Stocking Two Tanks

[Cinnebuns]

I have a rough idea of what I want to stock with but I want some more ideas. I'm more convinced of what I want to do with the 10 than the 29. 

 

10-gallon:  MUST HAVE and be safe for 1 female guppy that will be in varying states of pregnant. Fry will be kept in a different tank. I have three ideas. One seems safer for the guppy than the other.  No matter what, I might eventually want to add 1 or 2 pom pom crabs.  Do you have other ideas?

Idea 1:  1 honey gourami, 6+ neon tetras, the female guppy

Idea 2:  female betta, 6+ ember tetras, the female guppy

Ideas 3:  Just a bunch of either neon or ember tetras.

 

29-gallon:  already has 6 panda cories (2 long-finned), 6 glo tetras and guppies. The guppy situation is up in the air. Currently is housing 1 male and 1 female (had 2 female but long story. He's not harassing the 1 female so I am not changing it for now).  Current live plants situation is 7 marimo moss balls of various sizes, 1 dwarf water lettuce with a baby attached.

My idea was to eventually take the 1 female out and put into the 10-gallon. Then either keep a lone male or 5 or more males with 1 being my breeder. Beyond what I have I keep changing ideas of where to go from here. I have kinda fallen in love with gouramis but am not completely convinced of which, if any, to add. I currently have plenty of color, although I love color so color is good, but I would love to see some personality and action in the tank. If I got a snail, just because, I might go nerite to avoid gross egg clutches but seems people are happier with mystery snail personality. So many torn ideas!!  What do you think?

 

Pic is of the current 29-gallon. Working on changing the middle cause I hate it. 

 

Edit:  A more specific question is if a female, or even male, betta is safe with my female guppy. Then I could do a gourami in the 29. 

Edited December 31, 2021 by Cinnebuns

[Irene]

Everything is your personal preference of course, but I like honey gouramis for their peaceful nature. Pom pom crabs seem to hide a lot, according to what Cory said in a live stream. I also like mystery snails a little more than nerite snails because of the personality and they are pretty good cleaners IMO.

[Cinnebuns]

@Irene could you elaborate a little more about mystery snail personality that makes then so attractive?  I want to decide if their personality is worth dealing with the clutches. 

I guess a more specific question for my stocking is if a female betta, or even male, would be safe for my female guppy. I think my ideal would be a betta in the 10 and get my gourami fix in the 29 but that makes me nervous. 

[PineSong]

 With bettas it's impossible to say whether any one betta will be safe with any fish. You have to observe the actual betta in question and be prepared to house the betta somewhere else if aggression is shown.

Since you love color, I recommend the five male guppies idea--you can get five different colors and they are super active fish so there will always be something happening in the tank.

I just love how active my mystery snail is. Tentacles waving, climbing all over the place and parachuting to the bottom of the tank, just cute. You're right that you may have clutches of eggs with them. I was upset by the clutches and afraid they would happen all the time but I raised the water level and there have only been three in the five months I've had my snail. They are not visible when viewing the tank, so I have to check for them under the lid and remove them as I could not provide for 100 mystery snails.

The nerite snails leave white eggs on surfaces all over the tank and I hear that those eggs are hard to remove, so they are on my "no, thanks" list.

 

 

[Cinnebuns]

On 12/31/2021 at 5:58 PM, PineSong said:

The nerite snails leave white eggs on surfaces all over the tank and I hear that those eggs are hard to remove, so they are on my "no, thanks" list.

From my research yes they do this but they only hatch in brackish water so no fear of over population. I would assume my fish would just eat them. 

[PineSong]

On 12/31/2021 at 7:21 PM, Cinnebuns said:

I would assume my fish would just eat them. 

I don't think fish can eat them--they are on there like cement. Others who have them may correct me if I'm wrong but I recall one person saying they had to use a dremel tool to remove the eggs? And I don't think anyone would be bothered by the eggs if fish could eat them, but the eggs are usually the reason people don't keep nerites or go through all kinds of rigamarole to get a male.

[Cinnebuns]

@PineSong that's good to know. I didn't know they were glued on so much. Glad I found that out ahead of time!

[xXInkedPhoenixX]

Nerite snail eggs really aren't THAT bad. I leave them on most of my plants or hardscape and they take a while to fade. I'm not particularly fond of them being on glass so I just take a razor blade scraper made for tanks and scrape the glass. Mystery snails to me are more entertainment and fun, they are big bio loads compared to other snails and can get huge, they have lots of personality- but they aren't great tank cleaners IMO and you should supplement their diet. 

