Stocking My Tanks! Any Suggestions?

[Sarah E]

Hello All!

My 20 Gallon is finally all evened out when it comes to the cycle and I have 2 happy Peppered corries, 2 mystery snails, and 1-2 Feeder Guppies swimming around in it! I'm running out and buying more feeders, as with the recent power outages in New Hampshire, all but one or two of my feeders died.

I'm buying 5 females and 3 male feeders that I'm putting in my 10 Gallon (my new Quarantine tank!) for a little bit to make sure they are healthy before I put them in my 20 Gallon.

I'm wondering, beside a few more cories (I'm planning on getting 2 or 3 more from my lfs when he gets them in) what I could put into my 20 gallon tank, as most of the activity is on the floor level.

Also, I'm starting up a cycle for my 5 Gallon tank, which is going to be the tank that I put my Guppy fry into when it's ready, and I'm wondering what type of fish I could put in there, since it's 1. small and 2. I need fish/invertebrates that are freshwater that won't eat my fry.

One more thing I'm curious about. For my 10 gallon tank, which will be used primarily for a quarantine tank like when I first buy fish, or if they're sick... would there be any breed I could have in there to help keep the tank healthy? Also, it would keep some interest in the tank itself.

Thank you all very much for your help!!!

 

[Mouth-Brooder-Fanatic]

what are the feeders for? curious ha

mystery or zebra snails are good for a cuc that dont eat fry, so they could do the 5 gal?

id have dwarf gourami or dwarf angels in there, i THINK they would work with cories. like 3-5 of either.

the 10 could have tetras or breeding guppies, so the 20 can have more interesting fish. then remove and use as feeders when the hospital or QT is needed.

i dont know if this will help at all or is quite wrong with stocking, but assumptions say that could go ok. xx

 

[absolutangel04]

Personally, I I think quarantine tanks should just be kept empty. You will have 2 other tanks going, so you can easily transfer some filter media/BB over to the 10g if you ever need to use it, so I would just let it be until you need it. But, thats just my opinion, so other people may think differeently.
I also suggest you just keep the 5g empty except for fry. With guppies, you will definitely end up with fry, so the 5g will `certainly end up full. IMO, just have patience and wait for fry to put in it.
For the 20, you could do some sort of small killifish because they would stay on the top. Honestly, what else you put in there depends on how many guppies you end up keeping. Maybe a dg, or pengiun tetras. Neons? A couple platys?
Sorry, but 3-5 dwarf angels would not work IMO. They are often even feistier than regular angels and have similar space requirements. They are also hard to find, but they shouldn't be stocked in odd numbers just like regular angels. Thats not enough space for 3-5 dg either unless you are refering to a trio with 1 male and 2 females, but even then there is not guarantee that it will work in the space. Sometimes dg are pretty nasty, especially to each other. I would not personally recommend more than 1.

 

[Mouth-Brooder-Fanatic]

Sorry, but 3-5 dwarf angels would not work IMO. They are often even feistier... Thats not enough space for 3-5 dg either unless you are refering to a trio with 1 male and 2 females, but even then there is not guarantee that it will work in the space.

thanks, im glad u corrected. we all learn, its just my lfs often mixes DG and cories or DA and cories and small loaches x

 

[absolutangel04]

No prob. Just remember that the tanks at most lfs, even good ones are much more heavily stocked than a home tank would be because the fish most lfs stock are still young, so you don't see their full spectrum of behaviors yet. Lucky you to have an lfs that even stocks dwarf angels.

 

[Sarah E]

what are the feeders for? curious ha

They're for feeding my snake... Sometimes he eats them, sometimes he doesn't... LOL

I could put a few snails in the 5 gallon to make it more... homey? what's the word... That could work...

The 10 Gallon could just be used as a Quarantine/sick tank... what about adding a few invertebrates? Like shrimp and or snails? Would that be okay?

For my 20 Gallon, I mainly want like... a centerpiece fish that won't bother the guppies while they breed.

 

[Sarah E]

Could I still have the Dwarf Gourami? I absolutely LOVE those fish! *fingers crossed*


EDIT: I am going to have 11 small feeders, the females are up to an inch long each then males about a half inch, almost an inch.

 

[absolutangel04]

I wouldn't put any inverts in a qt, because many of the meds you could use in qt will kill inverts.
Do you mean could you still have a dg in the 20? Yes.

 

[bruinsbro1997]

I wouldn't exactly recommend a DG if this is a newly set up tank. They're very sensitive fish and hard to keep alive. Even in a well-established and cycled tank they will die for no reason. I would suggest an alternative to a DG, the honey gourami. Lower mortality rate and less aggressive. Also pretty too IMO.

Why feeder guppies when you could have endler's livebearers?

 

[Sarah E]

Okay, my lfs also suggested the honey gourami.

Well, I had never heard of the endlers until last month... and even then, I was hesitant because there are certain hormones in fish that are poisonous to the snake.

I now have a beautiful little red Betta named Erne in my tank as well. He's such a sweetie pie!

 

[absolutangel04]

Cool. I hope the betta does well with the guppies. Watch out though, because bettas are known to not like colorful guppies. It might be ok with the feeders and not fancy guppies though, but just keep an eye on them.
@Bruins, there are multiple fish sold as feeder guppies, and IME they usually are Endler's, or else Endler's crosses. I have seen that much more often than not.
@Sarah, no worries if you want to be safe, but Endler's are often sold as feeder guppies. They will not hurt your snake.

 

[TheFishBoss97]

nice

if possible, add another cory to ur school bc they school in groups of 3 and need minimum of 3 to be happy.......its their natural behavior