New 9 Gallon Fluval, help me out!

[John9721]

Good morning everyone! Recently acquired a slightly used 9 gallon Fluval Flex from a friend, and I want to see if my plans for stocking and cycling are up to par, as I have some aquarium knowledge but not a ton! First off, for cycling my plan was Seachem Prime for a dechlorinator, and Seachem Stability for a bacteria builder. Full disclosure, I work for a chain pet store (Think Petsmart, but the other one, lol). A lot of my coworkers are knowledgeable in the fish area, so I’m taking bits and pieces of their advice here. They suggested running those 2 chemicals for 7 days, adding Stability everyday, and then going forward with fish.

Now, regarding fish, I don’t obviously want to do too many as it’s a small tank. I was thinking either 3-4 Dalmatian Mollies, or 3-4 Platys, along with 5-10 ghost shrimp or cherry shrimp. My biggest thing is, this won’t be a planted tank. I’m doing a sand substrate, a few rock features with a few hiding areas and that’s about it, for now. If those fish aren’t well suited for that sort of setup, I’m all ears for what would work well. Thank you all!

 

[vanalisa]

I'm all ears, too. Can't wait to find out.
I am clueless as to mollys and platys so...

 

[Bruce Leyland-Jones]

I'd actually be curious to see the results of the advice given by your

lot of my coworkers are knowledgeable in the fish area,

...But then I confess to feeling more than just a little mischievous.

With only a very small 9 gallon tank to play with, your actual fish options are quite limited and you can immediately discount the Mollies and Platys, as you won't have the room.
That said, you could have both cherry and ghost shrimp and /or nerite snails.

However, long before you start dreaming of filling the tank with pretty creatures, you need to know exactly the nature of the water you'll be using, in terms of pH and hardness. This will then determine the types of compatible fish. For sure, you can tinker with chemicals to alter basic parameters, but then you'll be setting yourself up for a whole world of unnecessary pain and will have to alter every bit of water that goes into the tank forever more.

Please don't be tempted by a Betta, as these would probably demolish any shrimp and you'd need 5 gallons, absolute minimum, for it to thrive and not just survive.

Also, most creatures would feel over-exposed without plants, (live or artificial), with unnecessary stress in the tank as a consequence.

Possible fish, (assuming you have the appropriate water), might include;
Chili Rasbora
Scarlet Badis
Sparkling Gourami
Endler males
Ember Tetra, at a push.

 

[John9721]

I'd actually be curious to see the results of the advice given by your

...But then I confess to feeling more than just a little mischievous.

With only a very small 9 gallon tank to play with, your actual fish options are quite limited and you can immediately discount the Mollies and Platys, as you won't have the room.
That said, you could have both cherry and ghost shrimp and /or nerite snails.

However, long before you start dreaming of filling the tank with pretty creatures, you need to know exactly the nature of the water you'll be using, in terms of pH and hardness. This will then determine the types of compatible fish. For sure, you can tinker with chemicals to alter basic parameters, but then you'll be setting yourself up for a whole world of unnecessary pain and will have to alter every bit of water that goes into the tank forever more.

Please don't be tempted by a Betta, as these would probably demolish any shrimp and you'd need 5 gallons, absolute minimum, for it to thrive and not just survive.

Also, most creatures would feel over-exposed without plants, (live or artificial), with unnecessary stress in the tank as a consequence.

Possible fish, (assuming you have the appropriate water), might include;
Chili Rasbora
Scarlet Badis
Sparkling Gourami
Endler males
Ember Tetra, at a push.

pH I will get back to you on, water is going to be hard, with an emphasis on hard lol. Welcome to Midwest city water

 

[Bruce Leyland-Jones]

pH I will get back to you on, water is going to be hard, with an emphasis on hard lol. Welcome to Midwest city water

Most shrimp will do okay in hard water and you can flex your choises with shrimp. To avoid interbreeding and the young gradually reverting back to their natural type, you've got the Cherry , Amano, Glass/Ghost and Wood Shrimp.
There are even more, but they tend to be less available and more expensive.

Of the Cherry, (Neocaridina), you have red, blue, green, orange, yellow and variations with clear and/or white sections. These will interbreed with each other and, as I say, the young will eventually become the naturally-occurring brown, although some interesting 'sorts' may appear during this process and there's apparently a whole growing hobby specialising in selective breeding of shrimp.
Non-selective breeding happens anyways, as I've discovered.

 

[FF_Member146894]

is seachem stability supposed to instantly push you through the nitrogen cycle?
if that's your plan - it doesn't normally work out that way

 

[Essjay]

Most bottled bacteria products do not instantly cycle a tank, but they can speed it up.
The choice is between having fake decor and using ammonia to cycle the tank, or filling the tank with live plants which will remove the ammonia made by fish/inverts. Using Stability will speed up both methods. Once cycled, then add the livestock.

If you have very hard water, I would go with endlers as the other fish on Bruce's list are softer water fish. Males only; females would have a batch of fry every month and pretty soon there would be no swimming room left in the tank.

 

[Bruce Leyland-Jones]

...the other fish on Bruce's list are softer water fish.

I was only giving an example of just how many different fish can live with shrimp. You're right in that I do have relatively soft water.

 

[Essjay]

I know you gave that list before we knew the water hardness, it will be helpful to those who have the same tank and soft water