Aquarium cleaners: what kind of fish and what they are for. Antsistrus - catfish cleaning an aquarium. Aquarium cleaner or clown.

A spawning aquarium is filtered and aerated.

As for spawning, the male and the female snoop in a coconut or pipes and champ something there, probably with dumplings))) After spawning, the young dad kicks the female out and takes care of the offspring. Throughout the incubation period, Dad sits on a masonry with caviar, fins it with fins and drives everyone who dares to approach.

Often on the forums they ask whether the dad with caviar can be transferred from a common aquarium to a separate spawning ground. You can, but you need to do this very carefully. For this, the tube where dad sits on caviar is carefully transferred to a spawning ground. In all other cases, we do not recommend disturbing the young father, as it is likely that he will become stressed and stop caring for the offspring. If this happens, then all care for the offspring lies solely with the aquarist.

Interesting about Antsistrus:

It is not known for certain why males need such a mustache on their faces. The ichthyologists have suggested that the mustache is an imitation of larvae. Thus, the male, as it were, shows the female, they say, look, what "I am a good dad, dad to all." Observations of aquarists speak in favor of this version, many note that females prefer males with a large mustache, that is, the mustache of the ancistruses acts as a dominant sign. Thus, we can say that the Antsistruses are still those who love barbershops, vapes and panties with suspenders)))

All of the above is just the fruit of observing this type of aquarium fish and collecting various information from owners and breeders. We would like to share with visitors not only information, but also living emotions, allowing you to more fully and thinly penetrate the world of aquarium. Register for, participate in discussions on the forum, create profile topics where you will first-hand and first-hand talk about your pets, describe their habits, behavior and content, share your successes and joys with us, share experiences and learn from experience others. We are interested in every part of your experience, every second of your joy, every awareness of a mistake that makes it possible for your comrades to avoid the same mistake. The more we are, the more pure and transparent droplets of good are in the life and life of our seven billionth society.

Why whales and fish cleaners are friends

Clean-up fish help.    They are great doctors and specialists.    preventative medicine: prevent    the development of disease.

Cleaners rarely go out of work.    To attract a client, they fulfill theirfigurative dance. Before a warm welcome not a single fish can resist. She freezes head down like a mullet, or standing upvertically, like a parrot fish, spreads    fins to make it easier to examine it, opens his mouth, lifts gillcovers and little cleaners fearlessthey rush to the monster’s mouth, alasthose who won’t be swallowed.

When the client decides that the procedure is time    cum, he abruptly shuts his mouth, closinggill cracks for a few seconds, and then lets the cleaners shake,and outside orderlies finishingyut procedure.

From the community of fish cleaners    mutual benefit. Orderlies all food sobi rais on their bodies, doing a tremendous    work. Over a six-hour work day, oldthe nurse manages to serve more    three hundred customers. Tropical fish without chistylists also can not do. Odonce upon a time on reefs near the Bahamascialists caught all the orderlies. And what? Most fish left this reef, and those that remained on the body and fins re wounds, tumors, skin covered colony of fungi.

A clean and well-maintained aquarium is not only a beauty, but also a guarantee of a long and healthy life for its inhabitants. But sometimes, contrary to the efforts of the owner and even the work of high-tech equipment, the domestic pond is covered from the inside with a brown or dark green bloom, brushes, fringe or threads. These are algae. If this problem has overtaken you, then do not rush to grab immediately for chemicals. Try to settle algae eaters for yourself, for whom eating such “garbage” is one of the natural physiological processes. Read about which aquarium orderlies are known and against which algae they are most effective, read in our article.

These “cleanliness workers” are most often found in amateur aquariums.

Catfish

Especially good "cleaners" are:

• pterigoplicht (brocade catfish);
•   ordinary;
•   (dwarf catfish), preferring diatoms.

They carefully clean everything with their suction cup (bacterial film, fouling from algae, other polluting organics), starting from the walls of the aquarium, soil, stones and ending with snags and large leaves of plants. Moreover, they themselves are quite unpretentious, which is a definite plus.

Of the minuses, it is worth canceling the large size and poor nature of some of the catfish.

• For example, an adult pterigoplicht can grow up to 40-45 cm and begin to behave aggressively towards other inhabitants.
• With insufficient food, some owners of “suction cups” can begin to feed themselves with mucus of slow-moving large fish that are attacked under cover of night.
• Sometimes catfish, overly keen on cleaning, damage young tender tops of plants or make holes in young leaves.
• And some individuals with age begin to be lazy and poorly fulfill their “duties”.

Dwarf catfish or otocinclus - an algae eater from the chain-mail catfish family is best at brown diatoms. A flock of five fish can easily keep a 100 liter aquarium clean. "Dwarf" unpretentious, peaceful, able to get along even with large predators.

"Janitor", which can be found less often, but this does not make it worse: royal panak, belonging to the family of chain-mail catfish. Large fish, for which you need a 200-liter (no less) aquarium. Young individuals are calm, but with age their character noticeably deteriorates. Get along well with peaceful haracin. Best Panak cleans driftwood.

A suction cup with which chain catfish remove fouling from surfaces.

Garinheyl

This family combines only three types of fish, the most popular of which are.

Their lips look like a suction cup with pleats on the inside. These bends form a sort of “grater”.

Thanks to this design, fish can be held on stones even with a strong current, while scraping algae from their surface.

This food is not very nutritious, therefore, "scratch" the girinoheylus have a lot.

All filamentous algae, such as filament and black beard, they can not eat.

The negative points include

• damage to leaves on which furrows and holes may remain after “harvesting”;
• a small number of fish is not enough to maintain cleanliness in the aquarium;
• in large numbers, they are aggressive and constantly attack their own kind, as they are territorial.

It is very difficult to achieve peace among them. Neighbors must also be carefully selected, categorically you can not take slow-moving fish.

Girinohejlusy \u200b\u200btake them for inanimate objects, can "clean" and severely damage the scales. They also do not treat animals with an elongated body and dark coloration — they perceive them as brothers and try to drive them away as far as possible.

Girinoheylus.

Viviparous

Many of them have a strongly developed lower jaw, which resembles a scraper, which easily removes plaque from walls, soil and plants.

The most popular livestock sweepers are guppies, mollies, and swordsman. Some breeders claim that these fish can survive even without additional food, eating only green thread.

