What??? This doesn't even make sense! Anyone care to clear up some confusion?

Question

Hi! I reeeally need to clear up some confusion!
Some are informing me that it is okay to keep 4 or 5 small Cories in a 10 gallon tank with 6-8 Guppies!

I, personally, think that's too much.

But, other people are informing me that I can't even keep 2 little Otos with 6 Guppies?


SO, would someone please tell me what is actually OK? I'd like to have 4-6 Guppies (All male) with 2-3 small Cories such as Bandit or Blackfin.

Thanks for the help, I am soooo confused and frustrated because whenever I ask a question I get completely different contradicting answers.

Answer 1

Hi. :)



2-3 cories cannot be kept together, and cannot be kept in a ten gallon tank. Cories need groups of 5-6 in a 29 gallon tank. Though if you get pygmy cories, you can keep the 5-6 you need in ten gallons.



2 Oto's shouldn't go in a 10 gallon tank. So no otos. They take up swimming space from guppies, because they're all over the tank a lot. Corys are good because they only swim on the very bottom.



You can keep 6-8 guppies in a 10 gallon tank. Whoever told you you couldn't is crazy. :)



Recommended- 6-8 guppies with 5-6 PYGMY cories.



edit~ Julii cats can also be kept as a school of 4-6 in a ten gallon. All cories need schools. :)

Answer 2

You'll get varied answers. Cory cats do best in a group, this most of the species cannot go in a 10 gallon because the group will overstock the tank. Pygmy cories are OK, so "yes" answers to the cory cat and guppy question may just be accounting for dwarf cory cats, not the larger species.



Pygmy cory cats stay only about 1 inch and are fine in a 10 gallon tank. Most other cory cats get 2 inches or larger, like the ones you reference. They do best in a group and would not do well in your tank. Keeping a small group of pygmy cory cats with a small group of guppies is OK in a 10 gallon, but not ok on the large breeds of cory cats. The footprint of the tank is not large enough to handle a small shoal.



Having 4-6 all male guppies will most likely result in aggression. You are best keeping 1 male to 2-3 females.



Oto cats need a lot of algae. Two with 6 guppies should be fine but you may need to get algae wafers and other supplements for th oto cats when they are older and there is less algae. Two otos are a good number, three is better as they are social fish. The "no" answers are considering the algae/food source factor. Many people also mistake these fish for schooling fish and say you need 6 of them, but 3 is a great number, and 2 is OK just you will see less of them.



Pygmy Cory cats:

https://www.azgardens.com/p-825-corydoras-dwarf-cory-cat.aspx

(if you order from the guys above, be sure to quarantine as I did order once and tow of the fish had severe flexobacter infections - best to find elsewhere if you can)

Answer 3

Amanada



6 Guppies and 3 small corys will work fine



BUT



You will need to filter the tank properly

Ensure that there is a lot of surface water movement for oxygen exchange - this means the water at the top of the tank needs to be broken up and not smooth - a silly thing opening a plastic crocodiles mouth does nothing

test the water regularly for ammonia and nitrites

do water changes religiously

and clean the substrate



If you keep Mbuna from lake malawi or tropheus from Lake tanganyika you really pack the fish in to a tank - I keep 50 adult 5-6" tropheus in a 6 foot tank - that is probably 3 times the stocking level you will see on stocking calculators but that is the method for keeping those particular species. To do that, you use a lot of filtration and a lot of water movement On a 700 Ltr tank I have filtration for 2000 litres and two circulation pumps



The reason why you get all sorts of answers on here is that most of the people replying are simply guessing and don't have the knowledge or experience to give a sensible answer

Answer 4

I am not sure why someone said you can't keep otto's with guppies...maybe they know something I don't. I think it would be fine.



4-5 cory's in a small 10 gallon tank is too many, especially if you put a group of 4-6 guppies in with them. 1 or 2 cories and maybe 4 guppies would probably be better or you could get a better tank in the 20-30 gallon range.



I know a lot of people who just plain frown on any fish in a 10 gallon tank, as I do. You would be better off with a few guppies in that tank and that is about it. I am thinking of the fish and their needs not your need to have fish. Consider them...they live in nature in larger bodies of water and 10 gallons just doesn't cut it for any fish in my opinion.



Sorry but good luck.

Answer 5

you could get small cory breeds, like cory pandas or julii or sterbai, or albinos.



dont rely on what people on here tell you; a lot of em chat bollocks or dont quite know what they're saying. better to research on google first + try to cross reference any information you come across with info from another website.



you could have like, 6 guppies + 4 cory pandas.



edit: yep, all cory cats need to be in shoals of at least 4

edit: little bitty must be thinking of MASSIVE freaking cory cats for a 29 gal tank; the ones im talking about are the smaller breeds who can EASILY fit into a 10gal tank and dont grow more tahn 1-1.5inches.

Answer 6

The cories you want; you cannot get.

Blackfin's need 15G, and Bandit's need 20G.



Oto's need 5G (Dwarf Oto's , which are commonly found in pet stores)



http://www.theaquariumwiki.com/Otocinclus_macrospilus



You can get 1:4 M:F DWARF OTO'S & 4-7 Guppies (all male)

Answer 7

Things to keep in mind is how much waste each fish produces, this is where searching online for yourself can help alot. Try using this:

http://aqadvisor.com/

It will let you fiddle with the maximum fish fairly well. Not all fish are the same size, not all breeds produce the same waste. I hope this helps.