Wanted - 20 Gal. High Stocking Advice

J

jebberman

AC Members
Aug 9, 2006
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I was hoping that I could get some suggestions for stocking my newly-cycled 20 gallon high (I know I should've gotten a long, but it won't fit in my apt). It's got an AquaClear 30 filter and I'm doing 25% water changes daily (cause I have some free time these days).

Current inhabitants:
1 dalmatian molly
1 balloon molly
1 platy
3 sterbai cories
a fake piece of driftwood and some fake plants

First, the guy at my LFS gave me the 2 mollies and the platy to cycle, so if they 'disappeared' at some point it wouldn't crush me. I was thinking about adding some tiger barbs in a few weeks (just added the cories) - I just don't want my cories to get nipped. Instead of the barbs, maybe an angelfish (or two if they'd fit - I'm not sure)? Or a school of ~8 smaller fish (danios or tetras)? Will the barbs really go after the cories anyway?

I'm also wondering if it's worth the trouble to put some real plants in there. At this point I don't want to invest in any more equipment (new lights, CO2 etc.), but if there are certain plants that will do well with a gravel substrate and low (the fluorescent that came with my hood) light, I've love to know.

I know that there are a lot of options and I'd really appreciate any advice that experienced aquarists have to offer. Thanks.
 
gotta say i'm a fan of your molly collection, i've got 5 fry myself and i used to have a golden balloon molly. Why not make it a livebearer tank and get a few more platies and mollies? Alough, if you want more diversity, i would go with some good old neons. GL, Wolf
 
just keep in mind that tall tanks can support less fish than long tanks, because there is less surface area at the top (hence less diffusion of gas into the water).

i'm not too good with stocking tips, so i'll leave that to someone else :)

good luck and welcome to the forum!
 
I just moved my corys out of the tiger barb tank because they nipped their tails quite a lot. Of course these were larger bronze corys so they had bigger tails and presented an easier target. Tiger barbs are really fun, but they are fin nippers!
 
Both my 20s are talls - current stocking is in the signature (on the second tank it is normally home for 5 platies, but 3 of them are keeping a 10 gallon cycled for me right now). I have no problem keeping my nitrates under 20ppm with weekly 40% water changes - but I'd say they're stocked at the maximum and there is no question that water maintenance must be kept up at that level.

With your current fish you could probably get away with one of the following:

1) add a school of 6 smaller slim-bodied fish like neon/cardinal tetras or danios.

2) return the mollies and you could shoot that school number up to 10.

3) return both the mollies and platy and get a pair of dwarf gourami as your centerpiece fish and add a school of 7 or 8 danios or neon/cardinal tetras.

A 20 tall is simply too small to house tiger barbs and other fish species together - the barbs are notorious fin nippers and you will not be able to fit in a large enough school to keep them from becoming nippy. I've not kept angel fish, but I know they aren't appropriate for 20 gallon tanks.
 
Thanks for the advice! Anybody have thoughts about plants? Will adding live plants allow me to add another fish or two, or simply keep the water clean enough for me to do water changes a couple times a week instead of every day?
 
how much water are you changing every day? it shouldnt need it everyday. there are some plants that would probably be fine, but a liquid plant food and a plant bulb in the regular fixture you already have would increase your chances of success as well as open up your options for plants a little. stockign doesnt just depend on tank size, filtration and water chaneg schedule need to be considered as well. and an air stone will help increase aeration in smaller surface area tanks. what filtration and water change schedule do you have?
 
I've got an AquaClear 30 filter and I'm doing 25% changes every day, although I'd like to cut back to every other day if possible. What kinds of plants would work with the liquid food and a new bulb? And how much are those bulbs?
 
the prices of the bulbs vary, but arent too bad. what are your nitrates? why are you doing 25% daily? i do about 75% every week on all my tanks and that is doing great for me. how long has the tank been setup? what are the ammonia and nitrite levels? hornwort, java moss, java fern, anacharis/elodea, and giant wisteria among many others should be fine in low light.
 
as long as your are keeping on eye that your filter is running properly and you are using a gravel filter 25/30% a week should be fine as long as the fish look healthy .i like natural plants.alot of them are weeds so you can get good bang for your buck.plants with big leaves need plant liquid food which is another expense..might want to try long skinny plants.
 
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