But they are only good as helpers to other algae eaters, since they are extremely reluctant to eat unwanted fouling.

Viviparous guppy fish.

Cyprinids

The most tireless fighter with algae from this family is the Siamese algae eater (aka Siamese crossheil, or Siamese crosshelius, or Siamese epalceorinchus).

Its ridge is green algae and the so-called “Vietnamese” or “black beard” (these are growths in the form of dark tassels on stones, leaves of plants and in other places).

It also copes well with other algae in the form of a gun, since its mouth is most suitable for this. For a 100-liter aquarium to be perfectly clean, just two (even the smallest) Siamese algae eaters are enough.

The advantages of these fish are also activity, mobility, a fairly peaceful disposition, a small volume of the vessel for a normal existence and modest care.

Not without flaws. After the length of the fish becomes more than 4 centimeters, they can begin to eat Javanese moss, if it grows in the aquarium, and much more willingly than algae.

The way out of this situation is to plant larger mosses, such as fissance.

It has also been noted that as Siamese algae eaters grow gradually, they become accustomed to fish food and may eventually lose interest in fouling.

Another pair of "cleaners" from this family - two-color labe (bicolor) and green (frenatus). Their mouthparts are facing down. Of course, they eat algae and fouling, but not as well as the previous ones. It is rather their hobby, so to speak. Their big minus is increased aggressiveness and territoriality in relation to both other fish and their own kind.

Siamese watersled in its typical stance. Carefully study the fish and remember its appearance, as other species are often sold under this name in pet stores.

Seaweed Shrimp

These arthropods are rightly called champions of purity. Freshwater shrimp, whose bodies are equipped with special "fans", are especially good.

These outgrowths filter the water and extract from it uneaten food, particles of plants and what remains of the dead inhabitants. Males loosen the soil and filter the dregs, which at the same time rose. Females remove contaminants from the bottom surface.

In addition to filtering the water, these creatures remove fluffy algae from the leaves of plants and all other surfaces, and much more successfully than fish.

The reason is simple - shrimp, especially cherry, can get into the smallest nooks and crannies of the aquarium.

Negative points:

• a small shrimp can handle only a small amount of work;
• to really clean the aquarium, you will need a lot of shrimp (one individual per liter);
• they are very defenseless and can be eaten by fish, as a result of which neighbors need to be selected very carefully, plus the creation of many reliable shelters.

In addition to cherry, shrimp Amano shrimps fight well. Cladorof balls are perfectly kept clean and eat thread.

Important! The effectiveness of the "work" is affected by their size. The larger the shrimp, the harder the strings of algae it can eat. Four centimeter arthropods are considered the best.

Enough 5 of these pieces per 200 liters. Three centimeters will need 1 individual for every 10 liters of water. Small ones need even more (1-2 for each liter). The latter option is the most unproductive and most expensive. It is also worth noting that these shrimps do not eat xenococus and other green algae in the form of plaque. Blackbeard is also reluctant to use.

Another type is neocaridins. They are most common among amateurs, as they are very easy to breed. They are small, only 1-2 cm long, so a lot of “combat units” will be required (one individual per liter). Preference is given to soft filamentous algae of the Rizoclinium type. Neocaridins are the best choice for plant aquariums. They are irreplaceable in the just launched aquarium, as they help to establish balance. In the mature, they maintain balance.

Shrimp Amano.

Algae fighting snails

Although mollusks are not so successful in the role of orderlies, their strength is the ability to consume almost all contaminants (remaining food, live excrement and the remains of dead inhabitants, decayed plants, mucus and plaque on all surfaces, a film from the surface of the water).

And the well-being and behavior of some species serves as a kind of indicator of the purity of the soil and water.

The bad thing is that the number of snails is almost impossible to control, and they reproduce very quickly.

Then their large army begins to "harm" by eating plants and filling everything with its mucus.

But among aquarium mollusks there are not only rapidly breeding pests. Some of the snails cannot breed at all in captivity, others bring a small amount of offspring, and others are interesting and cute, so they will not only willingly pick them up at the nearest pet store, but they will probably give something in return.

Here are some of the most common snail cleaners found in home aquariums:

Neretina Zebra (tiger snail), neretina hedgehog, neretina black ear. They remove plaque from glass, stones, driftwood, decor and large leaves without damaging them. They seem to never get tired. Minus - leave unaesthetic masonry of eggs on the glass of the aquarium, from which juveniles do not hatch.

Neretina zebra.

Neretina horned. This crumb (1-1.5 cm) is able to climb into the most inaccessible places and clean them to a shine. It copes with diatoms.

Septaria or tortoise snail   with a flat shell. Very slow, but despite this it copes well with algal fouling and Vietnamese. Plants do not damage. The disadvantage is characteristic - caviar, hung on the scenery.

Corbicula. This is a three-centimeter snail. It is also called the yellow Javanese ball or golden bivalve. Helps to cope with turbidity of water, suspension and flowering, as it is a filter. This means that the mollusk passes water through itself (up to 5 liters per hour!), Eating the microorganisms contained in it. Interestingly, in aquariums with carbicles, fish do not get sick, as they somehow delay their cysts. On an aquarium of 100 liters you need from 1 to 3 of these snails. Negative points include plowing up the soil and digging up plants with weak roots.

Ampullaria. Quite a large bipedal mollusk. It picks up the remains of food, dead fish and other snails, actively eats fouling from the walls of the aquarium. One of the drawbacks is that it produces a large amount of waste, so powerful filtering must be installed in a container with this snail.

Theodoxus. These are small beautiful freshwater snails. There are several types. They can live both in freshwater and salt water bodies of the home. They feed only on fouling, preferring brown and green algae. They even compete with gerinoheyluses for superiority in the effectiveness of the fight against xenococus. But they don’t like “beard”. Plants do not spoil.

In conclusion, we say that an aquarium biosystem can successfully exist only with the help of humans. Proper selection and adjustment of equipment and lighting, proper launch of the aquarium, regular monitoring of water parameters and the condition of the inhabitants are very important. Fish, shrimp and snails are helpers in solving the problem of algae control, and not the main characters. Of course, here we only briefly described only a few representatives of aquarium orderlies, since in one article it is impossible to tell in detail about all. We will be grateful for interesting additions.

