# A Good "Cleaner" Fish for a 10 Gallon?



## dormfish (Sep 4, 2011)

So, I'm thinking about getting some sort of "cleaner" fish, but I'm unsure of what to get for a 10 gallon tank. Right now I have 3 platys and 2 white skirt tetras. (I'm thinking of selling the whiteskirts, they tend to harass the platys) What would be a nice little fish or snail or anything else that would work well for a 10 gal.?


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## SolaceTiger (Oct 4, 2008)

I hear shrimps are good for algae... they are scavengers. I know some people will say otos, but I wouldn't recommend them. They need lots of room to swim and are super fast. Maybe some cherry shrimp? I have 6 ghost shrimp in my 5 gallon and they are fun to watch. 

Also, tetras really should be in a bigger tank and groups... that's probably why they are buggin the platys.


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## dormfish (Sep 4, 2011)

SolaceTiger said:


> I hear shrimps are good for algae... they are scavengers. I know some people will say otos, but I wouldn't recommend them. They need lots of room to swim and are super fast. Maybe some cherry shrimp? I have 6 ghost shrimp in my 5 gallon and they are fun to watch.
> 
> Also, tetras really should be in a bigger tank and groups... that's probably why they are buggin the platys.


Yeah, I didn't learn about tetra spacing issues until after I bought them, but shrimp, ir anything with pincers, kind of scare me. :-? What else might be good for a tank this size?


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## zof (Apr 23, 2010)

Yea 10 gallon is too small for any fish for clean up I'd go with snails, shrimp work but not safe for fry if you are looking to breed. MTS (Malaysian Trumpet Snails) are pretty cool because they will dig through the substrate, Nerites are cool because they only breed in brackish water so you won't be over ran by snails and then the ever popular apple snail, only thing cool about them in my opinion is all the different colors they come in.


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## chevysoldier (Oct 14, 2011)

Go with some MTS. throw a dozen in and you'll be good. You'll know if you are over feeding because the snail population will boom. You can put some food on a dish in the tank. Next morning it should ne covered with snails. Then scoop them out to reduce the population.


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## trombonedemon (Sep 9, 2011)

A good cleaner for a 10 gallon tank is water, I'm not being sarcastic; but for a tank that size, constant water changes are a must!

My dorm had a 10 gallon size limit, so looks like yours has the same.


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## dormfish (Sep 4, 2011)

trombonedemon said:


> A good cleaner for a 10 gallon tank is water, I'm not being sarcastic; but for a tank that size, constant water changes are a must!
> 
> My dorm had a 10 gallon size limit, so looks like yours has the same.


Oh, we don;t have a size limit. I know someone who had a 75 gallon last year XD. But I only had money for a 10 gallon.


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## trombonedemon (Sep 9, 2011)

dormfish said:


> Oh, we don;t have a size limit. I know someone who had a 75 gallon last year XD. But I only had money for a 10 gallon.


 Wouldn't want to lug a 75 gallon tank anywhere let alone a dorm room.:shock:


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## dormfish (Sep 4, 2011)

This is the same person who has ordered 3 futons withing the past 2 months because the ones she buys keep breaking.... we do have fun with the boxes, though XD


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## iamgray (Jul 16, 2010)

College dorms... Constantly breaking futons... I'm suppressing more than a few immature chuckles here. 

I agree with the snail idea. You could kill two birds with one stone by buying some plants... They often have a few hitchhiking snails, and the plants will help keep your tank clean by using the nutrients that the algae would use. I usually find the most snails when I buy plants from other aquarists rather than from the store... Although if they keep snails in the same tank as plants at the store, you'll end up with quite a few that way.


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## Dragon Arcadia (Oct 20, 2011)

Ghost shrimp are recommended by me. It is surprisingly fun to watch a little army of shrimp eat any debris off the tank floor. Just make sure you cover the tank; the swim a lot and can really jump when they want to.


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## dormfish (Sep 4, 2011)

Oh but shrimp scare me. :\ And I don't think they're allowed in my dorm... sadness


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