Do I need a clean up crew for a Mbuna tank?

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Whiteboi_J

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Jul 8, 2010
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Texas
This is my first venture into the world of Cichlids and i've been doing a lot of research while my 55 is cycling. It should be fully cycled sometime this week. I've decided to go Mbuna b/c i can get a good 10-12 fish in there and I SHOULD be fine. lol.

But my question is, do i need some type of clean up crew? In my 20 community i had, i had a pair of cory's that was always eating leftover food, and an oto that NEVER showed himself, but the glass stayed algae free after i added him.
 
PS i have crushed coral substrate and will be getting some holey rock before i add fish. Not sure how much though.....is it 1-2 lbs per gallon?
 
silent1mezzo;4776672; said:
From my experience definitely not oto's. I had 6 and they quickly disappeared. I've never had cories though...
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lol, oto's would become an expensive meal. i would consider full grown cory's, but the crushed coral would be hell for em
 
Mbuna are too aggressive for cories. If you really want some sort of bottom feeder you should look into the rift lake syno cats. I have a group of syno petricola in my mbuna tank and they do fantastic. You can also try a bristlenose pleco but sometimes they don't work out with the mbuna. Mbuna seem to have a taste for pleco eyes. But really you don't need any sort of clean up crew.
 
NO nothing, they will eat everything, you will not have extra food sitting around, and anything you try will be completely destroyed, had foot long common plecos with a small group, ate the eyes out. there is nothing that they wont harass
 
Yes, S. petricola is great. With a colony and some luck, you might find some fries swimming in your canister when you clean them(they are egg scatterers)
 
^^^^^^ not in a 55
 
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