Few argue that the aquarium is one of the brightest and most memorable decorations in any room. Therefore, it is not surprising that more and more people are beginning to get involved in aquariums and place beautifully decorated artificial ponds at home. But when thinking about placing such beauty, almost no one thinks about the difficulties associated with maintaining both cleanliness in the aquarium and its beautiful appearance.

This truth is confirmed by the familiar proverb, which says that without even a little effort, it becomes impossible to achieve any result. The same applies to the aquarium, which requires constant care, replacing water, monitoring its quality and, of course, cleaning.

Why do I need to clean the aquarium?

Everyone who is engaged in aquariums is familiar with such a problem as the appearance of algae inside an artificial reservoir, which not only limit the access of the sun's rays, but can also cause many diseases that cause irreparable harm to all living inhabitants in the aquarium. As a rule, many methods have been developed to combat unwanted vegetation, including both the use of chemicals, changing water parameters and ozonation of water.

But the biological method is considered the most effective and safe, in which the so-called fish cleaners are used, eating algae and thereby saving the artificial pond from their presence. Let us consider in more detail which fish can be considered as peculiar orderlies of the aquarium.

Siamese algae eater feels comfortable at a water temperature of 24-26 degrees and hardness in the range of 6.5-8.0. It is also worth noting that representatives of this species may show some aggression towards relatives, while remaining friendly to other types of fish.

This catfish from the chain mail detachment has already managed to gain high popularity, both among experienced and novice aquarists. And the point here is not the ease of their maintenance and peaceful nature, but to a greater extent because of their tireless work aimed at cleaning the aquarium from "biological" debris.

They destroy algae not only from the walls of an artificial reservoir, its decorative elements, but also directly from the vegetation itself, which, for example, not every catfish makes ancestrus. As for nutrition, although they can feed themselves, it is still recommended to feed them with plant food with the addition of delicacies in the form of:

• spinach
• scalded lettuce;
• fresh cucumbers.

Antsistrus or catfish sucker

It is probably difficult to find at least one artificial pond where there was no catfish of this species from the chain mail family. These fish deservedly gained such popularity due to their "sanitary" activity, unpretentiousness in content and, of course, their unique mouth structure, reminiscent of a suction cup. By the way, precisely because of such a distinctive feature that stands out from the whole family of catfish, this fish is sometimes called a sucker catfish.

In addition, if we talk about appearance, then catfish Antsistrus is probably one of the strangest aquarium fish. The original oral apparatus, growths on the face with something reminiscent of warts and a dark color, together with a hidden lifestyle, really create an aura of mystery for the Antiscistruses. This catfish feels most comfortable at water temperatures of 20 to 28 degrees.

Also, as mentioned above, having a peaceful character, they get along well with almost any kind of fish. The only danger to them, especially during spawning, is represented by large territorial workshops.

An interesting fact is that when creating optimal conditions, this catfish can live for more than 7 years.

Pterigoplicht or brocade catfish

Pretty beautiful and in high demand among many aquarists - this fish was first discovered back in 1854 in the shallows of the Amazon River in South America. It has a rather impressive dorsal fin, brown body color and protruding nostrils. The maximum size of an adult is 550 mm. The average life expectancy is 15-20 years.

Due to their peaceful nature, these aquarium cleaners get along well with almost any kind of fish. But it is worth noting that they can overeat the scales of slow fish. For example, a scalar.

As for the content, this catfish feels great in a spacious artificial pond with a volume of at least 400 liters. It is also recommended to place 2 driftwood at the bottom of the vessel. This is necessary in order for these fish to be able to scrape off various fouling from them, which are one of the main sources of their nutrition.

Important! It is necessary to feed brocade catfish at night or a few minutes before turning off the lights.

Panak or King Som

As a rule, this catfish has a rather bright color and is a representative of the Loricaria family. This fish, unlike other representatives of the catfish, is quite hostile to attacks on its territory. That is why, the only option when placing a panak in a vessel is the preliminary equipment of the bottom with all kinds of shelters, one of which subsequently becomes his house.

Remember that panaks like to spend most of their time moving in various shelters, often getting stuck in them, which can lead to their premature death if they do not remove the fish from it in time.

As for nutrition, these catfishes are omnivorous. But as a delicacy for them, you can use scalded lettuce or other greens. Get along well with peaceful characins.

Molliesia Poecilia

These viviparous fish actively cope with green filamentous algae. To feel comfortable in an artificial reservoir, she needs free space and areas with dense vegetation. But also one should not forget that these fish can destroy not only unwanted algae, but in some cases even shoots of young vegetation. But this happens, as a rule, only with insufficient feeding of vegetarian food.

Everyone likes clean aquariums with crystal clear walls, bright, smooth and shiny leaves of plants and water that resembles a stream of a mountain stream. But this idyllic picture is always striving to break algae. They tighten the glass with a brownish-green film, form a nasty fringe on plants, and give the water the color and smell of a swamp. And the aquarist has to deal with them. It is good that in this struggle he has allies - algae-eating fish.

Seaweed

Algae are lower, relatively simple, unicellular or multicellular plants that live in the aquatic environment. They can swim in water or settle on underwater objects and attach to them, forming a coating on them, films, threads, fluff and so on. They have a different color. Representatives of several departments of algae can live in the aquarium:

1. Green. They form a green coating on glass, soil, underwater objects or a cloudy green suspension in water.
2. Reds - Vietnamese or black beard. Brown or black tassels, bunches or fringe on glass, plant leaves.
3. Diatoms. Unicellular, form a brownish-brown mucous coating in insufficiently lit parts of the aquarium.
4. Blue-green algae, or cyanobacteria. Form mucous, bubbling fetid films of the color of sea wave on the leaves of plants and underwater objects. (Let's say right away: an outbreak of these algae is a disaster that urgently needs to be addressed by completely turning off the lights, massaging the aquarium and antibiotics, no biological control methods work here).

Algae is always present in any aquarium, but a sharp increase in their number occurs only when the biological balance is disturbed.

Therefore, to combat them, first of all, it is necessary to normalize the quality of aquarium water: optimize the lighting and supply of carbon dioxide, reduce the amount of nitrates and dead organics, plant more plants. And already with the remnants of the enemy army algae-eating fish will fight.

