Stocking a 20 g long! cory cats, platy...

[Tropical]

Ok, I keep changing my mind when it comes to stocking my 20 gallon long tank. I have an Aqueaon 30 filter, 200 gph, and 100 watt heater. I've pretty much considered everything, tetras, dwarf gourami, cory cats, oto's, guppies, bettas, endlers... Can you guys help me with my plans?

I want cory cats, and already have 5 platy. I do have gravel though, and am worried about cory's. How are they with gravel? I spent alot of money on the gravel, and would hate to have to change it to sand.

Also, is there any way to include guppies, neon tetras, platy, and cory's without over stocking? How would you do it?

Any thoughts? Opinions? I'm happy to take any advice.

 

[Mark Hewitt]

Have you looked at aqadvisor.com? Plus check your filters actual output, the claimed figure is often not the real figure.

As for Cories, there's gravel and there's gravel! How big are the stones, do they have sharp edges? They are fine with gravel as long as it's smallish gravel, i.e. small enough that it can be pushed aside with their barbels without it hurting them, so in practice stones around 1-2mm long.

They do prefer sand, and I think sand looks amazing, but it can be a bit of a nightmare to look after!

Your tank is about 70 litres, which is around what my old tank was. If you already have platies and want to add some cories, I'd then choose between the neon tetra and the guppies. Personally I'd go with the neons as they are completely different size to the other fish.

 

[BigJim]

Roll some gravel between your palms. If you feel lots of sharp points, it's not good for cories. They can do fine with round gravel though. Some people here have created sand boxes for their cories by burying a shallow bowl in their gravel and filling the bowl with sand.

It is possible to stock a 20L with those fish and not have any problems. I have a 20L with many of those same fish. I run an AC50 on the tank and I have lots of water sprite, anacharis, and java moss too. I've got about 10 panda cories, 50-100 guppies (started with four), tons of RCS, a handful of otos, and a single swordtail fry in the tank. My water parameters don't vary much from 0ppm ammonia, 0ppm nitrite, and 10-20ppm nitrate. I seem to have hit a magic balance in the tank between equipment, plants, and critters that allows this tank to work. I definitely don't recommend trying to recreate this scenario.

If you're prepared to deal with fry:

- 5 platies
- 2 pairs of guppies
- 5 neons
- 5 cories

If you're not prepared to deal with fry:

- 5 platies
- 5 male guppies
- 5 neons
- 5 cories

Add a few fish at a time to prevent any mini cycles.

 

[CA_BroncoFan]

Sterbi cories, i have 5 and love them.

 

[reefdiver]

IMO platies are a little more messy than any other fish you want(bio load). But you will b OK with what BigJim suggest.

 

[Tropical]

Hey guys, tahnks for the imput. Now I'm thinking of going with:

5 platy
3 same sex guppies
6 neons
4 cory cats

I'm a little nervous about overstocking still, those numbers sound lake a lot to me. Also, can I ask a stupid question? Can female platy and male guppies have fry together?

Is the sandbox for cory's effective? I can't really tell if my gravel is sharp, but it is small. This is the gravel I have (cheesey looking I know) PETCO Black Lagoon Mix Aquarium Gravel at PETCO

 

[BigJim]

I suppose it might be possible to interbreed guppies and platies, but I've never heard of it happening.

The people who have made a cory sandbox said the fish really like it. I've got sand substrate, so I haven't made a sandbox, but the cories sure like the sand better than the gravel at the LFS.

 

[Tropical]

Ok, thanks. Do you think the cory's will be ok with the gravel I have and a small sandbox? If I like the sand I might end up replacing my gravel, but it'd be nice to get a test run of it first. Do you have any recommendations when it comes to black sand, are certain types better? I'll probabily pick up something from petsmart if not.

 

[BigJim]

I think you'd be fine with the gravel by itself. The sandbox will be good for your cories too.

I recently set up a 40B using a blasting compound called Black Blast. I don't have cories in the tank, but I do have a pictus catfish and the substrate doesn't seem to bother him. It was $9 for 50lb. If you're not comfortable with that stuff, there's EcoComplete, Flourite, or Tahitian Moon Sand, but they're expensive.

 

[Shetland James]

You can't interbreed Guppies and Platies but you can with Mollies and Guppies.

 

[MartinBlank]

I just got 7 peppered cories and I am very happy with them. They are a silver-ish grey with black spots and I think they are super cool looking.

I was originally going to get 7 peppered and 7 false julii in my 75, but I think I am actually going to just get another 7 peppered!

 

[yardjass]

I wouldn't worry about the cories unless you have some sort of wierd sharp gravel. They do fine in the stuff you get at pet stores. I really have to caution against the neons though. Neon tetra disease is a royal pain and a very real problem from pet store fish and the little buggers seem to be so much weaker lately in general. Cardinal tetras are a immune to neon tetra disease and are better looking anyway. Other good bets for tetras are glowlights, serpae, black neons, lemons and pristillas. I have found them all to be pretty hearty from personal experience. My personal favorite are glowlights. They are beautiful and seem to be very tough.