Debating Upping Shoals

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NoodleCats

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In my one 20g i have 6 cories, only they are 3 peppered and 3 trilineatus.

Total stocking include:

1 molly
7 skirt tetras
2 platies (mom and daughter)
3 peppered cories
3 trilineatus cories
1 nerite snail
2 ghost shrimp (can be moved if needed)

I plan on upping my filtration within the next while, so with that, would it be doable to add 1-2 more of each peppered and trilineatus? Or leave them as is? They shoal together great, always hanging out and rafting together. Theyve been together since babies.

Ive felt guilty that i havent been able to get these 6 a proper shoal like i have in my other tanks.


Here's the 6 goofballs during a water change.
20200202_043044.jpg

I have 1 tank without cories, another 20g but its not planted and already heavy stocked. My other tanks have cories and dont have room for more bottom dwellers.

In my other tanks i have:
6 aeneus corydoras
1 agassizii corydoras
5 weitzmani corydoras
10 pygmaeus corydoras

So these guys are the only ones without their "own" shoal besides my oddball agassizii that i cannot find more of for the life of me (she was a rare mix up at a lfs)
 

OrionGirl

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I likely wouldn't. Increasing filtration doesn't increase space. Is this a standard 20 or a 20 long?
 

NoodleCats

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FreshyFresh

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Yep, a 20gal standard doesn't offer a lot of floor plan for 8-10 corys. A 20gal long or 29 would be the next step up @ 30"x12" vs the 24"x12" of your 20g.
 
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NoodleCats

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I likely wouldn't. Increasing filtration doesn't increase space. Is this a standard 20 or a 20 long?
Yep, a 20gal standard doesn't offer a lot of floor plan for 8-10 corys. A 20gal long or 29 would be the next step up @ 30"x12" vs the 24"x12" of your 20g.
Another option i have is i could move one species to my other 20g standard, has no cories... problem is i have some excess danios needing to find themselves a new home, ive been waiting for my coworker to pick them up but it keeps getting put off lol

Stock on that tank:
11 zebra danios (plan on keeping 6)
6 cherry barbs
2 mollies
3 apple snails

Would that be a better option?

Or is it totally okay to leave the mixed shoal as it is if theyre happy?
 

OrionGirl

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It's ok to leave them mixed. Not ideal, no, but...Keep in mind that our 'shoal' is nothing like how they live in the wild. Even the biggest tank isn't coming close. These fish live in a shoal of hundreds. I prefer to keep single species because a) I think it looks better b) they might breed c) more of a single kind. But so long as they are active, busy, eating, etc, they're ok.
 
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NoodleCats

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I did end up upping both my schools. Im happy i did, they actually seemed more active and interactive than they did before.

I got a total of 6 peppers and 7 trilineatus now (i asked for 3 more of each, the store popped an extra trilineatus in the bag free lol)

20200301_180914.jpg20200229_114929.jpg
 

fishorama

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More is always more fun! I'm going to suggest you remove some of the big rocks &/or the glass bowl to give them more floor space...until you get a bigger tank. You know you want 1! & so do your corys
 

NoodleCats

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More is always more fun! I'm going to suggest you remove some of the big rocks &/or the glass bowl to give them more floor space...until you get a bigger tank. You know you want 1! & so do your corys
The glass bowl is actually an air powered filter, for biological filtration. I run those plus an AC50 HOB.

I would LOVE bigger tanks. But husband says no more lol

These are the tanks both shoals are now in.

The paleatus loved the plants so i left them in there. They utilize the vertical space more than my tris do. They rest in the plants and are constantly exploring the leaves.

Paleatus tank
20200301_182322(0).jpg

Trilineatus tank. The tris like to sit on the rocks. I made a more open expanse of sand on the far side for foraging and they shelter in the rocks. There are natural caves within the rock pile for them to utilize more floor space
20200301_192135.jpg
 

fishorama

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LOL, I thought all the rocks & fish were in 1 tank. Are those spiky grassy plants in your second tank real?

I have the opposite sort of husband. Mine is an enabler & helper. Maybe you can work on 4ft tanks instead of 2ft, not more tanks, just larger!!
 
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