how many fish can we have?

[Vorpal]

We have a cycled 125 L tank with 3 swordtails, 2 coreys, plants and a few snails.

I would like to get a few more coreys, one or two more swordtails, an algae eater, and another type of fish.

So, my questions...

What recommendations for the algae eater that will get along with our other fish?

My son like neon/cardinal tetras. Are they good tankmates for the others, and do we have the capacity to get enough of them that they will be happy?

If we have 5 coreys, 4 or 5 swordtails, and an algae eater, how many neon tetras can we get?

TIA

 

[docpark]

We have a cycled 125 L tank with 3 swordtails, 2 coreys, plants and a few snails.

I would like to get a few more coreys, one or two more swordtails, an algae eater, and another type of fish.

So, my questions...

What recommendations for the algae eater that will get along with our other fish?

My son like neon/cardinal tetras. Are they good tankmates for the others, and do we have the capacity to get enough of them that they will be happy?

If we have 5 coreys, 4 or 5 swordtails, and an algae eater, how many neon tetras can we get?

TIA

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Hello Vorpal:

I would begin with at least three more corys. They too need to live in groups in order to be healthy.

What is the ph and hardness of your aquarium water? These are important to know as you consider which new fish to add.

The Otocinclus catfish is a very small algae eater. A group of them would be suitable for a 125l tank. Many of the other algae eaters can grow quite large, perhaps too large for your tank.

Depending upon how much decoration and plants you have in your tank, a group of about eight neon or cardinal tetras is possible.

With the addition of the swordtails, you would have a moderately heavy bioload in your tank. A suitable filter and good maintenance practices such as water changes would be important.

 

[Byron]

Keeping in mind the tank size, 125 liters (roughly 33 gallons), you have to be careful. Swordtails are not small fish, attaining 7-8 cm (3 inches) and they are active swimmers. I would not add more to the three you have. You don't say if these are male or female...if both, you will have fry to deal with regularly.

Definitely increase the cories, to a minimum of five, but you have the space so a couple more would be better. This is a shoaling fish that expects to live in large groups, several hundreds in their habitats, and they will always be more settled the more there are. You don't mention the species; a group of the same species, or you can mix them but try to have 3-4 of a species if you have two or three species.

The tetras might work, but knowing the water parameters (hardness and pH) is important. Swordtails are livebearers and they require moderately hard or harder water, whereas tetras and cories prefer softer water. If your GH/pH should happen to be very high or very low, someone will not be happy.

As for the algae eaters, I would hold off on these until we have the other issues resolved. You don't really "need" algae eaters, and they won't eat all types of algae anyway. And otos can be very delicate at first.

Byron.

 

[Vorpal]

Well, we ended up with 7 corys (5 new). I went to buy them & said '3 or 4', and when there were 4 in the bag, there was only one left in the shop aquarium. I asked if they were getting any more, and they said they weren't sure, as they have lots of other kinds of corys, and ours (Sterba's) haven't been selling well. So, sucker that I am, I brought them all home.

I also got some http://www.prodacinternational.it/en-us/mangimi-gb-asia/mangimi-gb/tablet.html
which they *love*. I was wondering if it's okay to feed the swordtails on the tablets, too? Or should I do something like feed flakes in the morning for the swordtails and tablets in the evening for the corys? The Swordtails seemed to be eating the tablet food well, but they were swimming after it, while the corys were nibbling on the tablets, and releasing bits to go floating around the tank.