New Hobbyist here!

[HiFin Army]

Hello all, I am excited to find this community and learn!

Here is my question/situation

I have a 10 gal tank with three plants/rocks/gravel sub/four fake plants/20 gal filter/20 gal plant light

I have seven black skirt high fin tetras and a nerite in there. I feel this is too little for the tetras.

I am getting a 20 gal, will all seven of my black skirts be ok in the 20 gal if i want to add a bristlenose and maybe 4 other fish? I am thinking of returning two of my blackskirts to the store but wonder if five will be enough to keep em happy.

Thanks!
HiFin Army

 

[Aiken Drum]

Your 10g is on the small size for black skirt tetras. Can it support the bioload of those 7 fish and a snail? Yes. Does it give enough swimming space? Not really. It will be fine as a temporary measure if you plan to upgrade shortly.

20g would be fine for your fish, and you could easily add a BN pleco and another similar sized group of small fish. I would keep the 7 tetras.

 

[HiFin Army]

As a follow up, do you think it would be a bad idea to get the Bristlenose now or wait until i get the 20 gal? I got some brown algae building in my 10 gal. Its a little now, but i assume the charge is coming.

 

[HiFin Army]

also sorry for the additional question. Can serpaes and black fin tetra co-exist? If so I would love to do that with my 20 gal.

id love 7 black skirts, 7 serpaes, 1 BN plecko, and maybe 3-4 golden tail mollies. Is that overstocking?

 

[fearlessfisch]

With the fish you are considering, I would go larger than 20 gallons. Buy the biggest tank you can afford, and you won't regret it. Bristlenose plecos get to be six inches long, black skirts are fairly large tetras, and serpaes need a lot of swimming room. I would go 30 at the smallest and consider a 55.