Help me start my tank right - Please! :)

[Mumma.of.two]

I do have another 10g long tank that I can set up in a hurry if critters need seperating, otherwise the pet store will take them for free.

The glofish are still my favorites as far as schooling fish go, but if they won't work, I really like neon tetras as well. The embers and lemons are cool too. I like them all! Glofish are my favorite, neons second, and the embers and lemons are about the same, but I still really like them! Could I do a mixture or would that be bad? I just love a combo of colors.

Ideally I'd like:
1 male betta OR 2 female bettas,
Some glofish
Some neon tetras
1 mystery snail.

Is there a way to do that without overstocking? Can you recommend a list that would work better? I'm not picky at all.

Since its a 20L IMO you could do a school of glofish. So what about
1 Betta (male or female)
6 glofish
8 neon tetras
1 mystery snail

 

[Freshie In Disguise]

A friend just recommended a flower shrimp, saying that they do better cleaning up leftover food whereas snails do better keeping algae down. I haven't a clue if they are compatible though.

Could I do...
1 male betta
6 glofish
6 neon tetras
1 mystery snail
1 flower shrimp
? Or is that not going to work? Don't be afraid to be honest, I just want a healthy tank.
(And thanks a WHOLE bunch! )

 

[severum mama]

Flower shrimp are filter feeders and do not clean up leftover food. There shouldn't be any leftover food- cut back some on feeding if you start having this problem.

 

[Freshie In Disguise]

While I agree that there shouldn't be any leftover food, unless you're feeding your fish almost nothing and they are franticly scrambling to eat every last crumb, there will be leftover food that they will miss, or it will sink and lodge in gravel or decorations. However, I don't know much about flower shrimp, and if they don't clean up leftover food or other particles, I have no need for them anyway.

 

[KaylNeko]

Ghost shrimp make pretty good scavengers for the bits the fish miss. They can have some neat personalities too. It's a 50/50 whether the betta would mess with them (kinda like the snail)--some do, some don't. Mine hasn't. ^_^

 

[Freshie In Disguise]

I'm not sure whether we can get ghost shrimp around here, but I'll definitely look into it. Do they do best in groups or are they solitary?

 

[KaylNeko]

I'd put them in groups for the simple fact that one would get lost in a 20 gallon tank--they're not very big. I have 5 in a planted 10 gallon and plan on getting, oh, 10 more. *lol* Shrimp don't add much to the bio-load of the tank.

Walmart, Petco and Petsmart (usually) sell them. I'd take the pet stores over walmart, personally. Or if you have a LFS, they may carry them--they tend to be bred to feed the predatory fish, but they're neat in their own right. They usually sell for anywhere from .20 to .33 cents apiece around here, less in other places. Never heard of them more than around .35.

 

[Freshie In Disguise]

Just googled the little fellas... Holy mackerel did I get a variety of different creatures! All of them were pretty small, though a few were an inch or so long. I hope I can find some somewhere. How many would you recommend with my desired stock list?

 

[KaylNeko]

I"m talking about these little guys: Ghost Shrimp

The article backed up my initial thought on how many--figured 1 per gallon, so around 20 for yours, maybe less if you're not planted and don't have many hiding places. Maybe start with 10 and see how it goes with your fish once you get everything set up?

 

[severum mama]

While I agree that there shouldn't be any leftover food, unless you're feeding your fish almost nothing and they are franticly scrambling to eat every last crumb, there will be leftover food that they will miss, or it will sink and lodge in gravel or decorations. However, I don't know much about flower shrimp, and if they don't clean up leftover food or other particles, I have no need for them anyway.

Running about 80 tanks that do not have leftover food rotting in them, I'm going to have to respectfully disagree. Oh, and our fish are well fed.

 

[Sharkbait54]

Running about 80 tanks that do not have leftover food rotting in them, I'm going to have to respectfully disagree. Oh, and our fish are well fed.

I have to disagree have you ever seen an Oscar eat..lol

 

[severum mama]

Yes, and many other big cichlids. Adjust feeding schedule to several SMALL feedings a day.. problem solved, no leftovers.

 

[Sharkbait54]

Yes, and many other big cichlids. Adjust feeding schedule to several SMALL feedings a day.. problem solved, no leftovers.

What about all the Pieces of food that come out of their gills... It un eaten food no matter what there will be food in the gravel.

 

[Freshie In Disguise]

So far I'm thinking:
1 male betta
6 neon tetras
6 glofish
10 ghost shrimp
1 mystery snail.

Adding the shrimp first, five at a time, once the tank is cycled. It is lightly planted right now, but I'd like alot more. Adding the betta last, to give him as little incentive as possible to be territorial.

Still haven't bought my test kit yet, so fish are a long ways off. Thanks everyone for being so helpful!