cleanup crew

**korith** · 10-08-2010, 12:44 AM

Any thoughts/ideas on a clean up crew for a 33g with just multis (multifasciatus) in it? They don't seem to get all the food that ends up on the substrate. Was thinking possibly a pleco of some sort or something else.

**promise** · 10-08-2010, 01:20 AM

How much in the way of hiding spots do you have??
would suggest a BN or a rubber-lip or something along those lines

**Jeddi** · 10-08-2010, 01:27 AM

I'm not too sure the multies would like something else rummaging around the ground.

**Lab_Rat** · 10-08-2010, 01:44 AM

I keep nerites in with my multies, but they're not going to be very tolerant of any bottom dwellers. Don't think a plec would really be great for cleaning up extra food either.

**korith** · 10-08-2010, 03:35 AM

I'll see about some nerites, lots of crazy snail people in the club I'm in. Have heard some people having success with plecos so thought it might be a possibility.

The tank will be torn down and set up again this weekend at a new location, could put in lots of hiding spots if need be for a pleco if I did go that route.

For now I guess I'll just mull over the choices and see what happens.

**Sarkazmo** · 11-29-2010, 05:57 AM

I've got MTS, Pond/Bladder, and some small Japanese Trap Door snails in with my Multies. Two of the females use the same shell to dump intruder snails into to get rid of them. It's like basketball for fish. Every once in a while they'll kill one but typically they don't. The MTS are pretty much impervious though... their shells are so much harder than the other snail's.

I've wondered about fish that might fill this role but I can't think of any that the Multies wouldn't just wail on. Thought about shrimp too but that's pretty much what they eat in the wild, small crustaceans and such. So that's pretty much a no go. To have enough small cats to do the cleaning you'd need a ton to get anything done between times being run off by the parents. Plus there's a risk of the cats eating fry.

So yeah, we're all in the same boat, heh.

Sark

**korith** · 11-30-2010, 04:43 AM

Good points sarkazmo. I gave up on a cleanup crew, could not figure out anything sensible way to do it.

I did make a few changes to my setup. I came home one day to find the filter intake buried by sand. I didn't even think this was likely considering the intake was several inches from the level of the sand. Those dang multifasciatus seem to rearrange the sand way too much! First change I made was to remove 30-40% of the sand from the tank, most of it was piled along the walls of the tank, since the multis like to get their shells right to the bottom of the tank. Then I went through and removed as many mts as I could find. Also used a snail trap for a few weeks, the tank is almost snail free now.

Taking a lot of the excess sand out, seems to have helped. The leftover food is more easily scavenged now. Also I worked on the amount of food being fed each day, to force them to eat what ever they can find, so less leftover on the substrate.

**Sarkazmo** · 11-30-2010, 07:58 AM

I could never do that, Korith! I love watching them move substrate. They seem to want their shells in a pit so I let them go at it. I do rearrange a little bit when cleaning but other than that it's all their work.

Sark

**korith** · 12-02-2010, 01:50 AM

Originally Posted by Sarkazmo

I could never do that, Korith! I love watching them move substrate. They seem to want their shells in a pit so I let them go at it. I do rearrange a little bit when cleaning but other than that it's all their work.

Sark

Well they can still make a pit, just not as deep. Had to safeguard the filter intake was becoming a chore keeping the multis in check.