Is my stocking idea appropriate for my 5 gallon aquarium?

[TheDesktopAquarium]

So this will be my first time ever having a rimless tank, I won’t be adding fish untill maybe next month. I know all of the plants that I want to add into my aquarium. Did some research on these plants as well to make sure if I need or don’t need CO2(for the plants I’m getting I don’t really need CO2 but it is recommended) I thought well about the stocking of my 5 gallon rimless tank, I have re-thought my stocking ideas a couple of times, I also have to be considerate of the bio load and to make sure I don’t overstock. so here’s my idea

-A trio of scarlet endlers

-at least five Painted fire red cherry shrimp

-One kuhli loach

-five Malaysian trumpets snails

I have kept Scarlet chili endlers in the past and I’d like to try breeding them again I do not care the parents eat the babies, if some do survive I will cycle a small pond outside when it gets warmer to put the babies in. I have also kept painted fire, cherry red from my local aquarium store, for eight of them it was $50, What a price tag. I had never kept a kuhli loach before, but sometimes I worry about any uneaten food getting down to the bottom of the aquarium, of course, I would give the kuhli loach some blood worms to eat. I also have never kept any Malaysian trumpet snails, I did some research on them. They do breed like crazy, but if I do get overwhelmed, I can always harvest them and donate them to the aquarium shop.

so what do you all think? Should I change my stocking idea? It would be a while before I even plan to setup the tank and leave it to cycle.

if you have any good ideas for stocking, a single 5 gallon aquarium, please let me know!

[macdaddy36]

I would not put a Kuhli Loach in a 5 gallon. Not only can Kuhli loaches grow up to 4 inches, 1/4 the length of a standard 5, but they also are not solitary fish and enjoy being kept in groups of 5+. If you put just one into that tank it will find somewhere to hide and you will likely never see it. I have had 8 Kuhli loaches in a 20 gallon for around 2 years and I rarely see them out in the open, and never more than one at a time. 

Other bottom dwellers which would be better suited for a 5 gallon are Rosy Loaches or Pygmy Corydoras. For both of these species you would want a group of six. 

Endlers are a good idea if you have somewhere to put them once you have lots. 

A great resource for stocking is AqAdvisor.com

[Schuyler]

On 1/6/2024 at 4:53 AM, TheDesktopAquarium said:

but if I do get overwhelmed,

That feels like an awfully big "but" there

If you have a separate grow out tank and know that you'll have a place to sell them then this could work.

[Odd Duck]

I agree completely with @macdaddy36 on Kuhli loaches being shoaling fish so 5+ is better and 5 G being too small.  I’m not sure how many I have in my 100 G but I randomly see 1 to 2 at most, once saw 3 a couple weeks ago.  They mostly stay out of sight but do an excellent job of controlling ramshorn snails so I have a good balance of snails for algae control but never an over population problem.

I also second getting a small shoal of one of the dwarf cory species which will have a fairly similar bioload compared to a single Kuhli loach.  Look into Corydoras pymaeus like macdaddy36 suggested or Corydoras hastatus.  Both are similarly size but different in their pattern so pick ONE species that appeals to you the most by pattern / color and get at least 6 or more.  Mixing species from the same lineage is strongly discouraged since you should always try to prevent hybrids so do NOT get both hastatus and pygmaeus chose just one of these species.  There are other species of dwarf cories but these 2 are the smallest and the best fit for a 5 G.

I would definitely NOT put any Malaysian trumpet snails in a 5 gallon. They will highly likely overrun the tank under a beginner fishkeeper and you will have to completely change the substrate in order to clear them.  You would be much better off getting a single, young mystery snail (up to large pea sized or smaller) so there would be no reproduction in your tank.

Most definitely be prepared for what to do with more endlers.  If you get both males and females, you will end up with dozens more.  Maybe consider chili rasboras instead since you could have a nice shoal of them since they are such low bioload fish.  You could gradually build up your shoal of chili rasboras to around 10 if you wanted, but take several weeks to build up to that many.

As always, do NOT get all the fish at once.  Pick one species and add a few at a time.  Take several days between adding each group.  Because the dwarf cory species mentioned are such a light bioload, you could add 6 at once but be careful not to overfeed.  Same with chili rasboras, you could add 5 at a time, then a week later, add 5 more.  A mystery snail has a fairly significant bioload for a 5 G, but buying small will help build up your biofiltration gradually and it would help with algae control that is nearly always an issue with new tanks.

I would put the mystery snail in first, wait a week then add the group of 6 dwarf cories.  Wait another week and add 5-6 chili rasboras.  Wait another week and if everything is still going well, add another 4-5 chili rasboras.

You certainly don’t have to take our exact recommendations, I’m using these species just as example.  If you are set on chili endlers, then decide on if you want to do mixed sexes and what your plan would be when they reproduce, since they will.  Or you can get all males so you don’t have to worry about extras appearing.  If you get mixed sexes, make sure to get more females than males so the males don’t excessively hassle the females (2 males, 3 females would be an appropriate ratio).  You’ll likely have triple that many in a month and about 6 times as many in 2 months.  It can overwhelm a 5 G in very short order, so you’ll need a grow out tank to handle the offspring before you realize it.

