10 gallon stocking

[Maxw47]

Could I have a trio of platies (1M 2F) in a ten gallon with 2-3 otos? My water is pretty hard with a pH of 8.2 and a Gh of 7. I need something to clean any algae off of the plants (I sell them to the LFS and they don't like plants with any algae). I would give them a mix of Hikari Sinking wafers (would algae wafers be better?, these have a mix of veggies and meat in them), the occasional cucumber, and any algae they find. A yes/no and any other advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

 

[mikeISright]

Quick question. Live plants? And bioload-wise it sounds fine to me.

 

[Maxw47]

Yup. There are live plants. I've got swords, dwarf sag, some aponogetons, etc. What about water chemistry. I know otos are from SA and are usually wild caught. Will the hard water be fine? Thanks!

 

[mikeISright]

I think the fish will be ok but ive heard incident of otos destroying plants.

 

[Maxw47]

That wouldn't be good... But I think I will pick some up this weekend. Should I get 2 or 3? I've heard 3 is a good number but I don't want to push it shocking wise.

 

[mikeISright]

3 will be fine.

 

[Maxw47]

Ok, thanks!