Types of Aquarium Cleaners

There are several dozen aquarium fish that can eat algae with varying degrees of enthusiasm. This includes catfish antsistrusy and pterigoplichitis, viviparous pecilia and mollies, representatives of cyprinid fish Labe and many others, and this we do not consider shrimp and snails. However, only a few species are recognized as professional aquarium cleaners: catfish otocinclus, Siamese algae eater, and garinoheylus.

Ototsinklusy

  Ototsinclus (usually Otocinclus affinis) - a representative of the chain-mail (locarium) catfish family, small - up to 5 cm - catfish with large sad eyes. The favorite of the famous Takashi Amano, who recommends to plant it in an aquarium with plants at startup.

Ototsinklus specializes in the extermination of diatoms, outbreaks of which are often observed in new aquariums.

And later, when the biological equilibrium is already established, otocinclus will not hurt. He does not touch anyone, absolutely does not harm the plants and with the stubbornness of a professional gardener, scrupulously cleans their leaves from diatoms and green algae. Cleaning glass, soil, underwater objects usually interests him less. If there are few algae in the aquarium, the otocinchlus is fed with plant food, it is best to lightly boiled zucchini, which is attached to a snag or stone with an elastic or a clip and left for two days. There should be clean water in the aquarium with otocinclus (nitrate level not more than 10 mg / l).

Siamese algae eaters

The Latin name for this species is Crossochelius siamensis   (synonym Epalzeorhynchus siamensis), they are often called the abbreviation SAE (from the English Siamese Algae Eater), sometimes affectionately with saiki or sais. Cute, peaceful schooling flocks up to 10-12 cm long. Their mouth is adapted to eat algae growing in the form of a gun, tassels or fringe.

Siamese algae eaters are the only ones who are able to rid the aquarium of red algae - flip flops and black beard, which is very difficult to remove in other ways.

In addition to red, they enjoy eating filamentous green algae. Plants practically do not damage, the exception is Javanese moss, adult fish are often not indifferent to it. CAE has a poorly developed swim bladder, so they cannot swim for long in the middle layers of water, often lie at the bottom. At the same time, they are quite jumping, so the aquarium with these fish must be closed. It has not yet been possible to reproduce them under the conditions of the aquarium, therefore all specimens on sale are wild, imported. And here lies the problem.

The fact is that in the same rivers and streams where SAE are caught, several very similar related species of fish live. They are caught together with Siamese algae eaters and then sold together in pet stores. Therefore, there are Thai or false algae eaters ( Epalzeorhynchus sp. or Garra taeniata), their other name is Siamese flying foxes; Indonesian algae eater or red fin epalceorins ( Epalzeorhynchus kallopterus); Indian algae eaters ( Crossocheilus latius) and other representatives of the genera Epalceorinchus, Crossheilus and Garra. All of them are almost indistinguishable externally, but differ in character and effectiveness as cleaners - Siamese flying fox, for example, fish are quite aggressive, but algae are reluctant to destroy. Therefore, if the goal is to acquire a peaceful and hardworking SAE, it is worth paying attention to the following signs:

• fins are transparent, without yellow and orange hues;
• a black stripe on the side of the fish runs from the nose to the tip of the tail;
• the upper edge of this strip is zigzag;
• there is a net pattern on the sides of the fish (the edges of the scales are dark);
• on the tip of the muzzle is one pair of dark antennae;
• when the fish rests on the bottom, stones or leaves of plants, it rests on the caudal and ventral fins, not on the pectoral ones.

Girinoheylus

Girinoheylus, or Chinese algae eater ( Gyrinocheilus aymonieri   or less common form Gyrinocheilus pennocki), like CAE, belongs to cyprinids. His oral apparatus is arranged in the form of a suction cup.

Girinoheylus is the best specialist in the destruction of green algae, which often appears in herbal aquariums with powerful lighting.

They reach a length of 15 cm, the color is grayish brown with a dark stripe or, more often, light golden albino. Adult fish show a pronounced territoriality by attacking other fish, which they consider their competitors. The disadvantage of girinoheylus is their tendency to damage the soft leaves of higher plants. This is not to say that they eat the plants clean, but small scratches and scuffs can leave. Therefore, it is important to ensure that they have enough food. To do this, you must observe the density of their planting - for each individual at least 40-50 liters of water. If there are few algae in the aquarium, it is recommended to feed the garinheilus with plant foods: cucumber, cabbage, lettuce and dandelion.

Why do algae eaters stop eating algae? Quite often, there is evidence that CAE, as well as girinoheylus, are engaged in diligent cleaning of the aquarium only at a young age, and when they grow up, they completely lose interest in algae and switch to dry food. Indeed, this happens, but only when they have plenty to choose from. If there is no excess dry food in the aquarium, then the algae eaters have no choice but to take up the performance of their direct duties. Therefore, the recommendations here are as follows: feed the fish only in the evening, if there is not enough algae, try to feed the fish not with dry food, but only with vegetable, or, even better, specially grow algae in other aquariums or just in water banks installed in bright places.

It should be noted that there are no such complaints about the otsinclus, it is engaged in cleaning the aquarium from algae, not paying attention to dry food.

Girinoheilus example

Aquarium algae compatibility

Since the life of algae eaters directly depends on the size of their pasture, the issue of competition for food resources is very acute for them, and the behavior of these fish formed under its influence. Many of them have territoriality, the manifestations of which complicate the lives of their neighbors and the aquarist.

The only algae eaters compatible with each other are otocinclus and SAE. Since they have a different structure of the oral apparatus and, accordingly, different food preferences, they will not compete. In addition, both species are quite peaceful. No other species of algae eaters can be settled together.

Girinohejlusy \u200b\u200band SAE will be irreconcilably at odds with each other, as well as with ancistruses and labeos. If the aquarium is small in size and has few shelters, then adult Siamese algae eaters will also sort things out with individuals of their kind, and girinoheyluses will fight to the death. Some authors point out that girinocheylus are aggressive towards all the fish around them. I can say that this is not so, or at least not always so - in my aquarium, the girinoheylus does not pay any attention to peaceful neighbors, unless they swim close to the site in which it is currently grazing.

With predatory cichlids, keeping algae eaters is also not recommended. The exception is only the aggressive counterparts of SAE - Siamese flying foxes. They are larger and can stand up for themselves.

Thus, good neighbors for the heroes of this article can be non-predatory peaceful fish of small or medium size, not interested in algae.

