Pygmy Corys? Oto Cats? Neither?

[schmee]

Hey,

I have a 34l/10g tank with (so far) 4 adfs and 6/7 amano shrimp. Oh and a hitchiking pond snail. There are lots of hiding places and plants, soon to be more. Temp is 26 degrees C, light: 1.1wpg, filter: 105 gph. Ammonia: 0, Nitrites: 0, Nitrates: 20. pH: 7.4. Gravel substrate.
i think the plan is to get one female betta eventually (once the plants have grown a bit more).
i have always wanted corys or oto cats but thought my tank was too small. Which it may well be. However, i've seen lots of conflicting advice. So the q is: with the eventual plan to also keep one female betta (or possibly a male, if finding a suitable female fails), could i also keep either 3 oto cats or 4-6 pygmy corys?

Thoughts? Suggestions?

 

[Curiosity101]

I don't see any obvious issues with keeping a group of pygmys in there... I'd be tempted to lower the temp to 24C but then the betta wouldn't neccessarily be too happy...

 

[Carlovel1]

Id recommend pygmys over ottos. Ottos need a slightly bigger tank

 

[schmee]

Thanks for the advice so far

How many would you suggest? i know 4 is the minimum really but would they be happy as 4? Would 6 be better or would the overstocking outweigh the benefits?

 

[Carlovel1]

I dont see 6 Pygmys being a problem.Bear in mind these fish are absolutly tiny!

 

[Harlequins]

6 pygmys is a good number,although 26 degrees is at their top temp range...

 

[schmee]

Ok. i have gravel substrate, will this not hurt their barbels? i know people say 'fine' gravel but how fine is fine? Mine is approx 2-3mm across. i don't know what type, i bought it so long ago. It's just pretty standard stuff i think. Is this a no-no? As i already have critters in there, changing substrate isn't really an option.

 

[Carlovel1]

Any gravel apart from sharp gravel will be fine. Admittedly I kept a group of Peppered and Bronze Cory in slightly sharp gravel and there was never any problems with their barbels. You should be fine.
Carl

 

[schmee]

Thank you all for the advice. i changed to sand in the end and now have my pygmy corys - they're some hard fish to track down!. i'm in love!