Bottom feeders
The sand crew — not a substitute for a filter.
Corydoras, small plecos, loaches, shrimp, snails. They eat what reaches the substrate. They do not process your overstocking.
Corydoras sift sand. Otos rasp soft green algae in a mature planted tank and starve in a new one. Bristlenoses rasp wood and algae and still need wafers. Nerites scrape glass without freshwater babies. Common plecos become an 18-inch waste factory.
Every cleanup animal still pees. The algae they eat comes back as ammonia. Feed them. Sand, not gravel, for corys.
Skip
- One “algae eater” as the plan for a dirty tank. Fix light, feeding, and water changes.
- A common pleco in a 20 because it was cheap.
Run compatibility on the mix, then stocking with adult sizes.
German Blue Ram
Mikrogeophagus ramirezi
A small South American cichlid for a warm sand bed.
Personality in a 20+ planted tank without oscar drama.
Corydoras Catfish
Corydoras spp.
The correct bottom crew for a community.
Sift sand so leftover food and mulm do not sit and rot.
Bristlenose Pleco
Ancistrus spp.
The pleco that actually fits in a home tank — and eats algae.
Rasp green algae and biofilm off glass, wood, and hardscape.
Common Pleco
Hypostomus plecostomus
Sold as an algae eater. Becomes an 18-inch waste factory.
Juveniles do eat algae.
Kuhli Loach
Pangio kuhlii
Nocturnal sand noodles. They work leftover food after lights-out.
Pick food that hit the sand overnight.
Otocinclus
Otocinclus spp.
Tiny algae grazer for a mature planted tank.
Best small fish for soft green algae on leaves and glass.
Clown Loach
Chromobotia macracanthus
Snail-eater that outgrows the tank it was sold for.
Will hunt pest bladder snails.
Rainbow Shark
Epalzeorhynchos frenatum
One shark per tank. Owns the lower third.
Picks some algae and leftover food on the bottom.
Cherry Shrimp
Neocaridina davidi
Biofilm and leftover-food crew that also breeds.
Pick uneaten flakes and film off plants and hardscape.
Amano Shrimp
Caridina multidentata
The algae shrimp that stays aquarium-sized.
Best invertebrate for green algae on glass and plants.
Nerite Snail
Neritina natalensis
Glass-algae snail that will not flood a freshwater tank with babies.
Best snail for green algae on glass and hardscape.
Mystery Snail
Pomacea bridgesii
Hungry scavenger. Cleans leftover food; will eat plants if underfed.
Pick up uneaten food before it becomes ammonia.
Red Claw Crab
Perisesarma bidens
Brackish crab with a beach. Not a cleaner.
Watchable in a paludarium. That is the job.
Fiddler Crab
Uca spp.
Same job as red claws: brackish, land, not a community invert.
Display crab for a shoreline tank.