# small plant safe bottom feeders?



## praline3001 (Dec 29, 2014)

Hi everyone! I have a 40gal bow front. Long ago I did the whole 150 reef tank set up and was a slave to my tank. A major hurricane changed that. 
8 years later I started up my first planted tank for my cat 
He watches it all day long! 

I am trying to make this tank as maintenance free as possible. The tank is more part of the house decor than hobby. I have easy beginner plants that are all rated "hardy" Annubi / java ferns/ swords, nothing overly picky or high maintenance. 

I have some neons and small tetra for movement, the cat likes movement in his tank  again nothing exotic. 

I am looking for a fool proof (as possible) bottom feeder. The tank isn't huge but I want a nice clean substrate. I could do the vacuum thing but I would much prefer as maintenance free as I can get. I also want to start adding a ground cover or lawn to the substrate and I am going to guess that will cross off my vacuum ideas. 

I have two aquaclear filters and 1 fluval canister. The fluval was from my saltwater days and though old still works nicely. The lighting is LED and great. Everything is going nicely. I just want to get the bottom clean but I don't want a fish that will eat my plants!
Is there such a fish?


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## Michael (Jul 20, 2010)

Welcome to APC!

Small species of _Corydoras_ catfish will not bother your plants as long as the plants are well rooted. Though not small, my bristlenose plecos never damage my plants, and are just as effective as the corries plus they eat algae. If you want a ground cover, establish the plants first, then add the fish.

That said, no fish (or snail or shrimp) will clean the substrate of everything, and it isn't realistic or good fish keeping practice to except them to. There will always be inedible debris that the animals ignore. My suggestion is that you simply get a nice ground cover over the bare parts of the substrate, and let that hide any debris. In my own Walstad tanks, I never vacuum the substrate and siphon the bottom very rarely. You have lots of filtration. Any bottom dwelling fish will disturb the sediment enough to get it into the water where the filters can remove it. Pick out any large unsightly pieces and enjoy the fish for themselves.


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## praline3001 (Dec 29, 2014)

Thanks Micheal. I have seen the cory cats I just wasn't sure if they would hurt the plants. I understand they won't eat everything. When I say as low maintenance as possible, I was a slave to a reef tank. I am trying to keep this new tank as simple as possible! I know I have to do water changes, test the water every once in a while and clean glass. I was trying to work out how to keep a clean substrate with groundcover/lawn. I don't want to risk messing it up by using a vacuum so was researching bottom feeders. 

My hobby is gardening and I utilize NASA clean air plants in my home. People say my house looks like a jungle 

This is why I am excited to have the planted tank, it extends my indoor gardening. The fish are just there for movement and to keep my very naughty cat occupied. My husband secured the canopy so kitty can't take a swim. Its only been set up for 7 weeks so the plants are still establishing themselves. I followed a few of the online guides on placement so as they grow it "should" look nice. 
Though I love many of the high maintenance aquascaped tanks I am trying to stay away from that. 

We had a beautiful reef tank until hurricane Katrina decided we didn't need one any longer. It was so heartbreaking and we swore, "NEVER AGAIN!" 

I am hoping I can avoid hurricane death since they are plants. I can do water changes and have a battery operated air stone.

Now that the holidays are over I am planning on getting the groundcover started. I am still not sure which groundcover to go with and I am also researching that. I really like "Staurogyne repens" I found on 1 website and so far that's the front runner winner.


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## illustrator (Jul 18, 2010)

I would personally get one of the commonly bred _Corydoras _(e.g. _C. paleatus_ or _C. aeneus_), because the fact that they are commonly bred is proof that they adapt very well to captivity. With the species that enter trade mainly as wild caught fish, I am never sure if they are not a bit more demanding. Only, please consider that they cannot live on only waste and do need some decent fish-food on the bottom of the aquarium, which you can easily give in the form of sinking food tablets. Just check "seriouslyfish" for information.


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## HDBenson (Sep 24, 2014)

+1 on C. paleatus or, C. aeneus. These two sp. will do better in cooler tanksthough, they are really borderline subtropicals in my experience. C. trilliniatus is a nice one as well. You'll probably find them sold as C. julli at pet stores though. More often than not these guys are mislabeled this way. Add some Otocinclus as well. They will play in the swords quite nicely.


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## Michael (Jul 20, 2010)

I am with you on the low maintenance! That's why I only have Walstad tanks: no CO2, no fertilizers, medium lighting, soil substrate, and water changes about once a month.


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## praline3001 (Dec 29, 2014)

Thanks everyone for the great info! 

What is a good round number of cory cats in a 40gal bow front? I know there are lots of variations but looking for a ballpark figure.


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## Michael (Jul 20, 2010)

Cories are social fish and show more natural behavior in groups of at least 4, 6 would be better.


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## praline3001 (Dec 29, 2014)

Thanks again Micheal. As soon as I get my substrate/lawn done I will add 4 and see how they do. I don't want to overstock my tank as its a 40gal bowfront and 6 might be too many. Its only been up and running for 7 weeks and there won't be a whole lot on the bottom for the cory cats to eat.

I want to make sure I have a plan in place before I start with a "full" planted aquarium.


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## illustrator (Jul 18, 2010)

_C. panda_ is another option, they stay a bit smaller than _C. paleatus _and _C. aeneus_.

And there will never be enough on the bottom for the cory's to eat, unless you either overfeed the other fish systematically or you add something specifically for the cory's.


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## praline3001 (Dec 29, 2014)

I wanted to update that I now have 4 peppered cory cats in my tank. They were very tiny but I understand they will grow up to 2 inches. 

They are a big hit with the cat as they make fast and jerky moves on the bottom. The cat can get nose to nose with the cory cats when he puts his paws on the ledge of the stand. very funny to watch! Thanks again!


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