Stocking comments for 20gal community

[chris-in-sf]

Hi there,

First post after reading a lot of AC as a newbie.

Right now I've got a stable, peaceful, 20 gallon community tank and we'd like to keep it that way. It's my first tank and it's been going good for several months now. Current inhabitants are:

1 dwarf powder blue gourami
6 Tetras, unsure of exactly what kind, cross between flame and bloodfin.
3 Corydoras duplicareous (have grown shy)
1 Crossocheilus siamensis (eats algae, plays w/ tetras occasionally)
and lots of unplanned snails

So that's 11 small fish, with the SAE still growing. UGF with 2 powerheads, water changes every 2 weeks, ammonia has never spiked, PH around 6.8, some real and some silk plants, several hiding places. I'll post pics shortly.

So here's my question How many more fish 'should' I add?
My current plan is 3 Kuhli Loaches (to take care of the snails, and because I think they're cool!)
And maybe 2 or 3 barbs either gold or red; or 1 Pearl Gourami instead of barbs.

Comments? Suggestions?

 

[SO00712]

Good setup but you could add the kuhli loaches good idea...but about the barbs why add them add 3-4 more tetras so the tetras start schoaling more

 

[chris-in-sf]

A few other things -

We don't want a fish that's going to breed easily, we don't have time to deal, the room and don't have more tanks, we live in an San Francisco apartment. I'm so jealous when I see all of you with your 5 different tank!

I wanted Barbs just because the LFS had some really gorgeous Gold Barbs I liked a lot, I wanted something that would hang out with the Tetras and would be slightly larger to keep the SAE in line.

But I don't think we have room for a whole 'nother school. So maybe a smaller grouop of larger tetra is the answer.

Here's a pic of one of my Tetra's, if anyone could give a definitive answer to the species.

and here's the tank -

- chris

 

[Tightdog1]

looks like a flame tetra to me i used to have some of these but they were all eaten. if you do want to add more fish to your tanki would recommend getting a power filter so something equiv. so that you have some sort of mechanical filtration. i would add more tetras instead of the barbs because the barbs are normally fin nippers if your not careful especially tiger barbs.

kuhlis are nice but they tend to hide a lot during the day so if you get them expect to see them not very ofter if you have bright lights.

 

[silver_leaf]

nice tank set up!! i do have one question tho...it looks like you have a ceramic mug in there, if you do, you may want to take it out, especially if it is chipped, ceramics have lead in them, especially older ceramics, or those cast in third-world countries, and the lead can leach into your aquarium causeing problems for the fish...just wanted to give you a heads up. if you want a cup-like cave i would reccomend terracotta pots, they are safe for the tank.

back to the main topic... i would go with the loaches, or else you might have a snail tank soon instead of a fish tank!!!!

Peace
Anna

 

[chris-in-sf]

Thanks for that info Silver Leaf. I did not know.

However, it belongs to my girlfriend, who wanted it in there. And to my surprise she said it IS terracotta, hand-made in Italy, with a glaze. So she's checking on the glaze thing, but I think we're safe. It really adds a lot don't you think? We just don't have a cave dweller fish that's made it home yet.

cs

 

[silver_leaf]

the glaze should be fine I agree It is a nice addition to the tank over the, rather harsh edges of terra-cotta pots, If you want some little guys who would use it, cory cats, should fit the niche.

Peace
Anna