Stocking 20g...dwarf chiclid?

[fastfly48]

Ok, firstly I'd like to say that I'm not sure how to actually spell Chiclid! :? Hope my interpritations close-ish.

I went and did something perhaps a little drastic/spontanious on saturday and bought a dwarf chiclid (non-aggressive i was assured) for my 20g tank. He/she looked sooooo cool and the store guy said it would be fine in my tank so i went for it...

My stock list at the moment is...
= 7 neon tetras (they look super cool!)
= 1 giant/ leopard danio. Looks like a trout...but he/she doesn't look like any of the other danios in the store... :? definetly a danio though...
= 1 cory catfish
= 2 brislenose plecos...though plan on reducing that to one now.
= 1 dwarf chiclid.

The dwarf chiclid is REALLY shy. I have a rocks in the tank, and a rock cave so I though that would make him happy...but he's hanging around the back of the tank...not ever swimming in clear water spaces.
Any ideas?
My tank is well planted but he's not up-rooting anything...and i don't think he will.

My tank still seems empty...with the neons really being the only notacible additions. The plecos, cat fish, danio and chiclid all hide for most of the time.
Maybe i need another small school? But is there space!?
There seems to be HEAPS of space in the tank, so I don't understand why I'm being told that I'm nearing a full tank. With calculations I figured I had room for another small school...

anyways...It'd be SUPER if you could help me out a little on this one guys.
Cheers.
Ryland.

 

[fastfly48]

Oh, by the way...
My water stats are:
Ammonia...0ppm
Nitrite...0ppm
Nitrate...10ppm
Ph...7ish

 

[Jchillin]

Cichlid (sik-lid).

Please describe him, perhaps we can ID him. For the most part, cichlids are always shy when first introduced. Give him some time. The other thing is dwarf cichlids aren't the best fish to keep alone...you can get him/her a partner...you have enough room.

Without knowing whether your danio is a danio or not, your stocking question may or may not be rendered moot.

 

[fastfly48]

Thanks JChillin! Your a champ!
I'm glad to hear that you think I have room for another fish!
I was thinknig of giving one of my plecos away, in hope to make more "room" for other fish...

I'm quite sure he is the same fish that's in the fresh water stocking article.
Second page, second picture down with the blue substrate, by himself....
I believe thoses where your photos? Very pretty fish hey!

Hmmm...I shall have to keep trying to ID my alleged danio. He was sold to me as a danio but I haven't seen any in the store with his colour scheme since...He swims like a danio...
If my danio turns out to be a danio (probably quite likely) what would be your answer to my stocking question/s?
Cheers!
Thanks a lot!
Ryland.

 

[fastfly48]

oh by the way...I do know how to pronounce it (sik-lid), just the spelling thats got a little wonky!

 

[Jchillin]

I'm quite sure he is the same fish that's in the fresh water stocking article.
Second page, second picture down with the blue substrate, by himself....
I believe thoses where your photos? Very pretty fish hey!

If it is indeed that pretty fish in that particular pic, that is a German Blue Ram. And yes, it is my pic.

Thanks for the compliment...I think coolchinchilla's article is really great and kudos to you for having read it.

 

[honmol]

Well, cories are schooling fish. Just having one isn't the best. Add more and your cory should be more active.

 

[honmol]

and although to some people tanks look empty, they're really full. People want a clown fish to only need 1 gallon, but if a clownfish was in its natural habitat it would have so much more than you could ever provide. I have a betta alone ina 10 gallon but she uses all of the swimming space and really makes the tank seem full to me.

 

[fastfly48]

Well, cories are schooling fish. Just having one isn't the best. Add more and your cory should be more active.

Even more active! I find that hard to believe!
I'm a little hesitant in adding more corys because of my limited tank space. I just measure my exact tank size...it is:
76cm long (30 inches), 30cm wide (1 foot, 12 inches) and 35cm deep/high/ up and down.
So that gives me 360 square inches of surface area right?
...and isn't it one, 1 inch fish per square inch of surface water area? But 360 one inch fish in my tank seems wring... :?
Just rying to figyre out how many more fish I can have...
Thanks for keeping me in-line (ish!)
Cheers.
Ryland

 

[Heiko]

I thought it was 1 inch of fish per gallon. And im pretty shure 360" of fish in a 20g wouldnt be a ver gd idea, lol. :?

Seems you have a nice setup there. keep up the goodwork, and remember, with fish, sometimes less is more. If u get what i mean.

Im no xpert but id go for another ram. Cool little guys dont like beein lonely tho.

 

[rubysoho]

I think you can add a few more cories withouth having to worry too much about going over your tank's capacity. Just make sure to vacuum the gravel and watch your perameters. Cories produce very little waste and stick mainly to the bottom where other fish don't go very often so I think it will be ok.

either that or return the lone cory and add another dwarf cichlid of the same species.

 

[bosk1]

...and isn't it one, 1 inch fish per square inch of surface water area?

No. One inch per gallon. And as the article says, you need to consider the adult size of the fish, not just their present size. So it looks like you are close to your limit, but still have a bit more room. However, as that and other good articles on the subject also point out, there are other variables to consider. 8 1-inch neons, for example, will not consume as much food nor produce nearly as much waste as 1 8 inch oscar, for example. Since you have small fish with smaller masses that produce relatively little waste, you can probably more easily get away with stretching the inch/gallon rule a little bit without overly taxing your bioload, especially if you have good filtration and keep up on the pwc's. Coming from me, take this with a grain of salt since I've been out of the hobby for about 20 years and am just getting back in. But I think others on the forum will likely agree.

 

[honmol]

I do agree. You can't just get 1 cory. It's like just getting 1 tetra. Get more cories. The more the merrier. I think that getting more cories should be your first priority. You need to meet the needs of your current fish before adding new ones. But that's just my humble opinion.

 

[fastfly48]

Thanks guys!
doh! Per GALLON. I knew I must have stuffed up somewhere! :? Silly me.

I think I'll add another cory and give one of my two plecos to my friend.
I'm hoping of getting a SMALL (4 or 5) school of harlequin (spelt wrong I'm sure...)fish. So that will give me two schools (neons and harlequin) some bottom dwellers (2 corys and a pleco), one lonley danio and my random dwarf blue ram!

Um...do dwarf chiclid blue rams up-root plants? I'm guessing so. One one my plants was floating this morning... Am I in for trouble?

Thanks for all the help guys!
Cheers.
Ry.

 

[fastfly48]

ok.
My blue ram still isn't eating. I'm getting a little worried. I drop some food right by him this morning, he looked at it sucked it in then spat it out. It's been almost a week now and I haven't seen him eat anything at all. :?

I'm also really starting to like the idea of having another small school and one more cory, and giving away one of my plecos. I fI did that I'd have, let me count, 7 neons, 3 or 4 harlequin, 2 cory, pleco, blue ram and a loner danio.
Hope it could/would work!?

ok, So I guess I'll just keep hanging out for some replys then...
Thanks in advance.
Ryland

 

[fastfly48]

Well, I thought I'd make it 3 posts in a row...
Just want to make sure this stocking idea is relatively ok-ish.
The guys at the store will sell me as many fish as they can so I just want a little bit of assurance.

I worked it out that I'd have around about-ish 21-24 inches of fish with my plan.
I figure that with weekly water changes, the right balance of fish, food, light and plants that this would be pretty ok.
Though I just wanted to check.
Sorry for bugging but it would be nice to hear what you guys think of this.

thank you.
Ryland.

 

[zenkatydid]

i'd go for more cories, personally, rather than another school. they'll more than make up for the activity in the tank when they're happier and more confident swimming around.