Overstocked?

[Corycats]

Hi, I've only been on this site for a bit, but everyone seems very nice! I have a 20 gallon high, with two caves, several plastic/cloth plants, and an EX20 filter, with airstone and electric provider suitable for 40 gallons. So far, we have one cherry shrimp, one dwarf gourami, two albino corydoras, two black neon tetras (one died...), three longfin zebra danios, and three other small tetras. The tank is established, all are doing well, levels are good, and my mom wants a pleco. Why, I don't know. But I've heard a BN is the best, but we have no driftwood. Would we have to get some driftwood to go with it? Also, would a BN or Clown be better?

 

[attibones]

Both plecos would be too large for your tank. If you are looking for more bottom-feeders, add at least four more Cory cats of the same variety. I would say that you are technically fully stocked, but if you do water changes twice a week and maybe get an additional filter, your current stocking (and future stockin if you add the extra corydoras) would be manageable.

 

[Corycats]

Thanks! Hmmm... I'll have to talk to my parents.

 

[Lunar Jetman]

If you go by the accepted rule of thumb that for every gallon you can have one inch of fish your tank should be able to accommodate around twenty inches of fish. I'd say you have about 13-15 inches of fish and I think you'd be better placed upping the number of fish you already have rather than getting anything different. The corys, danios and tetras you already have all should really be in shoals of 5-6 so if it were me I'd re-home all the tetras and get 4 more albino corys and 3 long finned danios and that will bring you up to capacity.

If your mum really wants a Pleco I'd suggest you get a bigger tank so you can accommodate one properly.

 

[This Old Spouse]

+1 Jetman.

 

[Corycats]

We just added another cory, which was cute to watch, along with two more tetras. All the schoolers pretty much swim together (Danio or tetra...), and the corys play together occasionally. We also have four ghost shrimp. Sorry, I didn't get a chance to read your replies..

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