# Clean up crew?



## SJM (Jun 8, 2007)

Is there any sort of rule for clean up crew for the tank, i.e.

2 otos per 10 gallons or 1 snail per 10 gallons?

Any recommendations on what would be good for a 65 gallon S.A. tank?

TIA


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## Adragontattoo (Jun 3, 2007)

For the 65, not shrimp and snails might be an issue. What cichlids are in the tank?

Bristlenose plec would help some (I may try setting up the 55 around getting albinos to breed).
Oto's are finicky sometimes, and for no other reason then the sky got darker, they will die.
Ramshorn snails would PROBABLY be ok as they are usually well hidden but again depending on the fish (geophagus, Botias, Loaches) they may dig em out and have escargo.


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## SJM (Jun 8, 2007)

It will be tetras and apistos (probably rams).


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## Tsquare (Feb 9, 2007)

In my experience there is no such thing as 1 snail per 10 gal. The Otos will be fine if there is ample algea/green stuf for them to eat and they will clean up diatoms quickly. I would wait till the tank is established to add them as they can die suddenly if no food.
Gene


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## Aquaculture (Feb 15, 2007)

Other than otos, I'm also using Yamato shirimps too. They're hardworking fellows... What I noticed are that Otos clean up the glass where as Yamatos, usually hang out with the plants. Another good thing about them are that they would help you snip out the weak or dead plants for easy scooping later. With my 4ft, by 2ft, by 2ft tank...that would mean no more wet armpits cutting the dead stem or leaves...


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## Homer_Simpson (Apr 2, 2007)

In my 5b gallon planted tank. I have a "cleaning crew" consisting of a Amano Shrimp, Cherry Shrimp, and 2 Otos. 

The Otos cleared up the Diatom algae and fast. They seem only interested in diatom algae and pretty much ignore any other algae(i.e,. thread algae).

The Amano Shrimp: Sorry to say, but he is useless. But I believe that may have to do more with the fact that he was fed a diet of raw potatoes at the petstore, so now he probably could careless for algae. To me, it almost seems like he is always searching for his long lost "potatoes." I always see him scouring the substrate, but since there is no left over fish food and no algae on the substrate, I have no clue what he is looking for(probably potatoes).

The Cherry Shrimp: Has got nice fat and red since I got him. It looks like he is constantly on the plants and looks like he is feeding off something. My guess is that he is probably consuming algae, but in quantities too small to make a huge difference.

I plan on adding a Zebra Nerite Snail to the crew since the Amano is slacking and no one seems to want to clean up the little bit of thread algae that is forming on one of my ambulia.


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## ShortFin (Jan 13, 2006)

General rule for Otos is 1 per 10 gallon.


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## stepheus (Jun 13, 2006)

65 gallons? Thats a lot of space for Siamese Algae Eater (SAE). Not if you are planning to have mosses or rotala wallachi. But they are the best.


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## jaidexl (Jan 20, 2007)

The snails will reach their critical mass on their own depending on how much you feed the fish and how much the fish don't get to. In many cases it will be more snails than you bargained for. If you're talking about poop factory mystery snails, then you want to stick with just one to keep them from breeding and leave some space in the bio-load for other stock, or none if you're worried about getting stuck with a veracious plant eating apple snail. The 10gl rule for otos and other algae eaters applies to them having enough algae to sustain their numbers in the tank, if it isn't enough you can simply supplement their diet with flakes, spirulina and blanched veggies. You have a lot of room to work with in a 65gl.


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