Stocking for 20g and 29g

[Drocnoc]

Hello all,
I am pretty new here, I have been looking around this forum for
a little over a month and can say it is one of the best resources I have
found for the aquarist around. I have learned so much. On to the ??s

I have a 20 gal long and 29 gal,
I am planning to do an Asian/eastern community in the 20 and a South American community in the 29.

Please let me know what you think about these fish choices.

20:
1 dwarf gourami (blue or fire)
6 zebra danios
3 kuhlii loaches
1 flying fox

29:
2 blue rams
8 sarpae tetras
1 pleco (some variety that doesn't get over 4 inches)
4 cory cats

Tell me what you think. Overstocked, understocked, just right,
this fish won’t work with that fish, instead of this maybe think about this.
Any info is greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
Aaron

[Fishyfanatic]

In the 29 I would add 2 more cory cats. They really like to be 5+. You could cut back to 6 on the Serpae Tetras. Then if you get the rams, I don't know if I would get a pleco. If you do, get a teeny tiny one like a rubbermouth. They are slow growers. You'll be pushing it in regards to stocking. In regards to the stocking levels, my Serpae's tend to be mid to lower level swimmers. The cories are bottom feeders, and the rams are mid to lower level swimmers. That's alot of fish swimming at the bottom of the tank. You could replace the Serpae's with something like Hatchets. They are pretty cool to watch swim around and they are top dwellers. That would help equal out the balance of the tank.

[severum mama]

I've never kept serpaes personally, but I've heard that they can be pretty boisterous. For that reason, I don't know if I would choose them for a 29 gallon. They may not have enough space to swim. There are lots of choices of tetras for a 29 gallon- pristella, lemon, glowlight, neon, cardinal, rummynose... so many great fish to choose from. A rubberlip pleco would be a good choice, and clown plecos would work great too. Clowns stay under 4 inches. If you get a pleco, be sure to provide driftwood so it can rasp. Your rams will appreciate a planted tank; real or fake will work fine.

For your 20 gallon, I think you should leave out the flying fox. I have one and he became sort of aggressive for my 20 gallon community tank after a while, so I had to move him to my 55 gallon cichlid tank. Also, FFs get kinda big eventually, so he was going to outgrow my tank anyway.

Good luck with your tanks and let us know if you have any more questions.

[Drocnoc]

Thanks for both of your responses.

For the 29g, pristella would be my second choice for a schooling fish, I like the yellow and white dorsal offset by the reddish tall.

So if I got with 6 of those, 2 rams, 5 corys and a small rubber nose I would be set?

For the 20g what would you recommend for algae control?


Both tanks are planted, the 29 with a variety of swords and the 20 with java ferns, anubius and crypts.
They both also have DIY Co2 setups and there is plenty of dirftwood for the pleco.

[Fishyfanatic]

I think your plan sounds good. Add one school at a time to the tank and you can basically eye ball it when it comes to overcrowdidness (not sure if that is a word or not, but should be ) That will still be 13 fish that are mid to bottom dwellers.

20 gal tanks are pretty small to put in a pleco. For a tank that size I wouldn't put in anything and just hand remove algae. Plus, if its going to be planted, you really shouldn't have any issues with it.

[Drocnoc]

Ill check out the Hachet fish FF, something in the upper part of the tank would be nice since it is pretty tall.

Hopefully I can manage algea in the 20g with Co2 and water changes to keep the nitrates down. It is only 2wpg so it shouldnt be too difficult..(famous last words right?)

[severum mama]

If you like the pristellas, I can tell you that they will swim at all levels of the tank, and are very peaceful. I have the gold variety and they are really pretty. The hatchets are great too, but are more difficult to keep.

You could easily keep a clown pleco in a 20 long, but they are not really known for eating tons of algae. Mine seems to eat algae though, to an extent.