bottom feeder for my 10gal

[manda]

Hi guys
can ya help me out? I will be going to my LFS in about a week and i plan on getting some kind of bottom feeder.

I have a 10 gallon with 6 black neon tetras, and a betta. My betta is a bit agressive with the tetras. he loves to chase after them but i have never seen him catch them. I realize this may be a problem with most bottom feeding fish because they will not be as fast as my tetras are.

any suggestions? BTW i am think 8 ghost shrimp. i KNOW my betta will have them ate in a couple of months because thats what he did last time. but i dont mind if he eats my shrimp.

i also wonder, do you know if a bamboo shrimp would be happy in there?

thanks for any help

[fishbguy]

i'm not sure about the shrimp but a cory or two would be nice. they are kinda slow but they are armored.

[mousey]

siamese algae eater! Non aggressive. Also known as siamese algae eating shark.
Do not get confused with flying fox or chinese algae eaters.

[Scuba Kid]

Get too large for a 10 gallon IMO.

[Ringo]

Yea they would, and the cories would defintely not work.
The shrimp sounds good, and I dont know much about bamboo shrimp. As long as they don't get to big, I'm sure they'll be just happy.

[Giddy012]

What about an Oto or 2, they stay small, and the Betta shouldn't care about them.

[guppyart]

don't do ottos cause they like to be in groups and don't do well with only 2 and if you added a group they would starve cause there wouldn't be enough algae

[Kageshi17]

Why not cories??? They are the best! Get 3. They really dont mind the betta at all, most move way too fast and if they are not moving, they will be hiding.

[manda]

cories are pretty small arent they.
i was a bit concerned that a couple actual fish would overstock me.
thanks for the help.

[Ringo]

Originally Posted by Kageshi17

Why not cories??? They are the best! Get 3. They really dont mind the betta at all, most move way too fast and if they are not moving, they will be hiding.

Cories should be in schools of 6+, at least. A 24x12'' bottom really is not enough space for 6 cories that get 2+... Possibly dwarf cories, they only get about an inch long but I still dont think that base is big enough.
The shrimp wouldn't be a bad idea, add something differant than fish to the tank. If you could find some shrimp that get 2 inches or so, that could work out with your betta.

[manda]

i **think** i will end up getting two bamboo shrimp.

[gem]

Bamboo shrimp would be fine. They get around 2 1/2 - 3 inches ( I don't think they get any larger than that anyway). Betta won't be able to eat them in any case....and they don't have claws so they won't be catching any of your fish.
As far as cories.....three cories would be ok...no more than that though. They prefer to be in groups as Ringo said....but a group of three is fine. Dwarf cories would be alot better if you can find them.

[Buggy]

How about a mystery/apple snail? He will clean bottom, sides and everything in between.

[MyraVan]

I don't think a bamboo shrimp is the best choice. They are very different from your average shrimp (Amano, cherry, ghost) because they are filter feeders. Their front legs have evolved into "fans" -- they look like lots of fingers. They spread these out to catch particles in the current. They can pick up particles from the substrate, but they have to be quite small particles. The best way to feed them is to put some very fine particles in the water column for them to filter out, like fry food, coral food, or crushed flakes.

I got 3 at the beginning of January, and just a couple of days ago one molted, then died. It seems that bamboo shrimps are prone to doing that and iodine (like you put in marine tanks, but at a much lower dose) helps them with this. So I've ordered some iodine and will start adding it to the tank. I feel that these are cool enough animals to make it worth the effort of taking good care of them so they can have a good long life in my tank.

So I would say that bamboo shrimps are not really easy-care animals, while the other shrimps I mentioned are, I feel. The other shrimps don't seem to have any problems molting (all the ones I've had have lived full lives without any added iodine) and they are very easy to feed, since they eat algae and leftover fish food.

A mystery snail would be good, except that sometimes bettas pick at their long tentacles, and if this betta turns out to be that way, it wouldn't be a very good life for the snail. Since your betta is aggressive with the tetras and eats shirmps, I bet he wouldn't be a good companion for a snail...

I really don't know what to recommend, other than 3 pygmy cories. Ringo is right: cories, being schooling fish, should be in groups of 6 or more. But, although it is not ideal, it seems that most schooling fish are all right as long as you have at least 3 of them. 1 or 2 is not good, though.

[Kyoberr]

I think a snail would be good if you are worried about it being nipped at. Also cories can be pretty speedy it seems like to me (when they want to be). Actually, it seems like all fish are really fast.

[manda]

thanks for the heads up on the bamboo shrimp. i recently read that in a caresheet.

i am sooo tired of snails. for years and years i have always had at least one apple or mystery snail. i guess i will either get a few cories, or ghost shrimp.

[Ringo]

If you are going to go with cories try and find pygmy cories.

[manda]

i have never seen them at any of the fish stores around here. i will ask if they can order some for me.

[Damon]

I thin khalf the people replying to this post are confused about what you want (as am I).

Do you want bottom feeders/scavengers or algae eaters?

THe reason I ask is otos are'nt bottom feeders but you thought about getting some. Neither is the bamboo shrimp (its a filter feeder).

The cories are the only fish I saw recommended for bottom feeders that may work. Again it really depends on what you are looking for.

[manda]

i am looking for a fish that hangs out at the bottom, so the bottom of my tank will have some movement. i dont need anything that eats algae because i dont have any algae. something that eats wasted fish food would be nice. but it really doesnt matter to me. if i did get something that needed algae and i didnt have any i could give it algae wafers.

sorry, i didnt clarify because it really doesnt matter.