Finished 10G Cycle! Need bottom dweller stocking ideas.

[RightTurnClyde]

This will be a little on the long side, but I'm just so excited. The agonizing wait for my cycle to complete is finally over thanks to getting some seeded media from Mr Fisher. In less than two weeks after adding the seeded media, I had a nitrite spike come and go and now show zero ammonia and zero nitrites consistently.

My one fish that is truly battle tested and survived all the ups and downs is a Silver Molly. I know, I know... she's too big for the tank, but my daughter loves her and I must admit she has a lot of personality.

Today we went to our mom and pop LFS and got a school of 6 Zebra Danios to finally add a little more life to the tank. I took my time acclimating them and after schooling tightly for an hour or two, they are now spread out all over the tank, chasing each other occasionally. Very active little guys.

The zebras tend to spend most of their time near the top of the tank, so I'm wanting some bottom dweller recommendations. Preferably something that will eat algae. I was originally thinking an Otocinclus, but now am leaning a little more towards a couple Red Cherry Shrimp. I know I'm already close to my limit, so I'd love to get some final stocking advice.

Current Specs:
10 Gallon, gravel substrate, Aquaclear 30 HOB filter.
1 Silver Molly
6 Zebra Danios

Plants:
1 Anubias tied to a rock
7 stalks of Anacharis

 

[bettaowner]

I would get a bigger tank for both species. Chili rasboras might be a better option for the tank. Cherry shrimp would be the best bottom dwelling option.

 

[machotaco]

You could also look at some smaller corydoras

 

[Mr Fisher]

Red cherry shrimp would be a good choice. Maybe even a couple olive nerite snails. If you get shrimp I would advise running one of those prefilters on your filter intake.

 

[RightTurnClyde]

Red cherry shrimp would be a good choice. Maybe even a couple olive nerite snails. If you get shrimp I would advise running one of those prefilters on your filter intake.

I like the idea of shrimp. Not crazy about snails.

Funny you should mention the prefilter sponge. I woke up to a crisis this morning. 1 dead zebra danio lying on the bottom. Not sure what happened. Maybe he was just unhealthy to begin with. I also could not account for two of the others. I finally took the lid off my filter and saw them darting around in there, so they got sucked up somehow. I frantically unplugged the filter and dumped them back into the tank. I had some of those fluval prefilter sponges already so I went ahead rinsed one and put it on the intake. Whew...

I hope the rest make it, there is one that is much less energetic than the others and he is just kind of hanging out at the top, not moving much. He doesn't appear to be gasping or anything, but I went ahead and added dose of Prime. My 'trites and 'trates are still fine. I need to check my ammonia next.

 

[Mr Fisher]

I like the idea of shrimp. Not crazy about snails.

Funny you should mention the prefilter sponge. I woke up to a crisis this morning. 1 dead zebra danio lying on the bottom. Not sure what happened. Maybe he was just unhealthy to begin with. I also could not account for two of the others. I finally took the lid off my filter and saw them darting around in there, so they got sucked up somehow. I frantically unplugged the filter and dumped them back into the tank. I had some of those fluval prefilter sponges already so I went ahead rinsed one and put it on the intake. Whew...

I hope the rest make it, there is one that is much less energetic than the others and he is just kind of hanging out at the top, not moving much. He doesn't appear to be gasping or anything, but I went ahead and added dose of Prime. My 'trites and 'trates are still fine. I need to check my ammonia next.

Hate to hear you lost one.

I'm running a AC30 on my 10 gallon endler tank. I found I had to really slow down the flow rate. I didn't want to run a HOB at first due to the issues you mentioned with the smaller fish and shrimp. after I added the prefilter and tons of filter floss things are good though.

 

[RightTurnClyde]

I like the idea of pygmy cories too. Especially now that I'm feeding more fish, I notice a lot more flakes getting missed at the top and floating down to the gravel. Will shrimp eat flake food, if they find it in the gravel?

 

[venymae]

Yes the shrimps will eat the flake food too. They are scavangers
I'm also gonna say that I think both mollies and danios need a bigger tank, not for their size (well maybe the mollies) but because of their activity levels. Maybe start searching craigslist for a 20 gallon long, if you are not going to return the fish? (It would be cycled instantly is you just moved your filter media over from the ten gallon!) Its not much bigger than a 10 (if you have space issues) but it's long enough to give the needed swim room.
IMO do shrimp instead of cory cats because they have a much lower bio-load and I think you are already maxing out (mollies are pooping machines!)
On another note, my son LOVES platy fish. They come in many of the same colors as mollies and (to me) look similar, but are much more suited to a 10 gallon. Good luck with your happy fish!

 

[RightTurnClyde]

Yes. I am already making plans in my head to upgrade to at least a 20 gallon. Horizontal space is an issue, unfortunately, and I think a 20 High is the most we could fit. According to standard tank dimensions, that would give them 4 more inches of horizontal swimming space instead of 10 with a Long. I wish there was a tank that was more like 26 inches long.

 

[RightTurnClyde]

Gah!!! Another dead danio this morning. I'm hoping he was one that got sucked into the filter and maybe just got too banged up. Otherwise I don't know what could be happening. They were all swimming around, seemingly healthy when I went to bed. My water parameters were perfect yesterday.

 

[Krogman]

Didn't read all the posts but just wanted to mention that I have three tiger nerite snails. They are neat little guys but are poop factories for real. They poop little brown cylinders. luckily it just sits on my sand waiting to be vacuumed

 

[RightTurnClyde]

Anybody have any thoughts on how soon I should try to re-up the numbers of my zebra danio school? I'd like to try and keep at least 6 of them together to keep their stress down. I'm wondering if it's better to wait and see if we can make it through one night without losing one, or restock as soon as possible?

 

[machotaco]

Well for one I would say get a new filter, it seems to be hungry for fish . And after that I all seems well I would go for it. Get some new ones and see how they do.

 

[RightTurnClyde]

Well for one I would say get a new filter, it seems to be hungry for fish . And after that I all seems well I would go for it. Get some new ones and see how they do.

Ha. The filter issue was already solved with a prefilter sponge. I'll have to see if the 4 remaining are still swimming tomorrow morning. They are getting very nippy with each other, so I think they need some more buddies. Or maybe more space.

I'm working with the boss (wife) to figure out a piece of furniture that can hold a 29 gallon. If we can pull that off, I'll be golden. Wish me luck.

 

[machotaco]

Wishing you the very best, as well more fish can help reduce aggression. A good tool to check your capacity is aqadvisor.com. Very good site.

 

[RightTurnClyde]

Whew! Everyone was still alive this morning, so I think I'll pick up a couple more today to get the school back up to 6 and hopefully cut down on the nipping. The smallest one is missing the very tips of his tail, so it's Lord of the Flies in there right now.

 

[machotaco]

The fins will heal, if the nipping stops, and the larger # should help with that. Keep us updated. Also if you think it's having trouble healing (chances are it won't) try melafix.

 

[RightTurnClyde]

Turns out my LFS forgot to order more zebras after I got my original school last Saturday. So I got their last one. He seemed to settle in nicely and all 5 were still swimming this morning. They seem to be a little less aggressive now, but it could just be my imagination. I think I need to exercise some patience and let this tank get a little more established before I add any more stock. Maybe I'll focus on swapping more of my fake plants for live plants.

 

[machotaco]

Yup, all is sounding good