Stocking a 20H

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Promisedsin

Aquarium Advice Regular
Joined
Feb 27, 2010
Messages
84
Location
Metro Detroit
I will be setting up my 20H soonish (next two days or so) and while I was out buying some substrate to mix in with my current sand I saw a Austrolebias Nigripinnis (black pearl fish) and my boyfriend and I fell in love with him. I was wondering if a 20H with a sand substrate, planted, Aquaclear 70 would be ok for for having

(4) Furcata Rainbows
(3) Pygmy Cories
(1) Peppered Cories
(2) Similis Cories
(4) Kuhli loaches [maybe]
(1) guppy
& (1) Austrolebias Nigripinnis

Also can anyone else provide information on the Austrolebias Nigripinnis??

Thank you :)
 
I think I'd stick to one type of cory. They're more fun in bigger groups and I'm not sure all those species would school together.

Khulis are great. They're always doing something weird.

I think I'd step down to an AC50. You could just turn down the flow on the AC70, but it's really more filter than you need. Your fish might get blown around the tank due to the flow.

There's a lot of info on Austrolebias Nigripinnis online. Google is your friend.
 
6 corys and 4 loaches is an aweful lot of bottom dwellers for a 20H tank, which has a relatively small "footprint" of substrate. I would go with either the corys or loaches, not both. And if you go for the corys, a school of 6 of the same kind is more ideal than mixing & matching. In my experience in the past, some of the corys would school with other species, while others wouldn't and would remain by themselves. And a cory by itself (or only with 1 or 2 others of its kind) is not nearly as happy or healthy, and tends to be far less active.

As for the killifish (the black pearl) you say you like so much, I would do some careful research on them. They seem to be a cooler-water fish than most other killies (and most other tropical fish in general); one site says to keep them in water no more than 20°C (68°F). The point is, you might want to investigate this in detail and see whether you can get a tank temperature that will be cool enough for that while being warm enough for the rest of the fish you say you want. Also keep in mind that is an "annual" killie, which means its full lifespan is likely only about a year or so--if you like the fish that much, you may wish to consider getting a male & female and breeding successive generations of them. Just a thought. (Another site I saw said if the water is too warm, their entire lifespan can be as short as 7-8 months. Considering the ones you are seeing in the petstore are likely already a few months old, at least, that doesn't leave much lifespan left.)

The key to stocking a "high" tank (like your 20H) well is to get a combination of bottom fish, top fish, and midwater fish. What you might want to do at first is get your black pearl(s) and then either your corys or loaches. Observe the black pearl behavior and see whether it is mostly a surface dweller or midwater dweller. Then, once you have a feeling for that, get something that will complement that by spending most of its time in the other zone.

Please keep us posted on how things progress. :)
 
The rainbows, cories, and loaches will be moving over from my 10 gallon. All of the cories school together.
 
the killifish and loaches i would remove, and keep the rest, its basically what i have =O

look at my stock and we almost have the same stocking =]

6 julii cories
3 praecox rainbows ( about to add 2 furcatas / threadfins or celebes soon )
1 BN pleco
1 female tequila sunrise guppy
 
Guppies come in groups of 3, and Cories need to be in groups of at least 4 per species.
 
Its a single male guppy that I received from brother when he was giving me some of his cherry shrimp and neither of up noticed until I got home
 
OK, but you may want to adjust your stocking list. It's almost like tetras needing to be in groups of 6, guppies don't like being alone. In fact, the pet store near me won't even allow costumers to buy one guppy at a time.
 
Most killifish are fairly agressive and annual fish. I was very tempted to buy one but the fact that it might eat my neons, last all of 6-9 months and costs $17 kept me away. Fantasticly beautiful though I was soo tempted.

I'd say just get a few more guppies or furcata's. You have lots of bottom dwellers, the furcata are mid-high and guppies typically stay mid-high as well. Should give you plenty to look at.
 
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