Bottom-dwelling fish in 20 gal?

[pollex.jaypee]

Hi guys, just want to ask what would be good bottom-dwelling fish for a 20 gal tank?
Preferably scavengers or algae-eaters.
Thank you so much

 

[Khuligirl93]

What other fish do you have, and what kind of substrate do you have? Is your tank planted?

 

[henningc]

Depending on the substrate and tankmates it could be many things. If you have a community set up here are a few suggestions. If sand is your substrate, welcome to cory cat land. A group of 6-8 looks great and if there is structure-rocks, logs, junk-they will school. Looks very cool. Another choice with sand i kuhli loaches. You could go with 6-8 of those. If gravel is your thing and the tankmates are not to vicious, shrimp as a good clean up crew. Red Cherry Shrimp do a great job and if allowed to multiple will do so quickly. All of the above can go on gravel, but corys and kuhlis do better on sand. A bristle nose pleco would help as well, just not with shrimp, or at least not with shrimp for long.

 

[pollex.jaypee]

I have gravel for now, but I'm planning to switch to sand soon

Currently have danios and ghost shrimp

Thank you guys!

 

[Khuligirl93]

If you switched to sand you could do kuhlis or corys. Both should be in grous of 6+, ESPECIALLY the kuhlis. The more you have, the more you will see them out and about safety in numbers is the rule they live by.
If you want something a bit more rare you could do a group of dwarf chain loaches

 

[pollex.jaypee]

What type of sand should I get and where can I get it?
I want it black and inexpensive.

Thank you guys. You are amazing

 

[SFAquariums1]

You can get Sand at just about any lfs. I've noticed prices range so I'm going to say 1 bag of black sand will range from 18 dollars to 25 dollars.

 

[Khuligirl93]

I only have experience with play sand, which is not black. I like it because it looks natural and it's very cheap- but it requires a lot of rinsing, because it's designed for kid's sand boxes it's not especially clean.
I've heard of people using something called black diamond blasting sand but I have never used it and I'm not sure if it's sharp or smooth sand.

 

[pollex.jaypee]

Hm. Can I get sand from the hardware?
Are there any sand there that are aquarium-(esp. cory)-friendly?

 

[Khuligirl93]

I got my play sand from Lowes for $4 and I have a shoal of 8 panda corys that do great in it. It's not black though.
Maybe someone on here can share their experience with black diamond blasting sand with you.

 

[Brookster123]

Pool filter sand is great too, little larger granules than play sand, it will not "pack" as much, cheap too! From what I've heard blasting sand is to sharp for Cory's and alike, it's designed to pulverize rock so it's pretty hardcore

 

[pollex.jaypee]

Beautiful! Thank you

 

[Wiggles24]

I have always liked petco sand. Yes its more expensive but so much more worth it imo. I have 1 tank that i have play sand in n with the fish constantly kicking up the sand it always looks dirty and its ruined 2 filters. I will be changing it to petco sand soon when i move the tank!

 

[pollex.jaypee]

Oh, another problem that I could encounter
I'm using an external filter, so would sand not be suitable?
If yes, how high should I raise the filter?
My tank is only 16 inches high.

 

[SFAquariums1]

I don't see any problem with pool filter sand or play sand. Always use it in my cichlid tanks and those are notorious diggers! My tank never looked cloudy at all. It all comes down to the preparation make sure you thoroughly rinse it. Whether petco sand or play sand. And any filter you have should be fine! Just make sure it's not sucking up the sand. I personally always test it with my water change hose. After it's filled ill start a syphon and whenever it starts to pik up sand I put the filter intake about 1/2 inch above that

 

[cfosgate]

Oh, another problem that I could encounter

I'm using an external filter, so would sand not be suitable?

If yes, how high should I raise the filter?

My tank is only 16 inches high.

I would put a prefilter on the HOB. You can buy them or make one yourself.

 

[Goldfish loach boy]

I have black Tahitian moon Sand in my 55 gallon, and I have to say it is very, very nice! You could do good with one bag, I got it from petsmart
Also, is it a 20 tall or 20 long, that can decide on the bottom dwellers better

 

[pollex.jaypee]

Thank you guys for being so helpful

It's 20 gallon tall

 

[Goldfish loach boy]

Ok, in that case no kuhli loaches
You can add Cory cats