Chiroptera's Native VA 20L Tank Build

[blert]

Yeah, by no way was I suggesting that anybody go by the inch/gallon "rule", I was just using it as an example to show how much fish there would be in the tank. As for bottom dwellers, you really need to include them in your tank's capacity as they tend to be the largest waste producers.

 

[Chiroptera]

Yeah, by no way was I suggesting that anybody go by the inch/gallon "rule", I was just using it as an example to show how much fish there would be in the tank. As for bottom dwellers, you really need to include them in your tank's capacity as they tend to be the largest waste producers.

I understand. I'm probably buying a filter for a 55g, to take care of the bioload in case my two 20g filters seem too bulky or inaccurate, and I plan on large weekly water changes - just like I do with all my tanks. I just mean that when I stock, size and crowding wise, there are different zones. I wouldn't put a redtail catfish, for instance, off my planning list because I had an arowana and it was the only fish on that level I could have in a tank. I probably wouldn't have either species anyways, but it's a decent example.

 

[jetajockey]

I think you'd be ok with a small madtom, my biggest concern on that list is the size of the shiners. Doing a 3/5 shiner/dace ratio seems more plausible to me.

Madtoms are unlike their bigger cousins in many ways. The tadpole madtoms might get up to 5-6" but i've not seen one more than about 2-3" max. Their wild diet doesn't include fish.....that doesn't mean they wouldn't eat a small fish if given the opportunity, but it means a lot to me in that they don't necessarily go after them readily. It's highly unlikely they'd get ahold of a dace or shiner, and they'd be about the same size anyhow.

Here's a snippet from the tadpole madtom wiki page.
Tadpole madtom - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The tadpole madtom is an invertivore, planktivore, but also feeds on particulate. A Common food source for the tapole madtom are immature insects such as cladocera, ostracods, hyalella, and chironomids. Another popular food source is small crustaceans such as amphipods and isopods. Smaller fish feed more on small crustaceans while large fish tend to consume large prey such as worms and grass shrimp. Researchers in Wisconsin recorded the stomach contents of numerous tadpole madtoms and found an average diet consisting of 44% insects, 28.3% small crustaceans, 18.3% oligochaetes, 5.9% plants, 3% silt and debris, 0.1% snails, and 0.1% algae.

I would keep the sucker out for a larger setup in the future.