Help stocking my 1st tank

[blt831]

1. Tank size:
20 Gallon H located in my office at work

2. Current filtration
Rena Smartfilter 20 (I slit the top of the cartridge, poured out the carbon & stuffed it with filter floss b/c of the plants)

3. Type of substrate
Eco Complete with 4 Anubias, 2 Java Ferns, 1 Java Moss, 4-5 crypts, 2 Dwarf water onions & 1 Hygrophila corymbosa 'kompact'

4. pH of your water
7.8-8.0 (City water report says 7.8, my tests say 8.0)

5. What type of fish you like the most.
Easy, peaceful community

I’m looking for advice or feedback on one of the following lineups. Because this is an office tank (That I had to negotiate permission for & assume responsibility for any damages) it needs to be lower maintenance than a home tank.
1) 4 Peppered Corys & 8 Harlequin Rasbora

2) 4 Peppered Corys & 6 Harlequin Rasbora & 10 (?) RCS

3) 4 Peppered Corys & 8 Harlequin Rasbora & Olive Nerita Snail

4) 4 Peppered Corys & 6 Harlequin Rasbora & a Dwarf Gourami
(one of my office mates is really lobbying for a Gourami to add more color)

5) Some Variant of the above (please suggest)

6) Something completely different
Thanks

 

[bluerose]

First question-- is your tank cycled?

Second question-- what's your lighting? You won't need much for those plants but as it's a tall tank the WPG rule is a little skewed.

You could do a lot of different things in a 20gal. with a planted tank you may want to consider shrimp or ottos for algae care. (Cories will keep your substrate clean but not do anything with algae.)

 

[blt831]

yes, cycle is finished.

Its a standard 20 gallon, just not the long version (24" not 30") I thought the standard was called a 20H. Sorry if I confused the matter.

Light is Hagen Glo T5 HO Lighting System - Single - 24 with a 6700K bulb.

Aiming for a low light, low tech setup.

Why i was leaning towards corys. I've recently moved from another office building where one of the ladies had a betta in a bowl. Some of us got together & bought a 5 gallon hex for the betta. Along the way, I got talked into buying a single peppered cory by a lfs staffer to help clean the tank. Afterwards, i read up on them and realized that they're schooling fish (and don't eat algae, live & learn). The cory is healthy and peacefully coexisting with the betta but he's alone and in a small hex tank. I was hoping to move him to the new tank and get him some company.

So, starting from the point of being somewhat tied to having a few corys, I'm trying to set the rest of the lineup.

For algae control, I"m leaning towards some shrimp (thinking Red cherry shrimp) or a snail or 2 (thinking Olive Nerita Snail since I'm reading they won't breed).

For show fish, I've seen lots of pretty livebearers but I have no place for fry.

Since its an office tank, I'm trying to keep the bioload reasonable as maintenance has to take place afterhours and be less intrusive than I could do at home.

 

[FishCrazyBenBOMB]

If I was you I would go with your choice that is numbered two. RCS are beautiful plus are great cleaners, your school is great, and the cories are always fun.

Also to add into that mix, get 3-4 ottos. You will need them, but besides that your setup is great.

 

[blt831]

thanks for the input.

I'm wondering about otto's and feedings, If the fish in this tank are usually not fed on the weekends, would this negativly affect an otto? It seems from reading about them that they need to be fed a lot.

Also, concerning shrimp, I'm assumimg if I add shrimp, I need to cover the filter intake holes with some sort of foam cover?

 

[FishCrazyBenBOMB]

I normally never actually feed my ottos stuff since my tank get's brown algae from the plants (which is their favorite food.) If you do worry about feeding them though, get some cucumber and cut out the middle of it (the seeds and the soft stuff. Then tie it down to something in the tank so it doesn't float, they will love you for it haha.

And yes it is suggested that you get a filter sock or like you said a foam cover. They will try to get in your intake for food so cover it well.


Any more questions?

 

[blt831]

yes, actually...

since cory's & otto's are both social, are they social with each other? If I get 1 otto, would his social/schooling needs be met by the corys?

 

[bluerose]

Don't think so.

I think if you're going to go with cories, go with shrimp-- having too many bottom dwellers could get problematic, although you are dealing with a 20. Depends on your decorations and algae problems-- you could always add ottos later. (Actually, they're rather delicate in their culinary needs, so perhaps a better idea anyway.)

 

[mgamer20o0]

Harlequin Rasbora are just to common at least for me. i been getting really into small fish. there just so much more out there then the common things. again thats just my ideas.


Pseudomugil gertrudae

ember tetras

Celestichthys margaritatus

clown killie

Boraras maculatus

i can go on but i think i made my point. there are so many more colorful fish out there. as for the cories i would go with 6 pygmy cories on the bottom.

 

[blt831]

Pseudomugil gertrudae

Wow, thats a pretty fish, I actually considered Pseudomugil furcatus but since its my 1st tank, I decided to follow advice & stick to easy fish & plants. Another rainbow I liked was Melanotaenia boesemani but it was a little large for my setup i thought.

Celestichthys margaritatus

I saw this picture last week while researching fish for the tank & my 1st reaction was, wow, i want that fish. Then I read about how endangered it was & the advice to stay away until more breeders got up and going. I decided to (hopefully) come back to it at a later date.

clown killie

very colorful. I must admit, I have not researched any killifish.

Boraras maculatus

Thats an interesting choice, I'll have to read about it.

I've been really getting into small fish.

I can see the attraction. Researching fish for this size tank has resulted in me reading about a lot of small fish. Some amazing choices out there.

Thanks for the ideas

 

[mgamer20o0]

they have found more pools of them and they are already in the hands of fish farms.

some killies are only annual but the clown is 2-3 years. there is so much out there. my 120 now is nothing but small fish. the biggest fish is some kuhli loaches. just keep your eyes open there so many different things out there more then the common stuff everyone has.