Stocking 6gal.

[rhiannonk]

I have a 6 Gallon Eclipse tank, and I have it set up for cycling right now with a filter (It's an Elite one, looks like a stingray (LOL) and basically it sits in the tank, pumps water through medium, and out through the top - I have it placed near the top of the tank to allow surface disturbance, because I dont have an aerator). I have a piece of driftwood, some rocks, and a few plants that I recently bought. A Hogwart (I THINK that's what it's called) and this other plant.

I'm asking for some suggestions for stocking. I might put some guppies in there after the cycling just to make sure everything is going well (my sister has a million extra babies :/), but I dont really want to stick with guppies, platies, or livebearers. Also, I don't really want a beta. I MIGHT try neons but Ive never had good luck with them, and I'd rather something a little more interesting. Also, I'd be interested in something thats a bottomfeeder/algaeeater/scavenger, like an otto, or even some little shrimp.
Thanks. P.S - im a noob so I want something hardy.

 

[RoK]

What are you cycling with? The tank needs a constant source of ammonia to go through a cycle. This can be done by adding pure ammonia, adding dead shrimp or fish food. These ways are cycling fishless. Cycling with fish takes longer and is much more difficult to keep the fish alive.
Neons can be pretty sensitive so you may want to stay away from them. Black neon tetras are hardier and would probably do just fine. Some shrimp and ottos would be ok too.

 

[Lonewolfblue]

Maybe some cory cats for the bottom, and a single BN Pleco.

Neons would work well in there. If you wanted something a little bigger, you could do a few Serpae tetras instead as well. They would really stand out. If you aren't having luck with neons, then cardinal tetras might work for you. They seem a bit more hardy than neons. Even glowlite tetras look good too. Just some ideas there.

 

[newfound77951]

I have a 5.5 gallon hex and have 5 pristella tetras in there. They've only been in a few days but so far they like it and are doing well. I almost went with black neons or checker barbs, but the LFS had pristellas the day I was there so that made the decision for me (whew!). I plan on adding a couple of otos once algae starts to become a problem.

 

[czcz]

Shrimp would be real neat in there. It'd be a great invert tank, along with a couple otos.

If you prefer fish, Kuhlii loaches or the small Corys (Panda, Pygmy) would be real neat. A male Cherry barb and a female or two are more interesting than tetras since he'll want to mate and chase the girls into plant cover, but that can get kind of boring to watch. A couple dwarf puffers instead might be neat.

I think your plants are Hornwort and Anacharis.

 

[rhiannonk]

Thanks for the quick replies.
I had a few fish in this tank before I totally redid the gravel and plants and whatnot. I moved them to my sister's (larger) tank, and never totally changed the filter media in my tank, and I left in some of the water. So I figured that should be fine for wastes and whatnot in terms of producing ammonia for the cycle.

But anyways... I definately want to try an Oto in the future, I think. Maybe after my tank gets a little established with some fish. (I heard they are slightly sensitive). I've had a bit of algae problems in the past so that might help out a bit. Maybe soon I'll go to the LFS and see what's around, check out the different tetras and stuff. I'd be interested in Barbs maybe ... how big do Cherry Barbs get?

EDIT: I did a little looking at the Khuli loach, and if my LFS has them, it would be deadly to have one as a bottom feeder.

 

[mango]

It depends upon how long the tank went without fish in it as to how much (if any) of your bacterial colonies have died. The bacterias responsible for breaking down wastes need a pretty constant supply of oxygen to survive. If you've completely changed out our substrate, you've gotten rid of a lot of your beneficial bacteria. Having used filter media is a good way to jumpstart a cycle, but it depends upon how much media and the amounts of bacteria that were present in the first place as well as how much waste the fish you then put in will produce.

Example: If you take the filter from an established 5 gal and put it on a larger tank, say 29 gal, the filter media has enough bacteria to deal with the amount of waste being produced in the 5 gal. It will help to cycle the larger tank, but will not be able to completely compensate for the much larger bio load if the 29 gal is moderatelly-fully stocked.

If your filter hasn't been running then chances are the bacteria haven't gotten the oxygen needed to survive. If the media hasn't dried out, there are still bacteria present, possibly not as much as we'd probably like. Something that will help you run through a cycle faster is borrowing media from an established tank. Just take 1/2 cup or so of substrate from an established tank, put it in a clean nylon, tie it off and drop it in. Once you get all your parameters where you want them, just take the nylon out and put the contents back. If there are fake plants you could borrow from an already established tank, they would be helpful in re-establishing your bacterial colonies, too.

PS: Welcome to AA!

 

[czcz]

Cherry barbs get to around 2"

 

[severum mama]

Wow, I really like what you've done with your tank. It looks so much prettier than any of my noob efforts! A bristlenose pleco is a really cool fish but I'm not sure if one would be happy in such a small tank at adult size. Mine actually looks a little cramped in my 20 gallon. Others may disagree though, so I'm not sure what to advise. I would suggest a clown pleco, but I'm assuming your tank is acrylic, and I've been told that panaque catfish can actually scratch acrylic! Pygmy corys are really cute. If you can find them you might like them, and they stay really small. You could keep a few with some neons, black neons, glowlights, etc. Glowlights are much hardier than neons if you decide to stay away from neons. I have never had any luck with them either.

 

[maxwell1295]

I would do something like 5 neon tetras and 2 otos.....they are both thin, stream-lined fish that stay pretty small and don't take up much space. There should be plenty of swimming room for the neons since the otos are either on the glass or on the plants.

I just set up a small planted tank myself, so I understand how limited you are in terms of fish size and bioload. Check out my 7g MiniBow thread.

 

[rhiannonk]

If my LFS has them, I really want to try Khuli loaches - but I heard they like being in a group of more than one ... so if I got 2 of those, and a small school of tetras (like 5 neons or something of a similiar size), would that be really crowded? Because I was thinking that the 1" rule probably wont apply with the loaches because of their body shape (long but don't take up much space.)