momo9700

Still working on the final stocking plan for my 29. Although, I'm a little ticked right now, because my mom went out and bought me 5 cardinal tetras, that were in a tank with the pH of 6. And the pH of my tank is like, 8. And when I seeded the tank it didn't work very well... Hoping they survive.... But anyways Here's the plan, I know its somewhat overstocked, but I don't know how much.

5 Cardinal Tetras
6 Zebra Danios
2 Platies
2 GBR
1 Pearl Gourami/Angelfish(Can't decide)
3 Ottos
3 Cories

And a bunch of ghost shrimp(well, I suppose there may not be as many after adding the larger fish... who knows.)

How over stocked is that? And will the cories steal the food from the ottos? Or vice versa. And will either of them steal food from the shrimp?

agabr123

well here's what you'd have in inches

5 cardinals = 10 inches
6 danios = 12 inches
2 platies = 4 inches
2 GBR = 4 inches
1 pearl gourami/angel = 4/6 inches
3 otos = 6 inches
3 cories = 6 inches

that's about 46 inches, but i think that you'll be okay if you leave out the gourami or angel as long as you stay on top of water changes. what fish exactly do you have now?

and the cories probably won't take food from the otos, but it depends how much algae you have going on in your tank. if there is a lot of algae, then the otos will eat that and the cories will leave it alone, but if you're feeding wafers and such you still shouldn't have much of a problem

momo9700

Hmmm, well right now I have the danios the cardinals and the platies. I'm trying to decide on a good bottom feeder, but I was thinking ottos for the algae and cories for well, the other stuff. But if I have shrimp in there, do you think I could get away with just the cories? Or would the ottos also do the same job as the cories, or what? I always get my botttom feeders and algae eaters mixed up, so please correct me if I have anything wrong. I'm pretty set in stone about the pearl/angelfish though. Any I'm trying to re-home my platies, but I love them soo much....(so i wont sell them to the store) But I could drop the GBR's...or If you have any ideas for a different schooling fish I could replace the zebras with.... I'm really open to any ideas and I'm sorry this is such a long post.

ADDED:
Pretty much the fish I absolutely must have are these:
The Pearl/Angelfish, Cardinals, and Platies

I actually don't care too much for the danios because only two of them are zebras(the other 4 are leopards, same thing basically) and i'm too lazy to go back to the store and make sure i get all of them to be zebras because they are in the same tank at the store.

agabr123

no worries

otos are algae eaters and cories are scavengers, so you'd definitely be fine with just the cories and ghost shrimp, or the other way around really. so if you were to drop either the cories OR the otos, and then drop just one of the GBRs (or both if you don't mind that), and the leave out the angel/gourami then you would be perfectly fine with that

there are lots of different fish you could substitute for the zebras, pretty much any of the small tetras, rasboras, etc. post #3 has the list of small schoolers
Work In Progress: Freshwater Community Stocking List

momo9700

Argh.....Somewhere along the line I had the plan perfect and now its overstocked.....nyaaa! I really will do just about anything to keep the pearl/angelfish. except drop the platies(I adore them) and the cardnals(they're technically my mom's fish)

EDIT:
Hmmm... I think if I drop the danios and do just cories or ottos it migth fit....

5 Cardinals-10 in
2 Platies- 4in
2 GBR- 4in
1 Pearl Gourami/Angelfish- 4 to 6in
3 Cories/Ottos- 6in

Total: 28-30in

I think that's about right. What do you guys think?

agabr123

would this work?

5 danios = 10 inches
1 gourami/angel = 4/6
3 cories/otos = 6
2 platies = 4
2 GBRs = 4

momo9700

Just edited the post above with a different plan. And I do belive I said I must keep the cardinals as they technically belong to my mom

agabr123

lol, i meant the cardinals not the danios

momo9700

Oh okay. Yeah I do like that plan. But would I do cories or Ottos? I have a really bad problem with diatoms and other algae, so I was thinking ottos might be better. But idk, I like how cories kinda scavenge the bottom. Although I suppose as long as I syphon the gravel, I don't really need that....Any thoughts? I'm also trying to sneak some snails in there(my mum hates em and I'm trying to convince her that snails are good, especially nerite snails as they do not repruduce like mad.)

CHoffman

SInce your having algae problems I would go with ottos..They are great at cleaning..Mine keep the tank spotless...Nerite snails would be a good option but they eat algae...They are MUCH slower at eating the algae then the ottos but they do get the job done..I would go with one or the other with the snails and ottos..The snails can be big waste producers too though. They won't produce at all in freshwater..The eggs need brackish water to hatch so you wouldn't have a snail population problem at all.

momo9700

Okay. So then Ottos shall be the winners. Now to wait for my LFS to get more ottos! Because they never seem to have them.... Next time I go I'll ask about returning the danios and when they'll have ottos. Thanks for the help then.

mjordan

i no u said your mom said she doesnt like snails but how bout cories and the snails instead.


ahhhh wat am i saying i like the otto better.

momo9700

I like the otto better too. would the shrimp do the same job as the cories though, or do they just eat algae and such? Oh speaking of which, g2g feed them lol. Almost forgot.

mjordan

depends on wat type but generally yes

agabr123

ghost and cherry shrimp and the like will do the same as cories and/or ottos, they'll eat alage and scavenge on the bottom. there are some shrimp that are "filter feeders" and act differently, but i'm not extremely familiar with them

mjordan

the red cherry shrimp eats algea and left over food so its like a otto and corie combined. the ghost shrimp is more just like a corie

momo9700

Thats why my tank is still covered in algae. I kinda wondered why the ghosties werent eating it

mjordan

ya they eat the left over food.

cherry shrimp are the kings and queens of algea eating shrimp classes.
they do an insane job

Dorantic

I thought it was the amano's that were kings / queens of algae eating shrimp.

My Cherries eat the algae on my driftwood, but don't eat the algae off the glass.

My Otto's have done an amazing job at cleaning my glass.