Stocking a 20 gallon aquarium

[Jake M.]

I have a predicament. Most of the in my stocking list were bought when I was kind of clueless about the the hobby. That's why the fish are kind of random.
Stocking list:
20 gallon long
4 red eye tetras
2 black skirt tetras
1 male swordtail
1 male fancy guppy
2 south american bumblebee catfish
My PH is 7.6.
Filter: Whisper 20 (its an H O B
I would like to add some other kind of group of bottom fish, preferably Cory catfish. I know I have the bumblebee catfish, but they hide quite a lot. Should I add more to the schools I already have? Also, if I say some wrong information, please tell me, I am only 11.




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[FWFishTanks]

I would get rid of the black skirts and get at least 2 more red eyes. As for the bumblebee cats, I don't know about them

 

[Jake M.]

That's exactly what I wanted to do but my mom won't let me. She says that would be "mean." Facepalm


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[FWFishTanks]

Do you know anybody with a larger tank with skirt tetras? Maybe if the tank is bigger with more fish, she may let you.

 

[Jake M.]

I don't know anybody that is a fishkeeper and has a larger tank.

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[Jake M.]

Here is a picture of my 20 gallon long. I have decided against the cories, because I think there wouldn't be much room for them once the plants fill in. I was thinking about a new stocking list:
6 red eye tetras
2 black skirt tetras(possibly 4 or 5 if there is room)
1 swordtail
1 guppy
2 SA bumblebee catfish
3 or 4 otocinclus catfish(do you guys/girls have any experiences with feeding these?)


20 gallon long by jakematsu, on Flickr

 

[FWFishTanks]

I would skip the swordtail and guppy, because if you want more tetras, those 2 are just extra bioload. As long as you keep up on water changes, you probably wouldn't need the otos. I would get nerite snails or amano shrimp for algae eaters, due to the low bioload.

 

[FWFishTanks]

Can you get rid of the guppy and swordtail

 

[Jake M.]

I don't think I can re home the guppy and swordtail for the reason mentioned before.(My mom thinks that its mean)My black skirts school with the red eye tetras, so maybe they will be fine as a pair? With 2 black skirts, 4 red eye tetras, 1 guppy, 1 swordtail, and 2 SA bumblebee catfish,(what I have now)I am at 71 percent, according to aqadvisor. I think I'll bring the black skirt school up to 4 and leave the stocking like that for now, or until my mom changes her mind about re homing some of the fish.