compatability....

[kerrid]

i have a 20g tank with 4 danios cycling now.
i'm planning on getting otos after the cycle..is 3 a good number?
also, what else is good for this size tank?

[Sammie7]

3 otos should be fine for that size tank. I suggest getting them after your tank has had a time to settle and grow algae and stabilize from cycling. They can be quite sensitive to unstable water conditions. You will have to feed them supplemental foods after the algae is gone. Read this for more ideas on fish you would like and their requirements and then we can help tell you what would be best for your tank and if the fish you choose will be compatible. http://www.aquahobby.com/e_gallery.php

[jm1212]

you are probably going to wait for a little while until the tank is fully established. otos can be picky about water conditions, and a newly established tank can be a little unstable.

you will need to supplement their diet- they cannot survive on the algea in the tank alone.

[Mgamer20o0]

yes.... i would wait a few months before adding them.

[kerrid]

ok so i looked at that website for some fish..can you tell me if they'll be alright? also, how many would be suitable for my tank?

tiger barbs
harlequin rasboras
tetras..maybe one or two different kinds, but i'm not sure which yet.

and another question. my sister has a betta in one of those tiny glass bowls and i feel pretty bad for him. would it be safe to put him in this tank after it settles down a bit or would the danios chase him around? he's a beautiful fish and i wouldn't want anything to happen to him.

[Wat2Go]

I am stocking a 29 gallon and the advise I keep getting is to stick with max two schooling kind of fish. So seeing that you already have danios in there, you could do either rasboras or tetras.
I would not add the Betta, the danios can be nippy..Also, tiger barbs are known to be nippy, especially if you have only one or two of them...

I finally decided on 3 swordtails, 5 danios, 8 rasboras and three corys for my 29, and I will add maybe a couple of guppies and a dwarf gourami later. I would have liked otos too, but if I am ever to add them (and I opted for corys instead) the tank has to sit for a couple more months...

Hope this helps, I am a newby myself!

L.

[Sammie7]

Harlequins are awesome schooling fish. They school even in a small tank and they have beautiful colors. For that tank I would get about 7 or so of them. I agree with Wat2Go, you should only have about 2 schools for that sized tank.

Perhaps you should look for a centerpiece fish, like a dwarf or honey gourami. If you didn't have the danios you could have put the betta in the tank as a centerpiece fish, but as Wat2Go said the danios would probably nip the betta's fins.

If you would like to fill out all the levels of the tank, you should look at the corydoras catfish. They help clean the bottom of the tank from leftovers and have plenty of personality to boot. You will need to target feed them as well with shrimp pellets and other bottom feeder foods. They like to be in schools, so I would recommend about 5 of the variety that get to be over two inches and 7 or so of the smaller varieties.

So, that would be 4 danios, 7 harlequins, a dwarf or honey gourami, 3 otos and 5 cory cats.

Sound good?

[kerrid]

so much help, thank you!
i have a 10g just sitting here doing nothing. all set up including running filter and heater..after the cycle is complete in the 20g, could i take the sponge filter from there and put it in the 10g for the betta? i hate to see him just floating there doing nothing.
out of the harlequins, gourami, otos, and cory cats, how long after the cycle is done should i wait to put them in? you said before to wait a few months or so for the otos, but would the others be ok sooner? and does it matter which goes in first? i'm planning on getting one kind, waiting a few weeks and then getting others when i see that everything is alright.

[Sammie7]

Yes, you could use the filter pad from the established tank to get the new one up and running. If I would you I would just put the 10 gallon tank's filter pad in the 20 gallon, so that you don't have to rob the 20 gallons pad and you would still get the colonized bacteria for the 10 gallon. Did that make sense?

For the fish, I would say get the harlequins first, but in installments. Say 4 for the first batch and then 3 more, so you don't overwhelm your biofilter. Then I would suggest the cory cats then the gourami last, just so the gourami has less of a chance of picking on anybody for getting in his pre-setup territory. Then add the otos. So, after the tank finishes the cycle add some harlys then test the water to make sure the bacteria had caught up(no ammonia or nitrites) then continue on this same way for adding the rest.

Did you decide what kind of gourami you wanted? Or what kind of cory catfish?

[kerrid]

i'm thinking a dwarf gourami and possibly albino cory catfish.

i have a sponge filter in the 20g as well as a power filter. do i put the sponge filter in the 10g and leave it there for good? or do i just leave it in until the bacteria is established?

[Sammie7]

Whatever way you can get established media into the tank, while it cycles will work. You can either leave the sponge filter in the 10 gallon or you could take a sponge from the established tank and put it in the filter of the 10 gallon, if you have a hang on the back filter. You could just put some filter pads for the 10 gallon filter in the 20 gallon and let it get colonized than move it back over to the ten gallon when you are ready to put the fish in.

What kind of filter do you have for the 10 gallon?

[kerrid]

a whisper power filter with carbon.

[Sammie7]

So, just take out the filter pad for the whisper filter and put it in the 20 gallon. If it can fit in the filter compartment with the 20 gallon's filter media go ahead and put it in there. If not, just let it float it in the tank, maybe put a stone on top of it to keep it down. It should grow bacteria either way. Then you can put it in the 10 gallon when you are ready to cycle it.

[kerrid]

thanks for all your help!