Stocking Review

[SkiFletch]

Wahoo, my tank finally finished cycling so I'm here for some oppinions on my final stocking plan for my 20gal .

3x Blue Cobra Guppies (1 male, 2 female)
6x Neon Tetra
3x Otto
1 Amano shrimp

Thats getting close to a standard stocking plan of 1inch per gallon. As for the guppies, they'll be allowed to breed and fend for themselves naturally and after consulting with my LFS, when I raise some adults, they will gladly purchase them off my hands for me for store credit. Apparently all their guppies come from local breeders and they'll even take just a handful at a time.

Also about the neons, they usually require a more mature tank, so would you all reccomend I wait to add them, or give it a shot right away in a fully cycled tank?

Your oppinions are appreciated

 

[dwarfgourami]

Both otos and neons prefer mature tanks, so hard to tell how to go here; with only 3 guppies some of the bacteria would die away during the waiting period.

What do you reckon, oto keepers? Could they go in a newly cycled tank?

 

[modernhamlet]

Wahoo, my tank finally finished cycling so I'm here for some oppinions on my final stocking plan for my 20gal .

3x Blue Cobra Guppies (1 male, 2 female)
6x Neon Tetra
3x Otto
1 Amano shrimp

Thats getting close to a standard stocking plan of 1inch per gallon. As for the guppies, they'll be allowed to breed and fend for themselves naturally and after consulting with my LFS, when I raise some adults, they will gladly purchase them off my hands for me for store credit. Apparently all their guppies come from local breeders and they'll even take just a handful at a time.

Also about the neons, they usually require a more mature tank, so would you all reccomend I wait to add them, or give it a shot right away in a fully cycled tank?

Your oppinions are appreciated

I would wait a few months on the otos.

You might consider cardinal tetras instead of neons. As attractive as neons, but a lot less genetically warped by overbreeding. Just a thought.

 

[SkiFletch]

yeah, i was wondering about the differences between the two. cardinals would be an easy option

 

[modernhamlet]

yeah, i was wondering about the differences between the two. cardinals would be an easy option

In Cardinal Tetras the red stripe on the lower half of the body spans the full length of the fish from the eye to the tail. In the Neon Tetra the red stripe only begins at mid-body and extends to the tail.

Also, Cardinals tend to grow slightly longer than Neons.

 

[sylvia]

Good to see someone with a nice stocking plan It would be best to add the otos a few months down the line - particularly once some algae has started to grow in your tank - but the rest should be ok to add at the start as you're doing a fishless cycle. I'd also probably reccomend you go with the cardinals over the neons but it won't make a huge difference so still make sure water quality is good if you get cardinals.

 

[houndour]

I agree cardinals are nicer, but they also need mature tanks. It's a toughy, and after the guppies I wouldn't know what to put in next. I haven't heard of any success stories of adding otos or cardinals in a new tank.

 

[Silverlady]

I agree cardinals are nicer, but they also need mature tanks. It's a toughy, and after the guppies I wouldn't know what to put in next. I haven't heard of any success stories of adding otos or cardinals in a new tank.

Hi,Ihave Otos and Cardinals in a fairly new Tank.Istarted the Tank at the begining of August with a fishless Cycle.There are lots of plants ,and when the Otos were added there was loads of Algae.
Both Cardinals and Otos seem very happy in their new home.And as a plus the Otos have Spawned.

 

[houndour]

cool a success story If you were to put them in early then just keep a close eye on water params and keep up with your water changes.

 

[SkiFletch]

Well, after the success story I was moved to try it all in one shot, not to mention my LFS cut me a great deal on everything. Got everything in my stocking plan (cardinals, not neons) for a whopping $10... Man it pays to visit daily and talk to the guys there all the time

I just released everyone after a long time being bagged and slowly adding tank water to their bags. My tank parameters were identical to the fishes previous home in almoast every aspect except Phosphate. Both me and my LFS have 7.8pH, 0 ammonia/nitrate, 40ppm nitrate, ~18 GH/KH, but I have 1ppm of phosphate where they have 0.25 usually. I'm hoping everything goes smoothly and even the weaker Ottos/Cardinals do well.

For now they're all exploring the new tank and looking healthy. Wish me luck

 

[sylvia]

Just make sure the otos are getting food as I dobt you ahve enough algae in there to sustain them. fresh veggies are a must but some leftover spirulina flake would be taken too.

 

[SkiFletch]

yeah, I'll be feeding them some cucumber and algae pellets, thought about that

 

[houndour]

Good luck!

Keep an eye on your parameters and let us know how it goes.

 

[Slyspy]

I added my neons and otos as soon as my tank had cycled (fishlessly) last September. The otos are still alive. Some of the neons died when I added some more who, as it turned out, had NTD. All the originals survived eight months. If it were not for that NTD outbreak I believe they would still be going now. So in my experience both species can be put into a freshly fishless cycled tank. Your mileage may vary of course.

 

[SkiFletch]

Just wanted to do a quick update for everyone. Added fish to my newly cycled tank on friday, its now late sunday night and all is well. Water params have stayed 7.8, 0, 0, 40 (been checking twice daily). I started feeding them yesterday night only what they'll eat in a 2 min period without letting much if any lay around wasted. All fish look just fine. No signs of shock, disease, or sickness of any kind even in the ottos/neons. Everyone seems to be happy, myself included

Just wanted to put out a big thank you to everyone here for helping me out with getting things up and runnign and teaching me a LOT about fishkeeping even though I ran a tank all through my early years. Next stop, more plants until I can afford a bigger tank

Thanks again,
Mike