# Bottom feeders



## LittleStewie (Jul 23, 2015)

So I have rams horn snails and all they do is crap and they don't clean anything. Is there a type of bottom feeder that will actually clean my tank instead of trashing it? Will Cory catfish or ghost shrimp clean my tank? What about crayfish.. do they clean tanks well?


----------



## Aly Homewood (Jul 4, 2015)

All bottom feeders excrete waste, none actually clean up fish poop, only uneaten food and algae.


----------



## LittleStewie (Jul 23, 2015)

I bought like 10 snails and they poop sooooo much! I don't know what I'm going to do because I clean the tank everyday and they just make the tank dirty again within hours. I even have a filter in my tank...


----------



## Nova betta (Dec 5, 2014)

what size of tank do you have? I have one nerite snail in a 10 gallon and that is all I recommend because they poop so much. No animal "cleans" up a tank really. The snail eats algea, but it also adds to the biological load of the tank. 

As said before bottom feeders only clean up food and algea the don't take care of the fish waste.


----------



## MikeG14 (May 31, 2014)

Shrimp would probably be your best choice if it has suitable tankmates that won't eat them. They are useful as scavengers and with also help to control algae. They really don't carry a bioload anywhere near a snail, cory or crayfish so they would be a pretty good choice in my opinion.


----------



## Nova betta (Dec 5, 2014)

oh yeah i forgot about shrimp...


----------



## LittleStewie (Jul 23, 2015)

I have my snails in a twenty gal along with a goldfish and a filter


----------



## MikeG14 (May 31, 2014)

You are pretty much over your stocking limit in a 20 gallon tank with just the goldfish. Your best options would be frequent water changes and thorough gravel vacuuming until you can get the goldfish into a larger tank.


----------



## LittleStewie (Jul 23, 2015)

thanks guess I'll go to Petco while they still have the $1 a gallon sale and get a bigger tank.


----------

