Cleaning your tropical fish tank can be an exhausting task, especially if your aquarium gets cloudy and dirty again in a short time! Wouldn't it be great if there was a way to minimize your work by making the fish tank clean itself? Luckily mother natures creatures have learned how to take advantage of any kind of dirt and some fish and algae have specialized on 'eating' the dirt in your fish tank.
Fight algae problems in your fish tank by adding algae consuming fish!
The Chinese algae eater (Gyrinocheilus) sucks in algae with its large mouth, especially on the ground of your aquarium. By surviving in dirty water and various temperatures, the gyrinocheilus can easily decrease your algae problem. But be careful: while productive and peaceful in its young years, this species can be quite aggressive later on and even attack other fish in your tank. In addition make sure not to directly feed this fish - it might get used to artificial food and stop consuming algae completely!
The flying fox fish (Epalzeorhynchos kalopterus) is another species specialized in eating green algae. Although lone flying foxes might challenge other fish for the habitat, they're less aggressive bottom dwellers than the chinese algae eater and usually do well with other species. They're particularly useful because they even clean the bottom of your fish tank by consuming leftover food which can prevent bacterial blooms and thus, a cloudy fish tank.
The cleaner shrimp can be added to salt water fish tanks to improve the health of other fish since the shrimp cleans other organisms of parasites - a perfect symbiosis! It also eats tiny organic particles, making it useful for cleaning your fish tank.
Snails are controversial creatures. On the one hand they can clean your fish tank, on the other hand they can become quite a problem themselves in no time. Snails reproduce fast and if you have no natural enemies for them in your aquarium you can be easily overwhelmed. Also be aware that snails not only eat annoying biological particles, but also living plants you might keep in your fish tank!
There are plenty more fishes, that can help you clean your fish tank without doing anything and you can even sit down and take a look at how these useful creatures do all your work in a fascinating manner! Still, you should be aware that no fish however can clean your fish tank like you do and doing it yourself can be necessary from time to time. If you do so, please take a look at how to clean your fish tank before making common mistakes beginners tend to do!
Learn special techniques and tips from a real professional. Check out my review of a complete guide to fish tank and fish care on my blog. Here's the link: http://best-tropical-fish-guide.blogspot.com/
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