Any cleaners?

[cichlid_freak]

I have just finished setting up my African tank and was wondering if there are any cleaners safe to put with a pair of P. polleni (magna) [one of the Madagasscar cichlids]? I have had a Synodontis brichardi, but he met an untimly demise. Also, it is my understanding they mostly eat vegetable matter (tho he really liked my cichlid pellets as they had high vegie content). I really would like to keep this tank African tho now I have put a Gold Nugget Pleco ( aren't they just BEAUTIFUL?), along with a pair of tire track eels (again not from Africa, but cool nun the less), and one Poly senegalus (very small about 3")and one Poly ornatapinnis (about 6"). Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

By the way> My tank is a 75 gal. (I think 4' x 2' x 18") with a built in sump/wet/dry filter, Ph is about 7.6,Gh and Kh are off the charts (15 and 23 or there about perspectivly), temp @ 78F, and light is 5 a.m. to 7 p.m.

thanks again

[Silurus]

I'm not sure what do you mean by a "cleaner". Do you want something to act as a scavenger (catfish are not scavengers!), or do you want something to clean the walls of algae.

[Graeme]

I'm not sure what you class as a Cleaner or Scavenger? Catfish are not and loaches are not. So which fish is?

Do you need a Cleaner Cichlid_freak.



Graeme.

[Sid Guppy]

Cichlid_Freak; you need to choose or have a new setup.
As for "cleaners"; there are few fish better true scavengers than Polypterus, when it comes to pieces of meat, dead shrimps, proteine-rich leftovers, etc. So in that light; you already have two.
But Paratilapia are very aggressive on all accounts; and putting in any catfish isn't a good idea at all IMO.
Both Polypterus species reach at least 35 cm, but are slow moving, fairly peaceful fish (except between themselves, sometimes); when they get bigger; they're bound to run in trouble.
The Tire-track eel (Mastacembelus armatus) grows to 75 cm, and they're definitely not suited for that tank; once they're so big they cannot hide themselves properly.
The Goldnugget is an omnivore; unlike Bristlenoses and Common Plecs he needs quite a bit of protein, preferably crustaceans, molluscs etc. Because he's much slower than the cichlids he's going to run into problems unless you feed properly.

My suggestions:
Since Madagascar isn't like the rest of Africa anyway; give the whole tank -in time- to the Paratilapia's. You might even breed them; they're getting quite rare, so that will be a good thing to do anyway (all native fishspecies of Madagascar are endangered)
Put all the others in a nice mixed setup.
If you still want a catfish to go with those Paratilapia's; build up the tank properly (with hiding places where the cichlids won't go) and get yourself one or a few assertive cats, like Clarias or Synodontis schall; no peaceful ones; and feed the catfish like you would the cichlids: with care.