Help- Opinions Wanted! How Many Fish Is Too Much Fish?

[Bellanouva]

Hello

My fiance and I just cycled a 10 gallon tank with sparse plants and 1 shipwreck ornament. We got the water tested and the ok to add pets!
We currently have 2 african dwarf frogs and 2 guppies

Heres our dilemma- we were thinking of getting 5 neon tetras and 1 ottocinclus. At this time Im wondering if there is enough room for these fish? Also I hear neon tetras like acidic waters and Im worried about how that might affect our frogs.

I was thinking instead of just getting a few more guppies. If so how many more can we get? Or is there another variety of fish that might be more compatible with the ones we already have on our tank?

Im open to any and all suggestions/opinions! So fire away.

*our tank is in the pic below. We are ok to remove plants to make more space for pets

Thanks!

thats bigger picture than I wanted. I also wanted to mention we cycled our tank for a week and a half prior to buying fish/frogs and adding them,

 

[Bellanouva]

also! *sorry to keep adding info* But my frogs and guppies are perfectly happy together.I know some ppl have trouble having fish and frogs, but I really dont have a problem hand feeding my frogs, so I guess thats why it works.

 

[bristlenoseitplecoman]

To what I know frogs normally like acidic water. You don't have to change your water ph for your neon tetras. They are fine in almost any ph reasonably. Mine are currently in a 55 gallon with a ph of 8.2 and they are loving it. I also suggest getting a snail instead of the otinculus because snails will eat all garbage while the otinculus only eat algae. I also have heard that otinculus are temperate which means he may not live long.

 

[Bellanouva]

To what I know frogs normally like acidic water. You don't have to change your water ph for your neon tetras. They are fine in almost any ph reasonably. Mine are currently in a 55 gallon with a ph of 8.2 and they are loving it. I also suggest getting a snail instead of the otinculus because snails will eat all garbage while the otinculus only eat algae. I also have heard that otinculus are temperate which means he may not live long.

Thank you for the advice I guess it might be best to get our pH checked while we are at the store getting the neon tetras just to get the a-ok. Hmm I was thinking the snail too. We have a blue light that we keep on during the day in the tank, and I dont think that will affect algae much. I just wanted to get something to control that as well- Im assuming the snails eat algae?

There isnt alot of waste thus far from any of my fish, and we plan on doing weekly water changes because of the frogs so Im sure that will do well in that regard. We also plan on getting an aquarium vaccum the next time we head to the pet store.

Is temperature ever an issue with neon tetras? We find a 77 degree temp makes everyone on our tank pretty happy so far and Im hoping thats the mean temp we can keep it at.

 

[bristlenoseitplecoman]

you can definitely keep that temperature. Snails do eat algae and everything else.

 

[OldMan47]

Welcome to our forum bellanouva.
I would hold off on the otocinclus, maybe forever. I have tried to keep them in the past and found that once the tank they were in ran out of algae, they slowly starved. I early love those little guys but I hate to watch them starve in my tank. I even went so far as to try to grow some algae on rocks and such in a sunny window but I have so far always failed at feeding my otos.

 

[phoenixgsd]

ive heard neon tetras dont like new tanks, you say, 'I also wanted to mention we cycled our tank for a week and a half prior to buying fish/frogs and adding them, i would advise to hold off on tetras untill you cycle your tank fully then slowly up fish numbers so your filter can catch up

 

[sadguppy]

Add any new fish very slowly. Unfortunately unless you have filter media from an established tank and used household ammonia to feed the bacteria and daily water tests have shown a peak in ammonia, then nitrites, then nitrates, your filter is not cycled. You will need to do big frequent water changes for up to six weeks - don't add any more fish before this. Definitely not Neons or otos as they are very sensitive and likely would not survive.

More info can be found in the sticky at the top - you're looking for info on the fish in cycle.

 

[FishLover66]

I would also skip the otos in that small of a tank. They like to be in groups--minimum 3-4 and you will need to be sure to suppliment any algae in your tank with wafers, zucchini, and other fish foods. I've heard that they are picky and die easily, but not mine! I got a group of 5 for my 27 gallon cube which had a lot of algae and they not only cleaned my tank within days, they fed on zucchini, spinach, and I cought them eating the shrimp pellets I feed my corries with--they actually seem to like the shrimp pellets better than the algae wafers! Out of the five, only one died and he was very skinny, sickly right from the start the others look very healthy.

As for the neons, they also like groups and a minimum of six would do nicely in a 10 gallon. I bought mine shortly after I cycled my 10 gallon and moved them over to my 27 gallon shortly after that one cycled, and have had no problems with them other than the occasional ick after adding other fish. They seem very hardy to me.

With two frogs, two guppies, and six neons, there's not much more room in a 10 gallon for any other fish. I've heard that while snails do a great job of eating algae and waste products in a tank, they also have a very large bioload, so they are not the best clean-up crew for a small tank. I don't have any experience with shrimp, but that might be a good alternative. They seem very entertaining. You can put a few in and they will eat any extra food and algae in the tank--their bioload is very small.

Oh, and be sure that the cover of your tank has no openings. My daughter had two African dwarf frogs and they escaped.