yellowcar1125 wants to know:
I have a 30 gallon aquarium, I have african cichlids and a Jack dempsey in it. I need a bottom feeder, i really dont need a plecostomus because of their “mature size” (24 in.) plus my tank really isnt that dirty. I bought a Siver tipped Shark and ha d to take it back because the cichlids ate its whiskars so when I went back I got a Pangasius Catfish and I think that I am going to be taking it back tomorrow because it is picking on my cichlids and I looked around online and found out that they grow rediculously fast and can get 3 feet long or more (yikes.) I was thinking about a loach of some sort (clown) but i dont want my cichlids to torture it, but at the same time i know people that have loaches in with their cichlids. Can someone please give me some ideas???
I have a 30 gallon aquarium, I have african cichlids and a Jack dempsey in it. I need a bottom feeder, i really dont need a plecostomus because of their “mature size” (24 in.) plus my tank really isnt that dirty. I bought a Siver tipped Shark and ha d to take it back because the cichlids ate its whiskars so when I went back I got a Pangasius Catfish and I think that I am going to be taking it back tomorrow because it is picking on my cichlids and I looked around online and found out that they grow rediculously fast and can get 3 feet long or more (yikes.) I was thinking about a loach of some sort (clown) but i dont want my cichlids to torture it, but at the same time i know people that have loaches in with their cichlids. Can someone please give me some ideas???
July 29th, 2009 at 2:54 pm
a lil shark
July 29th, 2009 at 3:55 pm
shrimp maybe or a gobi
they r good
July 30th, 2009 at 2:12 pm
i sujest a yo yo chiclid.. Its a chilid cleaner I cant spell chiclid..
August 1st, 2009 at 1:01 am
no one “needs” a catfish. as that would imply that you have no intentions of doing water changes.
while your right, that the irridecent shark will reach about 4 feet. they dont do a good job eatting left over foods.
What you can consider is a fancy pleco. golden nuggests or l-018 prehaps. Some fancy plecos will grow less than the common pleco(24in) but they dont tend to eat algae as well. which is fine.
so you can consider a golden nuggest pleco, they will add color and should be fine with africans.
syno catfish are ok to. While they are alittle larger for a 30 gallon which you should need to upgrade for the JD cichlid, they will be accepted by african cichlids. my personal favoirite being a feather fin syno.
Clown loaches are suitable as they like to school and reaching about a foot ea..needs over 100 gallons. And chances are that the loaches might be botherd by the JD
August 3rd, 2009 at 2:07 pm
I like the glass cats myself, snails are good if you can control them as are crawdads.
August 3rd, 2009 at 7:20 pm
Plecostomus catfish are some of the most commonly kept algae-eating catfish, and are also some of the largest. Individuals measuring over 60 cm (2 feet) long have been reported in ponds and large tanks; Most people think they only grow large enough for their aquarium, but a small tank may only slow their rate of growth. Their growth may also become stunted in a smaller tank, leading to bad health and possibly an early death.
August 5th, 2009 at 10:36 am
With the aggressive cichlids I can’t think of anything that they won’t beat up or just eat. The jack is working against you lol.
Maybe some sterbei corys? They are good 3″ schooling fish, get 5 of them.
Or a freshwater cray? Some of the medium sized species about 4-5″ long could possibly defend themselves. They are a great cleanup creature.
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August 5th, 2009 at 10:22 pm
I would not get anything else I think you are fully stocked right now or over stocked depending on how many and what type of African cichlids you have.You also really shouldn’t have African and American cichlids mixed together.
August 6th, 2009 at 8:33 am
Since you already have the cichlids, you won’t need any bottom feeders because they are the one who lives in the bottomw strata!
August 7th, 2009 at 8:25 pm
How about a small school of pictus catfish, the spotted ones only get to be 4 inches or so, they are a schooling catfish so you’d need 5 or 6 but they are great. They are compatable with many fish and do a good job scavenging the bottom for food scraps. I also like their long whiskers.