My new 20 gal STOCK: Opinions welcome

[kaiofcanada]

Hi all!

My tank is cycling, but I am planning ahead for a lovely planted tank. I thought I would get peoples suggestions for the composition

I would like to have one larger fish with other small guys and a set of schoolers. Some top middle and bottom dwellers. Tank will be heavily planted in black gravel with driftwood with a temp between 80-85 depending on the final stock.

So I am thinking of stocking it with the following:
(Many of these fish are either or...)

1 Veiltail Angelfish
1 Opaline Gourami
4 Otocinclus
3 Rainbow Blue Platy

either/ors (4-6):
Blue Tetra
Diamond Tetra
Cloud Fin Mountain
Royal Black Emperor Tetra

and eventually maybe:
1 Panda or Skunk Cory
1 dwarf pleco (bristlenose, clown, or albino bristlenose)

Opinions and other suggestions welcome. I would like to have some more colour, but it seems that all the tetras I am interested in with colour are also a bit nippy. I also want to avoid fish that eat plants.

 

[Crepe]

Not sure if I would trust a gourami and an angelfish living together in something as small as a 20g. It's worth a try, but be prepared to take one back.

 

[kaiofcanada]

oh yea...that would be one of those either or...I only want one bigger fish. But I would be getting nickle size angel to begin with and let them grow up in my tank.

In the past I rescued a blue gourami who was in the tank with three juvenile angels and they didn't seem to even notice each other. It is all disposition really. I hope I get lucky with a good natured gourami or angel this time too.

 

[kaiofcanada]

Does anyone have an opinion on the choice of tetras?

 

[Crepe]

What are your favorite colors? Tetras will come in them. My only suggesdstion would be to buy 2-3 extra as you will probably have some fatalities.

 

[mommytron]

an angel will get too large for a 20g IMO. i would go with 6+ tetras as they are schooling fish. if you decide on cories you should get at least 4 or 5 of them as they are shoaling fish and feel more comfortable in groups. that being said i suggest 1 gourami (depending on size, not sure on the opalines) 8-12 blue tetras (my preference out of the list you provided) and one pleco of your choice (the albino BN's are very cool, i myself have pitbull pleco who i LOVE but he is lonely without buddies, so if you go pitbull you will want to have 2 or 3)

 

[kaiofcanada]

an angel will get too large for a 20g IMO. i would go with 6+ tetras as they are schooling fish. if you decide on cories you should get at least 4 or 5 of them as they are shoaling fish and feel more comfortable in groups. that being said i suggest 1 gourami (depending on size, not sure on the opalines) 8-12 blue tetras (my preference out of the list you provided) and one pleco of your choice (the albino BN's are very cool, i myself have pitbull pleco who i LOVE but he is lonely without buddies, so if you go pitbull you will want to have 2 or 3)

Yes, angels will eventually get too big. Hopefully, I will have a bigger tank by then, a 40gal at least,...if I get an angel. Opaline can get up to 5 inches from what I have read. I really like their colouration.

As far as tetras, I have no experience in keeping any as I have always had bad experiences with fin nipping for my angels. The same concerns are true for the gourami. It is suggested to keep them with non-nippers for the sake of their feelers. Can you recommend any non-nipping tetras? I can't find and info about nipping for the blue or emperor, although the diamond are not supposed to be nippers.

I had not considered getting that many cories...maybe I should reconsider that one as I might be overstocked with that many. Good tip, thanks.

As for the pleco, I will look up the bulldog. Sounds cute.

 

[kaiofcanada]

Also, if not cories...what other bottom feeders would do well with around 3 or less buddies?

Thanks for the help. I bumped your rep

 

[mommytron]

well bulldog plecos are cute too, but a bit different and a little bigger than the pitbull pleco (which is what i have, only about 2 inches, a bulldog pleco gets a bout 4" i believe)

for your final stock, i would suggest one of these combos:

these are based on my preferences of course. i used aqadvisor.com, which is to be taken as loose guidelines anyway, but all are within your stocking capacity. and actually, i used a 20g high tank (which is the size i have) but a 20 gallon long would allow you a bit more room for stocking, as it is a bigger footprint, which means more back and forth and floor space. the opaline gourami you mentioned will get too large for your tank, as well a the angel, so you could put one in the tank, but it would need to be moved to a larger tank as it grows. so before considering one of the two, you need to be positive you can upgrade tanks or be able to part with a fish.

i like the last option the best, but again, it's my personal preference. ember tetras are gorgeous and would look so cool with a honey gourami. for the third option, you could go with a Powder Blue dwarf gourami which would look very cool with the Blue Emperor tetras.

oh, and i wanted to point out that cories are not actually bottom feeders. they are however bottom dwellers, although they have been known to roam the entire tank.

 

[kaiofcanada]

Thanks for the suggestions.

I will be getting a 40 gal soon. From either a friend or as a result of trolling craigslist. Gotta love getting a good deal! I just have to get settled into the new apartment first.

Thanks for the tips on aqadvisor . Never used it before.

 

[kaiofcanada]

an angel will get too large for a 20g IMO. i would go with 6+ tetras as they are schooling fish. if you decide on cories you should get at least 4 or 5 of them as they are shoaling fish and feel more comfortable in groups. that being said i suggest 1 gourami (depending on size, not sure on the opalines) 8-12 blue tetras (my preference out of the list you provided) and one pleco of your choice (the albino BN's are very cool, i myself have pitbull pleco who i LOVE but he is lonely without buddies, so if you go pitbull you will want to have 2 or 3)

I just had a chance to look at your webpage for your tank. I LOVEEEEEE your little pitbull. I want one sooooo bad now!!! Where on earth did you find him. I have not ever seen on at any of my LFS.

