Seatown12

Hey everyone im planning to make a heavily planted 10 gallon aquarium with a male/female betta being the centerpiece(I will have a back-up plan if the male/female betta doesnt work, what are the chances of the betta working)? I need to know which of these stocking sound best and is not overstocked if it is please let me know how I should change it so it isnt.

Option 1:
1 betta (male/female)
3 otocinclus
3 albino cories

Option 2:
1 betta (male/female)
6 otocinclus
12 ghost shrimp

Option 3:
1 betta (male/female)
5 albino corydora
1 wood shrimp/flower shrimp/ bamboo shrimp(at my LFS this costs $10 is it too risky since the betta might eat him?)

MissMTS

I would say that option #2 is your best bet

AlyeskaGirl

I've never had a Betta before but here's my thoughts. I would just go with the Betta with 3 Corys. Otos are too sensitive as I have read.

Seatown12

Do otocinclus occasionally bottom feed like corydora?

MissMTS

Otos eat algae, while cories eat leftover food at the bottom of the tank If your tank is planted, I would definetly go for otos. I would reduce your number to 5 otos instead of 6 though

AlyeskaGirl

Otos are Algae eatters and are not recommended for newly cycled tanks. They are very sensitive to water conditions.

agabr123

i'd only go with 3 otos, five is probably too many in a 10 gallon tank considering it has such a small footprint

Seatown12

Ok thanks I guess I will go with the betta and the 3-5 otocincluses, MAYBE some ghost shrimp

agabr123

sounds good it sounds a bit harsh, but the ghost shrimp are only 25 cents where i am, and the store will probably not actually count how many you get so you'll get a few extra, so it's worth a shot to see if your betta will handle them

for the otos, just a warning in advance about 99% of them are still wild caught, and the practices used to catch them can be questionable. also, they dont eat anything green (algae, veggies, plants, etc) from the time they're caught until they arrive in your tank (unless the LFS ensures that they eat) and that amount of time causes a bacteria in their stomachs to die off, meaning that there is a good chance of them starving to death. the majority of otos die within the first month, but if you can get them to live longer than that they'll generally live for years.

Seatown12

The only thing I'm worried about is that the ghost shrimp might climb the plants and might climb out since there is a little open spot where the filter is and the plants might grow out of it

Amanda

There would be a better chance of them getting eaten.
I don't think they'll climb out though.