Nerites on the other hand are awesome tank cleaners. If eggs bother you a lot ask the LFS BEFORE you buy and ask if they'll exchange if you get a girl (impossible to sex). I only have 2. They are so invaluable as tank cleaners to me they can lay wherever they want. I LOVE them. 

[Cinnebuns]

On 12/31/2021 at 6:55 PM, xXInkedPhoenixX said:

 If eggs bother you a lot ask the LFS BEFORE you buy and ask if they'll exchange if you get a girl (impossible to sex).

That's a good idea. I'm not completely convinced either way tbh between the two species, if I get a snail at all. Info is power. It is great to keep in mind that nerites will clean more vs mystery that add bio load. All about pros and cons. Maybe if my LFS will do that exchange thing that puts nerites way on top. 

[xXInkedPhoenixX]

Here is my girl Curlyque, she's in a 4 gallon cube and she and her bladder snail friends keep the tank very clean I wouldn't trade her for anything. You can see varying stages of her eggs that I do nothing about: 

[Cinnebuns]

@xXInkedPhoenixX that helps a bunch!  those faded ones aren't bad. How long does it take them to fade like that?

[xXInkedPhoenixX]

Meh. TBH I've never really kept track but I'd guess a month maybe 2. It doesn't really bother me. Of my 12 Nerites in 5 tanks I maybe have 3 girls. One of my tanks that has my spiked Nerites (the best tank cleaners ever, not a speck of algae anywhere) Lock, Shock and Barrel- are all boys. 

You should check out the Snail Pic thread I started, I welcome everyone to post pics of their pet snails- all kinds are there: 

Just Snail Pics....

 

[Cinnebuns]

@xXInkedPhoenixX not that its a huge deal if they don't cause I'm good about gravel vacing, but do they eat poop or mostly just extra food and algae?

[xXInkedPhoenixX]

Nobody really eats poop in the snail department. Nerites are good at the Algae thing, cleaning glass, plants, hardscape etc (some Nerites seem to specialize in certain things- my spiked/horned Nerites clean plants better than the other Nerites), they are constantly Roomba'ing and DON'T generally take to commercial foods or veggies. 

Mystery snails they do some of that too but I've never noticed that they are really great at it- not like my Nerites are and they are generally a quarter of the size or smaller than a full grown Mystery- they will require you to supplement their food sources and are indeed better at cleaning up left over foods- but you'll want to consider something specifically for them- something calcium rich, like veggies or commercial foods high in this that they will take to- some are pickier than others- mine won't eat veggies. 

Edited January 1, 2022 by xXInkedPhoenixX

[xXInkedPhoenixX]

Something else to consider @Cinnebuns, Mystery snails have very long antenae- this can be a problem when they are placed with nippy or aggressive fish like Bettas. I'd be careful. Honestly I'd scrap the Betta idea because you'd have to have a back up plan in place if the Betta you chose turns out the be a bully. You never really know until you put them in with the other fish. If you're concerned about the Guppy, I'd get more peaceful community fish. Embers I can highly recommend. Knowing what I know now about keeping Bettas (and I won't keep anymore- they aren't easy fish) I wouldn't keep them in less than 80 degrees and that's not always suitable for other fish. 

Now if you keep going with the Betta idea, Nerites will be better- their antenae are much smaller and they are better about tucking in when bullied. They have a better chance. 

[Cinnebuns]

@xXInkedPhoenixX I think I'm completely scrapping the betta idea. It was my attempt to get a betta to work with my current goals but I have to face that a betta is in my future not my present. Now I wanna decide if a gourami (dwarf or honey) goes in my 29 or 10. I lean towards 29 and just keep some ember tetras with my female guppy in the 10. 

[xXInkedPhoenixX]

You'll be able to keep several Embers in a 10 gallon, they are super small and very cute and super social. Mine are about a half inch and when healthy and happy they are a pretty bright orange. Bioload is small. I'd probably put 10-15 in a 10 gallon depending on other stock.

Mine are in my Flex, they hang out with the Endler males I've put in there and I'm working on bringing up their numbers. I had 10 but lost 5 to a tank illness. 😞 I miss the little guys. 

[Cinnebuns]

@xXInkedPhoenixX I'm starting to think it will only be the embers and 1 female guppy in there so maybe I will do about a dozen. 

1 male guppy will pop in for about a week every 6 or so months for a conjugal visit

[xXInkedPhoenixX]

Perfect, that and a snail or 2 will be a nice stocking for the tank.