Algae-eating fish can become indispensable human helpers in the fight for the cleanliness of the aquarium. Having dealt with their types, food addictions and behavioral patterns, each aquarist decides for himself which of them will bring the greatest benefit to his glass pond, making it healthier and more beautiful.

Video how otocycluses work in an aquarium:

Aquarium orderlies - fish, shrimp, snails fighting algae

A clean and well-maintained aquarium is not only a beauty, but also a guarantee of a long and healthy life for its inhabitants. But sometimes, contrary to the efforts of the owner and even the work of high-tech equipment, the domestic pond is covered from the inside with a brown or dark green bloom, brushes, fringe or threads. These are algae. If this problem has overtaken you, then do not rush to grab immediately for chemicals. Try to settle algae eaters for yourself, for whom eating such “garbage” is one of the natural physiological processes. Read about which aquarium orderlies are known and against which algae they are most effective, read in our article.

Algae fighting fish

These “cleanliness workers” are most often found in amateur aquariums.

Catfish

  Especially good "cleaners" are considered

• pterigoplicht (brocade catfish),
• ordinary ancistrus,
• and otocinclus (dwarf catfish), which prefers diatoms.

They carefully clean everything with their suction cup (bacterial film, fouling from algae, other polluting organics), starting from the walls of the aquarium, soil, stones and ending with snags and large leaves of plants. Moreover, they themselves are quite unpretentious, which is a definite plus.

Of the minuses, it is worth canceling the large size and poor nature of some of the catfish.

• For example, an adult pterigoplicht can grow up to 40-45 cm and begin to behave aggressively towards other inhabitants.
• Sometimes catfish, overly keen on cleaning, damage young tender tops of plants or make holes in young leaves.
• And some individuals with age begin to be lazy and poorly fulfill their “duties”.

Dwarf catfish - an algae-eater from the chain-mail catfish family, is best suited for brown diatoms. A flock of five fish can easily keep a 100 liter aquarium clean. "Dwarf" unpretentious, peaceful, able to get along even with large predators.

The armored catfish corridor is also pretty good in terms of cleaning, only it strongly balamutes the water and is inclined to eat other fish.

But the "janitor", which can be seen less often, but this does not make it worse: the royal panak, belonging to the family of chain-mail catfish. Large fish, for which you need a 200-liter (no less) aquarium. Young individuals are calm, but with age their character noticeably deteriorates. Get along well with peaceful haracin. Best Panak cleans driftwood.

Garinheyl

  This family combines only three types of fish, the most popular of which are the girinoheylus.

Their lips look like a suction cup with pleats on the inside. These bends form a sort of “grater”.

Thanks to this design, fish can be held on stones even with a strong current, while scraping algae from their surface.

This food is not very nutritious, therefore, "scratch" the girinoheylus have a lot.

All filamentous algae, such as filament and black beard, they can not eat.

The negative points include

• damage to leaves on which furrows and holes may remain after “harvesting”;
• a small number of fish is not enough to maintain cleanliness in the aquarium;
• in large numbers, they are aggressive and constantly attack their own kind, as they are territorial.

It is very difficult to achieve peace among them. Neighbors must also be carefully selected, categorically you can not take slow-moving fish. Girinohejlusy \u200b\u200btake them for inanimate objects, can "clean" and severely damage the scales.

Viviparous

  Many of them have a strongly developed lower jaw, which resembles a scraper, which easily removes plaque from walls, soil and plants.

The most popular livestock sweepers are guppies, mollies, pecilia and swordsman. Some breeders claim that these fish can survive even without additional food, eating only green thread.

The disadvantages of this group include the fact that they need to be kept in a large flock (at least 10 pieces), but even in such quantities they will not provide complete order in the aquarium. They are good only as assistants to other algae eaters.

In addition, these fish are not very spectacular, but for the beautiful ones there simply may not be enough space left in the aquarium. And tightness, as we know, will lead to conflicts.

Cyprinids

  The most tireless fighter with algae from this family is the Siamese algae eater (aka Siamese crossheil, or Siamese crosshelius, or Siamese epalceorinchus).

Its ridge is green algae and the so-called “Vietnamese” or “black beard” (these are growths in the form of dark tassels on stones, leaves of plants and in other places).

It also copes well with other algae in the form of a gun, since its mouth is most suitable for this. For a 100-liter aquarium to be perfectly clean, just two (even the smallest) Siamese algae eaters are enough.

The advantages of these fish are also activity, mobility, a fairly peaceful disposition, a small volume of the vessel for a normal existence and modest care.

Not without flaws. After the length of the fish becomes more than 4 centimeters, they can begin to eat Javanese moss, if it grows in the aquarium, and much more willingly than algae.

The way out of this situation is to plant larger mosses, such as fissance.

Another pair of "cleaners" from this family - two-color labe (bicolor) and green (frenatus). Their mouthparts are facing down. Of course, they eat algae and fouling, but not as well as the previous ones. It is rather their hobby, so to speak. Their big minus is increased aggressiveness and territoriality in relation to both other fish and their own kind.

Seaweed Shrimp

  These arthropods are rightly called champions of purity. Freshwater shrimp, whose bodies are equipped with special "fans", are especially good.

These outgrowths filter the water and extract from it uneaten food, feces, particles of plants and what remains of the deceased inhabitants. Males loosen the soil and filter the dregs, which at the same time rose. Females remove contaminants from the bottom surface.

In addition to filtering the water, these creatures remove fluffy algae from the leaves of plants and all other surfaces, and much more successfully than fish.

The reason is simple - shrimp, especially cherry, can get into the smallest nooks and crannies of the aquarium.

Negative points:

• a small shrimp can handle only a small amount of work;
• to really clean the aquarium, you will need a lot of shrimp (one individual per liter);
• they are very defenseless and can be eaten by fish, as a result of which neighbors need to be selected very carefully, plus the creation of many reliable shelters.

In addition to cherry, shrimp Amano shrimps fight well. Cladorof balls are perfectly kept clean and eat thread.

Important! The effectiveness of the "work" is affected by their size. The larger the shrimp, the harder the strings of algae it can eat. Four centimeter arthropods are considered the best.

Enough 5 of these pieces per 200 liters. Three centimeters will need 1 individual for every 10 liters of water. Small ones need even more (1-2 for each liter). The latter option is the most unproductive and most expensive. It is also worth noting that these shrimps do not eat xenococus and other green algae in the form of plaque. Blackbeard is also reluctant to use.

