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Hi, I am starting a community tank soon approx 35 uk gallons. I plan to start with 4/5 zebra danios, and then add 6 each or so of neon cardinal tetras and guppies. Plua a couple of slighthly larger, (2-3" colourful mid-top swimmers.I plan to have a dwarf aquatic frog too.

Please could someone suggest the perfect bottom feeder/s for me, fairly easily available in the UK? Can I keep just one or will it be lonely? They will have to be inexpensive, small, peaceful and ideally interesting to watch too. I will start with the zebras - when should this bottom feeder/s be introduced? Can you introduce it any time or is it better early on - territory wise?
Thanks for reading.

Last edited by shiftingsands at 18-Jul-2005 07:07

Be careful, you have a lot of plans for schooling fish, and before you know it, you could have an overstocked tank (or multi-tank syndrome... the same thing happened to me ).
For a tank this size, corys would be perfect, but they are a schooling fish and you'll need at least six of them, so you may have to hold off on your top-level fish. Pandas would probably be ideal, because they don't get quite as large as most corys. As an option for a lone bottom-feeder, a bristle- or bushy-nose pleco would suit your tank nicely, as they also don't get too large, and tend to be gentler than a lot of other plecos.

Hoping that there must be a word for everything I mean...

For the tank bottom, you can add some Corydoras. Choose 6 from the same species, as they like to school together.



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Hello Shifting Sands

I have 2 Bristlenose Plecos - they are very, very cute and can be often seen sucking glass or munching algae. I bought mine after seeing my brothers (in the UK). He had a male and female and they ended up having babies! (BTW: when you buy them it's pot luck whether you end up with a male and female as they are difficult to sex when the are little. I've got fingers crossed that mine will find love If you end up with 2 males they could fight.) They are easy to keep and are great to watch.

Hope that helps.

Last edited by fishymama at 18-Jul-2005 23:15

I am a big cory fan, but on the other hand, I cant keep them, coz its way too warm in my country. I would suggest you go with zebra loaches. They are way too cool, and u can keep a trio if u dont want to keep a larger school.

Another cool option are kuhlie loaches. 4-5 wld be good, they dont get very large, and dont add too much to the load of the tank.

Clowny,

If you mean the Botia hymenophysa when you say Zebra Loach, then you are looking at a fish that can get up to 8” long. The Kuhli, although not small either (but skinny) is getting less than 5” long.

My suggestion for the 55G would be either a nice school of cories or the above mentioned Bristlenose Plecos. But that’s just me

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

Using the site calculator I'm coming up with ~42USG.

Are you using the danios to cycle the tank? And if so, do you plan to keep them when the cycle is complete?

Do you want all M guppies or a mix? With a mix at minimum ratio of 1M/2F is a good start, 1M/3F even better.

With bottom feeders you basically have two groups available, depending on if you're looking for them to do a job. BNs & such clean algae; cories & loaches are scavengers...they'll eat leftover food but not fish waste, and still need to be fed.

If you choose a BN I'd go with only one because of your other stock and the size of your tank. They're quite interesting looking, they'll often eat other foods such as broccoli and zucchini; one complaint often heard is they're not seen frequently during the day.

Otos are small algae eaters, they should be kept in a small group, and they should only be added to an established tank. If you're interested I suggest you read [link=this article]http://www.fishprofiles.com/articles/freshwater/oto.asp" style="COLOR: #FFCC99[/link].

Cories are very popular, active, fun to watch. As mentioned they should be kept in a group of at least 5-6.

My personal favorites are loaches. They like company but can be kept in groups as small as 3. I have yoyos that are active at all times of the day and will surface feed with the other fish. Kuhlis tend to be nocturnal but once comfortable in a tank you may see them more often during the day, especially at feeding time. Many loaches are good at ridding a tank of snails, if that should ever become a problem for you.



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There is water at the bottom of the ocean

Ingo, she means Botia striata which get up to around 3 inches.

Oops, I know there are too many loaches called Zebra loaches. I mean Botia Striata.

This beautiful loach grows to a maximum size of 3 inches, though I have yet to see one bigger than 2.5 inches. Peaceful and daytime loaches, they love to chase each other around and compete for food.

Yoyo loaches are pretty cool too, but grow to a little over 5 inches. Definitely more aggressive than the Botia Striata, and like to chase fish other than their own kind. They also indulge in some harmless fin nipping.

Eric and Clowny,

Thanks for pointing out which loach you mean. This one does certainly look very nice. I am reading that it is also a good snail eater, although I would assume that it eats only the small ones, right?

Theresa,

I have no idea why I wrote 55G, I guess that happens when you just posted an entry and still have its numbers in your head while responding to another thread. Or maybe I am just getting old

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

Wow, thank you so much for all your replies.
Mmmm, perhaps I will just have either neons or cardinals, not both, which will give me a few more fishy inches.

Are you using the danios to cycle the tank? And if so, do you plan to keep them when the cycle is complete?

Yes, I am planning to cycle the tank with zebra danios or would I be better off with a few platys? In my lfs the woman there said I should cycle it with neons, mostly beacuse they are cheap? What do you think would be best - or doesn't it really matter?


Um - yes I plan to keep them if they survive my first attempt at cycling - is there trouble ahead if I do keep them? Just wondered why you asked?

Do you want all M guppies or a mix? With a mix at minimum ratio of 1M/2F is a good start, 1M/3F even better.
Yes I plan to have both M&F, I would love to breed them eventually. I'll take your advice and get 1M to 2 F. I can see that one tank is not gonna be enough...

Which bottom tank fish to choose:
Thanks for all the info, I have sifted through and think these would be good:
I've looked on the compatability list and it seems I could keep a BN pleco with a couple of Kuhli's? Would my small fish be safe with these bigger ones (neons, guppies, platies, danios)
Thanks

I am planning to cycle the tank with zebra danios or would I be better off with a few platys?

The danios are very hardy and many people use them for cycling. I've also used platies in the past. I'd personally stay away from neons for cycling though since I've found them to be a bit sensitive.

My reason for asking was that people often return their cycling fish and I was curious if you planned to do that or not to help determine stocking numbers.

...it seems I could keep a BN pleco with a couple of Kuhli's?

Should be fine, I've never had either bother other fish. They'll both appreciate some nice aquascaping. If you plan to have a planted tank the BN will help keep the plants clean, the kuhlis like to worm their way around and play in plants. BNs tend to like caves. I like an interesting piece of driftwood in tanks with kuhlis. It gives them a place to hide and if it has holes & such again you'll see some fun activity

Regarding the guppies, I'm not positive but I think danios may eat the fry. Many people have the experience of the guppies eating their own fry; I breed mine in a 10g and haven't had that happen :%)

I can see that one tank is not gonna be enough

Hooked already You will soon become familiar with the phrase MTS: multiple tank syndrome

Last edited by Theresa_M at 21-Jul-2005 08:08

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There is water at the bottom of the ocean

Thanks Theresa. Yeah, I am looking forward to the underwater gardening almost as much as getting the fish but I wonder if I am biting off more than I can chew.

I guess I should ask plant questions in another part of the forum, but it all seems so complicated, getting conditions right for the fish AND plants. I do want real plants and already have some pieces of bogwood soaking,and some more on order but feel very daunted, even the experienced posters seem to have loads of probs with keeping the tank well balanced. Still, its great to know I can look forward to getting great advice and support here. Thanks again.