Stocking strategy

[sharmz30]

Hey i have a 20 gallon tank with a TOPFIN 30 gallon filter. The filter also contains fluval biological filter media as well as filter fiber in it.

Currently in the tank, I have 2 panda and 2 julii corys (all 4 always together), 7 harlequin rasboras, and a female metallic german blue ram and a male german gold ram.

I am looking for fish that fill the top area of the tank and was thinking of having male cobra guppys as an option.

1. Will the guppies pick/get picked on by anything in the tank?
2. I don't want too many at all, would i be able to keep just 2 males?
3. I don't like the look of any other live bearers but is there any top dwelling fish that will go with the present tank mates instead of the cobras? (i don't want to keep zebra danios). The fish don't need to school, even if they will be happy in ones, twos or threes.

I'm open to any suggestions or advice, thanks!

 

[emerald76]

Hey i have a 20 gallon tank with a TOPFIN 30 gallon filter. The filter also contains fluval biological filter media as well as filter fiber in it.

Currently in the tank, I have 2 panda and 2 julii corys (all 4 always together), 7 harlequin rasboras, and a female metallic german blue ram and a male german gold ram.

I am looking for fish that fill the top area of the tank and was thinking of having male cobra guppys as an option.

1. Will the guppies pick/get picked on by anything in the tank?
2. I don't want too many at all, would i be able to keep just 2 males?
3. I don't like the look of any other live bearers but is there any top dwelling fish that will go with the present tank mates instead of the cobras? (i don't want to keep zebra danios). The fish don't need to school, even if they will be happy in ones, twos or threes.

I'm open to any suggestions or advice, thanks!

Okay, I think you are stocked if you add two more of each type of cory to total 8 cories. You can remove one type of Cory and add 3 male guppies or a gold wonder killi

 

[sharmz30]

i'll look into that, thanks

 

[mikeISright]

Getting rid of a certain kind of cory ist necessary because they will all school together. Right now u have probably 22ish inches of fish and i think u would be fine if u added two cobras as long as u stay up on water changes.

 

[sharmz30]

i do water changes very often because of the rams, so yea im not worried.

thanks!

 

[mikeISright]

Goodluck!

 

[emerald76]

Getting rid of a certain kind of cory ist necessary because they will all school together. Right now u have probably 22ish inches of fish and i think u would be fine if u added two cobras as long as u stay up on water changes.

1 inch per gal isn't an accurate way of stocking and is generally disregarded as junk on AA.( no offense)If you followed that rule, you could have, say, a albino cory, two neons, and a one inch oscar in a five gal. That wouldn't work.

 

[mikeISright]

1 inch per gal isn't an accurate way of stocking and is generally disregarded as junk on AA.( no offense)If you followed that rule, you could have, say, a albino cory, two neons, and a one inch oscar in a five gal. That wouldn't work.

I agree it is very innacurate but it also helps someone who is confused on how many fish o give them a decent guideline so they can determine for themselves if they are overstocked. One inch per gallon is obviously not always the standard for fish especially cichlids and prher large fish but can be helpful with smaller ones.

 

[vanimal]

I think the inch per gallon rule works good for small fish. Like couldn't you keep 10 neon tetras in a 10 gallon tank? But for fish more than an inch, like you guys said is junk!

 

[mikeISright]

I think the inch per gallon rule works good for small fish. Like couldn't you keep 10 neon tetras in a 10 gallon tank? But for fish more than an inch, like you guys said is junk!

+1 to that

 

[emerald76]

I think the inch per gallon rule works good for small fish. Like couldn't you keep 10 neon tetras in a 10 gallon tank? But for fish more than an inch, like you guys said is junk!

No
Neons need a 20

 

[mikeISright]

Haha this is why i hate stocking questions. Everyone has a differet opinion

 

[Soccerfish]

a ten inch oscar would be the equivalent to aprox.. 100 neon tetras. they are ( approximately ) ten times longer/wider/higher. So i never use the 1 inch per gal. rule for people looking at fish inless the fish will be less then 4 inches in length, and even then i use it at the most basic of ways. But it also makes it easier for people to understand overcrowding in a small aquarium.

 

[vanimal]

Well couldn't you keep 100 neon tetras in a 100 gallon tank?

 

[BlaseMrNiceguy]

There are more factors at play here than just the size of the fish. You also need to take into account frequency of water changes, how much filtration is added, if there is any live plants in the aquarium, etc. the best thing I can say about this topic is research your fish and figure out what is best for them.

 

[Soccerfish]

if i had a 100gal aquarium id probably keep more then 100 neons., if i had enough filtration

 

[Chiroptera]

Also, Corys need bottom surface area, say, Killies need top surface area. The fish would never compete, so removing one to add the other is odd. The rams, however, may crowd out the killies. You could try, but I'd seriously think it out first.

 

[emerald76]

Also, Corys need bottom surface area, say, Killies need top surface area. The fish would never compete, so removing one to add the other is odd. The rams, however, may crowd out the killies. You could try, but I'd seriously think it out first.

They'd crowd the cories as they are bottom fish

 

[mikeISright]

Yeah rams are bottom to mid level swimmers so taking out the killis would be pointless. I say killis rams cories