20 Gallon stocking- Over stocked?

[Sarah E]

I have a 20 Gallon tall freshwater tank that's heavily planted, with good hiding places. What I have so far in my tank.

6 Ghost shrimp all just under 1 inch.
4 Coryadoras Catfish
10 Feeder Guppies (These are my breeders, and the number may vary from when i move to the nursery and when i feed off.)
1 Female and 1 Male Mystery snail who have mated and are hopefully expecting babies.
1 Male Betta and 2 Female Betta
1 Dwarf Puffer fish that's in quarantine.
I also might be adding my 2 Siamese Algae Eaters to the tank.

How close am I to over stocking? I'm doing water changes 1 time a week at 10% quantities. Are there any other small, colorful fish I could add to this tank if it is not over stocked?

Thanks!

 

[Mumma.of.two]

I wouldn't be adding any more fish. IMO your asking for trouble with the 3 bettas in the tank and a dwarf puffer.

 

[Sarah E]

Do Bettas and Puffers not get along?

 

[Mumma.of.two]

Do Bettas and Puffers not get along?

I'm pretty sure most (except for a select few) puffers are not good community fish and 3 bettas in a tank together isn't a good idea. Especially in a 20g. They are all loners/territorial fish.

 

[Sarah E]

Oh I see... i know with the Bettas, you can not have 2 males in the same tank, but 1 male and two females i thought should be fine, because you can keep a few female bettas with each other, as long as they are in a good size tank... I know with the male + two females, when they breed I"ll have to keep an eye on the females because the Male will kill them... hmm.....

 

[Mumma.of.two]

Oh I see... i know with the Bettas, you can not have 2 males in the same tank, but 1 male and two females i thought should be fine, because you can keep a few female bettas with each other, as long as they are in a good size tank... I know with the male + two females, when they breed I"ll have to keep an eye on the females because the Male will kill them... hmm.....

I think you might be thinking of gouramis maybe. Some of them can be kept in trios. IMO the puffer needs it's own tank. If the bettas are working now you could leave them. Just keep a very close eye on them and have a back up plan. One day one of them could snap and attack the others.

 

[Sarah E]

Right now, my two female bettas, plus 2 other cories, my 2 SAEs are in quarantine and will be for 2 more weeks.... I was planning on getting the puffer fish tomorrow... well, I'd rather keep my Bettas safe and not get a puffer (Or get one later on) instead of getting a puffer and having it tear my fish to pieces!

If I did not get the puffer.... what are a few other smaller community fish I could get to put in my 20 gallon, so that I can add a little more color and activity, without overstocking. Some kind of fish that will get along with the Bettas, Corys, Shrimp and Feeders... not to mention snails.

 

[Mumma.of.two]

Right now, my two female bettas, plus 2 other cories, my 2 SAEs are in quarantine and will be for 2 more weeks.... I was planning on getting the puffer fish tomorrow... well, I'd rather keep my Bettas safe and not get a puffer (Or get one later on) instead of getting a puffer and having it tear my fish to pieces!

If I did not get the puffer.... what are a few other smaller community fish I could get to put in my 20 gallon, so that I can add a little more color and activity, without overstocking. Some kind of fish that will get along with the Bettas, Corys, Shrimp and Feeders... not to mention snails.

Ok just to clarify you have:
2 female bettas
2 SAE
6 cories
1 male betta
6 Shrimp
20ish feeder guppies
2 mystery snails
What kind of cories? I wouldn't add any more fish. If you removed the feeders you could get a school of some tetras (non nippy ones because of the bettas). I wouldn't add anything like fancy guppies or anything with longer flowing fins/tails. There is going to be alot going on in there with 3 bettas. Make sure you have plenty of hiding spots and keep an eye out for stress.

 

[Sarah E]

I Have:
2 female Bettas
1 Male Betta
2 SAE
4 Cories (I have 2 in the 20 gallon already and 2 in quarantine- also they are 2 Peppered cories and 2 Julie (i think) cories)
6 shrimp
10ish feeder guppies
2 Mystery snails

I have to keep the feeder guppies in the 20 gallon, however some females may be in and out now and then when i"m putting them in the nursery when I think they're going to drop fry.

 

[Mumma.of.two]

I Have:
2 female Bettas
1 Male Betta
2 SAE
4 Cories (I have 2 in the 20 gallon already and 2 in quarantine- also they are 2 Peppered cories and 2 Julie (i think) cories)
6 shrimp
10ish feeder guppies
2 Mystery snails

I have to keep the feeder guppies in the 20 gallon, however some females may be in and out now and then when i"m putting them in the nursery when I think they're going to drop fry.

