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Suitable Scavengers

© Shannon Beelm

There are some scavengers that are completely unsuitable for breeding livebearers. There are some scavengers that you really need to watch out for, as they may eat your fry or smaller fish.

Catfish: Catfish are very peaceful, and they seldom attack other fish in the aquarium. There have been few reports of Catfish eating any fish in an aquarium, regardless of size. The reports that were made were never proven. Catfish are reported to be very shy, although in my observations of "Abbot" (Albino Cat) and "Costello" (Leopard Catfish) prove otherwise. They frequently swim around with my young guppies, and sometimes go to the surface to feed. The Albino Catfish, Leopard Catfish, Armored Catfish, Blue Catfish, Bronze Catfish, and Dwarf Catfish are recommended scavengers for tanks containing livebearers, while not recommended for breeding egg-layers.

Chinese Algae Eater: This fish looks to be rather harmless when it is about a half inch long, but these fish grow rather quickly. The Chinese Algae Eater is not recommended for home aquariums because it grows quickly and is known to attack and kill fish larger than itself.

Freshwater Crabs: These little guys are very fun to watch, but I wouldn't recommend them for anything but an ornamental/community tank. Same goes for Ghost Shrimp, they grow quickly, and I have observed them attacking fish.

Frogs: While these little guys are very cute, and look harmless, they should not be kept in a brooding or nursery tank. It is always a great surprise to see them, because they are very shy and hide all the time. They will lay completely still until something comes close to them, then they will attack and eat it. Clawed frogs should be avoided in all tanks.

Snails These little guys are cheap, and quite harmless to any kind of fish. The Red Ramshorn is one of the larger types of snails, although fish view them as scrumptious meals when they are small (or eggs). The Mystery Snail (or Apple Snail) is quite possibly the cheapest of all snails. They are not good scavengers for egg-layers, but wonderful for the livebearing breeding tank or fry nursery. If you have an algae problem Mystery Snails are wonderful for the job as they need greens. Pond Snails are the most prolific snails in the home aquarium because they lay large masses of eggs quite frequently, and the eggs are too hard to aquarium fishes to eat.

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