Schooling fish for a 20g long?

[Fishman007]

Want some help finding some schooling fish for my 20 long, my planned stock is-
7 cory cats
Apistogramma cacatouides tank bred pair
3 oto cats
And 7-8 schooling fish
tank will be planted

My ph is 7.8 btw.

Thanks!

 

[Luananeko]

How tightly do you want them to school? If you want a true school, Rummynose Tetras are your best bet. If you just want a group that interacts together, any of the dwarf rainbows (Threadfins are my personal favorites), Cherry Barbs, smaller Danios (Zebra or smaller), or Rasboras would work well as dither fish for the apistos.

 

[henningc]

Lemon tetras, cherry barbs, harlaquin rasboras they all work.

 

[meese-a-mew]

I personally have Neon dwarf rainbows for my 25g long and they are really cool but they are expensive but its worth it, they also work as a dither fish.

 

[Fishman007]

How tightly do you want them to school? If you want a true school, Rummynose Tetras are your best bet. If you just want a group that interacts together, any of the dwarf rainbows (Threadfins are my personal favorites), Cherry Barbs, smaller Danios (Zebra or smaller), or Rasboras would work well as dither fish for the apistos.

How about chili rasboras? Would they work? And because they are so small how about 10-12?

 

[Luananeko]

Chili rasboras are compatible, but they are on the timid end of the rasbora spectrum so they don't really work as dither fish. As long as you keep the lighting dim, don't have too much current, and have a large group (10-12 should fit) they should be fine though.

 

[Fishman007]

Chili rasboras are compatible, but they are on the timid end of the rasbora spectrum so they don't really work as dither fish. As long as you keep the lighting dim, don't have too much current, and have a large group (10-12 should fit) they should be fine though.

Currents gonna be a problem as my filter has alot of return flow... How about 10 Harlequin rasboras?

 

[Luananeko]

Harlequin rasboras should work perfectly They're far more tolerant of current and much braver than the chilis. I think 10 should fit fine, as they're pretty light on the bioload.

 

[Fishman007]

Harlequin rasboras should work perfectly They're far more tolerant of current and much braver than the chilis. I think 10 should fit fine, as they're pretty light on the bioload.

Ok cool just what i wanted how about 4 oto cats?

 

[Luananeko]

Ok cool just what i wanted how about 4 oto cats?

Bioload wise you could work it with 4. You're pretty full with the 7 cory cats and 10 rasboras, but with plants and a regular weekly 50% water change it's doable. I'd be more worried about running out of food with that many. 20g isn't really a lot of space for algae scrounging. If they're willing to munch on supplemental veggies and algae wafers you may be ok. Some otos won't touch those though.

 

[Fishman007]

Bioload wise you could work it with 4. You're pretty full with the 7 cory cats and 10 rasboras, but with plants and a regular weekly 50% water change it's doable. I'd be more worried about running out of food with that many. 20g isn't really a lot of space for algae scrounging. If they're willing to munch on supplemental veggies and algae wafers you may be ok. Some otos won't touch those though.

I guess i will only do 3 then. I will be doing 3g wc weekly is that enough? Could assassin snails fit in with my stock?

 

[Luananeko]

3g a week is a 15% water change, which is a little light with that stocking plan. Personally I prefer 50% changes, but that's more because I do a lot of plant ferts and want to make sure nothing's getting out of balance.

You could probably fit a couple assassins, but I wouldn't see a need for them unless you had a snail outbreak.

 

[Fishman007]

3g a week is a 15% water change, which is a little light with that stocking plan. Personally I prefer 50% changes, but that's more because I do a lot of plant ferts and want to make sure nothing's getting out of balance.

You could probably fit a couple assassins, but I wouldn't see a need for them unless you had a snail outbreak.

Any snails that eat detrius?

 

[Luananeko]

The problem with most snails that eat detritus is that they tend to be prolific breeders... Nerites are the only ones that won't overpopulate the tank, but they're not so big on detritus. They tend to compete with otos for algae. Amano shrimp are a better option for detritus scavengers and are pretty light on the bio load. Make sure you're doing enough water changes to keep the nitrates low if you go with them though, as they're more sensitive to nitrates than fish are.

 

[Fishman007]

The problem with most snails that eat detritus is that they tend to be prolific breeders... Nerites are the only ones that won't overpopulate the tank, but they're not so big on detritus. They tend to compete with otos for algae. Amano shrimp are a better option for detritus scavengers and are pretty light on the bio load. Make sure you're doing enough water changes to keep the nitrates low if you go with them though, as they're more sensitive to nitrates than fish are.

My nitrates are 5ppm is that ok for them? Will the apistos eat the Amano shrimp?

 

[Fishman007]

Could you give me any names of snails that eat detrius? I have these little worms in the tank i wanna get out and i think they are feeding off detrius...

 

[Luananeko]

My nitrates are 5ppm is that ok for them? Will the apistos eat the Amano shrimp?

Anything 20ppm and under is perfect for all types of shrimp, but they can tolerate up to 60-80ppm usually. Apistos mouths shouldn't be big enough to bother a full grown amano shrimp as long as you give them places to hide while molting.

As for the worms, those are actually beneficial as they're live food for the fish and help keep the substrate healthy If you're dead set on a detritus eater, MTS are the best, but like I said, they are also prolific breeders and can easily crash a 20g tank if left unchecked. Assassins have trouble catching them since they tend to burrow through the substrate, so its usually a manual process of trapping them to remove the excess numbers.

 

[Fishman007]

Anything 20ppm and under is perfect for all types of shrimp, but they can tolerate up to 60-80ppm usually. Apistos mouths shouldn't be big enough to bother a full grown amano shrimp as long as you give them places to hide while molting.

As for the worms, those are actually beneficial as they're live food for the fish and help keep the substrate healthy If you're dead set on a detritus eater, MTS are the best, but like I said, they are also prolific breeders and can easily crash a 20g tank if left unchecked. Assassins have trouble catching them since they tend to burrow through the substrate, so its usually a manual process of trapping them to remove the excess numbers.

The thing is the worms are on the glass and i have other problems, if you are intrested here is a link... http://www.aquariumadvice.com/forums/f12/jelly-fish-on-glass-and-drift-wood-286503.html

 

[Luananeko]

Wow... How weird! I've never seen that stuff before... It seems like things that your fish will tend to eat once you add them, so that is likely a better way of dealing with them than trying to add prolific snails and such. You've essentially given you fish a yummy buffet to greet them in their new home