I have originally going to get 3 guppies and 4 cories, but things never go as planned! lol After a visit to my LPS I come home with 5 male guppies! They currently reside in a 10 Gallon aquarium at 77 degrees. I know that If I added the 4 cories, I'd be overstocking, so is there any other bottom feeders that could act as a clean-up crew?
shrimp, or Pygmy cories could work, i especially love pygmy cories, here is a pic of one of the ones that i have, they are schooling fish so you would need a minimum of 6 though
Shrimp are a wonderful choice, with a low bioload. You can have large numbers, (6-10 usually is what people have) without a problem, and they do a wonderful job scavenging the rocks for fallen food. They do better in at least a group of 3, and since their bioload is small they beat the cories.... Adding cories, you need usually 4-6 or more, and they poop a lot. :/ or at least, that is what I found.
For a 10 gallon, it is harder. cories are...iffy. Plecos are a definite no. Any other fish, which there are ones like tetras or platys, or molies, that also scavenge wouldn't fit in the tank.
Shrimp are a wonderful choice, with a low bioload. You can have large numbers, (6-10 usually is what people have) without a problem, and they do a wonderful job scavenging the rocks for fallen food. They do better in at least a group of 3, and since their bioload is small they beat the cories.... Adding cories, you need usually 4-6 or more, and they poop a lot. :/ or at least, that is what I found.
For a 10 gallon, it is harder. cories are...iffy. Plecos are a definite no. Any other fish, which there are ones like tetras or platys, or molies, that also scavenge wouldn't fit in the tank.
How long do the shrimp live? The less gravel-siphoning the better! Yeah, cories are iffy with 5 guppies! Would a snail clean up food? What about an oto?
I don't think I'd recommend otos... Unless the tank is teeming with algae. Most, will ignore the algae wafers, and need actual algae to survive. Some will take algae wafers... But I recommend having the tank cycled for 6 months, or more before considering oto cats.
Snails, are nice too. I've had an apple snail. Although they poop more than say... a pest snail (which some people like to have) they also CANNOT breed by themselves, unlike the asexual pond snails. Mystery and apple snails, are good.
Shrimp can last I think for a year or so (like most fish anyways) the key is to NOT have them get eaten or die from ammonia poisoning (uncycled tank, too many fish, etc)
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or die from ammonia poisoning (uncycled tank, too many fish, etc)
