8 replies to this topic

[Lucania200]

What tank inhabitant does everyone use to clean up the uneaten food in the bottom of their tanks?

[MtFallsTodd]

Black nose dace do a great job. They dig in the gravel of my tank for food. Nice looking and very hardy fish. Can be found almost anywhere in my area.

[swampfish]

I typically do not feed my fish one day a week and only feed my fish once per day. This allows consumption during the day of most uneaten food. I do not push my fish for maximum growth.

 

I also have plants in every tank to consume fish waste and uneaten food. That works for me as I only keep killifish, livebearers, and minnows from ponds and slow-moving rivers.

 

Plants would not be as suitable for sunfish and fast-moving water tanks, and reduced food would be a problem for darter tanks. 

 

Phil Nixon

[Lucania200]

Haha, the exact problem I'm having is in a high flow tank with yellowfin shiners and fantail darters.

[Michael Wolfe]

you need a juvenile bluehead chub in a tank with YFS... they actively dig through the gravel looking for whatever they can find.

[Lucania200]

you need a juvenile bluehead chub in a tank with YFS... they actively dig through the gravel looking for whatever they can find.

Definitely a possibility. However, (1) Where could I get one? They don't occur in my area, and the local equivalents (Nocomis asper and N. biguttatus) are off limits (they're both threatened in my state) . (2) How long could a juvenile bluehead chub be kept in a 20 long? I wouldn't expect it would be very long. (3) How fast would it grow? specifically at 70 F. (4) Would it be OK in an outdoor tub when it outgrows the current tank? If not, than I'm afraid it won't work for me. (5) Would a gravel chub work instead? From what I've read, it should be compatible with the current residents (about the same size and tank requirements).

[Michael Wolfe]

I've kept them for a couple of years between 4 inch and 9 inch... but I was thinking of a larger tank... its just that they co-occur so often right here in my part of Georgia.

[Fleendar the Magnificent]

Late chiming in here, but I have crayfish. You must be careful with crays because they are escape artists and they will also snack on the sleeping benthic fish such as darters. However, I've never had any issues with crays eating my darters and they do a wonderful job. My bluntnose minnows also like to pick the bottom too.

 

Blessings.

 

The Grumpy Old Man.

[Lucania200]

Funny you should mention crayfish, I didn't end up adding any to this tank, but I do have a couple of Prairie Crayfish in my 40 breeder. They are so far completely uninterested with the fish and plants in the tank (Bluefin Killifish, Golden Topminnows, Bluespotted Sunfish, Florida Flagfish, Red Shiners, Sailfin Shiners, a Sand Shiner, and Central Stonerollers), and one of them lived in a 10 gal. peacefully for months with everything from breeding Bluefin Killifish, to Western Mosquitofish, to a Bullfrog Tadpole, to a Golden Topminnow with trouble swimming. I ended up adding 3 young Stonerollers to the 20 long, but not with the YFS and Fantail Darters (they all died from a fungus outbreak while I had to have someone else watch my tanks)