your fine. my 20 gallon long, when i'm finished stocking it, will contain:
3 red honey gouramis (1m+2f)
6 glowlight tetras
6 black neon tetras
3 otos
that's about 28.5 inches of fish, in an 18.5 gallon tank (if you go with ACTUAL gallons) its med. planting, but still. but all the fish are small, and produce a rather small amount of waste, they all very slender-bodied fish as well, except maybe the gouramis, but i think they're rather slender too.
i've run this stock by 4 different fish forums and all of them have said it sounded just fine for a 20g long tank. i do religious 50% water changes once a week ALREADY, which is a bit of overkill atm with just one gourami, 6 glowlights, and 3 otos, but i'm already set to be doing the same water changes once the tank is fully stocked, when i'll probably be NEEDING to do that much of a water change to keep up with nitrate production.
so with your stock in the same sized tank, i think your totally fine.
the way i see it, you've got 8 fish that swim freely through the center of the tank, the 5 cories and the shrimp that hang out on the bottom, and a 20 long has a large bottom, and the pleco that just hangs out on the glass wherever. i think the fish all have their areas to chill and don't sound like they'd be invading each others space.
my tank will have 12 fish swimming freely through the center, the gouramis usually hide in the plants, i honestly almost never see mine just swimming around, but they're supposed to be top-level fish, and the 3 otos that are very unobtrusive and just chill on the glass or in the plants munching on algae.
i think when you look at it from all directions, EXCEPT the inch per gallon rule, your tank is totally fine. so long as you keep your nitrates low, it doesn't sound like you should have any problems with it.
3 red honey gouramis (1m+2f)
6 glowlight tetras
6 black neon tetras
3 otos
that's about 28.5 inches of fish, in an 18.5 gallon tank (if you go with ACTUAL gallons) its med. planting, but still. but all the fish are small, and produce a rather small amount of waste, they all very slender-bodied fish as well, except maybe the gouramis, but i think they're rather slender too.
i've run this stock by 4 different fish forums and all of them have said it sounded just fine for a 20g long tank. i do religious 50% water changes once a week ALREADY, which is a bit of overkill atm with just one gourami, 6 glowlights, and 3 otos, but i'm already set to be doing the same water changes once the tank is fully stocked, when i'll probably be NEEDING to do that much of a water change to keep up with nitrate production.
so with your stock in the same sized tank, i think your totally fine.
the way i see it, you've got 8 fish that swim freely through the center of the tank, the 5 cories and the shrimp that hang out on the bottom, and a 20 long has a large bottom, and the pleco that just hangs out on the glass wherever. i think the fish all have their areas to chill and don't sound like they'd be invading each others space.
my tank will have 12 fish swimming freely through the center, the gouramis usually hide in the plants, i honestly almost never see mine just swimming around, but they're supposed to be top-level fish, and the 3 otos that are very unobtrusive and just chill on the glass or in the plants munching on algae.
i think when you look at it from all directions, EXCEPT the inch per gallon rule, your tank is totally fine. so long as you keep your nitrates low, it doesn't sound like you should have any problems with it.
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