dmurray407 Posted January 6, 2022 Share Posted January 6, 2022 (edited) Tomorrow is the day-I need some algae eater/bottom clean up type fish and a LFS somewhat close to me is reopening after they had to move. I'm not sure what all they will have in stock. If they don't have anything on my list, I can go to another fish store but it is farther away and it's cold outside 🙂 I have my quarantine tank ready to go and I have a list of potential candidates. I tried some shrimp but they became a smorgasbord for my rainbow fish. I have 3 nerite snails who keep my glass nice and clean and a pleco who isn't really all that neat-he just seems to poop a lot. My list includes dwarf/pygmy/panda Corydoras, kuhli loaches, otocinclus catfish (really my first choice), or dwarf chain loaches (I know they eat snails, but my snails are pretty good sized-would they be safe?) I'm planning to get a group of 6 of whatever I can find (just one variety). Any other suggestions? Any precautions about the medication trio with any of these fish? Thank you for any suggestions or little bits of information you can share with me. I forgot to add that my tank is a well cycled 60 gal planted aquarium with a gravel bottom. Edited January 6, 2022 by dmurray407 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BETTA999 Posted January 6, 2022 Share Posted January 6, 2022 good Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colu Posted January 6, 2022 Share Posted January 6, 2022 It all depends on the size of your tank as to what algae eater I would recommend Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guppysnail Posted January 6, 2022 Share Posted January 6, 2022 (edited) Panda Cory. They clean up well even after messy guppies and a BN pleco who whooshes her food everywhere with her tail and well they are adorable clowns that will use the whole tank and be crazy entertaining as well as useful. They are also very hardy. I can’t give med recommendation I don’t preemptively use medications just qt and watch. Edited January 6, 2022 by Guppysnail 4 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BETTA999 Posted January 6, 2022 Share Posted January 6, 2022 kulli loaches is a no because they will deasapear i think the best are cory or otos the only thing is that cory dont eat a lot of alge 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dmurray407 Posted January 6, 2022 Author Share Posted January 6, 2022 On 1/6/2022 at 11:03 AM, Colu said: size of your tank 60 gallons. I currently have 2 large rainbow fish and 8 inch and a half sized tetras and my pleco in there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BETTA999 Posted January 6, 2022 Share Posted January 6, 2022 well you can get 5 pandas corys and 2 otos 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dmurray407 Posted January 6, 2022 Author Share Posted January 6, 2022 On 1/6/2022 at 11:07 AM, Guppysnail said: I don’t preemptively use medications just qt and watch. I might go that route, as well. Years ago I had an ick breakout due to some new fish (mail order) I didn't quarantine. It was a disaster and between the ick and the meds I got to that it I lost almost all the fish including a big group of clown loaches. I know a lot more now but it makes me really nervous to put the meds in there. How long do you usually quarantine? I'm thinking 4 weeks? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colu Posted January 6, 2022 Share Posted January 6, 2022 I think a group of Siamese algae or a couple of bristlenose pleco would do well 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Levi_Aquatics Posted January 6, 2022 Share Posted January 6, 2022 I love my black kuli loaches! I got a group of six in my 20L and they stay pretty active. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guppysnail Posted January 6, 2022 Share Posted January 6, 2022 On 1/6/2022 at 12:41 PM, dmurray407 said: I might go that route, as well. Years ago I had an ick breakout due to some new fish (mail order) I didn't quarantine. It was a disaster and between the ick and the meds I got to that it I lost almost all the fish including a big group of clown loaches. I know a lot more now but it makes me really nervous to put the meds in there. How long do you usually quarantine? I'm thinking 4 weeks? 3 weeks but I’m retired so watch their every behavior. 4 weeks should be fine. Here is why I don’t preemptively medicate. It is against the grain so I know a lot of folks will disagree and that is fine. I’m not saying I’m right just right for me. Fish in the wild are designed to handle bacteria and small amounts of parasites. Weak or stress weakened fish get sick. Transport is stressful. Fish stores are stressful being moved to a permanent tank is stressful. Stressing them by withholding food for water quality, causing water issues, medications alone are stressful weakening fish. Putting them through meds now they are “sterilized” but stress weakened. Now they are most likely to pick up bacterial infection, ick, parasites that may be in my tank from being weak and stressed. There are bad bacteria and parasites in our tanks no matter how hard we try. I am also now introducing bacteria into my tank that has resistance built up to whatever med I used. I colony manage my tanks. When I have a sick fish which is so very rare outside of physical injury I can’t remember (except guppies 😕) the last time I needed meds but I have them in case. If I have an I’ll fish it is removed from my colony immediately and never reintroduced even upon recovery. I know their immune system is susceptible to something in that tank so they live separate because if they are reinfected it gives bad bacteria a breeding ground to overpopulate and hit my other fish. If my qt fish I have even a tiny doubt about I use sentinel fish. I don’t hear that spoken of anymore but it used to be very common many years ago among folks I knew. I use young juvenile guppies and place them in with the qt fish after 3 weeks. If there is anything it will present in very young guppies within 2 weeks. If I were a business where time is money and I could not watch each fish for weeks you better believe I would medicate each and every fish prior to introducing to my system. Oh my goodness I just went to reread this and realized I went on a tangent. I’m sorry I did not mean to it just started flowing 🤣🤣🤣 Anyway if you don’t find any of it useful or interesting just ignore it 🤣 4 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EVoyager31 Posted January 6, 2022 Share Posted January 6, 2022 I have Kuhli Loaches and while I like them...I like being able to see my fish during the day and they really only come out at night. That being said my favorite bottom feeder/dweller has to be cories. I am partial to albinos (simply because they have a lot of contrast on black substrate) but pandas are good too. They are very active in my tanks and the more you have the cooler the schooling action. Otos would be a solid choice too, but if I was choosing one from your list: Panda cories all the way. