For clean up you need to focus on two zones:
The substrate and surfaces.
The substrate needs to be periodically stirred up or agitated. There are "sand sifting starfish"
that can do this very well, but they feed off of near invisible layers of algae that is most
common in established tanks. They will dig down in the sand and starve to death where they
pollute the tank. I would skip these for such a small tank.
For a small tank Narssarius Snails:
work great. They are excellent detritus feeders, and love to scavenge uneaten food.
They hide under the sand during the day ( you might see their little noses sticking up
like a periscope) then at night they race around the tank (quite fast by snail standards)
eating all the left over food on the floor. They move the sand around while they do this.
MAKE SURE THAT YOU DON'T GET WELKS!
They look almost the same, except for their siphons (nose). They have leopard like spots
on up and down the nose. They will eat clams and other sessile inverts.
For surfaces (rock or tank)
I like Emerald crabs. They are herbivores, and mow down hair algae or bubble algae
on rocks- and are fun to watch. They DO NOT like nitrates. They die quick if you neglect
water changes.
As for smooth surfaces like the tank walls, any standard turbo snail will do.
I wouldn't go nuts with too many cleaners though. If you get a few Nassarius snails,
you might find they reporduce quite well in the aquarium. However in such a small
tank it's possible for them to run out of food. One crab or even two large turbo snails
could clean the rocks in your tank in a day or two! They work fast.
Small tanks can be great as long as you focus intently on religious water changes and water quality.
The substrate and surfaces.
The substrate needs to be periodically stirred up or agitated. There are "sand sifting starfish"
that can do this very well, but they feed off of near invisible layers of algae that is most
common in established tanks. They will dig down in the sand and starve to death where they
pollute the tank. I would skip these for such a small tank.
For a small tank Narssarius Snails:
work great. They are excellent detritus feeders, and love to scavenge uneaten food.
They hide under the sand during the day ( you might see their little noses sticking up
like a periscope) then at night they race around the tank (quite fast by snail standards)
eating all the left over food on the floor. They move the sand around while they do this.
MAKE SURE THAT YOU DON'T GET WELKS!
They look almost the same, except for their siphons (nose). They have leopard like spots
on up and down the nose. They will eat clams and other sessile inverts.
For surfaces (rock or tank)
I like Emerald crabs. They are herbivores, and mow down hair algae or bubble algae
on rocks- and are fun to watch. They DO NOT like nitrates. They die quick if you neglect
water changes.
As for smooth surfaces like the tank walls, any standard turbo snail will do.
I wouldn't go nuts with too many cleaners though. If you get a few Nassarius snails,
you might find they reporduce quite well in the aquarium. However in such a small
tank it's possible for them to run out of food. One crab or even two large turbo snails
could clean the rocks in your tank in a day or two! They work fast.
Small tanks can be great as long as you focus intently on religious water changes and water quality.
