Bottom Dwellers

[jonp]

Hi Everybody!

My names Jon and Iv been hanging around for a few weeks now.

I have a 64 litre tank with 4 platy and 3 guppys - all male. I have now come through the fish in cycle ( as mentioned in another post had'nt heard of fishless until coming here) and have been ammonia/nitrite less for two weeks ( still testing twice a week).

The tank has a fine gravel ( 1 to 3mm) base but I wouldnt say it is particularly smooth. It is a green/blue mixture from P@H if it helps.

I would like to start thinking about some bottom dwellers for when the tank has been matured for a few months ( want to get it right in the future ) and wonder what you could suggest since most cats seem to like sand or smooth gravel. I would prefer to get a few smaller fish ( i like 1" to 2" fish ) and I will also add here I dont really like snails.

I am currently changing 10 to 15% a week and leave the replacement water to stand overnight if it helps.

Thanks

Jon

 

[minxfishy]

IMO you would be fine with a group of corydoras, that gravel is small enough not to bother their barbles, 6 of any variety would be fine, however in a recently set up tank, I would avoid pygmy's and panda's as they are more sensitive than the other species.

Or you could get a plec, one that stays under 6", not a large common plec for instance. Bristlenose plecs, are easy to care for and help occassionally to keep the tank clear of some of the algae that plagues (some) tanks.

 

[jonp]

I was hoping someone would say corydoras cause I have liked the ones I have seen, but wanted confirmation on the gravel substrate.

 

[OldMan47]

I must disagree with MinxFishy on this one. Any rough gravel is not a good idea for corydoras. I have some tanks with large gravel and some with very small gravel / large sand. All of them are suitable for cories because I do not have any tanks with rough gravel. Take a few pieces of the gravel out of the tank and roll it between your finger tips. If it feels rough rather than just rolling around, I would not put a cory on it. That does not mean that you can't have a cory, it just means you would need to change the substrate. In a tank that small a new substrate would not be much work nor much expense.

 

[jonp]

Ok on that basis I suspect it is to rough for the cory's ( it kind of sticks to your fingers instead of rolling freely ). Can anyone suggest any other fish that would do well at the bottom level of the tank if the better half won't let me change the gravel?

 

[mattbond]

maybe kuhlis? i find the black ones are quite active and less shy than the striped ones

or if you dont mind them, there are loads of shrimp variaties that would do the job, but you may have to get a sizable amount to clean all the gravel (the cherry shrimp are generally quite cheap thogh)

 

[Truck]

khuli loaches need to be in sand. shrimps would be ideal

 

[stang1]

If the gravel is quite rough, then you may struggle with most bottom dwellers. Kuhli Loaches like to burrow so the substrate wouldn't be ideal for them.
It would definitely be worth changing the substrate, this would leave you with a lot more options.

 

[minxfishy]

My apologies for my answer then, I thought the blue/green stuff from P@h was pretty smooth, not rough edged, however not being the case, then best not to have cory's - sorry.

On the other hand, remove the gravel, get a £1.99 bag of playsand from argos, toyrus, tescos etc and corys would love it

 

[jonp]

ok just looked up the gravel in question [URL="http/www.pettex.co.uk/gravel.html#"]http/www.pettex.co.uk/gravel.html#[/URL] (aqua blend) and it says it is suitable for bottom dwellers....Can anyone comment on if they have used this with bottom dwellers such as corys because I know manufactorers claims and reality do not always tie in 100%

I have been told changing the gravel is not an option by the better half