Hey All!

[XeroTolerance]

Hello. I am a little new to the hobby of fish keeping so I joined this site. Don't get me wrong though I know about as much as somebody can know lol . I just never did before so last week I bought my self a 10 gallon tank. I figured it would be a nice size for a beginner like me. It currently has two mystery snails that are providing their very handy ammonia to cycle the tank . Today my tests were

Ammonia: .5ppm
pH: 7.6
Everything else: 0

I'm going to add 1 Albino Cory Catfish because they don't grow as large as the others. Also I'll be adding 4 mountain minnows and another 4 Cardinal Tetras. Anyways I'm just blabbering now . I plan on having a great time on these forums and expand my knowledge about this great hobby of fish-keeping.

 

[SchottayB]

 

[fluttermoth]

If I could give you one small bit of advice?

Corydoras really need to be in a shoal of 6+ and have a sand substrate if they're to be truly happy.

 

[XeroTolerance]

Thanks for all of you welcomes .

If I could give you one small bit of advice?

Corydoras really need to be in a shoal of 6+ and have a sand substrate if they're to be truly happy.

Thanks but I have heard of people only buying one Cory and it is still happy. I might buy two of the Albino ones because they do not grow as large as the others. As for the substrate I know that sand is their best because gravel could hurt them but my previous post was a little misleading. My substrate is actually smooth pebbles that are rounded. Thanks for your help .

 

[minnnt]

Welcome to the forum mate. You will have days and days worth of reading and researching here, it is an excellent database for everything you need to know!

Cory's prefer a sand substrate as they sift the top layer of the sand to scavenge food with their mouths and barbels. With gravel (even the rounded smooth small gravel) they can't do this and risk damage to that area which can lead to infections and diseases. The reason they like to be in groups is because they are sociable fish and demonstrate their natural behaviours better.

Also, the White Cloud Mountain Minnows prefer a cooler temperature to your Cardinals for them to be happy. So you would have a happy species and an unhappy one.

 

[XeroTolerance]

Welcome to the forum mate. You will have days and days worth of reading and researching here, it is an excellent database for everything you need to know!

Cory's prefer a sand substrate as they sift the top layer of the sand to scavenge food with their mouths and barbels. With gravel (even the rounded smooth small gravel) they can't do this and risk damage to that area which can lead to infections and diseases. The reason they like to be in groups is because they are sociable fish and demonstrate their natural behaviours better.

Also, the White Cloud Mountain Minnows prefer a cooler temperature to your Cardinals for them to be happy. So you would have a happy species and an unhappy one.

Thanks for the warm welcome . I have been doing a little thinking and I have decided that I won't buy any Corys because I do not have the space on the gravel. I also do not want to risk damaging them in anyway. Instead, I have come with the conclusion of buying 7 Neon's, 2 mystery snails, and 1 ghost shrimp. This seems like it would be an okay tank, but I was wondering if I could get 5 Neon's, 2 Cherry Barbs, and 2 mystery snails. I read alot of reviews on the Cherry barbs and they seem to do fine with 2 of them. They may nip at some fins but not usually. They prefer to be in groups but I thought that they could school with the rest of my Neon Tetras.

 

[minnnt]

You will get a better effect in the tank with a big shoal of one species rather than a few of each etc. Cherry barbs don't particularly shoal well, infact, i don't think i have even seen them shoaling at all. 2 would be fine i reckon, but i prefer your first suggestion... With the addition of 2 or 3 more Ghost Shrimps to make it up to 4.

 

[XeroTolerance]

Hmm.... Yeah, I'll go with my first suggestion because it would be better for the fish. Also, when my tank has done cycling and when I add the Neon tetras how many should I add at one time?

 

[minnnt]

I would add them last. I know that sounds weird but Neon's aren't the strongest of fish, so if anything is a miss with the tank then you may start to lose them. Just a thought.

 

[XeroTolerance]

Thanks . I'm not sure if I mentioned this already but I'm cycling the tank with mystery snails. So should I add the 2 ghost shrimp first?

 

[minnnt]

Hmmm... It's a tough one. Shrimp can be a bit touchy also! I don't know, maybe add the Neons first then. Try adding 4 one week and then 4 the next if you suffer no casualties. Then add the shrimp after this. This would probably help the amount of load and stress added to the filter at once.

 

[XeroTolerance]

Thats a good idea . I can't wait for my tank to finish cycling . I'm only buying 7 of them though not 8. So should I do 3 Neons the first week and than 4 Neons the next? Thanks for your help .

 

[minnnt]

Yeah that sounds good!

 

[XeroTolerance]

Great!