Hi - Mini Tropical Aquarium

[ksuyen]

HI all! I am new here, and I need advise on my setup. I recently purchased a small tank (40L ~ 10g, built-in filter and light) with intention to create a mini tropical freshwater aquarium. Right now it's still empty with filter and heater running, temp is around 25degC, for almost 5 days. I plan to buy some small live plants and a rock, but not sure which are the best plants to choose. As for the fishes, here is my plan list (to be purchased 2 weeks each type):
week 1:
1. Oto Catfish 1x
2. Bloodfin Tetra 3x: 1m - 2f

week 3:
1. Guppy 3x: 1m - 2f

week 5:
1. Platty 2x: 1m, 1f

week 7:
1. Zebra Danio 2x: 1m, 1f

Is the setup alright for the small tank? Will it be too crowded?

Thanks.

 

[Verminator89]

Hi and welcome to the forum.

There are some great articles to read up if your new to the hobby, and you seem to be doing things right so far, which is more than can be said for some. Fishless cycling is the way to go to mature your system and get it ready to sustain life, so keep doing that and don't cut corners.

As for your stocking ideas your on the right track in terms of adding fish week by week and not all at once, which is good. However, your stocking ideally needs to be tweaked a little. Its fine what you plan on having in the tank, just in larger quantities. If it were me i would stick with a 'shoaling' fish, your oto's and then maybe either a small centre piece fish, such as a dwarf gourami or get some Japonica/Amano shrimp perhaps. The quantities of fish you've listed arent ideal. Tetras, guppys, danios and plattys are all active group fish, which naturally like the company of their own species. So selecting your favourite and having a group of 7+ of them is going to be far better. Also i'm a firm believer of the "less is more" motto. I prefere an active group of one fish, to a random miss mash of several species all swimming on their own. Make sense?

In a 40L tank like yours, i'd be inclined to stock it as follows;

2-3 _ Oto's
7 _ Bloodfin Tetra
4 _ Yellow Honey Gourami 1m/3f

That is how i would set the tank up personally. In terms of decor, i would add a small piece of wood that is quite tall with a few branch like extentions. I would place a couple of smaller rocks around this. For plants i would start of with 'easy' plants that don't require too much looking after. So i would add Anubias barteri var nana to the lower section of wood, this plant likes to be tied down to the wood, making sure the rhyzome of the plant is never covered (else it rots). Higher up on the wood i would also tie on some Java Fern. In the substrate around the rocks i would go for Cryptocoryne species such as C Wedntii (green & brown).

Hope this helps,
James
10 _ Amano/Japonica Shrimp

 

[colleen0309]

Like James said, great start but the numbers for your fish is alittle off. Platys and guppies would like a bigger group, but if you must have them, 1m - 2f is the best ratio, IMO. The tetras and danios like a larger group of at least 5 each. I think the ottos like company too. Just my opinion. Good luck and have fun!

 

[CrazyAirborne]

Verm slightly mentioned it, but make sure u CYCLE your tank first, which means doing it before u get fish preferrably. with household ammonia. read about it here. MUST READ!

 

[ksuyen]

Verm slightly mentioned it, but make sure u CYCLE your tank first, which means doing it before u get fish preferrably. with household ammonia. read about it here. MUST READ!

Thank you for all the suggestions. I did the cycle as per instructions somewhere on the net. It's been 3 weeks since and I have zero ammonia and nitrite. Right now I have Anubias plant tied down on a piece of wood and a rock with three drilled holes. I am going to add more plants such as a few floating dwarf lettuce. Can Oto fish happily live alone? Or maybe I will just get a number of Cherry Prawns to do the "dirty" works.

Added Gouramis today.

Photo:

 

[KittyKat]

Verm slightly mentioned it, but make sure u CYCLE your tank first, which means doing it before u get fish preferrably. with household ammonia. read about it here. MUST READ!

Thank you for all the suggestions. I did the cycle as per instructions somewhere on the net. It's been 3 weeks since and I have zero ammonia and nitrite.

You said 5 days, in the first post. I also advise you against adding fish before fish-less cycling, as per the link above. Fish-in cycling is a lot more work and often results in fish deaths.

Right now I have Anubias plant tied down on a piece of wood and a rock with three drilled holes. I am going to add more plants such as a few floating dwarf lettuce. Can Oto fish happily live alone? Or maybe I will just get a number of Cherry Prawns to do the "dirty" works.

Anubias are a nice and easy plant to start with. I would recommend cherry shrimp over Otos, but neither will eat #105### and both must be fed specially. For the rest, I would recommend a single group of 8 micro rasboras (Boraras secies, for example).

 

[KittyKat]

week 1:
1. Oto Catfish 1x
2. Bloodfin Tetra 3x: 1m - 2f

week 3:
1. Guppy 3x: 1m - 2f

week 5:
1. Platty 2x: 1m, 1f

week 7:
1. Zebra Danio 2x: 1m, 1f

Is the setup alright for the small tank? Will it be too crowded?

Yes and yes. The other problem is that the tetras and danios are schooling fish, so should be kept in groups of 6+ and are too active for a tank that size. The livebearers would breed out of control and the female platy is likely to be harassed too much. Out of the fish you named there, I would go for 5 male guppies and some shrimp.