Ten Lower or Bottom Level Fish for Your Home Aquarium

When stocking your home aquarium, it is a good idea to include fish that swim at all water levels. Low level fish are often bottom feeders who help to clean up fallen food or algae. The following ten aquarium fish are recommended for populating the lower or bottom levels in your fish tank.

Lower or Bottom Level Aquarium Fish – Bristlenose Catfish

The bristlenose catfish is a popular bottom level aquarium fish. It is a peaceful fish with grey spots and a strange bristly nose. It is often kept to eat algae in the tank.

Lower or Bottom Level Aquarium Fish – Banjo Catfish

Like all catfish, this one is a bottom dweller. The banjo catfish is roughly banjo-shaped with a broad body and a very long tail section. It has long barbels next to its mouth.

Lower or Bottom Level Aquarium Fish – Plecostomus

Most often kept to eat algae, the common plecostomus can grow very large. While it will attach itself to ornaments, rocks, and the glass aquarium with its sucker mouth, this fish lives mostly on the bottom of the tank.

Lower or Bottom Level Aquarium Fish – Aquarium Sharks

These bottom dwelling fish come in several varieties. There is the red-tailed black shark, the ruby shark, and the black shark. They are all large-growing aquarium fish that are rather aggressive.

Lower or Bottom Level Aquarium Fish – Headstander

The headstander is an unusual fish that lives in the lower or bottom levels of your aquarium. The most popular are the marbled and the spotted headstander. These fish are so named because they rest with their head down and their tail up. They are best for species tanks.

Lower or Bottom Level Aquarium Fish – Dwarf Cichlid

These cichlids enjoy the lower level of the aquarium. The Congo Dwarf Cichlid is a relatively small cichlid with yellow and brown stripes and blue shading. The Golden-Eyed Dwarf Cichlid is a broader fish with bright yellow scales.

Lower or Bottom Level Aquarium Fish – Corydoras

These fish, often called Cories, are favorite aquarium bottom dwellers. With short, wide bodies, they scavenge around the aquarium gravel in schools. They are very active and fun to watch. These bottom level fish come in varieties such as bronze, peppered, and green corydoras.

Lower or Bottom Level Aquarium Fish – Loaches

The loaches are another group of bottom level fish. Some are very long and narrow like the Coolie, or Kuhli, loach. Others have broader bodies such as the Clown Loach and Zebra Loach. They have down-turned mouths and eat off the bottom of the aquarium.

Lower or Bottom Level Aquarium Fish – Elephant Fish

This unusual aquarium fish lived at the lower levels of the aquarium. They have a long, trunk-like lower jaw that is used to find food in the substrate. They are difficult to keep or find at an aquarium shop.

Lower or Bottom Level Aquarium Fish – Spiny Eels

This group of freshwater eels enjoys living at the bottom of the aquarium. The real spiny eel grows very large and cannot usually be kept in a home aquarium. There are varieties that are smaller and ideal for the lower levels of your home fish tank.