 

[maxima423]

if you have a 20g long than i dont recommend an angelfish, but if you have a 20g HIGH or a X-HIGH, you can for sure do 1 or 2 angels, but thats just me

 

[mommytron]

I just had a chance to look at your webpage for your tank. I LOVEEEEEE your little pitbull. I want one sooooo bad now!!! Where on earth did you find him. I have not ever seen on at any of my LFS.

thank you i love him, too. my husband was looking online for a bottom dweller for our tank, and found pitbull plecos. as soon as i looked at pictures i loved them too. so we called up our LFS and asked if they had any. a few days later they called and said they got some in but only had one left! so we told them to hold him for us and call if they got any more in... they have yet to get more in i guess they are hard to come by... we totally lucked out with the first one! but everywhere i have read, they prefer to be in groups. so our plan is to eventually find him 2 more buddies. for now he's a loner. he hides a fair bit but seems pretty happy. he goes nuts after a water change! he zooms all around the tank, up to the surface and back down. he's incredibly fast. you'll be looking at him on the ground, then the next second you see a cloud of sand come up and he's gone! he's a great fish.

just give your LFS a call and see if they have any or can order any for you. most are willing to give it a shot.

 

[kaiofcanada]

if you have a 20g long than i dont recommend an angelfish, but if you have a 20g HIGH or a X-HIGH, you can for sure do 1 or 2 angels, but thats just me

Yea...I have a 20g high that I have had juvenile angels in before. Once they get bigger, they have to be moved. I loved my angels, but not sure what I want in this tank this go round. I love angels, but am considering trying out a new setup.

I recently fell in love with the idea of a schooling tank, there are just so many awesome fish

 

[CA_BroncoFan]

I would advise against a pleco if you dont plan on moving him later because a pleco is way to big in a 20 long, i would suggest getting some oto's (5-6) because theyre a lot smaller and can make good work on the algae. This being said i would wait a while before adding them for a few reasons.....they need algae to eat and your new tank wont have it and they like established conditions (ie..not a newly cycled unstable tank)

 

[mommytron]

I would advise against a pleco if you dont plan on moving him later because a pleco is way to big in a 20 long, i would suggest getting some oto's (5-6) because theyre a lot smaller and can make good work on the algae. This being said i would wait a while before adding them for a few reasons.....they need algae to eat and your new tank wont have it and they like established conditions (ie..not a newly cycled unstable tank)

the pitbull pleco she mentioned only gets to be 2.5" big. i have one in my 20gallon tank and plan on adding 1 or two more. they do add a lot to the bioload compared to other 2.5" fish but with adequate filtration and water changes, a 20g tank is plenty room for a couple of pitbull plecos.

and yes, i would wait until there have been fish in the tank for at the very least a couple of weeks. if there doesn't seem to be enough food for him you can supplement with algae wafers and blanched vegetables like zucchini.

 

[mellowyellow]

Hey. We chatted last week about stocking. I went to my LFS and picked up four very pretty fancy guppies and a pearl gourami. They're all pretty and I think the gourami is beautiful. However, wednesday we lost our air conditioning and the tanks were overheating. I floated ice in plastic bags but the fish in both the SW and FW tanks were struggling. I'm down to two guppies now in FW tank but so far the gourami seems OK. I sure hope so. All pets in the SW tank look good so far. I'll know in a few days if they're OK. Just thought I'd touch base with you.

 

[maxima423]

this is a weird way of thinking but i think a BN pleco would do great in a 20g tank, yes they do get to be around 5inches but mainly because plecos dont go around swimming that often, my BN pleco just tends to stay in his DW, so thats my way of seeing a pleco

but i would never put a common in though ^_^ they get way tooo big for me

 

[kaiofcanada]

the pitbull pleco she mentioned only gets to be 2.5" big. i have one in my 20gallon tank and plan on adding 1 or two more. they do add a lot to the bioload compared to other 2.5" fish but with adequate filtration and water changes, a 20g tank is plenty room for a couple of pitbull plecos.

and yes, i would wait until there have been fish in the tank for at the very least a couple of weeks. if there doesn't seem to be enough food for him you can supplement with algae wafers and blanched vegetables like zucchini.

I ordered my pitbull I am not sure when he will come in...but he is gonna be mine all mine

The tank is rockin' now. I always supplement my fishies diet with fresh veggies. algae wafers, seaweed, live and frozen food as well as flake food. You should see the yummy selection. And there is always algae growing, even though I can't see it, since I have 3.5 wpg.

I will let you know when my new guy comes in we can compare cutenesses

 

[kaiofcanada]

Hey. We chatted last week about stocking. I went to my LFS and picked up four very pretty fancy guppies and a pearl gourami. They're all pretty and I think the gourami is beautiful. However, wednesday we lost our air conditioning and the tanks were overheating. I floated ice in plastic bags but the fish in both the SW and FW tanks were struggling. I'm down to two guppies now in FW tank but so far the gourami seems OK. I sure hope so. All pets in the SW tank look good so far. I'll know in a few days if they're OK. Just thought I'd touch base with you.

That sucks about the heat and I am really sorry to hear about your losses. It has been really hot here in Chicago as well. My apartment can get up to 85-90 without the AC on. So far, I can just put a fan near the tank while I am away and the temp has been stable around 85, which isn't too bad. I am lucky I set the tanks up in cooler parts of the apartment with no direct light.

Summer is coming to an end. I hope you get some cooler weather. Try the fan trick over the top of the tank. The water will evaporate faster, but it seems to keep the circulating water cooler.