IMO you should up the school of cories but other than that not add any more.

 

[Sarah E]

Okay! I can do that.

 

[Sarah E]

Oh! One more question! How many more corys could i add to the tank without over stocking if I already have 4 (Hypothetically speaking. I will have 4 in the same tank once quarantine is over, so i'm counting the other two. )

 

[Mumma.of.two]

Oh! One more question! How many more corys could i add to the tank without over stocking if I already have 4 (Hypothetically speaking. I will have 4 in the same tank once quarantine is over, so i'm counting the other two. )

IMO 2 more to make 6 but someone else might have another idea.

 

[absolutangel04]

It depends. Do you have a test kit to measure your water params? Honestly, your pretty well stocked, so adding more in this case depends on how well your water parameters are holding. Most corys do fine in groups of 4 honestly, but some of the shyer species should be in groups of 6. Also, since your tank is only a 20g high, how many coprys you keep depends a bit on how big that species gets.
I think SAE get too big for a 20g, but I will double check that, so don't quote me on it yet.
Good advice from mumma to avoid a puffer. Most puffers are actually terribel community dwellers. They typically get aggressive and nippy and their "beaks" can cause quite a bit of damage.
Mumma is also right that it is not suggested to keep male and female bettas together. They may do fine while they are young, but its quite likely that the peace is temporary. Female bettas can be just as aggressive as males. Some people do keep betta sororities, but having long-term success doing it is very difficult and many of the people who tried it will tell you that its not worth the effort. Having said that, bettas are individuals, so if you choose to keep that stock, just be sure to keep a close eye on it.

 

[Mumma.of.two]

I think SAE get too big for a 20g, but I will double check that, so don't quote me on it yet.

I totally missed that. I think they get to 4-5 inches. I should know I've got 2

 

[absolutangel04]

Yeah, 25g is the smallest I have ever seen suggested for SAE, but most people say 30-40g is a better minimum. But, I do not own them personally, I am just regurgitating info. Mumma would know better than me since she owns them.

 

[siva]

I have a 20 Gallon tall freshwater tank that's heavily planted, with good hiding places. What I have so far in my tank.

6 Ghost shrimp all just under 1 inch.
4 Coryadoras Catfish
10 Feeder Guppies (These are my breeders, and the number may vary from when i move to the nursery and when i feed off.)
1 Female and 1 Male Mystery snail who have mated and are hopefully expecting babies.
1 Male Betta and 2 Female Betta
1 Dwarf Puffer fish that's in quarantine.
I also might be adding my 2 Siamese Algae Eaters to the tank.

How close am I to over stocking? I'm doing water changes 1 time a week at 10% quantities. Are there any other small, colorful fish I could add to this tank if it is not over stocked?

Thanks!

SAE are way too big for a 20 gal tank.

IMO you should be keeping only one betta per tank. It's likely that will eventually get nasty...especially with the 2 female to 1 male ratio.

I don't have experience with the puffers, but I don't think they are suitable tankmates for bettas.

Many types of cories are too large for the footprint of your tank. Something like panda's works well though.

A 50% weekly water change would be much better.

Something like a school of 6 or so neon tetras would work well.

 

[ocminpin]

SAE get up to 12"... They eat algae when they're young but as they grow they will start to become aggressive to your other fish. They will attach themselves to your fish to suck the slime coat off of them.
Upon reading all of that and the details of the SAE I rehomed my little 3" Petsmart "Algae Eater"

 

[jetajockey]

SAE get up to 12"... They eat algae when they're young but as they grow they will start to become aggressive to your other fish. They will attach themselves to your fish to suck the slime coat off of them.
Upon reading all of that and the details of the SAE I rehomed my little 3" Petsmart "Algae Eater"

I think you may be talking about CAE rather than SAE.

True SAE only get to about 4" or 5" and are good algae eaters. The true ones don't even have a sucker mouth.

I have one CAE and hes only about 4" long. He's about 2 or 3 years old now. I hear that some get up to a foot long but I do know there are several species that all get labeled as a SAE or CAE, so it's likely there are multiple variants.

 

[Mumma.of.two]

SAE get up to 12"... They eat algae when they're young but as they grow they will start to become aggressive to your other fish. They will attach themselves to your fish to suck the slime coat off of them.
Upon reading all of that and the details of the SAE I rehomed my little 3" Petsmart "Algae Eater"

I think your referring to the Chinese algae eater CAE. This is the siamese algae eater SAE.
http://www.fishlore.com/aquariummagazine/may08/siamese-algae-eater-id.htm