What To Put With A Bunch Of Sex Mad Guppies?

[barbiedoll]

well the guys never think of anything else....

Have set up a 20" by 10" by 12" tropical freshwater in the kitchen to house 2 male and 4 female guppies as they were getting split tails in the community tank. Now I like my tanks to look stylish so we have a black framed and lidded tank with grey largish rounded gravel, grey rocks and some plants in - more to come

Now thinking - more fish, must have more fish! (ignore sig.) and I know guppies will multiply now danios not there to eat the fry but....

but what? looking for cheap/readily available but interesting
something for the bottom:
nice plec? which one do you suggest? don't want to put wood in so don't want a wood eater like clown plec. Bristlenose? tank big enough? do they like company? how many?
don't really want corys - only considered the albinos really but I think would be tooo pink against the grey - have peppered corys in community tank
something a bit bigger - focal point fish:
dwarf gouramis? tank big enough? nip guppies?
something to shoal:
neons? haven't got any neons in the community as have Angels but could try to wait till the tank is mature and put in some neons if I haven't got it full of feesh by then

3rd born would like upside down catfish but I think they get too big for that tank, need too many as gregarious and need wood?

I know you are all busy thinking up your own stocking and in the end I have to choose.
But thanks for reading and any thoughts greatly appreciated

 

[SamUK]

tanks too small for any plecs im afraid.

you should look for ottos to keep your tank clean and they like to be kept in groups i think.

ottos and cory catfish for your clean up crew.

then maybe a pair of german blue rams or dwarf gouramis as the center piece fish?

 

[barbiedoll]

well I have 20x10=200sq.inches surface area ie 200/12=16.7inches of fish so I've not got that much to play with as Guppies are (1.2x2) + (2.4x4) = 12inches. Maths anyone?
A clown plec only gets to 3 inches and would be fine for size - I have one in my community tank but I don't want wood.
Bristlenoses get to 5 inches - but can you only keep 1 or would it be lonely?
Rams is an interesting idea - my book says they get to 2inches (I thought they get bigger!)but need a 24inch tank so this one would be a bit short, wouldn't it?
I have 4 otos in my community tank and they do muck about together when they're not gently cleaning leaves - I love them to bits but I don't want them in this tank too.

 

[stargirly1208]

i have 5 female guppies and 3 male guppies with my red honey gourami and they get along fine... if u were going to do gouramis i would definitely stick to the honey ones seeing as they are the most dosile. did u think about a couple of white mollies? that would look awesome with your black rocks and they're a pretty good size. and what about a mystery snail for cleaning up ur tank?

 

[dwarfgourami]

A 10 gallon tank is too small for mollies, stargirly.

Tbh it might even be small for a bristlenose, given that they are plecs and they do poo. And unless I am mistaken, bristlies also want wood for their digestion.

This sounds to me like a tank that is going to stock itself without any further interference. In fact, I'm not sure you're not fully stocked already.

Why not have shrimps as your clean-up crew? My amanos are doing a brilliant job and are great fun to watch.

 

[Jules H-T]

IME people overstate the sensitivity of neons, just because they heard it somewhere they are fine even in a new tank if you ask me.

 

[chrismr]

I would avoid rams in a tank that size... about the only fish along those lines I would add would be apistogramma borellii, or one of the other small apistos...

Defo not ancistrus, but ottos and clown plec maybe... but the tank could be getting crowded...

 

[dwarfgourami]

IME people overstate the sensitivity of neons, just because they heard it somewhere

And the "somewhere" might well be the emergency section of this very forum. We get a lot of threads about neons dying in new tanks.

 

[Jules H-T]

It might well be!

However there is a difference between neons being a bit sensitive and therefore perhaps not suitable for immediate inclusion in someone's first tank which is being cycled with fish, and neons being very sensitive and requiring a mature tank (which like I said in my experience they don't).

If you know what you're doing there is no need to shy away from Neon's for 6 months just for the sake of it, is all I'm saying.

 

[Bloo]

Unfortunately a lot of newbies have new tanks and don't know what they are doing. Those experienced keepers setting up a new tank, will generally do so from a mature filter which helps a great deal. It does seem to make a difference. And neons massively over farmed as they are, weakens them - hence they can't cope well with the extra demands and stress of a new tank - and hence *not* a good or recommend fish to start off with.

somethingfishie, you're going to struggle getting a "focal point fish" in a small 10 gallon guppy tank
Perhaps you should take the advice you gave yourself in your own sig

 

[Jules H-T]

Unfortunately a lot of newbies have new tanks and don't know what they are doing.

OK OK! However, in this case this member clearly has other tanks, speaks like they know what's going on a bit, and is illustrating a bit of thought about caring for their fish. I honestly reckon somethingfishie won't have a problem putting neons in this afternoon if that's what they want, if their fish husbandry is half decent.

Also, how about chucking in a red swordtail? Or some amano shrimp? An apple snail? A ram is a possibility? any one of loads of tetras? Couple of zebra loach (they are excellent fish)? The world is your oyster. The key to small tanks is not underestimating the importance of keeping the adult size of the fish down. You can still have loads in them that way. It might mean adding only 2, 3, or 4 at a time every 8 weeks or something until you're stocked (but that's cool since it'll let the filter catch up), and hanging on until something special comes in to the LFS, but you can have some quality fish in a 2ft tank. The worry for me would be the multiplying guppies spoiling the plan (although I'd net the little critters and chuck em in the other tank as dinner).

 

[Bloo]

Just one more thing worth mentioning - though most fish happily adapt to most water parameters, I have found neons not to fair so well. In fact, more like kick the bucket after a few months in a high pH and gH. And I am pretty certain that part of the country has exactly that which guppies thrive on and neons fair less well in. So worth check that before spending money on fish that might dwindle over the next few months.

 

[barbiedoll]

Thanks all.
Went to Aquajardin in Allington Lane, Fairoak yest to get some plants. Love that shop. Picked up 3 more peppered corys for the community tank so now there are 6 and they don't lose each other and panic anymore!

had some wicked armoured shrimp in.....
didn't.
honest,
well maybe I might have put one on hold for a week....


oh dear