Now I currently have 6 tiger barbs, 6 zebra danios, and 1 dwarf gourami in the 20 and they all get along very well with no issues. I Would like to add a nice bottom feeder to the tank sometime soon though. I would like some suggestions for a pleco(or some other type of catfish thing) to go in there. I was considering a false zebra pleco or maby a Blue phantom pleco(damn its expensive!) but if anybody has any other suggestions that would be great

This post has been edited by Mako Man111: Jun 29 2006, 07:57 PM

That seems quite a lot of fish for a 20g tank? I personally wouldn't keep that many fish in there but if you're going to have a plec you need to make sure you get one that's only going to stay small. Have a look in one of the sticky threads at the top on small plecs to give you some ideas.

Hows that too many fish, they all stay small.

Look

I'd really rather a plec then otos though

you do have quite a few fish and plec are huge waste producers.

otto's possibly (even though you said not) or a rubbernose

I wouldn't recommend a plec for a 20g, sorry. A Blue Pahtom will potentially reach 10"+ so way too big. Even the small ones produce a lot of waste. Rubbernoses/Bulldogs need cooler temps than most tropicals too.

Alright maby i'll just leave it the way it is. But what about a clown plec? I think they only reach 4 inches.

Yep clown plecs get to about 4". They're a panaque species I think so eat bogwood (as well as other things) and make a lot of mess, which would be difficult in a heavily stocked tank.

In my eyes, the best plec is Ancistrus.

bristle nosed catfish?

david

You'd have to be more specific, ancistrus covers a lot of plecs of different sizes

Eg. Ancistrus ranunculus - Medusa pleco, grows to 8", sometimes more. That would be no good in such a tiny tank, especially one that's pretty full already.

This post has been edited by LisaLQ: Jun 29 2006, 07:24 PM

Yes, bristle-nose plec. And yes LisaLQ i understand what you are saying.
Most places just have their bristle-noses labelled as bristle-noses. Maybe if you are lucky they will have the L number, which will make everything much eaiser.
There is loads of Ancistrus isn't there? Isnt the most common one Ancistrus temmincki?

Most Ancistrus sold as temmincki (and the majority of Ancistrus sold as "common bristlenose") are actually Ancistrus sp. 3. True temmincki are very rarely seen.

My ancistrus (triradiatus?) was sold as a "common bristlenose" but clearly isn't a sp. 3. So it's pretty much pot luck what you get, but in the majority they're sp. 3.

Saying all that, I still doubt any plec will fit in that setup.

This post has been edited by KathyM: Jun 29 2006, 09:37 PM

Personally, I definnately think you have room for a bristlenose or two, I have a severely overstocked tank with 3 bristlenose in (1 is adult rest are babys). I keep ontop of water changes and maintenance, and the only disease my fish have had is whitespot due to moving a tank and kept in quite a small container, and still it was only the neons that got it. I'm not recommending anyone should do this, and I hope to sort my stocking out, but I think you can fit a bristlenose plec into your tank, IMHO anyway.

Neal

I have two 15gallon tanks which have a plec in each. One has a bulldog, and another has a bristlenose.
As long as you have good filtration you should be fine. I had overstocked my first 15gallon, before that one become 9 tanks To combat this I had two filters running, and also kept up water changes more often than would have been required.

Yes, this is not good practice, but when your starting out, you do get carried away, lol.

the two 15gallon tanks are also planted, and I rarely see the bulldog as he has a little cave under a peice of bogwood, and tend to come out at night. As for algae eating he doesnt do too much of that, well not where I can see he loves Sera Catfish Chips, which are suitable for Panaque and Plec as they contain willow, and alder wood. But I would still suggest bog wood with any plec.

Not all plecs eat the wood, but they do graze on the bacterial organisims that grow on the wood.

Well, on what ever plec or panaque you decide to get, I wish the best of luck as they are great fish, just becareful with your bristlenose if you get one, as when they get older they develop large spines in the cheeks, which can cause probs if you have the net them out, as they get stuck in the net, OR spike you, and trust me they can hurt



This post has been edited by §tudz: Jul 2 2006, 10:03 AM

Neal, no offence but you probably have one of the most grossly overstocked tanks, and is therefore in the position to least advise A bristlenose or two ? No.

Mako, Is your tank a 20 gallon high or long ? If it's a long, I might be tempted to add a small clown plec or something that matures around the 4" mark.

This post has been edited by Bloo: Jul 2 2006, 10:45 AM

You're at about 20 inches of total fish length, which puts you at the "rule of thumb" maximum of one inch per gallon.

I would definitely not put a pleco in that tank. Besides putting you over the fish stocking rule of thumb maximum, they are poop machines! So their impact on tank waste is much more than other species their size.

I have a 27 U.S. gallon tank, that had one pleco that was a little under 4 inches long. I just got rid of it, because I was vacuuming the gravel 3 times a day, to keep up with his poop!

I suggest you get a nice looking Corydoras instead, such as a leopard, or a peppered.

You could get a clown or bristlenose, rubbe