Yet again another stock question

[DeeGeeDee]

Hi guys

Was wondering if someone could give their opinion on the following stocking level. I have bought a Fluval Edge 57L (15G) but it's not set up yet. The cycling process is starting this weekend. I manged to find some Dr Tims One & Only Freshwater plus the Ammonium Chloride which I plan to use. Perhaps I'll start a thread about this in the cycling part as I couldn't find much about it on here.

Back to the main question, is this stocking level ok?

I plan to stock (once cycled) with:
* 6 Guppies (all males)
* 6 Endlers (again, all males)
* 3 Otocinclus
* 5 Amano Shrimp

Do I need to increase/decrease any of these numbers to be more realistic? I've obviously not purchased the fish yet so there's no problem with having to return any etc...

The tank will be planted and scaped with "grey mountain stone" that I purchased from a seller on eBay. The parameters of my standard tap water are:

pH 7.4
GH 7
KH 7

I have read that guppies like "hard" water so would my levels of 7 not be good enough?

Thank you in advance.

 

[SnailPocalypse]

The Guppies and Endlers are fine.I would say no to the Otocinculus unless they will only be in there tempoarily and as they need groups of 6+ which that tank is to small for your size tank.Amano shrimp are also fine.But back to the otocinculus only tempoarily would I keep that fish in there or maybe til a larger tank.

 

[DeeGeeDee]

Thanks SnailPocalypse. I'm a bit surprised at your comment regrinding Otocinclus though as I've read on my threads that they would do fine in a tank like this. I've read that 3 would do well in a 23L Fluval Edge so this is quite different to what you're suggesting. I'll do some more research on this for sure.

 

[Ch4rlie]

I have to agree that otos will not fare well in this little tank.

There are a lot of sites that will say a 15 Gal tank is fine for otos but that is mainly for standard rectangular tanks, not the Fluval Edge which is a sort of a designers tank if you know what I mean.

The footprint and length of the Edge tank differs so means is not really suitable for these lovely otos unfortunately. They'll survive but not very much space for them to dart about in the water and therefore they may get stressed due to the lack of space then the stress may lead to them being susceptible to diseases, not a nice cycle really.

Plus one other thing about otos, depends where you buy the otos from, a lot of them are wild caught and shipped straight to the fish store then to the fishkeepers home within a relatively short space of time. This means the otos will only feed on certain algaes, in their natural habitat the water they live in is literally green with algae. Therefore the green spot algae that may eventually accumulate in your tank will not be enough to sustain 3 otos, never mind the 6+ thats best.

So sadly a LOT of otos starve to death even if you put in algae wafers or suchlike, they may not recognise this as food.

A bit of a gamble to buy otos if you do not know if they are tank bred or wild caught. best to wait until you have a larger established tank with lots of plants and then the otos will more likely thrive.

Quoted from Seriously Fish -

This is one of the commoner “otos” seen in the hobby, and is likely the one most frequently offered as an “oto.” It is an ideal species for the planted aquarium. Unfortunately it can be quite delicate when first imported, and losses are not uncommon. This is usually down to lack of food, as it’s a small fish and needs to feed almost constantly, so it’s easily starved during transportation. As almost all otos are wild caught, they can be quite sensitive to water quality, too. Many hobbyists report fewer problems if the fish are added to mature, planted tanks, where water quality is stable and there is a plentiful supply of microorganisms and algae for the otos to feed on. Once the fish are past the initial stage and are feeding well, maintenance becomes much easier.

Seriously Fish - Otocinclus macrospilus

As for guppies and endlers, they should be fine in that tank, though might be better just going for one specie rather than both so that means you have a larger group of them, the more the better really. but it works either way anwyay.
http://www.seriouslyfish.com/species/otocinclus-macrospilus/
Remember that guppies are larger than endlers so you will have less guppies than endlers if you decide on a single specie tank. Though there are now hybrids of guppies and endlers, personally am not overly keen on hybrids tbh (I have 12 black bar endlers in my tanks and I like them a lot) but thats not my choice to make, this is your tank

Amano shrimps are fine in that tank though be forewarned, some amanos, when fully grown may develop a liking for small fish!

I had 4 amanos in one tank at one point and suspected they ate some of my Celestial Pearl Danios, whether by design or by eating them when the CPD had already passed away, I am unsure, needless to say, the amanos are now in thier own 5 gal tank

But with endlers, adult Red Cherry Shrimps should be fine, but not with guppies (guppies have bigger mouths).

 

[DeeGeeDee]

Thanks for your reply Ch4rlie.

I realise now that I wrote Edge instead of Flex but it's pretty much going to be the same case with it anyway. I'll have to reconsider the Otto's then by the sound of it.

I prefer guppies so I think I'll go with just having them instead of the Endlers.

 

[Ch4rlie]

The Flex, yes, have seen those in LFS recently, with the 7500K adjustable led's. Not bad.

Yeah, thats probably the best cours eof action. Sorry it was not exactly what you wanted to hear but better to learn the easy way rather than the hard (and expensive) way.

You still have time to plan this anyway since you will be cycling this tank, takes a few week depending on your Dr Tim's bacteria.
Hope the cycle goes nice and smoothly, do read and re-read the fishless cycle article, its kinda confusing at first but as time goes on it makes sense once you actually start the process and following the advice given

A learning curve when it comes to aquariums for the new fishkeeper, always good to hear from folk doing their research first

 

[DeeGeeDee]

It's not a bad starter tank, I think? I've read that longer tanks are better so perhaps I should've gone with one of them but this will do for now.

It's definitely not what I wanted to hear but I'd rather hear it beforehand than find out the hard way.

I've read lots on fishless cycling and I'm actually quite looking forward to it to be honest. Hopefully all goes well. Thanks again for replying!!