Stocking a 5g hex

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Fome

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Dec 1, 2004
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I've already decided on a crown tail betta, an apple snail, and 3 malaysian trumpet snails. What other fish would complement these?

I was thinking about adding 3 cories. Will cories harm my plants (lilaeopsosis + java moss)?? Will they do ok in a 5g hex (more vertical than horizontal)?? Will they be ok with sand??

What about a few kuhli loaches? If I went this route then I obviously wouldn't get a apple snail. Would kuhli loaches still eat malaysian trumpet snails?

I really am at a loss here, I like the idea of cories but I'm just concerned that my setup isn't ideal for them.

Please drop any suggestions here!!
 
You are correct in that your setup will not be ideal at all for cories. They are sensitive fish, need some room to salvage the bottom of the tank, and would probably prefer a small group. They shouldn't be in a cycling tank, or a tank less than 10 gallons in my opinion. I think your tank will be fully stocked with the betta and snails. You could add some plants to make it look really nice. MAYBE a few minnows, but I think you’re good.
 
There must be some other fish/invert that could share this tank with a betta. I'll be having a lot of plants and maintenance is really not a problem. Something that would stay near the bottom and doesn't require too much roaming room. Anyone?

What about 2-3 otos if I added algae wafers every so often? there will be plenty of plant cover and my otos in my 10g (happy, active, and fat as can be) do fine.

Some short of shrimp?? There's a nice deep cave right in the middle.
 
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Ghost shrimp are cool to watch. Haven't been able to find em lately, for some reason all the LFS here haven't had them in stock for months.

Snails are way more of a threat to your plants than any kind of small catfish. My snail would destroy my plants until I started putting whole iceberg lettuce leaves in one side of the tank. Thankfully he prefers the iceberg lettuce to the plants, and usually he leaves them alone.
 
I happened to have a male betta in a 5g hex not long ago. I kept him with a handful of cory. I tried soooo hard to keep those cory happy, but, they just never did well in that tank while my cory in my two 29g's thrived. Their barbells never developed well.

Also...I have a gold apple snail. Is this the type you are thinking of putting in a hex? Mine is larger than a softball and he lives in a 75g. My plants never stood a chance either LOL

good luck!
 
uhh I thought bridgesii (sp?) or whatever breed of apple snails didn't eat plants? My MTS have never touched a plant of mine, so I'm really not too worried about them, they actually seem to be very beneficial to a planted tank because they burrow through the substrate.

Maybe I'll get a ramshorn snail if I can make sure he's not a colombian ramshorn snail. I've done a bit of research and they don't seem to hurt plants. They stay relatively small.

Maybe if I can get some cool shrimp. I have ghost shrimp in my smaller (1g) tank but I think I'd like something with some actual color.

I'll have pics of this up soon.
 
Fome, apple snails have a moderate - high plant eating capacity, including pomacea bridgesii which is the most common snail sold in LFS. Mystery snails have a slightly lower capacity to devour plants simply because they are smaller all around than apple snails. Best bet to save your plants are live-bearing snails because their main source of food throughout their lifecycle is algea. (My Japanese Trapdoor just had babies yesterday. Yay!)

Great apple snail site, although quite scientific - www.applesnail.net
Slightly more user-friendly, experienced based - www.fishpondinfo.com/snail.htm
 
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