windeindoiel Posted April 3, 2007 Report Share Posted April 3, 2007 Ok so in my 200 gal I have 3 15"ish bichirs and a bunch of bala sharks and rainbows. The tank has an overflow and the return pushes all the sand into a big pile that covers about half the tank floor about 4" deep. It's not really a big deal that the sand only covers half the floor because that half is open swimming space, and the other half is piled to the top with tufa and driftwood. But I worry about the deep sand bed that just sits there gathering anaerobic bacteria. So can anyone think of a fish that would work in that setup and stir up the sand every now and then? I was thinking if I could get my hand on an eel that was big enough to avoid being eaten by the bichirs (and not eat them either), but would an eel prefer the sand or the rock? Because if it's just going to hang out in the rocks the whole time that wouldn't help. I was also thinking about cichlids, but are there any big enough that sift sand and will play nice with the balas? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fatpuffer Posted April 3, 2007 Report Share Posted April 3, 2007 Malaysian trumpet snails? They like to sift my sand. Js Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FishBrain Posted April 3, 2007 Report Share Posted April 3, 2007 Malaysian trumpet snails? They like to sift my sand.Js I second that!! they work great in my tanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
syno321 Posted April 3, 2007 Report Share Posted April 3, 2007 Large horseface loach Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
windeindoiel Posted April 3, 2007 Author Report Share Posted April 3, 2007 Those don't seem to last in that tank, I think someone's eating them. And I think my bichirs would find a horseface loach delicious, which is my main problem with trying to find a sand sifter. :P Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Toirtis Posted April 3, 2007 Report Share Posted April 3, 2007 Fire eel or tyretrack eel....I think that the bichirs do eat snails...although I have never managed to catch mine at it, I find that smaller snails never seem to reproduce or last long in bichir-occupied tanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
windeindoiel Posted April 4, 2007 Author Report Share Posted April 4, 2007 Yeah I was thinking fire eel... Do you think it would go for the sand though? Or hang out in the rocks... although tufa is pretty sharp and I don't think an eel would like that much. But I'd be pretty irritated if it just took up in the rocks or driftwood. And I agree that bichirs likely eat snails. That tank was overrun with MTS before I put the bichirs in, and it took a couple months but eventually I couldn't find any more snails. I added some trapdoors to hopefully clean up any uneaten lost in the rocks food, hopefully their size will keep them safe. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Qattarra Posted April 4, 2007 Report Share Posted April 4, 2007 Would they eat a weather loach? Ropefish? Full size of course. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Toirtis Posted April 4, 2007 Report Share Posted April 4, 2007 Yeah I was thinking fire eel... Do you think it would go for the sand though? They do love the sand....hard call, really. I added some trapdoors to hopefully clean up any uneaten lost in the rocks food, hopefully their size will keep them safe. If they are reasonably large, they should be fine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
windeindoiel Posted April 4, 2007 Author Report Share Posted April 4, 2007 Ok I think I'll go with a fire eel then, I like the look of them. Do they grow fast? I don't see big ones for sale very often and when I do they're pricey, so I'll probably have to buy a little one and grow it out a bit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Toirtis Posted April 5, 2007 Report Share Posted April 5, 2007 Do they grow fast? Not very, no. I don't see big ones for sale very often and when I do they're pricey, so I'll probably have to buy a little one and grow it out a bit. Start medium-ish (a good 20-25cm) if you can. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
granitetanks Posted May 9, 2007 Report Share Posted May 9, 2007 I second the horsefaced loach opinion. They won't leave the sand to be ate. The bichirs will not catch them to eat them. You may think its ate, because you will never get to see it again, and when you do its like christmas and it'll come once a year... :tongue: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigA Posted May 9, 2007 Report Share Posted May 9, 2007 What about some type of stingray? motoro maybe? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
windeindoiel Posted May 10, 2007 Author Report Share Posted May 10, 2007 Well I did go with the fire eel, who went for the rocks not the sand. :P Oh well he's still cool. The tank is full of tufa so the water is very hard, that's why we didn't go with a stingray, plus all those fish are what used to be in the ray tank, and they like to eat all the food before it hits the ground, and bully the rays a bit, otherwise we probably would have kept a ray to go in there. Plus the tank is only a foot wide so that's not really good for rays. :P I might try adding some horseface loaches, I suppose if they stay away from the big fish they'd be ok. The bichirs are pretty lazy and well fed and tend not to even go for the food I put in for them unless it falls in front of their faces. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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