The clean-up crew and bottom-dwellers
Catfish & bottom-dwellers
Corydoras, plecos, otocinclus and loaches work the bottom of the tank — endearing, useful, and often mis-sold. They still need their own food (a "cleaner fish" is a myth) and the right substrate to protect their barbels.
14 species on Finfern · 14 with a full care guide.
💧 Get the water right: Smooth sand or rounded gravel protects delicate barbels; sharp gravel injures them. Care model: Tropical community tank
- Corydoras Catfish Corydoras spp. The endearing armoured bottom catfish that works in cheerful groups — a community-tank staple.
- Bristlenose Pleco Ancistrus cirrhosus The manageable, algae-grazing pleco that stays a sensible size — unlike the common pleco.
- Otocinclus Otocinclus spp. The tiny, peaceful algae-eating catfish — wonderful, but only for a mature, algae-rich tank.
- Panda Cory Corydoras panda The panda-masked pocket cory — all the charm of a Corydoras shoal in a smaller, cooler-running package.
- Pygmy Cory Corydoras pygmaeus A thumbnail-sized shoaling cory that swims the mid-water in a tight little group — a nano-tank favourite that needs numbers, not a lone pair.
- Common Pleco Pterygoplichthys pardalis Sold as a 3-inch cleaner, it grows to nearly 2 feet — buy a bristlenose instead unless you can house a giant for life.
- Siamese Algae Eater Crossocheilus langei The real black-brush-algae eater — a 6-inch river shoaler, not a solo clean-up tool; check the ID and skip the protein.
- Clown Pleco Panaqolus maccus A true dwarf pleco (~9 cm) that EATS wood — give it driftwood and strong filtration, not a common-pleco tank.
- Sterbai Cory Corydoras sterbai The warm-water, discus-friendly cory — keep six+ over clean sand; it forages, it doesn’t "clean".
- Glass Catfish Kryptopterus vitreolus A living pane of glass — a shy, transparent shoaling catfish that lives in mid-water and needs the security of its own kind.
- Julii Cory Corydoras julii (now often Hoplisoma julii) A spotted, peaceful bottom-dweller (usually the "false julii" C. trilineatus) — a tidy, sociable cory for any community.
- Pictus Catfish Pimelodus pictus A silver, spotted speed-demon catfish with long whiskers — active and charming, but it will eat any fish it can fit in its mouth.
- Rubber Lip Pleco Chaetostoma formosae (the hobby name "rubber lip pleco" also covers close Chaetostoma relatives such as L146, and older books use C. milesi or C. thomsoni) A genuinely small pleco that actually eats algae — a peaceful, cool-tolerant grazer that won't outgrow your tank like a common pleco.
- Salt and Pepper Cory Corydoras habrosus A pea-sized dwarf cory that shoals in mid-water as much as the bottom — nano-tank charm with real personality.
Plan a catfish & bottom-dwellers tank
Our free tools use these species' real, sourced care data — no guessing:
Stocking calculator → Compatibility checker → Which fish suit your water? →