Good morning everyone! I recently set up my new 75g, with plants and new hiding spots and all. I had 5 guppies and a bunch of babies, and added them in the tank with 5 long finned danios and a yoyo loach. I ended up getting a pictus catfish, after doing some research. I should have known the consequences, and now have lost a momma guppy to the little turd, and maybe my yoyo. I got him to eat the fries, and because he seemed super neat. I haven't seen my yoyo in a couple days, and this morning I found a finless momma at the bottom struggling. I'm gonna return the punk tonight. My question now is, what can I replace him with that will eat those babies but will be fine with my adults? I thought about Oscars but I've never had them before. Suggestions? Also, I wanna get some ghost shrimp to do some bottom feeding and I remembered seeing crabs around. Anyone have any experience with those little dudes? Thanks in advance! Hope you guys have a good day!
I do hope you don't mean Tiger Oscar Cichlids (You know, the one that gets to be the size of a football) because your Pictus killing your fish will be the least of your problems. I would say Corydora Catfish would be a nice choice for you, they don't get to be very large and are a peaceful bottom-dwelling schooling fish. If you get large Ghost Shrimp then you can probably keep those two together. But keep in mind I've never had Corydora's before so I don't know the most of it. Kuhli Loaches are a nice alternative but they are also schooling fish which get to 4 Inches. Who are entirely peaceful (As most loaches are) and will eat the fry (Maybe, they don't have a very large appetite, nor stomach), but they sure are fun. It is luck of the draw with them as you can get some that are very nocturnal (Which can more than likely be negated by a nice school) or you can get some very active little guys. They do look like Eels which wiggle around the Aquarium so I'm not too sure if that would be a good fish for you. You could go with a Bolivian Ram (Keep in mind again I've never kept a Cichlid before and this was recommended by another forum member for my Aquarium with Guppies and Platies). Which get to 2" and are peaceful. But I'm not sure about them and the Ghost Shrimp. I'm sure someone else will come across this and list some fish that will work well with your planned stocking.
My grandparents had the monster Oscars, I don't think I'll go that route. I'll look into the corys. I've had khulis before and I loved them. They're fun to watch and mine were super friendly, to the point of swimming around in my fingers. The shrimp I was just going to get just to do some cleaning up of food waste, as a 75g tank seems to be a lot for my momma mystery snail to handle, but I imagine the khulis will do a fine job of that. I'm not worried about the shrimp getting eaten. I have a bunch of hiding spots and I plan to get enough that they maybe lay eggs. If they don't make it that far, no loss I guess. I'll look into those rams too. I want some bottom feeders, which will probably end up being the khuli, but something to keep that fry pop down would be cool. I had a school of mosquito fish for a while and my khulis never even touched their fry. Their mouths are probably too tiny for that. I'll also check into the albino guppies. Gonna research those crabs too. Thanks guys!
I wouldn't give up on the yoyo just yet, they are known to burrow into the substrate and hide for long periods, especially when you only have one. The problem is that anything that might eat the fry will also try to eat the adults if it grows large enough. I think that adding a couple of yoyos might be your best bet, as they will eat small fry opportunistically. But you need more than one so that they feel comfortable. IME, Corydoras do not eat a lot of guppy fry, so that isn't a solution to your problem. BTW, @Armypro , there is no such thing as a Corydora, the "s" is supposed to be on the end for singular or plural, as that is the name of the Genus.
More loaches can be done. I love those dudes. If the rams only get to be just a little bit bigger than the danios and guppies, it should be good right? Would 2 be fine? I don't want to overload the tank. 5 guppies, 5 danios, 2 rams, a couple yoyos and maybe a couple khulis, is that too much for a 75g? Will khulis and yoyos school together? The substrate is pretty sandy, so I'm sure he is just hiding. It's not that deep though.
Further proves that I know next to nothing about Corydoras, I don't really see the appeal to them. But then of course that's just me. The Yoyos and Kuhli's wont school together, best you can do with the Kuhlis is striped Kuhli Loaches. Kuhli Loaches also prefer a soft sandy substrate for their barbels and they like to sift through it in search of food (Very cool, you can see them expelling the sand through their gills). So its good you have a sandy substrate since your considering Kuhli's. I love the little guys as well, mine are hilarious and very social. My Guppies I have in my 20 Gallon Aquarium (That I'm upgrading to a 55) will swim through my fingers and play in the current when I do top off the Aquarium (Gets a lot of natural sunlight so more evaporation than normal).
Thanks for all the input, I appreciate it! I think I about got it figured out. Since I lost a momma guppy, I'll just have 4 of them, plus their fry, 5 danios, my yoyo and hopefully another mate for him, a couple khulis and a couple rams if I find em. That too much for a 75?
