Stocking My 20 Gallon

[Myuu]

I just got a twenty gallon long two weeks ago. I used my old filter, a penguin 100, from my ten gallon, and cloned another penguin 100 filter that a friend let me borrow. I wll replace the filters with a penguin 200 when I get the chance.

I put my old stock in the new tank two days ago. (It is my understanding that you can put fish in a cloned tank almost right away- I hope this is correct.) I current stock is one male honey gourami, two albino cory cats(used to have three), 6 neon tetras, and two mollies that my mom bought at a garage sale (-__-.

The mollies are going, where I'm not sure, but I'm getting rid of them. I wasn't sure what I wanted to put in my new tank, so I thought I'd ask for suggestions here. The only thing I KNOW I'm getting is two more corycats. I thought about maybe 3 kuhli loaches cuz those things are just so cute! I read that kuhli loaches don't add too much to the bioload, is this true?

I aslo wated a bamboo shrimp, but I'm not sure if my gourami would try to eat him. He's not aggressive with my other fish, infact, I think he's great friends with the corries!

I won't be putting anything else in anytime soo, as my tank is pretty bare at the moment. And the ammonia in the tank spiked a teeny bit the night I put my fish in, but I checked it yesterday, and it was going down. I will check again when I get home from school.

So, wat should I put in my tank? My pH is somewhere around 8.0 most of the time, but I haven't checked recently

 

[sylvia]

The reason your ammonai spiked, first of all, is because you should have added fish immediately after 'cloning' the tank. otherwise the bacteria simply begin to die out making the whole process quite pointless Remember that the bacteria rely on ammonia from your fish to survive and therefore need ammonia or else die out.

Kuhlie loaches add just as much bioload to a tank as any other fish their size. People tend to udnerestimate the amount of waste produced by bottom-dwelling or nocturnal fish because they can't see it. Do keep in mind that the 'inch epr gallon guideline' - that's very useful as a stocking guide - is based off very small fish like neons - so even a low-waste-producing-dream-kuhlie would be producing as much as, if not more than, those 3 neons that it's length is equivalent to

Your gourami would be fine with the shrimp as long as it's fully grown. Make shure the shrimp has somewhere to hide though.

Exactly what are your plans for this tank then?
If you're planning 1 honey gourami, 4 cories, 6 neons and 3 kuhlies, your tank would be pretty much fully stocked. You could add maybe a trio of platies or guppies or endler's or something along those lines (or maybe 2 female honeys if your current one is a male) but not realy much else.

The mollies, however, will need to be re-homed (or taken to an LFS) before you add anything more.

 

[Myuu]

I did add the fish right away, 'cept catching the neons was really hard. Me and my sister had to tag-team to get them.

I would LOVE some endlers if I could find them. I also can't seem to find female honey gouramis.

I won't get more fish for a while, as my tank is pretty much bare. And I'm defenetly getting rid of the mollies. I don't like mollies.. >>

Thanks for the help! *can't wait to get kuhli loaches* ^^