Jump to content

Recommendation for a gravel cleaning fish/Invertebrate


Root
 Share

Recommended Posts

Hello! I have a pretty dense carpet of dwarf sag and have a hard time vacuuming the gravel against the glass. I am hoping there is a critter of some sort that could get into gravel to lighten the load some overtime. I hear MTS could help, but I have eco complete and not sure if they could travel/turn the gravel too well. Do you have a recommendation for a fish/Invertebrate or something you do that helps you get around plants?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Amano shrimp would work.  However, I will share this for the sake of trying to understand what you're wanting.
 

 

As far as moving / living in the substrate I think the only real option for eating food and stuff on the bottom is some kind of shrimp.  Cleaning the bottom of the tank isn't easy, but what most people will do is just try to suck off the layer without disrupting the plants.  Once the plants have a good root structure, this is a bit easier to do.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thank you for the input. What I am looking for is something that will literally get into or rather dig into the gravel to get where my Amano shrimp or RCS can’t go. They take care of business on the surface of the gravel and above, but I have a layer of buildup that they cant get to about an inch or so into the gravel. I didn’t know if there was a type of worm or something out there I could check out lol. 

Edited by Paul R
Typo
Link to comment
Share on other sites

You may hate this idea. I keep bladder snails on purpose. Even when I had eco complete they could get down in under the gravel. Scuds are a fantastic option to do exactly what you want in my opinion. I kept those with eco as well. Low maintenance hardy critters dump them in and they get the job done.

Edit to add scuds make great live food and environmental enrichment for your Fish without fear of population depletions or losing expensive shrimp. 

Edited by Guppysnail
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
 Share

×
×
  • Create New...