and the more common plecos that you will probably end up with get freakishly huge too. And your turtle might eat it, even if tito doesnt eat it for the first couple of weeks, months, years, doesnt mean that he is 'used' to it. Even if the fish is ten times bigger than him, he can still kill it...ya know how? By eating it, little by little, ripping a fin here and there, taking a piece of meat off of it again here and there, little by little, so the poor fish will go through a slow and painful death if tito ever decides to harass it. Or the fish might harass tito since it is bigger than him and try to latch on to his shell.

I personally use a fishnet to collect all the crap on the bottom of my tank. It takes a minute or two usually and I dont need to feed and care for a fishnet and it's realy cheap too

[Safdar]

Ya your right
imma go get a fish net tomarow

[Safdar]

and some anarcharis, cuz hes not eating his veggies

[xsavingsaturdayx]

anacharis is a good plant to use. It also helps keep your water cleaner too, so if tito doesnt eat it right away, it will serve a purpose.

[Safdar]

really i heard it makes a mess when he eats it