I Really Need Help With Stocking My Tank!

[zophie]

Hi,
I'm sorry but I really need help with this...

Will these fish work in a 20 gallon planted tank?

6 White Cloud Mountain Minnows
6 Cardinal Tetras
3 Female Pearl Gourami

Ami I over stocking my tank?

I'm sorry, but I am a total newbie here...

Zophie

 

[zophie]

Any ideas???

 

[AstonN24vantage]

sounds okay, but gouramis grow big, so though that might not be overstocking right off the bat, it may eventually become an issue.

 

[arobinson1984]

I wouldnt keep the white cloud mountain minnows with cardinals, simply due to the difference in temperature they prefer.

WCMM's are a sub-tropical fish and would prefer lower temperatures in the range of 18-24 celcius whereas cardinal prefer it warmer, closer towards 28 celcius.


Andy

 

[waterdrop]

Yes, didn't realize Andy's post was here.. was coming in to say the same thing, that WCMMs like it cooler. But if you drop those, the stocking seems good to me, as far as quantity and other things go. Pearls don't get quite as big as some of the largest gouramis but I believe they could still get all the way up in the 3 to 4 inch range when they are old. Meanwhile, neons/cards are such a light bioload that you can expand your shoal somewhat beyond what you think and still be ok. I believe the Pearls will enjoy the same softer, more acid water (ranging to neutral water) that the neons/cards will. Note of course that you will want to stock the Pearls for the remaining months after the fishless cycle ends until you reach about 6 months, at which point you'd start introducing your neon/card batches from your quarantine tank (if you've set one up, otherwise you'd just go for the healthiest ones possible and cross your fingers, which is not unreasonable if you're a beginner with only your first main tank.)

~~waterdrop~~