New 20Gallon Tank Needs Fish

[mrjingles]

Hi all,

I have a 20 gallon tank that has been running for over a year, we only ever had tiger barbs and a sucking loach, I now have the choice of a few fish to replenish the aquarium.

I have been offered a small bristle-nose catfish and 5 red fin tetras all about 1-2".

Would the Catfish be compatible with my 4"sucking loach? and also, is there enough room for the tetras?

Thanks in advance

 

[LilyRose Tank]

hi and welcome...the rule of thumb is 1 inch per adult inch of fish so the tetras are 1 and a half each the bristlenose vwill be just under 4 inches, tiger barbs are 2.75inches each, so if you add it up you can work out if you can have them all. is your filter too big or big enough, if its too big you may be permitted a few inches leaway. hope that helps

 

[mrjingles]

Hi Lily and thanks for the reply

I forgot to add there will only be the tetras and pleco and maybe the sucking loach if its compatible,

Will try working the tank space - fish now. thanks!

the filter is a fluval 2 so not too big I think

 

[LilyRose Tank]

Hi Lily and thanks for the reply

I forgot to add there will only be the tetras and pleco and maybe the sucking loach if its compatible,

Will try working the tank space - fish now. thanks!

the filter is a fluval 2 so not too big I think

ok so you will have plenty of room then....how many tetras? which ones are they?
the pleco is 3.75inches fully grown, Which loach is it?

 

[mrjingles]

Hi Lily and thanks for the reply

I forgot to add there will only be the tetras and pleco and maybe the sucking loach if its compatible,

Will try working the tank space - fish now. thanks!

the filter is a fluval 2 so not too big I think

ok so you will have plenty of room then....how many tetras? which ones are they?
the pleco is 3.75inches fully grown, Which loach is it?

There are 7 [font="arial]Colombian red tale tetras going in, the pleco and maybe the loach (chinese algae eater)[/font]

 

[LilyRose Tank]

Hi Lily and thanks for the reply

I forgot to add there will only be the tetras and pleco and maybe the sucking loach if its compatible,

Will try working the tank space - fish now. thanks!

the filter is a fluval 2 so not too big I think

ok so you will have plenty of room then....how many tetras? which ones are they?
the pleco is 3.75inches fully grown, Which loach is it?

the chinese algae eater can grow to 11 inchs which really is a bit big for your tank, they can be territorial and aggressive and may not get on with your tetras which may fin nip the algae eater, the pleco may get along ok with the tetras as they arn't aggressive. i'm only going by what i look up on the internet so wait for someone elses opinion too.


There are 7 [font="arial]Colombian red tale tetras going in, the pleco and maybe the loach (chinese algae eater)[/font]

 

[mrjingles]

Ok thanks, I may pass the loach on

 

[Wills]

Hi just to chip in here. The inch per gallon rule is flawed especially in this instance, your comparing an inch of a tetra to an inch of a plec in terms of stocking and the two create totally different amounts of waste and levels of activity are totally different as well. The plec will produce more poo than all of the tetras combined and the tetras will be on the move all the time, though quite subdued compared to some tetras they will look like they are on fast forward compared to the activity levels of the plec.

I think personally that columbians are too big and active to be in a 20 gallon tank. They get pretty big to about 3 inches as adults and its pretty amazing when you do see adults as to just how big they actually get. Perhaps a good alternative would be flame tetras or von rio tetras?

With the plec there are a lot of commonly traded bristlenose species so unless the supplier can give you an L number or scientific name or sp name etc its hard to work out just how big they can get but they do range from 3.5-6 inches depending on species. Just to know how hard it is to ID some plecs its down to their internal workings and number of spines in the fins etc along with the size but as juvenile your not able to judge the size in comparison. But if you can find a supplier with accurate names etc on the order sheets you could be in luck! Quite a few other L number plecs that could be suitable some of them are expensive but others are often similar prices to bristlenoses anyway. Any of the chaetestomas would be fantastic for your tank they mostly comprise of L187b L187a etc but quite different at the same time.

Agreed that the sucking loach needs to go, they are a very common problematic fish with aggression and in a small tank I wouldnt trust them. Again the size is massive as well. If you wanted something a bit similar maybe consider otos which are tiny little sucker fish that get to about just under 2 inches. But they need a mature tank which yours is I guess if its a year old but they are quite delicate.

Fluval 2 is a pretty good filter I think in your tank its roughly 4x times turn over an hour which is okay but if you can I would upgrade especially if you want a BN.

Hope thats helped

Wills