The minnows are not tropical fish and therefore wouldn't be compatible with your platies.
Also, platies should be in groups where the females outnumber the males. This may not be an issue now - but it will be once they are realy settled in and mature.
I assume the tank's cycled BTW?
I have read that minnows are naturally not tropical fish, but will be fine in a tropical tank. Was that wrong?
I have also read about the platies being an issue, so thank you, I'll make sure to get a female or two.
And yes, the tank is cycled.
Avoid dwarf gouramies - especialy in a new tank. You can try honey gouramies (colisa chuna/sota) instead. Males are especialy beautiful but these fish do best kept as a trio (1 male, 2 females). They grow to 1.5" and are far more hardy than the extremely fragile dwarfs (not so much a sensitive species - dwarfs simply are extremely susceptible to disease).
That's what I had heard about Dwarfs, hence why I posted here just to check with people and such. I believe they have Honey Gouramis. Would one male be okay alone? If not, would a trio plus my platies be overstocked?
If with the white clouds/minnows you were looking for a suitable schooling fish, I'd suggest some harlequin rasboras. They are hardy but they also are the best schooling fish (IMO anyway) in the sense that they are one of a very few species that actualy will swim around together.
I've also always liked black phantom tetras and they are extremely appealing also in that they are easy to sex with only the females posessing red coloration whereas the males make up for this by having amazing banner-like finnage. They also have lovely irridescent coloring which catches the light and is realy very beautiful and they can also quite rapidly change from a very dark, almost black, to quite a pale color according to their mood.
Danios of all sorts are also another firm favourite and hardy fish - zebra danios are obviously the most 'staple' but there are quite a few other simialrly-sized species that I think are nice. Some of the rarer varieties are especialy rewarding and there are some absolutely beautiful danios out there. They have the added appeal of being very easy to breed.
All the above are schooling fish. It would be best to stick with just one of those species (ie: just the tetras or just the danios or just the barbs) and get a school of 5-6.
I'll take a look around for some Rasboras then, thank you. No Black Phantom tetras at my LFS, sadly. I was also strongly considering Zebra Danios; I've read great things about them!
In terms of bottom-dwellers, cories of all shapes are lovely but I especialy like shwartzi, leucomelas and your typical aenus (bronze) cories. These social little catfish do best in a group of at least 4 of their own kind. I find it difficult to believe that you can't find cories locally BTW - you must be mistaking them for something else.
Having said that, maybe look at dwarf chain loaches as an alternative. I've always thought they are equaly adorable and prove to be just as active once settled in. Another loach you could consider is the kuhlie but these hide most of the time (though it's lovely when you do see them). Avoid the large loaches such as clowns that are so readily sold - these grow huge and realy are not suited to a 20 gallon no matter what else you are told!
I'm not mistaking them at all. They had one tank for Pandas, which has been empty for quite awhile and they used to have another kind, but I forget what and I wasn't sure about those seeing as though I hadn't read about them at all. Kuhli loaches are looking pretty appealing!
Oh, one more suggestion for a schooling fish would be the threadfin rainbow - if you can find them. Their shape and small size makes them ideal. Praecox rainbows are also beautiful but, for some reason, I never felt particularly impressed by them. You may well disagree. BTW, always ignore rainbowfish' colors in LFSs - they brighten up only once settled into the stable environment of your tank.
Remember to look up any fish you are considering both elsewhere on the internet and here and ask about your stocking plan before you implement it to make shure you won't be over-stocking.
Don't believe my LFS has Threadfin Rainbows, at least not to me memory. I always make sure to do my research and post about things either here, or another forum. Thank you so much for the in-depth response! Hopefully the few questions I raised won't irritate people too much, haha. Thank you!
