Opinions on Bristlenose Pleco?

[JEGuerra]

I'd think a firemouth would be ok with adult cherry barbs & danios swim pretty fast. My husband says we had neons & cardinal tetras with ours back in the day but some smaller 1s were eaten. I don't remember...We didn't try them with gouramis but (guessing) since gourami is a mid to top tank swimmer, firemouths low to mid level. For cichlids, firemouths are pretty mellow except when breeding (& with just 1 you won't have that problem).

The way to sex mollies or any live bearer is to look for a dark "gravid spot" near the vent on females (almost all will be gravid from, say, half grown) Males have a "gonopodium" a longish rectangular "fin" kind of behind the ventral (bottom) fin. Search for pics to compare. Many livebearers can "store" sperm for quite a while so you can get fry months later.

Learn to like some algae "patina" on your decorations, it softens the harsh white or light colored look things...like your shell...Is it real? If so it may boost your GH hardness...

We can discuss water parameters, live plants, other fish etc. later. For now, I'd say skip the SAE. There are prettier fish but SAE will limit those options in some ways. We don't want to overwhelm you...just yet baby steps for now

Oh and also, I just watched a video on gendering mollies, and I believe both my gold dust mollies are male, based off of their anal fins

 

[fishorama]

Well, look at roseline sharks (denisonii barbs or whatever they're called now). Spectacular fish, a bit pricy, & need to be in a group. Very mellow or even shy/nervous sometimes, but SAE will not like such a similar shaped shaped fish. (sae are actually shoaling/schooling fish but can be kept alone). Roselines may nibble on algae a tiny bit, but they are so pretty! I can't wait to keep them again...but that's me.

Let's take a little time out so you can do research & we can comment on any that catch your eye. Go slow & ask us before you buy!

Ah, I see you have male mollies. I haven't ever kept mollies...do they fight much if at all? At least you won't be overrun with fry That's a very good thing!

 

[JEGuerra]

Well, look at roseline sharks (denisonii barbs or whatever they're called now). Spectacular fish, a bit pricy, & need to be in a group. Very mellow or even shy/nervous sometimes, but SAE will not like such a similar shaped shaped fish. (sae are actually shoaling/schooling fish but can be kept alone). Roselines may nibble on algae a tiny bit, but they are so pretty! I can't wait to keep them again...but that's me.

Let's take a little time out so you can do research & we can comment on any that catch your eye. Go slow & ask us before you buy!

Ah, I see you have male mollies. I haven't ever kept mollies...do they fight much if at all? At least you won't be overrun with fry That's a very good thing!

I agree the denison barbs/rosalines are very pretty, I'll definitely look into those more to see how they'd fit into the tank and all that. And so far my mollies have been very chill, they like eachother alot and swim around the tank with eachother quite often. I'm not sure whether they're schooling fish but they do school with eachother quite alot

 

[fishorama]

Well that sounds good!
But really we should look at your water chemistry etc. pretty soon. Mollies I believe, prefer harder water, danios aren't very fussy but a lot of your fish would be better in soft-ish water. Do you know or can you look up your city? water report? Do you have an API test kit of your own? It's not so much the pH but the GH hardness that matters most...in some ways...a whole 'nother topic...

 

[Warrior-Lady]

Pleco's are brilliant i keep them till they're 3" long and take them to my local shop having cory's. They just love their algae and keep your tank spotless clean. They love wood as it helps their indigestive system but also organic waste from a filter does the same thing, as mine in my old tank lives on my U's when needed.

 

[JEGuerra]

Pleco's are brilliant i keep them till they're 3" long and take them to my local shop having cory's. They just love their algae and keep your tank spotless clean. They love wood as it helps their indigestive system but also organic waste from a filter does the same thing, as mine in my old tank lives on my U's when needed.

If I could ask, any reason in specific why you keep em til they're 3'?

 

[Warrior-Lady]

If I could ask, any reason in specific why you keep em til they're 3'?

The reason why is i have 23 cory's and my last one i had on it's own had it's minitab happy as larry and then darts across to where the albino's are eating and the one jumped out the way quickly, later that night found it dead and when i removed it, the fin had cut into the eye and body but i have a local shop by me who as a large quarantine bay and takes them off me, he's had breeding corys besides young.