I know fish are pretty and lower blood pressure, blah blah blah, but I wanted to know what fish are out there that are useful, or serve a purpose in the tank.

So far, I have these:

Siamese Algae Eater - does what the name says

Skunk Loach - good for munching down on snails

rumor has it Mollies are good at grazing on algae too, and I was also told that Tadpoles can help control algae in outdoor ponds.

Anyone got any others they're willing to share?

BN eat algae, other omnivorous plecos too.

Platys have a pick at long BBA,

I reckon khulie loaches eat baby snails,

Corys eat left over food,

Thats I can really think of.

Love my plec's for algae control but I always enjoy keeping a red tail shark too as they should be a nice dark black with bright red tail if you have a healthy tank and start to pale if things aren't right

Well, if your tank is infested with... er.. fish... then a good solution is to get a Koura ;D!

And if your tank gets infested with koura you should get a large eel

If you have a big eel, youd better get a smoker

Hi All

I would suggest a few Jordanella floridae"The American Flag Fish".

I have some and find they consume a lot more algae than anything else.

Also they are very different fish.

......

rumor has it Mollies are good at grazing on algae too, and I was also told that Tadpoles can help control algae in outdoor ponds.

Anyone got any others they're willing to share?

My Molly ate A LOT of my other plants too...

Hi,

Cleaner fish.

I see that a lot of people here that certain fish eat certain things.

But that dose not mean we should only use these fish for that purpose.

All fish will eat things around the tank. When they are swimming they are foraging for food. So it is kind of hard to say for show what they pacifically eat. I have seen my BN's eat flakes frozen food, fish fry ect. The same with my Guppies. Sometimes they will eat junk that accumulates in the Java Moss the move on to more interesting food.

The same with Loaches. They do eat snails. But that is not all. They eat all sorts of think that they can root out of the ground. In their natural environments they would be busy eat, fresh water lice, fish eggs depending on the seasons, dead fish, decaying plant mater ect.

Now this might sound like a lot of educated rubbish. Well this is true rubbish, which brings me back to the topic. All fish can be used in a tank to help clean things up. But that dose not give us a right to just use the fish. Alway feed them their appropriate foods and food supplements.

mac

Hi Mac,

I understand completely what you are saying - I have cories and bottom dwellers who regularly get there sinking tablets, and I offer ALL my fish a variety of foods, no matter what their preferences are.

All I'm asking is if anyone knows of fish that do provide a useful service in the tank outside of their own regular lifestyle and eating regime.

For example, i know that skunk loaches will eat snails, but that's not to say that if I kept a lone one in a tank, all I would feed it was snails.

I'd like to be able to offer others advice on how to use fish to solve a problem in a more natural/organic sort of way, hence I asked the question. Not making a dig, just offering a reason as to why I asked the question.

One I haven't had an answer to is Planaria(?) worms???

I have these flat worm like things in my cold water axolotl tank, but wondered if there was a fish that would eat these if they turned up in a tropical tank.

All fish will eat these if they are hungry enough. Don't feed them for a week or two. Problem solved.

Can anyone remind me which fish out there at duckweed?

I think some cichlids do, but aren't there Barbs like Tiger barbs or something that will eat it too?

Silver Dollars

Can anyone remind me which fish out there at duckweed?

I think some cichlids do, but aren't there Barbs like Tiger barbs or something that will eat it too?

Just about all plant eating fish. Severums love it.

Hi All

Has the guts of this original post been lost somewhere among the replies and responses? :oops:

It appears to me that the question was something like "Which / what are useful fish".

I can be called a D...k H...d but I want to go back and ask a stupid question.

"USEFUL IN RESPECT TO WHAT OR FOR WHAT". :roll:

All fish in some way or another are useful for something in varying degrees.

Lets get back on track here as I think we have drifted off the main line of thought.

All fish in some way or another are useful for something in varying degrees.

Hi All.

I think the answer to that IRA is that goldfish are decorative and have been since about the early fifteen hundreds.

That's probably why so many people (not Me) enjoy keeping them. :roll:

Hi All.

I think the answer to that IRA is that goldfish are decorative and have been since about the early fifteen hundreds.

That's probably why so many people (not Me) enjoy keeping them. :roll:

look where 500 years of selective breeding has gotten us ((chunder))

This was my post and it has moved a little astray, but the original idea behind it was to find out about fish that provide a specific 'duty' in the tank.

Like, skunk loaches are a good natural way for getting rid of snails, Siamese algae eaters munch on the algae in the tank, as do plecos.

I know ALL fish have a use somewhere along the line, but I wanted to gather some info on PARTICULAR fish that if you have a problem, you could go and buy (if compatible with what you already have) rather than using a chemical solution.

Case in point: I have a tank that has a lot of Val in it, but also had a lot of algae appearing through the tank. I can't use the extra dose of Flourish Excel as it will kill off all the Val. So, I researched and went out and bought a pair of SAE to much away on it and keep my val looking nice and healthy.

That is the point of this post.

So, if anyone has any other ideas or suggestions, I'd welcome the info.