Aquarium for dummies?

  • We are currently upgrading MFK. thanks! -neo
For a 10-gallon tank, I would say that your space could be better used getting fish you want to watch. Time to clean the tank weekly won't vary hardly at all by adding "janitor" fish (in fact, they will actually add to the task). I would instead look at some other things that could help. For instance, if you're experiencing a lot of algae, limit the amount of light by maybe moving the tank away from a window or only having the lights on when you're actually viewing the tank; or, you could reduce the amount of food you're feeding your fish. Overfeeding is probably one of the biggest things aquarists do wrong...especially with small tanks like a 10-gallon.

If you're dead set on some "cleaning fish", then I agree that the otocinclus would be a good choice for algae. Corydora catfish or small loaches such as Botia rostrata (Ladder Loach), Botia geto (Queen Loach), or Yasuhikotakia sidthimunki (Dwarf Chain Loach) would be good choices for eating anything that your other fish didn't, but they'd also like some food of their own such as a few shrimp pellets.
 
Sa bumblebee cats for bottom cleaning you could also get away with a banjo cat. And a bristlenose pleco for algae, or any hardy dwarf pleco. Personally I would up grade to atleast a 20g for ease of maintenance and health of fish. The larger a tank the easier it will be to maintain the water params.
 
Only thing that come to my mind, that's feasable, is to keep fish that work the substrate as their normal feeding habit. A species that can do so in a 10 gal could be Geophagus pelligrini. They're small at just a few inches, easy to feed, easy to breed, and easy to sex. They feed by plowing the substrate. The uneaten detritus is expelled through their gills where a good filter can pull the waste from the water column.
 
^ Apple snails get HUGE though... plus they will eat ANY plants growing in the tank... i made that mistake a about 2 - 3 years ago... placed one in my 25G planted tank, next morning all that was left was the stalks stripped bare...
 
The only apple snail allowed in the US now is Pomacea diffusa (formerly P. bridgesi). They only reach about 3". The giant apple snail, P. canaliculata, reaches 6" and is no longer permitted (since 4/2006 by the USDA) in the US. It was deemed to be a threat to agriculture. In fact, P. diffusa is the only allowed species from the Family of Ampullariidae.
 
Oddball said:
Only thing that come to my mind, that's feasable, is to keep fish that work the substrate as their normal feeding habit. A species that can do so in a 10 gal could be Geophagus pelligrini. They're small at just a few inches, easy to feed, easy to breed, and easy to sex. They feed by plowing the substrate. The uneaten detritus is expelled through their gills where a good filter can pull the waste from the water column.
Click to expand...

Oddball, pelligrini can grow well over a few inches... Dan Ye Jennings has/had a male that was a reported 8-9". Good to see you back BTW. :)
 
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