I have Mts

[Xaoey]

Hello everyone,

Well I'm on to my 2nd second tank, just couldn't help myself. I found a 26 gallon Aqueon bow front tank starter kit for $70 and just had to get it.

It's been several weeks now and the cycle has already took it's course and thanks to all the nifty reading and scanning of this forum I've managed to keep some plants alive so it's semi planted. I just wanted to add that Purrbox's sig links were especially helpful for me to figure out more about the aquascapes. Right now I have swords and alot of Anubis. My Anubis seems to be doing fine however the amazon swords may not make it passed the next few weeks. They seem to be shriveled but not yellow.I suspect it is because my substrate is not nutrient rich.

What I'm really wondering is about stocking this tank. I already came home with 4 Harlequin Rasbora's. I really like how they school. I'm planning to get 6 more to make a total of 10. But 4 seems to be the magic number when adding new fish as to not overload the bioload.

So anyway can anyone suggest a friendly "main show fish" and also a bottom feeder.

Also as far as bottom feeders here are some thoughts I have on ones i've researched:

Plecostomus- probably will grow to big for my tank and also seems to be a bit aggressive.

Ottocinclus- From what people have posted about them on the boards they die alot from the transition from the pet store to your home aquarium

Corydoras Catfish- I really liked that the Corys are a very friendly bottom feeder, however I've seemed to read alot of people recommend getting them in groups of 6 as they are shy. I think my tank is too small for that

Golden dojo loach- These look really cool! I really wanted to get one but I suspect that my tank is too small for one and also upon further research I found that they are a cold water fish. Being that 1. my tank is only 26g and 2. I plan on keeping my tank around 78-80 degrees I probably can't have one. Oh also I read they like to burrow and I have pebble sized gravel soo... yeah guess they're out too

Aside from the type of bottom feeder, if there is one that would be suitable for my tank how long would I have to wait before I could put one in. I suspect I have to wait for suitable algea growth or else they would eat my plants?

Thanks in advance.

 

[Dominick]

Not sure what I did right but I always had Ottocinclus bought 10 at the store
and did not lose a one I acclimated them a little longer than I normally would and scooped them out no fish store water entered my aquarium

 

[new2betas]

I have three peppered cories myself and they do fine just the three of them. I think you would be fine with one of the smaller cory fish (pandas, peppered, etc.) I would think you could even put four to six in your 26 gallon.

 

[rich311k]

Do at least 3 corys, they will be much more active and happy that way. 3 will fit fine. A bristle nose pleco would do fine in a 26 as well.

 

[Alaris]

Do corys eat algae?

 

[meegosh]

Corys do not eat algae, they eat detritus and un-eaten fish food. I've never seen my corys interested in any type of algae. They mainly search the substrate for food. Either sand or large smooth rock substrates are recommended as their barbels are very important to their well being.

I have 6, 2 albino and 4 peppered in my 30g long. They will not school with each other but they occasionally share a shrimp pellet with each other. I'd say my cories are one of my favorite fish in my tank, always active and I love when they come to the surface for a gulp of air.

 

[saffikeagan]

One vote here for Kuhli loaches! I've got three. They get to a max of 4 inches, they are nocturnal so the tank is fun to watch at night, they are bottom dwellers (except they swim circles against the tank walls at night), they don't seem to have any interest in the other fish (my betta and them have gone right past each other with neither acknowledging the other), they are omnivores so they eat what all my other fish do, and they are cute. I like watching my tank at night better than during the day cause I've got two moonlights in the tank. Sammie S. Betta looks so good in silhouette, and the Kuhlis are just fun.

 

[JohnPaul]

A small school of 3-6 corys would fit fine. If you are looking for a "cleanup crew" for the substrate, that is what I would recommend. You could also opt for a similar number of the (smaller) loaches like the yo-yo loach.

If you are looking for algae control, a handful of otos or a small plec would be the way to go. In general, it's best not to add fish like these until you actually start seeing algae growth in your tank.