Beginner Stocking Help, 20L Tank

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Carniequeue

Aquarium Advice Newbie
Joined
Oct 27, 2016
Messages
4
Location
Las Cruces, NM
Hey, after a while of doing research I just got my first tank set up and have started the process of doing a fishless cycle. It's a 20gallon long tank. Looking for some help with what I'm going to stock it with. I've been thinking something along the lines of:

6xCherry Barbs
5xAlbino Corys
1 larger fish, maybe a Molly? I really like the look of gold dust mollies though I've seen conflicting info on if they are freshwater or salt water.

I also really like the look of kuhli loaches, though not sure if they do well with gravel substrate. These fish seem to be fairly compatible together. Another concern is I do have fairly high pH water in my area. About 8.4. is that a major concern or are fish fairly adaptable? I'm also open to suggestions at other types of fish than the initial plan. Any advice or suggestions would be appreciated.
 
The Cherry barbs and albino corys sound great. In fact, I'd suggest 1-2 more of each. For a larger fish, maybe a dwarf gourami? If you get kuhlis, bear in mind that you often won't see them, as they hide a lot.

I'll leave the PH question to someone else, as I'm no water chemistry expert.
 
If I were you I'd go with a sand substrate. Get play sand, like $3-5 for 50 lbs. Or pool filter sand (PFS) Fish would really appreciate it and it's easier to clean. If you get cory's or kuhli's go with sand, it's easier on their barbels. And I'd choose kuhli's over cory's any day, you can have 5-6 kuhli's and they are far more playful and more interesting.
 
I agree with the sand suggestion, although I've read that play sand can get hard.

You could always do something to lower pH, like add driftwood. Remember that pH is logarithmic, so the difference between 8.2 and 8.4 is a lot more than the difference between 7.2 and 7.4. If you're open to chemicals, plenty of companies msg make pH regulators. I used Seachem Neutral Regulator for a while because my pH would climb drastically between water changes.

I did a quick Google search on fish that like high pH and found this list someone else put together: http://www.tropicalfishkeeping.com/...sh/basic-alkaline-freshwater-fish-list-47853/
 
Thanks for the advice guys! That list is super helpful, and a couple of the fish I were considering seem to be okay with high pH. That's good to know. I've added a driftwood piece in the tank, which did drop it a small amount. Looks really nice too! The pH has been consistently 8.2 which looks like the high end of normal. I looked at gourami and they are beautiful fish- aren't they pretty aggressive though?
 
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