My South American Tank

[Khalil]

This is my 20 gallon South American themed tank, stocking is as follows:

4 Angelfish
5 Marbled Hatchetfish
8 Cardinal Tetras
6 Black Neon Tetras
10 Glowlight Tetras
5 Julii Cory
3 Ottos

The plants I have in there are:

Amazon Sword
Apongeton
Pennywort
Water Sprite
Italian Vallisneria
Corkscrew Vallisneria
Java Moss
Duckweed

I was thinking of adding some more plants, any suggestions/ comments are welcome!

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[SombreroBanana]

Your tank seems really overstocked to me. But other than that, you should look at amazon frogbit. It's a really cool floating plant. I also really like anubias of all kinds. Check those out.

 

[gregswimm]

Too many fish. I would drop the ottos, there are just about the most difficult FW fish. Drop 2 angles, the glowlights, the black neons and the hatchetfish and the cardinals add 6 black phantoms and 3 more corries and you should be good.

Also, watersprite is asian, as is java moss

Edit: Angles eat neons/cardinals in the wild.
Edit 2: Also, if you aren't going to use sand, pass on the corries.

 

[gregswimm]

Shoot, almost forgot. If you plan on keeping your water soft then pass on the vals. And Brazilian penneywort is a good substitute for watersprite.

If you can get a 29g (30x12x18), a 20 is tiny, and it would have to be a 20g tall (24x12x16) to house angels.

 

[Khalil]

I've always heard that Ottos were hard to keep however I've been keeping them for 11 years with no problems. I do realize that this is not a true South American tank, hence the Asian plants, or any plants for that matter rather than roots. The tank is overstocked by typical aquarium calculators, however I base my stocking on the levels in my tank and how the fish are getting along. I appreciate you pointing out the stocking issues however. I do plan on obtaining a larger tank in the near future. I also have two back up tanks in the event that the ammonia or nitrate levels begin to get out of hand. I love black phantoms, I actually almost got them for this tank. I wanted to test a theory I heard regarding piranhas in that they do not attack cardinal tetras in the wild because they do not consider them worth the effort of eating when they see them in a large shoal. This is why I have so many small tetras, the Angels do not harass them in any way. The pH is not as soft as I would like it, I'm experimenting with some acids now actually to find different ways to lower the pH without harming the fish, as I have found that store bought pH lowering solutions have no lasting effects beyond four hours. Sorry about the really long reply. I have been looking at putting sand in the tank, I love the look! Haven't been able to find any in a smaller quantity however.

 

[Khalil]

Sorry forgot to mention, the tank actually is 24x12x20, also I love the Brazilian Pennywort and will definitely be getting some more! Also the barbels on the catfish are healthy and not worn out so the pebbles I have seem to be smooth enough. Sand is definitely better though no question!

@SombreroBanana: I will definitely be checking out Amazon Frogbit! I do like Anubias they tend to grow very slowly though, at least in my experience. I'll look into more varities though, I'm looking for something reddish to make the tank stand out a little more.

 

[Chad]

I love frogbit. I just put some in my tank a couple of weeks ago and am in the process of getting all the duckweed out of it. Frogbit is a much better floating plant than duckweed though I like them both.

 

[gregswimm]

Your angels are too small to harass the neons, once the angels are fully grown then they should.

The issue with the amount of fish is the nitrate buildup. I can see you having lots of trouble keeping it under 40ppm.

Use RO water if you want low pH. Keep your KH below 3 dKH and inject CO2, you should easily be able to keep it at 6.5. Anything above 5-6dKH will likely cause your pH to bounce all over the place. I wouldn't bother messing with the pH if you can't use RO. Also vals like hard water, they tend to melt in low calcium conditions. Also, go heavy on the Iron supplements, both in the water column and in root tabs (API root tabs have the highest iron count if i remember correctly).

Duckweed makes for great nutrient export, but it also takes lots of trace elements with it.

 

[SombreroBanana]

@SombreroBanana: I will definitely be checking out Amazon Frogbit! I do like Anubias they tend to grow very slowly though, at least in my experience. I'll look into more varities though, I'm looking for something reddish to make the tank stand out a little more.

If you want something reddish, check out ludwigia repens.

 

[Questions?]

2 angelfish in a 20 gallon tank is too much by itself. they can grow to be 1 foot tall and 8 inches wide. ottos are hard to feed since the only thing they will eat is algea and they like really soft water. and im pretty sure the temperature of the all fish are not compatible

 

[gregswimm]

2 angelfish in a 20 gallon tank is too much by itself. they can grow to be 1 foot tall and 8 inches wide. ottos are hard to feed since the only thing they will eat is algea and they like really soft water. and im pretty sure the temperature of the all fish are not compatible

pHe doesn't have WC P.altumns, His should still get at least 8" tall if not 10". IME, people are going to keep what they want to keep regardless of the tank they have....

 

[Chad]

Your right, they will, but I still try to politely urge them not to. At least then I feel I've done my part. What they do after that is up to them.

 

[Khalil]

The temps of the fish are just fine very much compatible..... I just tested the water today and after not changing the water or adding anything for just over a week here are the readings:

NO3: 30 ppm
NO2: 0 ppm
GH: 150 ppm (a tad over actually)
Chlorine: 0 ppm
KH: 150 ppm
pH: 7.3

Vals do well in just about any water, but yes I am going heavy on the iron supplements. I'm definitely going to be getting some Frogbit, the duckweed just ended up in my tank with the other plants and quickly started covering the surface. It does look awesome looking down on the tank and seeing all the coverage, keeps the lighting darker too! My ottos are doing well, their bellies are nice and fat!

I do have a lot of experience with ottos... and no I do not plan on keeping the Angels in this tank... as I have said before. This was never my intention since they do grow to quite a large size. Also if they start picking on any of my fish then I will remove them, I have 12 tanks at the moment and plan on having more by this summer if I need to remove any fish it can be quickly and easily done. the tank will be of a suitable size for the Angelfish for the next six months until I can rehome them, I was just getting an idea of what fish might work with Angels. I appreciate all your comments, I hope I don't come across as mad, I merely don't appreciate snide remarks.

 

[Chad]

I appreciate all your comments, I hope I don't come across as mad, I merely don't appreciate snide remarks.

You don't come across as mad at all but for my part the comments weren't meant to be snide. What I have found with angels and others can either confirm or refute, is when they get full grown they change temperament. What fish they are fine with at 6 months to a year they pick on at a year to a year and a half.

I like frogbit quite a lot. I like duckweed too but it's problematic sometimes.

 

[Khalil]

I didn't find your comments snide at all! I agree also that Angelfish temperaments can change, its been a while since I last kept them but I remember them being perfectly fine with smaller Glowlight Tetras and then after about two years they finally realized they could eat them since they started disappearing. I didn't have a very large shoal though so I thought if I tried a larger shoal of tetras it could turn up different results. Either way I know you all are just interested in the well being of the fish, and that's what I appreciate!