# Clean Up Crew?



## Guest (Mar 22, 2011)

Hey guys,
Was wondering if anyone has had success keeping RBP with some sort of cleaning crew like shrimp. Reason I ask is I'm cycling what will be a heavily planted tank, and less time I spend cleaning it more time I can enjoy the tank







. I like the idea of having the tank being able to look after itself, apart from water changes and occasional sub vacs.
Any ideas on what I could cohab with RBP to take the role of clean up crew? I thought about crayfish, but I don't like the idea now after researching that they dig and eat plants.
Cheers,
JK


----------



## JoeDizzleMPLS (Nov 5, 2007)

If it's heavily planted, you shouldn't really have to worry about cleaning the substrate -- just make sure you aren't over feeding and remove all uneaten food. Keeping shrimp can work as long as your natts are big enough but you should have a separate tank set up with a breeding colony so you can replenish the stock with smaller shrimp because by the time the shrimp get to breeding size in the main tank, they will probably be big enough to make an easy target for your fish.


----------



## BRUNER247 (Jun 2, 2010)

You are the cleanup crew. With rbp anything else is a meal waiting to happen & adding to your bio-load. Like Joe said, keep eye on feeding. With rbp if it hits the ground your over-feeding. Keep up on regular maintenance & remove any uneaten food right away(less chance of forgetting or getting side tracked).


----------



## Piranha_man (Jan 29, 2005)

I've tried all sorts of stuff like a little group of corys, shrimp, etc. and they always get eaten right away.


----------



## jp80911 (Apr 3, 2008)

I had raphael catfish with my old mix shoal, they stay hidden during the day and only come out hours after dark (your p's should be sleeping by then). just provide some area they can hide during the day, like a cave or a wood or something like that.


----------



## BRUNER247 (Jun 2, 2010)

I'd rather just clean the crap myself. Catfish are gonna need fed also(aren't gonna live off crap alone)which will up your waste & bio-load. Plus a night crew running around bumping into rbp, while they tryn to sleep wouldn't be so good. They can be skittish enough. Imo anyhow. I say nix the cleanup crew idea & add a extra rbp. & DON'T overfeed in the first place.


----------



## welsher7 (Jul 29, 2005)

You could try some snails. I have some that were hitch hikers on some plants i put in the tank. They eat algae off the glass and clean the algae on the substrate.


----------



## Guest (Mar 22, 2011)

JoeDizzleMPLS said:


> You could try some snails. I have some that were hitch hikers on some plants i put in the tank. They eat algae off the glass and clean the algae on the substrate.


Thanks for the suggestion. Though I've read some horror stories about snails overtaking tanks and destroying plants and stuff, so I'd personally avoid them.

Overall thanks for all the replies, I'm going to look into the different types of shrimp further and learn about breeding them. Guess little shrimp running around eating algae isn't so bad, plus some live shrimp could be a treat for the P's if they decide to go hunting lol.


----------



## JoeDizzleMPLS (Nov 5, 2007)

I have a cherry shrimp breeding colony, they are really easy to keep. I have them in a 20 long but even a 10 gallon would work. I have an Aquaclear HOB filter with a sponge over the intake to prevent shrimp from getting sucked up and a heater set to 78f. Shrimp love to hang out on moss and they will eat dying plant matter, so some live plants are a good idea as well. The biggest thing to keep in mind after you get set up is to not overfeed -- it's pretty easy to do with shrimp because they will always accept food, but they don't need to eat a lot and overfeeding can cause water quality issues pretty quick.

Cherry shrimp aren't the best algae eaters but they are great at cleaning up dead leaves and small bits of food. For algae removal, I'd probably look into nerite snails, they can't breed in freshwater so you don't have to worry about a population explosion and they are great at keeping glass, plants, driftwood, substrate, etc. algae free.


----------



## WuTang (Oct 22, 2009)

I keep between 20 and 30 Guppies with 3 rbp. They are breeding population that eat up all the scraps. the ps usally just leave them alone too much effort for a small snack I guess.


----------

