Bottom Dwellers and Tetra's

Feelslikefar

Have 6 Serpae Tetras in a 10 Gallon FW tank and was wondering about "Bottom Dwellers" ?

Not sure what is classified as a bottom dweller.

The Tetras's run in a pack, and just wanted to add something to break the tank layout a bit.

Also, do not want to add to the bio-load too much, so ideas on what would work alone or as a pair...

Thanks in advance.

No live plants, yet.

Tank PH = 7.41
Hardness = 210
Alkalinity = 108
TDS = 528
Phosphates = 2.05 mg/l
Ammonia = 0.003
Nitrites = 0.005
Nitrates = 18.23

Tyyrlym

I'm curious, how did you get those water parameter numbers?

Feelslikefar

I work in a water treatment lab, so have access to some pretty nice equipment.

Most are run on a Spectrophotometer or a Colorimeter.

Have a API master kit, but have a hard time with some of the colors.

Ammonia and Nitrite readings will always show some numbers.

Now that I'm watching my weight more, gives me something to do on my lunch hour...

Tyyrlym

Nice.

The bad news is that your tank is too small for some of the more conventional bottom dwellers. There's just not enough real-estate on the bottom to accommodate a group of conventional cories. You could probably pick up some pygmy cories, a small school of four to six but I wouldn't recommend anything more. 6 Serpaes and 6 pygmy cories would have that tank about full in my opinion.

Lupin

I'd rather have a group of show quality male guppies with snails than tetras and cories.

kamazza

Id say a cory or two would be okay, maybe stick with the smaller species, panda cories are cute!

fishyinpa

ya panda cories are the best lol!

Tyyrlym

I'd avoid them regardless. Corys do better in schools and one or two fish isn't a school. Even pandas can get up to 2" long. A standard 10 gallon is 20 by 10 inches. With 5 to 6 full grown pandas that's a fairly crowded bottom. Toss in the fact that they've got a half dozen serpaes already in the tank and you're getting overstocked at that point.

Pygmys would be the only corys I'd put in a 10 gallon.

1077

tophat665

You'll get so much more out of your tetras and cories if you bumped up to a 29 gallon tank. Go for about a dozen serpaes and 5 cories (Pandas are nice, Sterbas too, I find that Aeneus cories are a little less shy). Toss in 3 otos or an albino Bristlenose, plant with Amazon swords, and tuck some driftwood in there if you have a Bristlenose and a couple of caves for the cories.

If you have to stick with the 10, you'd be better off skipping the cories entirely and putting in about 4 kuhli loaches. Pygmy cories (and the similarly sized C. habrosus and C. hastatus) really do best in schools o 10 or more.