Fish Waste

Question
Hi Ron,
I have a 75gal. with a 4" Tiger Oscar and a 3" Blue Dempsey. Is there a freshwater clean-up crew, like there is in the Marine world?
Marine examples; Hermit Crab, Emerald Crab, Sea Cucumber and Sea Stars.
I am more concerned about the cleaning of the gravel and the clean-up of Detritus and fish waste, then the algea build-up.
Thanks a lot...


Answer
Hi Blake,
  With oscars you need a good filter PLUS you need to change 25% of the water each and every week, otherwise your fish is soon going to develop a disease called hole-in-the-head, if it hasn't already.  Oscars are very sensitive to the buildup of nitrates in the water and the only solution to that is to do regular water changes.  The best way to do a water change is to remove the old water using a gravel siphon -- that cleans the gravel and removes the old water at the same time.

 Bottom line: there is no creature that is going to do it for you on the scale necessary to keep an oscar happy and healthy.

-- Ron
  rcoleman@cichlidresearch.com
  Cichlid Research Home Page <http://cichlidresearch.com>