Clean up crew for larger cichlids

[T1mmus82]

Hi guys new the forum but looking for some advice? I have a 2 Oscars, 2 Acaras and 1 Jack Dempsey in a lightly  planted tank, mostly floating plants.

I'm looking ideas for a clean up crew??  All fishes are around 4/5 inches so amano shrimp would just be a snack and i had to remove my bristlenose as the oscars tore up his fins. Looking for something to help with the uneaten food and film thats settling on the rocks between water changes that will not be a chew toy or lunch???

Thanks in advance for any help out there?

Tam

[MickS77]

I've kept Pictus Catfish (Pimelodus pictus) & Cuckoo Catfish (Synodontis multipunctatus) with African Cichlids and they did great. They can hold their own against bigger fish once they're large enough. 

[T1mmus82]

Cheers Mick I'll have a read up and see if my local guy can get me some 👍👍

[Mr. Ed's Aquatics]

How big is the aquarium? If it's housing Oscars I would hope pretty big. If you have a large tank, might look at common or sailfin plecos. These get a bad rap because everyone gets them as "algae eaters" and puts them in small tanks. But they're ideal tank mates for large central and south American cichlids. They are from the same place and like the same water conditions. They're a scavenging carnavore, so they clean up after your messy cichlids. Mine are even pellet trained so they're used to coming out to the top of the tank for food. 

If you're going with smaller ones or don't have a big tank, many other plecos will work. Maybe look at royal or blue eyed, big but not huge. Definitely some kind of bigger pleco for sure.

Be careful with synadontis cats, they're from Africa and are used to really hard water. Whenever I tried adding them to soft water tanks, they developed soars and skin ulcers. You might have better luck, but in my experience your fish like much different water than synadontis cats. 

[Cory]

I'd use an army of malaysian trumpet snails.

[Alexa]

I second the trumpet snails. They accidentally ended up in my flowerhorn tank and now I can’t imagine not having them. Any uneaten food or crumbs are gone by the end of the day. I think they break down the fish waste well, too.

[HenryC]

I asked Cory this question some time ago in a livestream and he suggested Hoplo Catfish! They're like Corys on steroids lol. They're a bit pricey though!

[T1mmus82]

Cheers guys I'll have a look at the snail options as my lfs can't order any decent size pictus cats in at the moment,  and I'm in Scotland and hoplos are quite common, all the local suppliers and stores have them atm, also the albino variation 👍👍🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿

[T1mmus82]

On 9/3/2020 at 5:19 PM, Mr. Ed's Aquatics said:

How big is the aquarium? If it's housing Oscars I would hope pretty big. If you have a large tank, might look at common or sailfin plecos. These get a bad rap because everyone gets them as "algae eaters" and puts them in small tanks. But they're ideal tank mates for large central and south American cichlids. They are from the same place and like the same water conditions. They're a scavenging carnavore, so they clean up after your messy cichlids. Mine are even pellet trained so they're used to coming out to the top of the tank for food. 

If you're going with smaller ones or don't have a big tank, many other plecos will work. Maybe look at royal or blue eyed, big but not huge. Definitely some kind of bigger pleco for sure.

Be careful with synadontis cats, they're from Africa and are used to really hard water. Whenever I tried adding them to soft water tanks, they developed soars and skin ulcers. You might have better luck, but in my experience your fish like much different water than synadontis cats. 

Yeah the tank is more than adequate its 4.5 foot, 22 inch high and 18 inch deep. The tank was bought with Oscars in mind 👍👍

[gcalberto]

Honestly, I'd do plecos. 

There are plenty of different plecos who grow quite large. Some really expensive, while others are not. Here are some that I'd have if I had a tank bigh enough:

Commom pleco 

L113

L24 and l25 

Panaque plecos (a few different species there) 

L114 and 600 

L14 (sunshine) pleco 

L18

If you go down this rabbit hole you'll see that there are a lot more options than those I listed and that grow large enough to not be threatened by central America cichlids. 

Edited September 7, 2020 by gcalberto

[Taylor Blake]

I'm thinking of doing a giraffe catfish or a ripsaw catfish for my big tank but tank size is a big deal with them. I have a feeling the snails are going to be your best friends in that tank.