aquatic scavengers?

[jbreczuk]

i just finished my pal and am about to introduce the terrestrial inhabitants . they eat crickets witch obviously dont know how to swim . this brings me to my question . what can i but in the water feature ( about 45 gallons of a 65 gallon tank is open water ) to eat the dead crickets ? the problem is i have community fish like tetras and cats and i would like to keep that way. so i need something that isnt a fish eater . a while back i was considering a crayfish . but then i read that they will uproot aquatic plants . is this true of all crayfish ? my next choice would be maby a fiddler crab of some sort. any flaws with that one?. anyways is there anyone out there that can think of something that will clean up the crickets for me? the less time i have the doors open the less chance my geckos will put thair escape plan into action .
in short , feel free to think outside the box and any suggestions are greatly appreciated .
thank you in advance

[Epiphile]

I don't know too much about crayfish, but won't they take your fish as well? Also, fiddler crabs aren't a freshwater species.

How about shrimp? You could keep a pack of them and they'd probably make quick work of your cricket corpses. What are the parameters of your tank? I find my crystal red shrimp to be pretty tough in my paludarium.

[beckdg]

in 40 gallons with community fish... a net. smaller feeders maybe. not so much crickets.

[froggsong]

crawfish will not only uproot your plants, they will chop them off all the way to the substrate. I think mine fancied himself a gardener. After he trimmed all my grass down to the roots I planned to sell him, but he got pulled out of the tank on accident in some decor and died on the floor before I noticed him. I was sad, but not terribly.

[jbreczuk]

Originally Posted by beckdg

in 40 gallons with community fish... a net. smaller feeders maybe. not so much crickets.

while this is valid advice . i detect a condescending tone.
dont get me wrong tis is a open forum after all , say what u wish , but beare in mind . there may be people just starting out... who may be discouraged from farther exploration into a field they may grow to love... or just piss off a person who allready has 20 year worth of first hand knowledge of HERPS .. not aquatics .
if weren't for ppl asking questions would this or any forum exist ?
i have read alot of posts on this forum and it has helped me great deal... it has ,but it seem like there is a select few of u out there who get off on crushing and insultng ppl who just aspire to be on a levl of U more experienced ppl .... also im not a tard . if i askd .. can i put my leperd geckos with my packman frog ? call me a drooling inbread... but i ask a legitimate .. informed question .. with paramiters

[DazzleDiscus]

an archerfish would definately clean them up, but they will require more water than 45g.

However, are you just trying to clean up the crickets, or would you really like to put the 45gal of water area? If just trying to clean up crickets, I'd suggest making an island of some sort or an easier access to the edge of the bank that way they can climb out easier. thinking out loud here- maybe even have a small ridge around the water area of the tank, wide enough for the crickets to get back to the mainland.

[beckdg]

not the case at all. i'm just very blunt in general and was short on time. sometimes one can only multi-task so much at a time. i have been known to be misunderstood in the past. you can say i have a history of it.

at any rate now that i have more time...

there are viable options but i suspect they'd all be more work than just scooping out the crickets. for example: one could use just about any freshwater shrimp, crab or crayfish, etc.. the crays are usually too slow for many fish but there are lots of exceptions to the rule and eventually the sneaky crayfish is likely to get most, if not all of them anyway. crabs like thai micros would likely not finish the meal before the water is fouled leaving you to do water changes often. larger crabs... same fate as the crays but most likely brackish anyway. shrimp... same consequences as the thai's. i simply think that even though 40 gallons is a decent size tank for fish to have a nice community in there to have something that's going to sufficiently munch on crickets you'd need something at least twice the size to accommodate larger, more boisterous, active and aggressive fish that could deal with such a creature. in essence you'd actually be better off getting your fish to do such work since the crickets would hit the top first and most likely float or slowly sink. that would ensure that they don't rot slowly at the bottom of the water section unnoticed. at that point you'd have a choice of less fish (not exactly community possibly), a bigger setup or another option. i think the best option is to keep a net by the food or tank itself.


thank you very much for being specific and telling us exactly what we'd need to here. you are absolutely correct. it is a legitimate question. this is why it was so simple to answer in the first place. thanks again.

[Greg H.]

Originally Posted by jbreczuk

the problem is i have community fish like tetras and cats and i would like to keep that way.

The problem is, more than likely ( depending on the particular species of catfish ), you already have predators that will eat anything smaller than themselves ( and sometimes not even much smaller ) - cories are about the only catfish species that I would trust to be relatively harmless to most other species.

Crayfish and crab's will even munch on your terrestrials, and at times when your terrestrials are sleeping, it doesn't matter how slow crays and crabs are.

The only shrimp that would be safe with your other inhabitants, are to small to do much about crickets ( unless they are pin-head sized ).

[jclee]

Have you looked into butterfly fish? They will definitely eat crickets that fall into the water, though you may have to change up the fish you plan to keep. (I'm pretty sure they harass -- if not eat -- small tetras, but it's been ages since I kept one, so it might be worth further research.)

Don't underestimate the tetras, either. While they won't eat a whole live cricket at once, once it drowns, they'll pick at it if they're hungry, and they may even be able to keep the tank clean for you, especially if you have some loaches/cats or other bottom feeders that will help with the sinking debris. Schools of kuhli loaches can be quite active and fun to watch.

[jclee]

Oh! And I don't know why this didn't occur to me sooner, but apple snails will definitely eat carcasses that fall to the bottom. (Snails may not be the direction you want to go in, though, since you want this to be a well-planted tank.)