Predatory Fish Clean-Up

[tyler502]

I have a new-ish 75g setup with a snowflake eel, striped burrfish, and a small red-spotted hawkfish. I notice that after feeding time for my eel and puffer, there's always some little scraps that sink to the bottom and just sit there. Are there any predator-safe fish I can add to the tank that'll maybe clean some of those leftovers up? Or any invertebrates that will be safer than others with the eel and puffer? I know most shrimp and crabs are a no-go. Thanks for any help!

 

[lion king]

Nassarius snails and starfish, you'll have to research which variety of starfish may fit your needs. The nassarius snails do need a sandbed and the puffer may decide to grab one if they can. The only drawback of including a species to clean up bits of food, is that you may end up needing to feed them or they may starve. Do you target feed your eel and scorp. All of your fish will be fine with chunky bits of food, and the puffer should act as a cuc to find any bits that get lost. What are feeding?

 

[tyler502]

Nassarius snails and starfish, you'll have to research which variety of starfish may fit your needs. The nassarius snails do need a sandbed and the puffer may decide to grab one if they can. The only drawback of including a species to clean up bits of food, is that you may end up needing to feed them or they may starve. Do you target feed your eel and scorp. All of your fish will be fine with chunky bits of food, and the puffer should act as a cuc to find any bits that get lost. What are feeding?

Hey Lion King,

I see your posts on these forums all the time and they're super helpful, so thanks. Right now I'm tong feeding the puffer and the snowflake LRS Frozen Chunky, and the hawkfish gets some of the floating scraps that come off. It's when they puffer and eel rip the chunks apart and big pieces float into cracks and sit there that I'm noticing the problem. I know nassarius snails rock at finding those scraps, I just didn't know if having an all-you-can-eat buffet for the puffer would be detrimental. Would brittlestars be easy targets too?

Thanks!

 

[lion king]

Hey Lion King,

I see your posts on these forums all the time and they're super helpful, so thanks. Right now I'm tong feeding the puffer and the snowflake LRS Frozen Chunky, and the hawkfish gets some of the floating scraps that come off. It's when they puffer and eel rip the chunks apart and big pieces float into cracks and sit there that I'm noticing the problem. I know nassarius snails rock at finding those scraps, I just didn't know if having an all-you-can-eat buffet for the puffer would be detrimental. Would brittlestars be easy targets too?

Thanks!

Oh yeah, spaced the puffer, but yeah brittlestars are an great species to clean the bits up. They may survive as they can get between rocks and disappear really well, they also seem to be nocturnal. The puffer may decide to snack on them, but if it were me, I'd try one. Make sure to introduce anything after bedtime, predators are very observant, if they see you put something in the tank, they are sure to investigate. Try cutting the larger chunks into more manageable pieces, it may help some.