Fish in planted tank - What do they eat?

[learner]

hello guys..

noob needs yours experience again..

was wondering what fish to add to my planted tank and thus read thru some old threads...

but then hor.. i wonder what do these fishes feed on? do you still feed them?

i know some algae eaters like oto, sae etc feed on algae and plants..

shrimps too feed on plants like riccia etc..

puffers feed on snails...

what about cardinal tetras?
rummynose?
and some other common fishes that u add to a planted tank

i'm thinking of getting 50 cardinals for $30 bucks.. is it too much for my 3ft planted tank?
what do they feed on?

[Allen_1971]

most tetras like cardinals and rummy noses will take commercial flake food. Don't expect them to help in the removal of algae or snails in any way (unless you crush the snail in which case they will happily eat it).

50 Cardinal in a 3 ft tank should be ok... but 2 points worth mentioning...

1. You probably won't have much space for many other fish

2. Expect attrition.. its much cheaper to buy 50 cardinals at a go, but adding 50 cardinals to a tank with no fish will cause your tank to go through a rough cycling period. Expect to lose quite a few of these guys... Some people will suggest you buy a bag of feeder fishes and introduce them to your tank first.... let your filter kick in... after a month, scoop out all the filter fish, and introduce your cardinals immediately. You can also probably return the feeder fish to your nearest lfs... I'm pretty sure they'll take them back (for free that is).

[learner]

thanks allen

[learner]

still don konw what i should get to remove the algae in my tank...
hmmm

[inque]

Best bet is Malayan shrimp At average $10 for 100 pcs
or Tiger shrimps at 50cents a piece theres a post
reccently on them. Just bought 20 pcs not bad u Noe
or U can go for the Fierce shrimps the Yamatos
they're the ultimate Algae Eatin Shrimps eat algae 24/7
but will fight for fish's food or Plants once they
run outta algae


hope that helps

[learner]

thanks inque

[PeterGwee]

The thought of feeder fish to cycle a planted tank is cheap but removal is hell...ever try catching a fish from a densely planted tank and you will know how difficult that is. Better in my opinion to put in the type of fish you wanna keep but in smaller batches so as not to go through a tough cycling period like what allen has mentioned. []

[Vican]

Also, feeder fishes bring with them disease

[TTL]

Where to get 100 malayan shrimps for $10? & 50 Cardinal for $30? so much for the lor ban...

[learner]

je 217 the 24 hr ah beng lfs has them occassionally...