Another type is neocaridins. They are most common among amateurs, as they are very easy to breed. They are small, only 1-2 cm long, so a lot of “combat units” will be required (one individual per liter). Preference is given to soft filamentous algae of the Rizoclinium type. Neocaridins are the best choice for plant aquariums. They are irreplaceable in the just launched aquarium, as they help to establish balance. In the mature, they maintain balance.

Algae fighting snails

  Although mollusks are not so successful in the role of orderlies, their strength is the ability to consume almost all contaminants (remaining food, live excrement and the remains of dead inhabitants, decayed plants, mucus and plaque on all surfaces, a film from the surface of the water).

And the well-being and behavior of some species serves as a kind of indicator of the purity of the soil and water.

The bad thing is that the number of snails is almost impossible to control, and they reproduce very quickly.

Then their large army begins to "harm" by eating plants and filling everything with its mucus.

Here are some of the most common snail cleaners found in home aquariums:

Neretina Zebra   (tiger snail), neretina hedgehog, neretina black ear. They remove plaque from glass, stones, driftwood, decor and large leaves without damaging them. They seem to never get tired. Minus - leave unaesthetic masonry of caviar on the glass of the aquarium.

This crumb (1-1.5 cm) is able to climb into the most inaccessible places and clean them to a shine. It copes with diatoms.

Septaria or tortoise snail   with a flat shell. Very slow, but despite this it copes well with algal fouling and Vietnamese. Plants do not damage. The disadvantage is characteristic - caviar, hung on the scenery.

Corbicula. This is a three-centimeter snail. It is also called the yellow Javanese ball or golden bivalve. Helps to cope with turbidity of water, suspension and flowering, as it is a filter. This means that the mollusk passes water through itself (up to 5 liters per hour!), Eating the microorganisms contained in it. It is interesting that in aquariums with carbicles, fish do not suffer from ichthyophorosis, since they somehow delay their cysts. On an aquarium of 100 liters you need from 1 to 3 of these snails. Negative points include plowing up the soil and digging up plants with weak roots.

Ampullaria. Quite a large bipedal mollusk. It picks up the remains of food, dead fish and other snails, actively eats fouling from the walls of the aquarium.

Helenacalled the killer snail. This miniature predator is considered a scavenger. However, it is able to eat not only a forgotten piece of food or a dead fish, but also a very lively small shrimp or snail (for example, a reel or chalk).

Theodoxus. These are small beautiful freshwater snails. There are several types. They can live both in freshwater and salt water bodies of the home. They feed only on fouling, preferring brown and green algae. They even compete with gerinoheyluses for superiority in the effectiveness of the fight against xenococus. But they don’t like “beard”. Plants do not spoil.

In conclusion, we say that an aquarium biosystem can successfully exist only with the help of humans. Proper selection and adjustment of equipment and lighting, proper launch of the aquarium, regular monitoring of water parameters and the condition of the inhabitants are very important. Fish, shrimp and snails are helpers in solving the problem of algae control, and not the main characters. Of course, here we only briefly described only a few representatives of aquarium orderlies, since in one article it is impossible to tell in detail about all. We will be grateful for interesting additions.

Somiki - aquarium cleaners

For those who like to buy and breed aquarium fish, sooner or later the question arises of how to keep the container in constant cleanliness. After all, fish leave a lot of dirt and waste products, and in addition, algae, which in any violation of the thermal regime, begin to actively spread throughout the aquarium, also violate the cleanliness of the aquarium. Even with periodic cleaning of the aquarium and replacing water, a plaque of small plants and dirt appears on the walls of the aquarium.

It is in this case that very useful and unpretentious "helpers" come to the rescue - aquarium catfish. Their main advantage is that the fish do not require special food. They feed on the remains of the food of other sea creatures, and also eat small mosses and algae.

That is why it is very convenient to start a catfish cleaner in the aquarium. As a rule, these fish are not aggressive and can be safely kept with other inhabitants of the aquarium. But still there are various types of catfish.

The most calm and conflict-free are catfish-sticks, which have a spotty color and a flattened body. When they appear in the aquarium, they immediately adhere to the walls of the vessel and gradually begin to eat plaque.

Thus, catfish cleaners very much help the aquarist. Thanks to their efforts, the vessel with the fish can be kept clean and tidy much easier.

Like other fish, they need water of a suitable temperature, constant oxygen and light. Some species of catfish prefer dark places and shelters, but sticking catfish does not apply to them.

In addition, for its comfortable maintenance, a sufficient amount of algae is necessary so that the fish has something to eat. But, as a rule, problems never arise with this. After all, even in the cleanest aquarium, algae and microorganisms settle, which catfish-cleaner perfectly copes with.

Ototsinklus: content, compatibility of catfish, reproduction, photo-video review

Many aquarists, even those who do not contain live aquarium plants, know fish such as algae eaters. These fish are tireless laborers and orderlies of the aquarium - they eat algae around the clock and effectively cope even with such an urgent problem as Blackbeard.

However, few people know that there are other fish that can help us cope with aquarium adversities. One of such indispensable assistants is chain catfish - OTOCINCUS. Let's see what kind of catfish it is and how it is useful!

At the same time, in RuNet there is evidence that otocincluses “stick” to the scalars and Diskus, feeding on their integumentary mucus.

How many live:   these catfish have an average life expectancy of about 4-6 years. Find out how many other fish live HERE!

  Minimum aquarium volume: There are various varieties of otocinclus, the smallest of the genus Otocinclus mariae is 2.5 cm in size, the largest is Otocinclus flexilis - 5.5 cm. Therefore, when choosing the number of catfish, of course, you must proceed from the sizes of one or another type of otocinclus. The general recommendation is up to 7 catfish per 50 liters of aquarium water.

See how many other fish you can keep in the X aquarium. HERE   (at the bottom of the article there are links to aquariums of all volumes).

Care and containment requirements:

Ototsinklusy - clean and love clean water. For their maintenance, aeration and filtration are necessary, as well as a weekly replacement of aquarium water with fresh, about 1/3 -? parts.

Ototsinklusy, in addition to gill respiration, have intestinal respiration. But, unlike corridors, who constantly use both of these breaths, otocincluses breathe intestines, only as necessary. If they often capture air from the surface of the water, then the aeration you set is not enough.

