Opinion Needed

[Kasey06]

Went and purchased some fish for the new tank that has been up and running for a few weeks now. Bought 2 sunrise guppies and 2 fancy guppies and 1 small catfish, I believe it is a Otto. It only cost $1.99 at petsmart and it was listed as a community fish that only gets 1.5". I did some reading online and it looks like these catfish do best in groups of 2-3. Is this true or can they thrive by themselves? In a couple of weeks we will be purchasing some more fish as this is a new tank. Thinking about maybe 1 or 2 mollies or a school of tetras or something along those lines, possible platies. The tank is 15 gallons so obviously we are limited in terms of what we can get. Are there any live plants anyone would advise for this tank? I purchased some algae wafers and in reading it seems the catfish also eats greens but I wasn't sure about what would work with the guppies already in the tank which by the way are PIGS. Thanks for any advise and help as I am new to keeping fish.

[Squawkbert]

Otocinclus cats are VORACIOUS algae eaters that do like to be kept in groups of 3 or more. I'd go ahead and get 2 more, if you don't want to return the singleton (I generally suggest one per 10 gallons of well established, heavily planted tank). As 3 are capable of thoroughly cleaning a badly "algified" 40g tank in a day or two, you're obviously going to have to provide algae wafers (well, parts of a wafer - they are small) and an occasional blanched green vegetable (cucumber, spinach leaf, leaf lettuce, zucchini...) for them. The trick is to make sure you watch tehm enough to see that you are providing at least one thing they will eat. They have been known to starve themselves if not offered something to their liking. If the guppies etc. beat them to the wafers, feed that stuff at night or in the AM an hour or two before lights come on. Remember to pull veggies after a couple of hours, or they'll (eventually) trash the tank.

Otos can be a lot of fun to watch as they'll occasionally swim with a school of most anything, they'll pearch on anything and they'll hide now and then, only to pop up "en masse" front & center for a while.

[Kasey06]

Thank you for the quick reply. I do want to keep this guy so I will purchase 2 more if that is what is needed. So, if I do get 2 more will my 15 gallon tank be full or will I have space for some more small fish. This is what I will have if I buy 2 more:
3 Ottos
2 Sunrise Guppies
2 Fancy Guppies
Would 2-3 platies or tetras be too much for this tank? Thanks for any and all advise.

[Kasey06]

What plants would you suggest for this tank? And I will give the veggies a try, the other fish are pigs and ate some of the wafers as well so i'll have to keep an eye on that. Thanks.

[Squawkbert]

Adding Tetras (like to be in groups of 6 or more) would probably be a bit much, unles you go w/ Neons - a microrasbora 6-pack might be a better option. Many molly varieties get fairly big, when you consider their girth, so I'd stay away from them.

Guppies tend to multiply like tribbles, so you may want to just let the fauna go and start worrying about what to do w/ the fry that will soon inundate the tank.

As to plants, what is your lighting situation, what do you have in the bottom of your tank, are you willing to add CO2 and/or fertilizers?

Before jumping into plants, I suggest reading the "Concise Guide" at www.rexgrigg.com.

[Lupin]

Kasey, in case you run out of algae supply, you can always try placing small rocks in a bucket of water and place it under direct sunlight. Add a pinch of fishfood in it and in a few days, you should have enough algae for the otos to eat.:) This is how I supply my own hillstream loaches with algae.:D

[Phil22]

Kasey, I doubt your tank is cycled, meaning you will need to be prepared to do alot of water changes or you will damage your fish. Unless you are already aware of cycling, please go to the cycling post sticky at the top of this forum. Most here recommend that you completely cycle your tank before adding any fish (a 4-6 week process).

[Kasey06]

The tank was cycled properly but not by me. My boyfriend has had tanks in the past and he got everything going, we set the tank up about a month ago. We have the API test kit and are testing each week and doing partial water changes. We'll look at some of the smaller schooling fish when it comes time but that'll be a couple of weeks from now at least. Thanks for all the info, I am trying to learn all this stuff myself now instead of asking him too many questions. Thanks.

[Squawkbert]

Kasey, in case you run out of algae supply, you can always try placing small rocks in a bucket of water and place it under direct sunlight. Add a pinch of fishfood in it and in a few days, you should have enough algae for the otos to eat.:) This is how I supply my own hillstream loaches with algae.:D

:) very nice idea!

[Phil22]

Kasey, thanks for cycling properly. Sorry I jumped to that conclusion. Have fun stocking!

[wataugachicken]

i think that before adding any new kinds of fish, get a few more guppies so that you have one male guppy for each two-three female guppies (unless you only want male guppies). otherwise the males will constantly chase the females, and the stress and exhaustion can ultimately cause death. having 2-3 females per male will give each female guppy a break and they will be overall healthier. Also, they do breed soooo quickly. Unless you plan on culling the fry in some way either by feeding them to a larger fish in another tank or adding a fish to the tank that will eat the babies, I don't think you have room for more fish other than oto cats. If you only keep male guppies, then the potential for breeding is removed and you could certainly add a school of small tetras, maybe 6-8.

[Kasey06]

My fancy guppies are both males and the other two are sunburst or something along those lines and they weren't labeled male or female. Is there a way to know which they are? I don't want babies so I wanted to stick with all one sex but really liked the sun ones, yellow/orange.

[wataugachicken]

umm, do a google image search for "platy gonopodium" or "molly gonopodium" and you should find pictures that explain the differences between male and female - there is one fin that is shaped differently, but i can't remember the details.