Bottom Feeders

I have a 38 gallon tank with two small bass. I feed the bass live feeder fish. This creates quite a mess on the bottom of the aquarium. Is there any bottom feeders (fish, snails, crabs)that will help clean the organic matter in the gravel. I don't really have an algae problem, I am looking more for something that will clean up all the little fish scraps and peices that sink to the bottom. I do weekly water changes and vacuum the gravel every water change. I was wondering what my best option is to help between water changes.

Well can i just say i know what u mean about waste (crap) build up, i have a 50g tank with guppys, tetras (neons & penguin), and garamies. But the worst culprits are my pleco and 3 clown fish that since they have grown up from babys have created more and more waste. I do the fortnightly water changes but i also clean it with a gravel cleaner every 4 days just to keep on top of the waste, for about 10min and empty about a buckett full. there is nothing worse than an untidy tank one of my pet hates lol but if this is too much of a chore to do i would get an apple snail because they eat dead fish remains and there great for eating up waste so i hear but there is a draw back beacause they love eating plants too! So if you have live plants then i would say its a no no. hope this helps m8

dude u have bass? dats cool, how big r they?

They are about 5". They are a really cool fish, kind of messy becasue they only eat live bait but they are worth it. My largemouth will take a feeder fish out of my hand while I'm holding it about 2" above the water. My kids love to watch it.

some type of cat fish should solve your problem, they are bottom feeders that like meaty foods

Cory cats are nice, but the bass would probably make a meal of them. They may even be inclined to eat or harass large snails. Maybe you should stick to a syphon hose for substrate cleaning. At least you can say you have one of the most interesting aquariums around.

I used to have a 6" channel catfish. The problem with channels is they are more of a hunter than a scavenger. I may try a blue catfish this time. The pond I caught my bass out of has some blue catfish in it. I know some people don't agree with catching 'wild' fish for an aquarium, but I find I appreciate my fish a lot more when I have to work at trying to catch them rather than buying them. And catching fish small enough for an aqaurium can be more challenging than catching large fish sometimes. Plus I only catch them out of local ponds, I never mix fish form different ponds and I always return them to the same pond I caught them from after they outgrow my aquarium.

Just a cautionary note:

Depending on where you live, there are some laws against keeping any wild creature. Releasing them back into the wild is also against the law in many states, because they can contract exotic (non native) diseases and parasites in captivity, then spread them in the wild.

I have already researched the laws regarding keeping/releasing native fish. I am also aware of the exotic disease/parasite problem. This is the reason I go to such great lengths to make sure all my fish come from the same pond and to make sure that I release every fish back into the same pond I caught it from. This allows the fish to continue growing while minimizing the potential problems. It also slightly helps the bass population in the pond because the chances that the two fry I catch and raise every year would have made it on their own are slim.

get a few crayfish. They are good bottom feeders. just give them some cover or the bass will eat them lol. well bass pretty much eat everything lol


Oh forgot to ask...What kind of bass are they?
Smallmouth,largemouth or spotted? Smallmouth at that size would probally leave the crayfish alone but a large mouth at that size would probally eat them or any bottom feeder you have in the tank. spotted im not to sure on since i only ever see small or large mouths.

I figured you had checked out the regulations. The message was to keep this forum on the correct side of things.

I have one small mouth and one large mouth. I used to have a crayfish in the tank. He was about 6" long so he was as big as both of my bass at the time. The only problem with crayfish is they love to destroy live plants. Also, I woke up when morning and discovered the crayfish was no longer in the tank. We found him three days later in my sons closet on the other side of the house. My wife has requested no more crayfish, she was scared to walk through the house at night until we found him. She puts up with this hobby I guess its the least i can do.

Maybe you can put a powerhead on the bottom of the tank to disturb the surface of the gravel and hopefully it'll go into the filter.

why should not you go for lown loach?this is a very good as well as heardy fish....

Fishycrackerz wrote:

Maybe you can put a powerhead on the bottom of the tank to disturb the surface of the gravel and hopefully it'll go into the filter.

Hmm are there certain powerheads that can be totally submerged underwater? The only ones i can find or have say if it falls in to turn the breaker off and then pull it out.

Everyting I have read about clown loaches say they are really sensitive to water conditions. Bass are such messy fish and produce so much waste that even with weekly water changes my nitrates sometimes reach 20 ppm. Would that be stressful for a clown loach?

no clown loach is a very hardy fish...it manages to live even when water parater is not good..and ya clown loach can live in 20 ppm...

vashe wrote:

Fishycrackerz wrote:

Maybe you can put a powerhead on the bottom of the tank to disturb the surface of the gravel and hopefully it'll go into the filter.

Hmm are there certain powerheads that can be totally submerged underwater? The only ones i can find or have say if it falls in to turn the breaker off and then pull it out.

Well there is a powerhead called the Koralia. It's made by Hydor. I have one and it works quite well.