WCMM And Amano

Finally reached the stage where the other half has relented to the extent that I could keep some cool water fish and has even (and I whisper this very carefully in case he hears and changes his mind!!) said that I could think about a slightly bigger tank later  if I'm prepared to stick to temperate fish.

I think that otocinclus would be OK temperature wise and water hardness, although it wouldn't be until the bigger tank materialises.

However, I seem to be getting conflicting advice online about the temperatures that Amanos can be kept in.

Could they take the cooler waters of the WCMM. Could red cherry shrimp. (around 18-20c)

By the time any of this happens, the tank will be getting on for three months old and will hopefully still be fully cycled as I am feeding it regularly.

All comments appreciated. Thanks

Ah. I was going by the community creator on here which says 30cm and I could (theoretically) have  5 in the tank. I've spent ages going through all the computations too to see what could go with them.  Bit daft if the site isn't accurate.

The other half is not keen on the idea of just shrimp so unless I get fish in this tank the bigger tank isn't going to materialise.

I know how he thinks, I should do after all these years, and I'm sure once he sees fish in the little tank he is going to say it's too small.
Years ago we had a couple of budgies in a cage. He put up with it for a little while and then built them a huge garden aviary with inside accommodation.

I did see the gold Sue and I think there is a pink variation too.
I contacted MA to ask about the remaining Endlers thinking that having been treated they would be safe to buy but they said that they only had a few survive and they have been sold so hence looking for something else that would fit the tank.
I couldn't go mad with masses of fish in any case since spacewise the biggest I could fit anywhere would be the 60x30x30 at I think 54litres but it opens up a wider range of fish.

I'll see how I feel when we get back from out holiday. Got time to think about it. The tank is still being "fed" and is disposing of the additional ammonia nicely, as is my little tank.
I was surprised at how quickly it took off as it only has a little home made sponge filter in it. I keep the sponges for it in the main tank so I just shoved them in and put it in the little tank.

If you mean will they swim together as a group, very few fish actually do that. Shoaling means living in large numbers and schooling means swimming together. A few species school all the time; the majority of shoaling fish only school if they feel threatened. Once they settle into a tank, unless there is something in there to frighten them they won't swim together.

But all the different colours of the same species will regard each other as members of the shoal and will behave accordingly. With white clouds, the different colours have come about by selective breeding. As far as the fish themselves are concerned they are all the same.

Hi all, i have WCMM i have the gold and long finned, not sure what sex they are apart from the long finned males who display regularly and are quite beautiful fish when you look at them closely. They dont swim together that much but they are lovely sociable fish, and when you have your hand in the tank for what ever reason they are always up close and personal lol. My tank is 60cm wide but quite a deep one, and i have them at 22c with my Platy and endlers, all seem well and happy (fingers crossed).

20 deg sounds fine for the fish.
Do you plan using a heater set to that temp or will the room stay above that temp in the middle of the coldest winter nights?

Petshrimp says amanos' range is 70 to 78 deg F, that's 21 to 25 deg C, so maybe a bit cold for them. And red cherry 70 to 80F, ie 21 to 26.5C. A bit on the cold side for them too.

Seriously Fish reckons salt & pepper cories (Corydoras habrosus) can go down to 20 so they would be OK - if you can find any. I gave up and got pygmies instead which need it slightly warmer than 20. If you can source them, hastatus cories will be OK at 20C.

There is a loach that is new to the hobby which would be fine too. I have seen rosy loaches at Maidenhead Aquatics.




Can I ask what your husband has against tropical? The only difference is that you need a heater for them. But you also need a heater for temperate if the room they are in gets cold overnight in winter, though admittedly it won't be on most of the time.

I have a tank set at 20^o. Apart from the WCMM and Zebras, two other smallish fish that are doing very well in it are Odessa and Checkered barbs. Neither will grow bigger than 5 cms and (like most barbs) they are extremely robust fish, rarely suffering from any health problems. WCMM and Zebras mainly feed from the surface, but barbs will take food from the bottom, they are also very greedy and so there is no chance of any food remaining on the bottom and polluting the water. I reckon these would be a better bet than the little Corydoras. I have Salt and Pepper cories, they are quite endearing but they really are small and well camouflaged, I sometimes struggle to find them even though they are only in a 60 cms tank.

I wouldn't worry about water consumption. You shouldn't really need to change more than 10 litres a week (I'd change less) and considering a typical washing machine uses 45 litres per wash, a single washing machine wash is equivalent to about a month's fish tank use. Even a very quick shower with an efficient shower will use about 35 litres, a typical shower might use 60 litres, i.e. a whole fish tank full. Unless you have a very large tank or a number of smaller ones, fish tank water use will be negligible compared to general household use.

Setting the thermostat to 19 - 20 will be a considerable saving over higher temps, during summer the heater will hardly be on at all even in an unheated room.. If you go away, it would be a good idea to get a cheap time switch so that the lights go on for a period daily. In fact a time switch is a good economy measure anyway, set it to come on when you will most likely be around to see your fish.

Odessa barbs are stunning fish, definitely on my future shopping list, though I think they may require a larger tank than yours. Cherry Barbs are smaller and may be more suitable.

Have you seen the long fin WCMM? They're a bit more expensive than standard WCMM, but they really are attractive fish.

Also... can't remember your exact water parameters, but if you fancy something a bit more colourful and you have hard water, then variatus platy could be a colourful addition. If on the other hand you have soft water, Buenos Aires Tetra can cope with temperatures as low as 16 degrees celcius, though seriously fish say they should have a larger aquarium than yours. Glowlight danios can also cope with the lower temps and a wide range of water parameters... just some suggestions!

"Cherry Barbs are smaller and may be more suitable. "
The proposed temperature is much too low for Cherry barbs.

Buenos Aires tetras need a bigger tank and also eat plants.