Please note that otocincluses need to be very carefully transplanted into a new aquarium, adhering to all the rules for moving and transporting fish, otics are very tenacious and do not like changing water parameters.

Feeding and diet:

In otocinclus, the oral apparatus has the form of a suction cup, with the help of which they are kept in the stream in nature, as well as scraping algae and bacterial fouling from stones, snags and everything else that is in the river.

This amazing ability of otocinclus is their highlight !!! As well as in the natural habitat, these catfish clean the walls and decorations of the ill-fated, lower diatoms in the aquarium!

Feeding aquarium fish should be correct: balanced, varied. This fundamental rule is the key to the successful maintenance of any fish, be it guppies or astronotuses. Article "How and how much to feed aquarium fish"   talks about this in detail, it outlines the basic principles of the diet and the feeding regime of fish.

In this article, we note the most important thing - feeding the fish should not be monotonous, both dry and live food should be included in the diet. In addition, it is necessary to take into account the gastronomic preferences of a particular fish and, depending on this, include in its diet feed either with the highest protein content or vice versa with vegetable ingredients.

Popular and popular fish food, of course, are dry food. For example, every hour and everywhere you can find on the aquarium shelves the feed of the Tetra company - the leader of the Russian market, in fact, the assortment of feed of this company is amazing. Tetra's “gastronomic arsenal” includes individual feeds for a certain type of fish: for goldfish, for cichlids, for loricaria, guppies, labyrinths, arovans, discus, etc. Tetra also developed specialized feeds, for example, to enhance color, fortified or to feed fry. Detailed information on all Tetra feeds, you can find on the official website of the company - here.

It should be noted that when buying any dry food, you should pay attention to the date of its manufacture and shelf life, try not to buy food by weight, and also store food in a closed state - this will help to avoid the development of pathogenic flora in it.

These catfish are not replaceable helpers in all Amanov and Dutch aquariums, who have earned 100% respect from aquascapers around the world. Saint Sei - Takashi Amano   contains them in the amount of 6 animals / aquarium of 90 cm. + shrimp.

It is worth noting that, unlike ancistrus,   otocinclus is much more mobile. Like algae eaters, they work tirelessly "on the cleanliness of the aquarium." They eat brown algae not only from the decor and walls of the aquarium, but also directly from the plants, which the Antsistruses do not!

Despite the fact that otocincluses are able to feed themselves, still they should be fed with branded plant foods. You can also offer them scalded lettuce, spinach or fresh cucumber as a delicacy.

photo otocinclus on a cucumber

In nature live:   rivers and lakes in central and northern South America. Amazon pools in Peru, Brazil and Bolivia.

Types of otocinclus

There are a lot of varieties of these catfish! The most popular are Otocinclus. mariae, Otocinclus affinis, Otocinclus macrospilus, and Otocinclus vittatus.

Description:   All representatives of this genus are similar, differing only in size and variable coloration. All otocinclusions have a gray or black, continuous or intermittent band on their side. On the front of the tail there is a large spot of variable shape.

Breeding and propagation of otocinclus   very simple. Actually it happens on its own, and sometimes it’s not even noticeable for the aquarist, who only after a month notices the “replenishment in the ranks” of otocinclus.

Good conditions and stimulation: by feeding protein foods, increased aeration, frequent water changes ... that’s all that is necessary for spawning of otocyclinus. Sexual differences are mild. Females are larger and thicker than males.

Ototsinklusy spawn several times during the summer, as a substrate for spawning, as a rule, broad leaves of plants act. After mating games, the female lays the clutch in the amount of 100 - 150 eggs. The incubation period of eggs is 3-6 days. After that, larvae appear, which on the third day turn into fry. Fodder for juveniles - live dust, small, frayed feed.

The cost of otsotsinkloyusov corresponds to their "utility" and is relatively high - 150 rubles.

Interesting video with otocinclus

CLEAN AQUARIUM FOR BEGINNERS.

How to clean the aquarium

General cleaning in the aquarium need to do depending on the type of fish. For some, the best option is a one-time monthly cleaning, for others - a weekly cleaning. Remember that fish do not like to be disturbed, they change their habitat even for a short time. General cleaning is always stressful for any kind of fish. That is why during harvesting do not scare your fish with sudden movements. Are you planning to make permutations in the aquarium, replace plants? Then this procedure is better to combine with cleaning and tidying. Remember: the use of all kinds of chemical cleaners in the aquarium is strictly prohibited! In specialized stores you can buy a special siphon for cleaning the aquarium. You can also use improvised materials available in the house. The walls of the aquarium should be cleaned with a scraper, washcloth, kitchen sponge. After all, microorganisms permanently settle on them, making it difficult to see and creating an untidy, messy look to the aquarium. After cleaning the glass, you can begin to clean the bottom of your aquarium. The soil must be cleaned of residual feed and fish excrement. All this accumulates below. But how do you know that such a cleaning is needed? Take a stick and stir the soil, stir it. If the bubbles begin to rise from the bottom, then cleaning is necessary. This procedure will be facilitated by a special soil purifier. This is a flexible hose with a glass or metal tip, which should be driven along the bottom, pressing it deep into. Contaminated water will flow through the tip. It is important to control the amount of water drained. The volume of this water should not exceed one fifth of the total volume of water in the aquarium. This amount of water you need to then add to the tank. Be careful with the roots of the plants when cleaning, do not damage them. After all, the main thing in cleaning is the preservation of all living things and the support of the natural habitat. Water purification helps to refresh the aquarium, remove accumulated harmful substances. In order to mitigate the stress caused by replacing water, fish should partially replace it. This should be done once every 2 weeks. Water for this purpose should be upheld for several days. Is your aquarium not covered from above? Then a film may appear on the surface of the water. You can eliminate it with a sheet of paper, the size of which is equal to the size of the aquarium. This sheet must be held by the edges, lowered into water and slowly picked up together with harmful film. If necessary, the procedure is done several times. During the general cleaning of the aquarium, one should not forget about the filter for cleaning. Usually its elements are made of foam rubber. Therefore, to thoroughly clean them, you just need to rinse them under a strong stream of water. The filter mechanism is usually cleaned with a simple toothbrush. General cleaning of the aquarium, its competent cleaning will extend the life of your swimming pets, maintain a normal level of aquatic environment. After all, cleanliness, order are necessary for all living beings. Support them, control, watch the changes. And then your healthy pets will delight the eye with their active movements!

