New tank, debating on fish/plants...

[RTR]

Java Moss can easily be attached with thread, but that does create risks for Otocinclus catfish and other smallish suckermouth cats - I have lost small cats due their getting trapped in the thread and being killed. I no longer use thread in any tank to house such catfish.

Unless you have a significant algae coat on the glass and wood, the tank is too new to support 6 Otos. There really are best only added to mature planted tanks. Without significant green and diatom algae on the glass, plants and ornaments there will not be enough food to support them - especially that many. The small Farlowellas and the OTOs will also compete for food. I am not at all sure the tank is ready for so many specialized feeders.

To me your total stock seems quite heavy for a 45. Is the biofilter able to support that many fish in a brand new tank? That stock list is more than I would use by quite a lot.

[CaptainMorgan_SOS]

That wood that is in there was originally brown... it is completely covered in algae. I suspected the list was a little heavy too. I could probably go with 8 DPs, 1 Farlowella, 2 Kuhli Loaches and 3 ottos and be pretty happy.

Thanks for the info on the thread. I never thought of ottos getting caught in the string. Once the Java moss has attached itself to the driftwood, I will be sure to remove the thread.

[Flutter]

Kuhli loaches like to be in groups so I wouldn't go with only 2 of them. They're very social fish.

[Pufferpunk]

I'd skip the Farlowellas--way to slow for escaping pufferteeth. I'm having luck with the Kuhlis & otos.

[Flutter]

I had success with DPs and kuhlis for about 3 years before a heater broke and killed them all

[sevenyearnight]

wow! It is gorgeous!

[puffermichigan]

Hi Captain,

I have a 40 gallon freshwater tank that has 6 kuhli loaches in it, and from what I've observed they don't touch the snails that are living in that tank. Maybe others have had a different experience, but I've never seen any of them eat a snail. They are hilarious to watch in a group though, and they are definitely a gregarious species, so a big +1 to Flutter's suggestion to keep them in a group. Your tank is gorgeous, by the way! The sand substrate would be great for kuhli loaches, too.

[fugu99]

I will try attaching my Java Moss its still showing some green so its not completely dead. Would a Mono pick on the pufferfish? The only place I could find a Mono or a Rainbow in the area was Animal Jungle anyway, and I wont buy fish from there. They have no guarantee whatsoever on fish. At least at Petco I have 30 days in which I can walk back in and say either, theres something wrong with this fish, or it died and get a refund or replacement. Even Care-A-Lot has at least a 5-day guarantee, which is something. But Animal Jungle is wayyyy too pricey for me. I did see that they have a whole tankful of Figure 8s though... cute little buggers... still cant find my gobies though, darn it. Ill go to my local Petco and ask my pal from there to order some. How many bumblebee gobies can I keep in a 30 gal.?

Good luck with your tank its turning out awesome!

[RTR]

Monos are obligate schoolers and should not be kept in mid-sized tanks, or in FW. They are large-ish very fast-swimming fish, rather spooky and a bit demanding on water quality, strong current, and numbers of their own kind. They are not ever FW mixed tank fish.They will eat DPs.

[Pufferpunk]

Minimum of 300g is required for a school of adult Monos. They require SW as adults.

[CaptainMorgan_SOS]

So... I went with DPs. So the current residents of the tank are 9 DPs and 3 Ottos. Is there room enough for more DPs? Even though there is 9 I want more, I'm thinkin 12-15. Is that too much for the 45 gal? Here are some pics. Sorry for the quality but the are SO HARD to take pics of, they constantly are on the move.

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[Lil' Swimz$]

Good choice I forget, how big is your tank?

[J-P]

don't forget the male female ratio : 1 male for 3 females

You may end up culling the pack.

[CaptainMorgan_SOS]

It's a 45 gallon.

And yea, I will probably end up switching out males for females but they are just so small right now that it is impossible to sex them. They are MAYBE 1/2 inch, tops.

So when I bought them, the LFS said they were feeding them flake food. Should I continue to do the same and at the same time add in blood worms to get them to eat just the worms or should I just go straight to the blood worms? Any other foods you guys would recommend? The tank has a pretty strong current in it, which the puffs don't seem to mind, that will carry the food all over the tank instead of dropping it all in one spot. I want to try and find some live black worms but as far as I know, none of my LFSs carry them and the only way I see that I can get them online is by buying bulk, 1 lb or more for a minimum of $40.

I also have an Eclipse 5 gallon, uncycled, tank that I am trying to breed some snails in, so we will see how that goes. I have done this before but I am wondering, anything I should do, specifically, to make the snails breed more and more often? Any tricks that work? Currently there is only one large decoration, a marimo ball, white sand, and about 3 ramhorns and 5 pond snails in it. All of these snails are WAY too large to feed the tiny DPs but when they breed I will feed them the small ones.

Any help on this stuff would be greatly appreciated.

[xrayjeeper83]

Im so jealous, that driftwood is amazing, and love the layout