Teeny tiny catfish-like fish?

[juliemom]

Hi,

We have a 5-gallon aquarium. For 2-1/2 years we had a dwarf gourami and a cherry barb in it, with no real problems other than bullying - the gourami didn't like company that much.

Recently, the gourami was sick for a few weeks and finally died. I wasn't able to "fix" it by improving the water quality or anything. We have well water that comes out of limestone, so the pH is pretty high. I was trying to lower the pH gradually by cycling in some bottled water - but it didn't seem to help. I'm also not sure what impact the salt that the well water's treated with may have had. Of course, the gourami seemed to do fine with the (filtered) well water for about a year before it got sick. (We moved from a city a year ago.)

Finally, my question: Are there any teeny tiny bottomfeeder type of fish, or do they all get too big for a 5-gallon aquarium? My 5-year-old is interested in a "tank cleaner" fish to go with the cherry barb.

Thanks for your thoughts.

 

[twoluvcats]

yes, an Oto (Otocinclus vittatus) would work...they stay super small, are totally non agressive, and eat algae voraciously. You will see statements that they like to be in groups, but I have kept singles in small tanks just fine.

 

[juliemom]

Thanks for the recommendation. Are they pretty easy to find in stores? We'll probably be shopping for one in Austin.

I also read about pygmy cories online someplace, but got the idea they're hard to find in stores?

Are the ottos okay in hard water?

Thanks.

 

[twoluvcats]

Are they pretty easy to find in stores?

I think so...I live in the boonies so i never really know what's commonly avaliable...but if *I* can get ahold of them...you'd think they'd be easy to find everywhere.

I also read about pygmy cories online someplace, but got the idea they're hard to find in stores?

I have a heard time getting people to even understand what I'm asking for when I ask about pygmy cories...one guy said "well, cories ARE small" ok, nevermind, thanks LOL So ya, I think these guys are hard to find.

Are the ottos okay in hard water?

Yes and no...where you can run into trouble is when your pH is drastically different than the pH of the store they are coming from...if its a big change (more than 0.2) it can kill them. There are methods to acclimate them before you put them in a tank using the water they came in and your tank water.

Otos can sometimes just up and die on you too...they are senstive to change, and are often nearly starved when you pruchase them from the store. So you might want to buy 2 incase you lose one. I always buy double of what I actually want to end up with.

HTH

 

[FroggyFox]

IF you can find pygmy cories you could fit some in your 5G...they stay very tiny. Might just have to see what you can find at a couple of different stores. I find ottos once in awhile...but I dont see them every time I visit each store. The store I got mine from hasn't had them in awhile and its probably because (like twoluvcats said) it can be hard to take care of them in the store when they're halfstarved when they arrive and then the store doesn't know how to really care for them. I originally bought two and...still have two but others have bought a ton and had half of them die... I have pretty hard water and mine have been ok...but as twoluvcats said, the differences in pH and water conditions are the hard thing for them to get through (just like any fish)

 

[revfred]

One thing that I learned with oto cats is to make sure they are well-fed if there happens to be minimal algae in the tanks. My tanks are nil to algae free so I have to supplement their feeding with algae wafers.

 

[juliemom]

Thanks for all the tips.

We'll try going to a store or two in Austin to see what's available.

So it should really be okay to get a couple of the ottos or pygmy cories to put in with the cherry barb? I've been pretty paranoid about overcrowding in the 5-gallon hex tank.

 

[ozziegt]

I have read that pygmies need to be in groups of 6 or more...they are tiny so I don't know what the stocking rules are for them.