Step-by-step cleaning of the aquarium at home: instructions

1. We clean the aquarium with a siphon.

Properly cleaning the aquarium with a siphon is not so difficult, just do it once, and then you can do it with your eyes closed. Aquarium siphons come in different designs, but regardless of them, the siphon of the bottom of the aquarium will always be built on the same principles.

With this procedure, it is necessary to begin the procedure of cleaning any fish tank. You should siphon both the surface of the soil and a little from the depths. As a rule, the main waste accumulates on the surface. It is necessary to siphon such a volume that you are going to pour back in the form of standing water. Calculating this amount is not difficult, the main thing is not to forget to do it, but if you have water with a reserve, then you have nothing to worry about.

2. We clean the glass.

In fact, we want to say from our own experience that the most problems arise with glasses, simply because it’s too lazy to clean them ... This is the hardest job - you have to work with a scraper and go through all the growths. If you do not do this when the first growths appear, then in the future it will be very difficult to cope with them, and even more so with many months of growth, not a single cleaner fish will cope.

3.Clean the filter.

Cleaning the filter is the third on the list, because for this we need water from the aquarium so that we can wash the filter parts in it, rinse the sponges. It is better if it is the water that you siphon last, so that it contains as little turbidity and sediment as possible. Rinsing the filter in this water, you collect it and install it back.

4. Pouring settled water into the aquarium.

When all the so-called dirty work on the proper cleaning of the aquarium with fish is done, we only have to do a little - pour clean water. It should be water that you defended for a week in a special container. Only after the water is flooded, you can turn on the filter, as well as lighting.

5. Add vitamins.

Also, if required, you can add any fish vitamins to the aquarium. It can also be a means for water, as well as algae control. In general, it is better to fill in such products either together with new standing water, so that they immediately spread throughout the entire volume, or fill them in the area where the water comes out of the filter.

1. Be sure to plan ahead when cleaning is necessary. Do it the day before so as not to procrastinate at the last moment. We recommend for the sake of such a thing to tune in at least a little half-hour work with the aquarium in advance - it will be easier to do everything, and not be lazy.
2. If you suddenly forgot to defend water (and this happens with busy people who have large aquariums), then it is better to skip cleaning than to siphon and fill in unprepared (not defended) water.
3. If you are completely lazy, then in small aquariums you can clean less often, for example once every 2 weeks (for aquariums up to 30-40 liters). But here it all depends on the contamination of the aquarium, filter power, etc.
4. Try to move the siphon in the aquarium without sudden movements. This must be done in order not to frighten the fish once again, especially if these fish are large and shy.
5. Do not siphon deep the soil, which is located close to large plants. This soil contains plant nutrients (of course, if the dirt comes out through the stones, then it is necessary to siphon even there, in the depths). In addition, it is not worth disturbing the plant root system once again, since it is stressful for them - plants do not like transplants and movements around the aquarium.

   Orderly fish

   There are species of fish that not only delight the eye with their bright colors and peaceful disposition, but also bring undoubted benefits - these are aquarium cleaners. These include swordsmen, guppies, mollies, and Pecilia. They have a special structure of the mouth - the developed lower jaw resembles a scraper, with which the fish can remove plaque from the walls or bottom of the aquarium, as well as clean the leaves of plants.

   Both ancistruses and armored catfish are very interesting - their oral apparatus is very similar to a suction cup, with its help these creatures can move along the walls of the aquarium. In addition, organic plaque taken from glass walls is part of their diet. These types of fish will become real helpers in cleaning the aquarium and greatly facilitate this procedure.

   Means for cleaning.

   Not all detergents and cleaners can be used in cleaning the aquarium. There are even types of chemistry that are categorically not recommended for use. Devices for cleaning are the simplest, there are not many of them. There are only a few items that are required.

   You need a scraper to clean the aquarium glass efficiently. There are two varieties of it: on a magnet and with a long handle. The first option is specifically designed for aquariums. It is so arranged that you simply lower it into the water and control its movements on the other side of the glass. That is, you don’t even have to put your hands in the water.

   The second desired item is a tube (siphon), with which the soil is cleaned at the bottom of the aquarium. It is inexpensive. In addition, you can make it yourself if you have a small piece of hose.

   And the last important device is a water purifying filter. Its plus is that it works all the time. That is, the water is filtered non-stop. The process of cleaning it is constantly happening. Moreover, the filter absorbs and retains foreign particles. Consequently, both the soil and the walls of the aquarium are less rapidly contaminated. Also, the filter protects plants from unwanted plaque.

Which fish are the best aquarium cleaners?

Natalya A.

Siamese Algae Eater

  pterigoplicht

  ancistrus

  corridor

ANCISTRUS - COM
  Fish are peaceful inhabitants of the soil, like shelters, their activity increases with the onset of twilight or a drop in atmospheric pressure. They love clean, oxygen-rich water. You can keep in a common aquarium, in which there should be places overgrown, a sufficient number of caves and be sure to snag, which the fish are scraped off to get the cellulose they need. Large stones should lie at the bottom of the aquarium, because if they lie on the ground, then fish undermining them can be crushed. Males protect the territory around the chosen shelter.

Food: 60% vegetable, the rest is live, substitutes are possible. Fish eaten the growths of some species of short and soft algae.

Spawning both in general and in the spawning aquarium. At the bottom lay a ceramic or plastic tube 3-4 cm long 20 cm (spawning can occur in a cave).

Water for dilution: 20-26 ° C, dH up to 10 °, KH up to 2 °, pH 6-7.3.

A couple or 2 males and 4-6 females are planted, in the latter case, 2 tubes are laid at a distance of at least 50 cm from each other to avoid males fighting over the territory. The spawning stimulus is the change of 1/3 of the volume of water to fresh, aeration and lowering the temperature. The female tosses 50-300 eggs in the tube, which are guarded by the male. In a spawning aquarium, the female is removed, and from the common tube, together with the male, they are transferred to a growing aquarium with the same water parameters. The incubation period is 4-9 days. After 4-12 days, the fry leave the tube and take food: live dust and finely ground vegetable food. In a growing aquarium, it is advisable to put a snag, which the fry will peel. Puberty at 7-12 months.