Opinions Needed

[FraggyFragbait]

Hello all,
It has been quite a while since I have posted, but it is safe to say I am loving my tank!
I was after some advice and hoping someone will be able to help me.

At the moment I have a Fluval Roma 125L with the stock Fluval U3 internal filter.
I currently have 9 cardinal tetra, 7 orange striped danio, 2 dwarf gourami (1 male and female), 4 guppies and a bristlenose plec....oh and a lovely bunch of fun red cherry shrimp (7 I think....I started with 6 but I saw 7 out and about yesterday, and I'm pretty sure one of the females is pregnant again!)

It is all going well other than my guppies, I started with 5 (all males as I didn't want a breeding problem and heard that this could work). It was a disaster from day 1, with all of the males constantly attacking each other. I thought I would give them a chance but now all I have is guppies with split tails, and one died the other day

Part of me thinks I should give these back to the fish shop, but I don't think I could really do that as although they harass each other they do seem quite happy....so more realistically I will just leave them until they are all gone and not replace them.

This brings me to my question...I really like the idea of some cory - quite possibly the panda or peppered cory (though I am open to suggestions).
I have 3 questions:

1. If I get 6 young cory will I be overstocked before my guppies die out?
2. When the cory become adults will I be overstocked (remember I will have no guppies then).
3. Will my gravel substrate be okay? I have a pea gravel that I got from Maidenhead, small rounded stones? I know they would prefer sand, but this is not something I wish to do so if it is a definite no then I will leave the corys.

Thanks for taking the time to read this

 

[ctsv510]

Letting your guppies die off is not really something that anyone here is going to recommend. If their environment isn't allowing them to be healthy and thrive, they shouldn't be in that environment, and keeping them their until they suffer and die is cruel. It's not good for your tank to have fish dying in it either. Take them back to a LFS that would be interesting in restoring their health and finding them another home.

 

[fishyfeet]

the thing is with pea gravel is food particles fall down inbetween the stones and this will rot and cause you ammonia spikes, the corys clear up uneaten food, but they wont be able to get any food if its fallen through the stones so i dont recommend you get corys with those stones, maybe you should get some finer substrate and a few plants and distractions for the guppies, and maybe 3 or 4 corys later. di