Another One Of The Old Questions.

[reeeedfish]

Yes, once again it's a stocking question.In a 20 gallon with 48 gallons of filtration in it, could i keep: 6 kuhlii loaches, 5 bleeding heart tetras, 5 marbled hatchets, ! bristlenose pleco and 1 spot finned spiny eel(peacock eel)?

 

[Inchworm]

Anyone have any thoughts on this?

 

[reeeedfish]

I guess not. Would the peacock eel eat the kuhliis?

 

[indigoj]

Unlikely the eel would eat khulis, what are the dimensions of the tank? Eels can be active (usually when you are not looking LOL)

 

[reeeedfish]

24X12X16 If needed he will go into my 55: 48X13x21

 

[JustKia]

I don't know about the tetras, hatchets and eel...
*checks species index*

Bleeding heart tetra - http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?showtopic=132423
Grows up to 3", is peaceful, prefer groups of 6 or more. 15+Gal recommended

Marbled hatchet - http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?showtopic=35071
Grows 1-2", is peaceful, prefer groups of 6 or more. Require tight fitting lid! Difficult to keep.

Peacock eel - http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?showtopic=41583
Grows to 14" (that would be a no for a 20Gal) - require 36" minimum tank, no other fish under 3" (or they may well end up as lunch), prefer to be kept in small groups not singly, can be difficult to feed.

Kuhli loaches - http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?showtopic=34956
Grows to 4" but is very slim bodied and low on the bio-load, happy in groups (the more the better), very peaceful.

Bristlenose Plec - http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?showtopic=42932
Grows to 4-5" need bogwood (maybe driftwood?) to rasp on to keep their guts working properly, very peaceful although maybe territorial to other ancistrus.

How did you calculate 48gal filtration? is that filtration for upto a 48Gal tank? or 48 gal per hour through the filter?

Forget the eel.
Say you had 6 of each tetra, hatchet that's around 24-30" of fish depending on size. I count my 6 kuhlis as one 4" fish (because their bioload is next to nothing) so 34" plus the plec (a poop machine so I multiply by 1.5) that's around 40" of fish.
It's probably pushing the limits, but if the filter is mature and there is plenty of it and you keep on top of water changes then you might get away with it.
For 20 Gal with 40" stocking I personally would want around 180-200Gal per hour of filtration.
In truthfulness would I do it, if I wanted those fish? Yes, probably, although I'd think twice about the hatchets given their fickleness.

 

[reeeedfish]

The filtration would be 48 gallons because I am using a Penguin 140 and a Tetra EX 20. So 140 divided by 5 is 28 and and the tetra filters 20 gallons, so 20 +28=48 gallons of filtration.

 

[JustKia]

Right so that's filtration for upto 48 Gal? Is that what you're saying?
Not getting much coming up on the penguin - are you saying it is for a tank of 140L? Why are you dividing by 5? What's it's flow rate?
Tetra (whisper?) Ex 20... 110Gal per hour, so that gives you at least 1/2 of what I personally would want.
If the penguin is as good then I'd be happy.

Another thing you might want to consider is what kind of media these filters have in them - I'd want something good for bacs like lots of ceramic noodles, some coarse sponges for mechanical filtration and some floss to control the fine debris.

 

[england]

I would say probally better looking at a halfbanded spiney eel,they max around 8inch's
best to have a sand based substrate, probally wouldnt add the khuli's,also try to have tank planted as much as possible