Total Newbie That Needs Some Advice

[Underwurlde]

There is a lot of truth in what you say. Over stocking is rife & is not helped by some LFS. Trouble is, if like me, you go into these places & see 50 neons tucked into a 25L tank and think *WOW* - look at the colours & movement. And then you get home and (after researching forums such as this) reality dawns. Trouble is then, that wife / kids / friends (with or without tanks themselves) therefore assume that you can do the same at home. It can be quite depressing to find out just how small a stock a tank can indeed reasonably hold.

Just a comment then on your post above, if you're keen on Cories bear in mind two things:

1) They really, really, really do perfer to be in groups of the same species of 6 and above - honestly, their personalities definately come out! (Of course having that lot means that they'll take up 6 x 2.5" (guess at an average cory length) = 15 US Gallons.

2) Get sand as a substrate for them - they'll love you for it.

Andy

 

[rdd1952]

I think you've received good advice so far. I also strongly suggest doing a fishless cycle. There is a link to the pinned topic in my signature. Also, testing you tap water to determine the pH, KH & GH will be very important. It's much easier to keep fish that are suited to your water than to try to adjust the parameters. From that standpoint, the corys and platties aren't the best of tank mates. They get along fine but corys prefer slightly acidic water while platties prefer slightly alkaline water. Guppies just prefer water, almost regardless of the pH. I think they could live and reproduce in mud.

I think that the stocking level you have is too heavy. 16 fish would probably be fine but 24 is definitely too many. I would personally cut back to 6 each of 3 species. Another thing to consider with guppies and platties is that each female will give birth every 4 weeks. So if you go with 6 each and use normal stocking parameters of 1 male to 2 females, you will have 8 female live bearers in the tank so you will be averaging 2 batches of fry per week. You will soon be massively overrun with fry. Even if you let nature take its course and allow the other fish to eat them, some will survive (especially if the tank is planted and there is lots of cover) so you will be getting more overstocked every day.

 

[dwarfgourami]

Guppies are not necessarily that hardy these days, and even they prefer slightly harder water. So far from being able to keep them in mud, many experienced fishkeepers are finding they can't keep them alive at all - very different from when I was young. Still, if you get strong healthy guppies, they should be fine.

I'd say cories aren't really a problem to keep with platies in neutral/hard water if you go for bronze or peppered corys as being hardy and not particularly fussed about water params; my peppereds spawn ever so regularly in the liquid concrete that comes out of Southampton taps, and have been doing so for the 2 years+ that I've had them.

Rdd's warning about the fry is timely- one solution of course is same sex tanks. For instance, male guppies only.

 

[poopsydrew]

To whomever asked the original question-
I dont know nearly as much as everyone else on these post, but i can tell you i have a four tanks now and i always pick up corys because they add such character to the tank! You will love your corys if you get some, as someone pointed out keep them in groups (they dont get that big so its not a big deal, i think 3 inches is the max) and have a soft smooth substrate. Corys are great fish