Keep us posted on what you decide.  We like watching a new tank developing.

[jwcarlson]

My MTS have kind of leveled off as I've fed more live and higher quality foods, but they can really reproduce quickly.  I use very little flake.  Most tanks don't have many MTS, but it's a result of management.  I, personally, would be way more concerned about the endlers.  I've not kept them, but every live bearer I have ever kept does nothing but stress me out because they overrun EVERYTHING if you're keeping them well.  The only way I would consider doing them again is if I was doing it for a specific purpose (like breeding to just check something off the list and just for one round).   Or if I had a tank of larger fish that I could feed fry to.

Agree, also, with the above about a kuhli loach.  I've had them and moved them along.  Never saw them much so didn't seem to make much sense.  

 

[TheDesktopAquarium]

Thank you, all for your suggestions, I appreciate you all for the help. I did change a few things around. Thanks to the suggestions that I received and I’m going instead of Malaysian trumpets snails, gonna go with some Ramhorn snails. And I did not know that kuhli loaches can grow to such length, very unable for 5 gallon so I might go with a smaller feeder and might pick out a small group of them.

[Lennie]

On 1/6/2024 at 9:20 PM, TheDesktopAquarium said:

Thank you, all for your suggestions, I appreciate you all for the help. I did change a few things around. Thanks to the suggestions that I received and I’m going instead of Malaysian trumpets snails, gonna go with some Ramhorn snails. And I did not know that kuhli loaches can grow to such length, very unable for 5 gallon so I might go with a smaller feeder and might pick out a small group of them.

Shrimp are an amazing cleanup crew. They will cover the job of finding all leftover food pieces and help you in this regard.

My advice would be, embrace the pest snails if you happen to get them, but otherwise don't add any intentionally if it is not a specific scenario. You add yourself an extra task to be able to control a population all the time. And in a shrimp tank, when you want to support their diet, it gets hard to control the population of pest snails. Ramshorns aint any different than MTS when it comes to population control. 

Endlers reproduce very quickly and mine almost never eat their own babies. That is something to keep in mind. In 1-2 months your tank would be easily overstocked if you keep a trio ( I assume 1m:2f). You may need another grow out tank for this purpose soon enough if you choose this path. You bred them in the past too so you should be fairly familiar to what I mean

[TheDesktopAquarium]

Within that one month. I will have a grout tank for the babies.

[Schuyler]

You should share some pictures when you get it setup!

Edited January 7 by Schuyler
"when" rather than "dune"

[TheDesktopAquarium]

  Stock update

3 male panda guppies

3 to 5 Rosie Loaches (male I’m hoping)

5 Painted fire, red cherry shrimp

and 5 blue ramshorn snails

I decided to go with all male panda guppies because I couldn’t find just male chilli endlers, I have realized that breeding in a 5 gallon is a no go, that’s why I’ve decided to only get three males. Thank you for all of your suggestions,

[macdaddy36]

On 1/8/2024 at 6:57 PM, TheDesktopAquarium said:

  Stock update

3 male panda guppies

3 to 5 Rosie Loaches (male I’m hoping)

5 Painted fire, red cherry shrimp

and 5 blue ramshorn snails

I decided to go with all male panda guppies because I couldn’t find just male chilli endlers, I have realized that breeding in a 5 gallon is a no go, that’s why I’ve decided to only get three males. Thank you for all of your suggestions,

Would love to see a picture!

Since you're only keeping males, you could get a few more males of a different color strain to have some variety. If you aren't breeding the guppies, you can mix different colors of males together.

[TheDesktopAquarium]

UPDATE! I had changed my stocking idea, and I also ordered my plants so I will be setting up the aquarium in a few days as soon as I get my plants, 

The new stocking will be

6–8 chili rasboras 

10 of either orange or red shrimp

and one nurite snail

and for the plant I’m getting from Dustin Fish tanks, dwarf sagittaria, water sprite, water wisteria, Java fern and some anubias Nana petite

I will also be buying some frog bit from my local fish store, they sell them for cheap $3+ but I’ll only be buying a bundle of two

and also check out the rimless tank I got, it even came with some foam on the bottom

[Whitecloud09]

On 2/4/2024 at 2:01 PM, TheDesktopAquarium said:

UPDATE! I had changed my stocking idea, and I also ordered my plants so I will be setting up the aquarium in a few days as soon as I get my plants, 

The new stocking will be

6–8 chili rasboras 

10 of either orange or red shrimp

and one nurite snail

and for the plant I’m getting from Dustin Fish tanks, dwarf sagittaria, water sprite, water wisteria, Java fern and some anubias Nana petite

I will also be buying some frog bit from my local fish store, they sell them for cheap $3+ but I’ll only be buying a bundle of two

and also check out the rimless tank I got, it even came with some foam on the bottom

👍 that is good!