Clean tanks are an absolute necessity to help your fish live a healthy life. But, cleaning the tanks can be a little bit of a hustle. It would be wonderful if fish could clean the tanks themselves, wouldn’t it? The good news is some fish help keep the tank clean. But are swordtails one of them? Do swordtail fish clean tanks?
The answer to your question is yes and no. Swordtails act as scavengers and eat food residue, dead plants, algae when they don’t get enough food. So if we look at it this way, we can say that they clean the tank. However, they also produce a lot of waste, which makes the tank dirty.
Does swordtail fish really help with cleaning your tank, or does it depend on how often you change the water in your aquarium? Read this blog post to find out!
Are Swordtail Fish Tank Cleaners?
Tank Cleaners are those species of fish and critters that help clean the tank by eating off the residues and algae that make the tank dirty.
Not only swordtails, but almost all livebearers help to clean your tank by scraping it off of the glass and decorations. However, we cannot label these livebearers, including swordtails, as efficient tank cleaners like shrimps or other algae eaters.
Swordtails are beautiful fish that, as scavengers, may help to clean the tank. But they produce a lot of waste too – it depends on how often you change the water in your aquarium!
Hence, they are not tank cleaners, but they help keep your tank clean by eating the algae and other residues in the tank.
Do Swordtails Eat Algae?
One of the main reasons why we believe that swordtails clean the tank is because they eat algae. They are omnivores, and their diet includes plant supplements like algae. However, algae aren’t the primary source of their diet.
In addition to eating some algae, swordtail fish need a lot of surface area in their tank to get enough oxygen. Too many algae will deplete the nutrients and oxygen in your tank, which impairs their health greatly.
Carefully consider providing an algae diet to your swordtail that includes food with added algae or specially-made pellets.
Too many algae in the tank are not good for your swordtail fish! Instead, it is parasitic. And swordtail fish is too small of a fish to eat so many algae! Also, algae alone aren’t enough food for your swordtail fish.
Can We Use Swordtails As Cleaning Fish?
Swordtail fish are tiny fish that grow about 5-6 inches. They eat practically anything that fits into their mouth, including debris, food residues, dead plants, and algae. But they cannot be used as a tank cleaner.
Although algae constitute a major portion of the swordtail diet, it is not the primary food source like the shrimps or other tank-cleaning fish. So, swordtails cannot be used as tank cleaners.
The residues that they scrap off of the tank will not provide them enough nutrients necessary for their diets.
Do Swordtails Need Clean Tanks?
All aquarium fish needs a clean tank! Swordtails are no exception. Swordtails are freshwater tropical fish that enjoy fresh warm waters.
Swordtails do not scrape the debris and residue in your tank to clear the tank. It is because they are hungry and looking for food. Swordtail fish are scavengers, which does not mean they clean the tanks.
They are voracious eaters and also produce a lot of waste. So, you need to take care of your swordtail tank. Fresh and clean water with appropriate parameters is essential for your swordtail’s good health.
Tank water with lots of residues will make your water cloudy and produce many parasites that introduce your fish to new diseases. Hence, your swordtail tank should have a clear and healthy aquarium.
How To Clean Your Swordtail Tank?
Since swordtails are scavengers, you’ll need to make sure that they have enough space in your aquarium. They like vertical surfaces as well and enjoy the warmth of the water! Luckily for them, their tank doesn’t tend to get dirty often because of their small size.
However, because of their eating habits, they will excrete a lot of waste. So, regular cleanup of the tank is a must.
Here’s how you can clean your swordtail tank:
- First, remove the fish from the aquarium before cleaning!
- Then, give it a good scrub with water and vinegar or bleach if necessary.
- Next, rinse off any residue left behind by using fresh water at room temperature (not hot!) to not burn them.
- Finally, change about 20% of the water weekly or more if it becomes cloudy and stays murky longer than a week.
Another good way to clean your tank is the filter. Your swordtails would love a tank filter as they separate the waste and keeps the water from getting contaminated.
Use sponge filter media in your filter, but not plastic bags! They will get stuck on decorations and suffocate swordtails fish. Swordtail fish also enjoy climbing up vertical surfaces, so you’ll need at least one tall plant decoration for them to climb over easily. Otherwise, they must jump high enough onto different levels of their tanks like rocks, slopes, etc., they won’t survive long term.
What Fish Or Critters Clean The Tank?
Many aquarium creatures do an excellent job of cleaning your tank. Swordtails will scrape off algae and debris from your tank, but they cannot do the job perfectly. Swordtails are not efficient tank cleaners.
That is why to spare your swordtail with the tank cleaner duty and pass it on to one of these instead:
- Plecostomus
- Otocinclus Catfish
- Siamese Algae Eater
- Amano Shrimp
- Apple Snails
They are excellent tank cleaners that eat off the residue. These species are also equally amazing and can be a great addition to your tank.
Conclusion
In conclusion, swordtail fish are not efficient cleaners for your aquarium because they produce a lot of waste and cannot clean and other more specialized species such as shrimps. And yes, they do indeed eat some algae, but this does not make them an essential cleaner for tanks!
The facts say that swordtail fish do not clean tanks because although they eat some algae, which is helpful against too many algae in your tank, they also produce lots of waste.
Hence, instead of using these livebearers, including swordtails, as effective tank cleaners such as shrimps or other kinds of fish I’ve mentioned above.