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dmurray407 Posted January 6, 2022 Author Share Posted January 6, 2022 (edited) On 1/6/2022 at 12:09 PM, Guppysnail said: Oh my goodness I just went to reread this and realized I went on a tangent. I’m sorry I did not mean to it just started flowing 🤣🤣🤣 No, I appreciate every bit of it! And, actually, I feel the same way. I was a nurse for many years and the issue of antibiotic resistance caused by the overprescribing of antibiotic medications has been drilled into my head. It has created a whole new set of problems. Like you, I am retired and I can watch my fish and treat any issues that come up. (and not feeding them just seems kind of mean....)Thank you for your great explanation! OK, my plan is for a combination of Corys and Oto cats. I'll see what they actually have in stock and go from there. Thank you all for the great advice!!! Edited January 6, 2022 by dmurray407 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guppysnail Posted January 6, 2022 Share Posted January 6, 2022 On 1/6/2022 at 2:13 PM, dmurray407 said: No, I appreciate every bit of it! And, actually, I feel the same way. I was a nurse for many years and the issue of antibiotic resistance caused by the overprescribing of antibiotic medications has been drilled into my head. It has created a whole new set of problems. Like you, I am retired and I can watch my fish and treat any issues that come up. (and not feeding them just seems kind of mean....)Thank you for your great explanation! OK, my plan is for a combination of Corys and Oto cats. I'll see what they actually have in stock and go from there. Thank you all for the great advice!!! Out of reactions 😍 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HH Morant Posted January 6, 2022 Share Posted January 6, 2022 @dmurray407, if you don't post early, @Guppysnail is going to be out of reactions, so I gave you a like. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guppysnail Posted January 6, 2022 Share Posted January 6, 2022 On 1/6/2022 at 4:15 PM, HH Morant said: @dmurray407, if you don't post early, @Guppysnail is going to be out of reactions, so I gave you a like. I would laugh at this but…ORD 🤣 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Torrey Posted January 7, 2022 Share Posted January 7, 2022 On 1/6/2022 at 2:27 PM, Guppysnail said: I would laugh at this but…ORD 🤣 ORD🤣🤣🤣 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dmurray407 Posted January 7, 2022 Author Share Posted January 7, 2022 (edited) Dang it! I'm all set, but it's -23 (F) out so I'm going to have to postpone my fish trip until it warms up (not supposed to be above 0 until this evening sometime). It's a 45 min drive to the fish store and I'm just worried about keeping the fish warm enough on the way home or if I have car trouble (knock on wood-my car is pretty reliable but you never know...). I might try tomorrow, if not, I'll have to wait until one day next week. It was supposed to be warmer than this today🥶 Edited January 7, 2022 by dmurray407 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guppysnail Posted January 7, 2022 Share Posted January 7, 2022 Yikes that’s rough. I fill a hard plastic cooler with ziplock baggies of warm water then replace one or two with fish bags going to and from the LFS that is 45 minutes from me it seems to work decent. I am not in those extreme temps though. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dmurray407 Posted January 7, 2022 Author Share Posted January 7, 2022 On 1/7/2022 at 8:50 AM, Guppysnail said: I fill a hard plastic cooler with ziplock baggies of warm water I do something similar, but I just worry that my car might break down or something unexpected, so I'll just wait until it's above 0 (which, in reality really isn't that much warmer...) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Torrey Posted January 7, 2022 Share Posted January 7, 2022 On 1/7/2022 at 8:01 AM, dmurray407 said: I do something similar, but I just worry that my car might break down or something unexpected, so I'll just wait until it's above 0 (which, in reality really isn't that much warmer...) Do you buy the Co-op heat packs? I'm used to having to move fish in sub-freezing weather because that was consistently when masonry work had to stop and we'd be relocated. Back then I used the heat packs skiers and ski patrol would put in our boots and mittens to prevent frost bite Wrap one in a hand towel and throw in the bottom of the cooler. Lay 2 x 2liter bottles of warm water on top, and then bags of fish on top of that. Cover with a towel and close the cooler. With thermometers that are available today, I would add a thermometer under the fish, to ensure that they don't get too warm. Probably the same thermometer I used to cook our Christmas dinner, lol. Battery operated and a long wire, along with LED display would make it easy to monitor the fish temp in the car. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dmurray407 Posted January 8, 2022 Author Share Posted January 8, 2022 Well, that was a wasted trip to the new fish store. They had mostly zebra danios and all the fish were so tiny you almost needed a magnifying glass-and nothing was labeled. It was clean and the staff was great and I got some new fish food because I want to support them so they stay in business. There were lots of customers and a few even mentioned that they watch Cory's videos on YouTube 🙂 I'm sure they are really just getting set up so I'm not going to be too hard on them and will definitely go back. I'll try another store in Minneapolis next week. 1 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chad Posted January 8, 2022 Share Posted January 8, 2022 So sorry for the wasted trip. I've been following Tamed Waters, Minneapolis area, might want to check them out next time you're in those parts. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dmurray407 Posted January 8, 2022 Author Share Posted January 8, 2022 On 1/8/2022 at 4:42 PM, Chad said: Tamed Waters I guess that's only 60 miles away so maybe I'll give them a try. All the really great fish stores in the area seem to be about an hour away 🙂 Thanks for the suggestion! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chad Posted January 9, 2022 Share Posted January 9, 2022 Good luck @dmurray407, and hey, at least you have great fishstores nearby. The best I've found near me is PetSmart. But I have gotten used to mail shipped fish, not a bad way to go either. Last batch from Aquahuna were in great shape. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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