# What is the best bottom scavenging fish?



## brainwavepc.com (Sep 27, 2011)

Cory cats


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## GuppyGirl (Aug 10, 2012)

Cories are good, I would also recommend a bristlenose pleco, maybe an albino one?


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## freph (Apr 4, 2011)

brainwavepc.com said:


> Cory cats


I second this, however I would specifically recommend any of the dwarf corys. _Corydoras pygmaeus_, _Corydoras habrosus_, _Corydoras hastatus_, etc.


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## secuono (Nov 19, 2009)

Cory cats! Idk if green or emerald cory are "dwarf" but mine are 1-2.5in and gentle little monkeys. =D


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## rodcuda (Jul 25, 2012)

+1 dwarf cories and some otos for algae


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## stevenjohn21 (May 23, 2012)

South American bumblebee catfish if you want something a little "less common"


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## sbarbee54 (Jan 12, 2012)

Cories for sure!


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## EnigmaticGuppy92 (Jan 31, 2012)

think everyone here loves cories including me lol


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## wkndracer (Mar 14, 2009)

Mainly Cories or Kuhli here as they don't eat angel fry


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## ufimych (May 30, 2011)

I thank you all for replies. I will go for cories.


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## AirstoND (Jun 17, 2011)

Did anyone state pygmy cories yet?


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## Dave-H (Jul 29, 2010)

I love my khuli loaches. They are pretty interesting to watch and peaceful, but active. Why squash the snails, though?


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## Seattle_Aquarist (Jun 15, 2008)

Hi ufimych,

Good choice going with Corys; I like Corydoras sterbai for their color but probably the hardest working cory I have kept is C. aeneus.

Corydoras sterbai


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## Slippryrock (Mar 15, 2011)

i kinda dig oto's. i'd digg'em more if i could see more of them than their bellies. i have 4 but for some reason they like to stay on the front glass. Not the back glass where there is more to feed on. oh no they stay on the front glass that i work so diligently to keep crystal clear. Cory's for the floors and oto's for the windows i guess. I have found out the hard way that Cory's are the first to show signs of stress if your CO2 levels get to high. also not a fish but shrimp are a lot more interesting to watch then i had thought. try a half dozen of the ghost variety. they don't do much if anything for hair algae but they stay busy scavenging. I bought mine to check out shrimp on an impulse. 36 cents each at my LFS so i said bagg'em up.


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## pandamonium (May 14, 2012)

Cories are awesome! I have a team of corydoras venezuelanas working hard


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## CallMeEddie (Aug 16, 2012)

Dojos and Kuhlis will take care of anything that reaches the bottom. Plus, they swim and root around, which churns up and breaks down food and fish waste into tiny bits that your plants then absorb. And they're awesome to watch!


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## starrlamia (Jul 31, 2012)

Kuhli loaches are awesome, cute and quirky. Love those little guys. 

Sent from my Nexus S using Tapatalk 2


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## mistahoo (Apr 25, 2012)

Cory cats, kuhli loaches, dojo loaches, oto cats, Chinese/Golden algae eater, bumblebee cats, and Raphael cats are all good and common choices. Make sure to get a school of Cory cats since they do better in schools of 3+. Dwarf or not doesn't matter. I had some freakishly large albino and sterbai Cory cats. They were about 3.5"

Sent from my spaceship using Tapatalk 2.


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## Shanster (Jul 23, 2012)

Not really a fish but I really love the Amano Shrimp! They are goofy and live all over the tank. Mine seem to scavenger around the bottom floor at night looking for food.


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## ufimych (May 30, 2011)

AirstoND, do they dig and uproot the plants? I thought of them, but some report damage to the plants by digging activity.


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## ufimych (May 30, 2011)

I got some small black snails with tight cone shell, which eat top plants, causing holes on leaves. I had another small black snail species, which somehow became replaced with these more pointed shell snails. I squash them, whenever I can find thim on the glass. Tiger Barbs eat killed snails.


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## zzrguy (Jul 11, 2012)

I just pick up two green cory they are so frealen cute my daughter named them 1 and 2. She want 500 more for our 29 but she'll settle for 3 more.


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## Jericho199 (Mar 18, 2011)

Just as a note, make sure you don't confuse the green/bronze cory (Corydoras aeneus) with the emerald catfish (Brochis splendens). Emerald cats are sometimes sold as emerald green cories or green cories despite being in a separate genus. They aren't bad fish, but they do get much larger at 3+ inches.

Personally I like leopard cories (Corydorus trilineatus) and sterbai cories (Corydoras sterbai). If you plan on keeping the tank warmer than 25°C I'd recommend the sterbais. Of all cories they do the best in higher temps.









leopard cory









Sterbai cory

Also, consider assassin snails for snail control. They will eradicate other snail species from the tank very quickly, reproduce very slowly, and are attractive to look at.









Assassin snail (Cleo helena)


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## Knotyoureality (Aug 3, 2012)

-1 on the chinese algae eaters: they get too big and too aggressive!

+1 on the cory sterbai. Beautiful little fish and they sail thru high temps like a champ. They're also on the smaller end of the size range for non-dwarf species of corys which gives a little more latitude for higher numbers in your school in smallish tanks. My oldest sterbai are almost eight years old and still going strong.


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## R_Barber001 (Oct 5, 2011)

Sae?


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## ufimych (May 30, 2011)

Green cory? They caught my attention. Are they really as beautiful green as they are shown on some pictures? I have never saw them this beautiful green. I guess Corydras aeneus is the easiest of them all to keep and, possibly, to breed. May be I will buy a few of green cories.


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## ADJAquariums (Jul 5, 2012)

Panda Cories are by far my Favorite type of cory! they are such good looking fish and are very very peacful, they also work really hard to keep the bottom free of excess food that might be there, also they like to swim around in a School which is an added bonus, also they seem to be smaller than most other Cory's, but really you cant go wrong with any cory, they are just so cool


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## ufimych (May 30, 2011)

Temperature in my tanks ranges from 22 in winter to 29 degrees C in the summer. Perhaps, not hot enough for cory in winter.


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## ufimych (May 30, 2011)

Does anyone have zebra loaches? How big do they grow?


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## AirstoND (Jun 17, 2011)

ufimych said:


> AirstoND, do they dig and uproot the plants? I thought of them, but some report damage to the plants by digging activity.


Not mine, I have water lilies,wisteria, ludwigia repens and glandulosa.

They do lay on the leaves from time to time which is cool


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## ufimych (May 30, 2011)

Thank you. I must have some fish feeding on the tank botto. Zebra loach seems attractive, but it is still pretty big for a 29g tank.


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## ufimych (May 30, 2011)

I have cherry shrimps in a separate tank, but I am hesitant to add them to my 29g tank with tiger barbs.


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## MrAlmostWrong (Jul 16, 2012)

Lots of ghost shrimp. Seriously.


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## Bruce_S (Jul 26, 2012)

Y'know, Ufimych, kuhli loaches would reflect the colors and patterns of the tiger barbs in an interesting way - oranges and blacks, but with black dominant, on a slender fish, contrasting with the tiger barbs' stockiness. I'm given to understand that, like the barbs, they're happier and more active in groups.

~Bruce


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## tinkerpuppet (Feb 13, 2010)

I love my amano shrimp, and also plan on some cories when I set up my 29g.


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## ufimych (May 30, 2011)

I will try them as soon as I find them. I guess they may like my coconut den covered with Java moss. Thank again for all the suggestions. There are so many exciting choices for every taste. Did you have zebra loaches?


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