Hiding Spots Necessary?

[tonks]

Okay so in my previous thread for my 10 gallon tank.. I've decided on..
- 6 dwarf cory's
- 4 male guppies
- 10 red cherry shrimp
 
Is it necessary for me to have caves or hiding areas in my tank? I'm sort of in the middle about it at the moment.
 
On one hand if my red cherry shrimp were to breed.. (as bad as this sounds) I want my guppies to eat the RCS fry. This will keep the population down to a minimum.. so the red cherry shrimp population doesn't explode. No hiding places = No where for the fry to hide.. ergo they will be eaten.
 
On the other hand I wouldn't mind having a hiding spot.. something fun for the fish to play in or rest etc. But then if the red cherry shrimp were to breed.. they can easily hide here until they've grown a bit more.. which will lead to more shrimp in total in the whole tank. And when they're too big the guppies cant eat them.
 
Quickly one more thing.. would it be smart to get all male or all female cory's? otherwise if they breed as well.. i'll need to try and sell it or give it away. Cause i don't want to overstock my tank.
 
Any thoughts would be grateful.
Thanks

 

[laurac94]

My corys like to hide in the cave I have for them, if you provide plants the cherry shrimp will be happier because there will be algae growing on them, and the corys will have somewhere to hide.
The guppy fry will also have somewhere to hide so their parents don't eat themthem
Live plant cover would be best but fake plants will do pretty much the same job.

If you happen to get a mix of male and female corys just check with your lfs because they might be able to take them off your hands

 

[tonks]

There won't be any guppy fry as they'll be all males

 
Its just the RCS fry hiding and then growing to a size that the guppies wont be able to eat is all im worried about.
Otherwise my tank will have a RCS explosion.
 
And don't worry i'll have moss balls for the shrimp to munch on.

 

[eaglesaquarium]

I've had my cories breeding for about a year and a half, but I don't do anything to encourage or discourage it.  I've gone from 3 pandas to 12 pandas.  Mostly though, its not a major concern.  If they do, they do, and you can deal with that problem when it comes.  If they lay eggs, the guppies will probably eat them (or the cories themselves) before they even hatch.  If they hatch, then you may get one or two to grow up from a spawning.  I wouldn't worry about it too much, especially since most LFS employees won't be able to determine the gender of the cories when you are buying them.
 
 
The hiding spots will actually make the fish more comfortable and you'll probably see them being more active because they are more bold when they feel secure.

 

[tonks]

Ok awesome thanks for that.