Cleaner Shrimp
I have a 10g fresh water fish tank. I have heard that cleaner shrimp really do clean your tank. I have an algea problem, and I am getting cleaner today, but other wise, I have not way of cleaning the gravel or the fake plants. Can cleaner shrimp live in freshwater?? are there any other fish,shrimp, or water creatures that you can buy at a pet store that clean your tank?
Answers:you can get red cherry shrimp that do eat algae but dont think it will do as good of a job as a few snails. There are some bottom dwelling cat fish that will clean up some of the waste material but the biggest mistake made by people is getting a pleco (sucker fish) many people at the fish store will tell you they will clean up the tank but in your size tank you have to realize they grow to 18inches. Not only that but the ammount of waste they produce is far greater than the algae and waste they consume so i feel they are counter productive. I feel your best bet would be a few snails and they will do the best job on the algae. Remember that its the aquarists job to clean a tank not the inhabitants of the tank so just cause you have snails or catfish or shrimp that are known to clean the tank you still have to keep up with your regular water changes. hope this helps and good luck with the tank.
sure, there are lots of shrimps which can live in fresh water.
but such a small tank... i'd rather you would keep shrimps alone in it. they are quite interesting creatures by themselves. no fake plants in this case, though.
I dont know about cleaner shrimps, the ones I know are for saltwater tanks and they wont live in freshwater, but you can use snails they do this job too and dont have a problem with fish, you can also use a syphon and clean the grave before the algae becomes a big problem, good luck
Keep algae down with Cherry Shrimp and Yamano Shrimp or Olive Nerite Snails.
Cleaner shrimp, snails, and some fish will eat some algae, but don't count on them eating all that's in your tank. There are some species of shrimp (like ghost shrimp) that live in freshwater and will pick at algae. Others are saltwater, so you'll need to get one that can live in your tank.