clean up crew/fish for a malawi cichlid tank??

[fishkeeper01]

Hey guys i jus wanted to hear suggestions from you folks who have been able to keep fish with malawi cichlids,mainly cuz algae becoming a problem in my tank and synos. really only eat the leftover food. Comments and suggestions are appriciated thanks!

[fishboy199413]

Maybe netrite snails? They tend to clean algae very well and usually are ignored by most fish.

[Zefrik]

Originally Posted by fishkeeper01

Hey guys i jus wanted to hear suggestions from you folks who have been able to keep fish with malawi cichlids,mainly cuz algae becoming a problem in my tank and synos. really only eat the leftover food. Comments and suggestions are appriciated thanks!

All fish/creatures defecate so they don't make a tank any cleaner. But things like snails can help keep algae at bay. Malaysian trumpet snails would probably be a good choice.

[ngrubich]

I have a couple bristlenose plecos (L144 I believe; they only get to about 2 - 2.5" long). I hardly ever see them on the glass except when my lights are off. They do a decent job, but a few more would be ideal if I weren't already overstocked and had a bunch of females holding. My tank is a 90 gallon mbuna tank.
I wouldn't recommend the trumpet snails because they have had the tendencies to overtake my tanks (reproduce like crazy and I don't like having to fish them out every month or so). I have read that olive nerite snails are ideal if you want a limited number of snails in your tank: they need brackish water to reproduce, so you have a better control of snail population in your tank.

[245Bettalover]

Originally Posted by ngrubich

I have a couple bristlenose plecos (L144 I believe; they only get to about 2 - 2.5" long). I hardly ever see them on the glass except when my lights are off. They do a decent job, but a few more would be ideal if I weren't already overstocked and had a bunch of females holding. My tank is a 90 gallon mbuna tank.
I wouldn't recommend the trumpet snails because they have had the tendencies to overtake my tanks (reproduce like crazy and I don't like having to fish them out every month or so). I have read that olive nerite snails are ideal if you want a limited number of snails in your tank: they need brackish water to reproduce, so you have a better control of snail population in your tank.

^ i agree