Stocking A 20 Gallon Fresh Water Tank

[lvbengal]

hello all....I am new on here and about 1 year into the hobby. I currently have a 40 gallon tank which i am keeping my goldies in, i have 3 of them about 4 inches all are fantial ruykins different colors and all have been with me for nearly a year....in this tank i also had a common pleco and i heard that mixing these 2 is not always safe so i went out and purchased a 20 gallon tank for him and moved one of the existing filters and media from the 40 gallon tank to the new one with some of the water and all his toys as well (driftwood,pirate ship where he spends most of the day,and a fake plant) a few days later i added 3 sliver mollies and 3 black mollies and so far about 4 days in they are all eating and look fine...I now want to add some more small tropical fish and i am new with tropical fish so please if anyone can give me an idea of what type and how many i can add to my existing 6 mollies and pleco (who is around 2 inches or less) that would be great...i have two filterS one is for a 10 gallon tank and the other for a 20 so i think i am fine there..
THANKS..

 

[waterdrop]

You may want to hold out for some more comments on the Pleco or an ID of it. If it really is a common pleco I believe they may grow to be too large for a 20G tank. It may be that if you really want to now get in to the tropical hobby it would help to be finding somewhere to re-home the pleco. After that you could consider some more stock for the 20G but as it is the pleco by himself might "overstock" the tank. (A given tank volume and appropriate filtration will only support a certain amount of fish body mass (what we call the bioload) and as you approach that, the amount of gravel-clean-water-changing you need to do goes way up and eventually can't keep up with nitrate(NO3) production.)

~~waterdrop~~

 

[lvbengal]

You may want to hold out for some more comments on the Pleco or an ID of it. If it really is a common pleco I believe they may grow to be too large for a 20G tank. It may be that if you really want to now get in to the tropical hobby it would help to be finding somewhere to re-home the pleco. After that you could consider some more stock for the 20G but as it is the pleco by himself might "overstock" the tank. (A given tank volume and appropriate filtration will only support a certain amount of fish body mass (what we call the bioload) and as you approach that, the amount of gravel-clean-water-changing you need to do goes way up and eventually can't keep up with nitrate(NO3) production.)

~~waterdrop~~

i had the pleco for nearly 7 months with the existing gold fish tank and with 50% water changes every month my water rating was perfect and none of the fish have been stressed out at any time...i understand the pleco can get large but as of now its not an issue per most of the pet store fish experts...perhaps in a year or two i would have to give him away or get him his own tank...but if you had some ideas about what small tropical fish enjoy the company of my 6 mollies that would be helpful...thanks

 

[waterdrop]

Well, since mollies generally require lots of mineral content, other fish that thive in that environment like livebearers could be considered: platies, guppies, swordfish, endlers and the like. It works really well to visit local shops and/or look online and develop a short list of potential favorites for members to comment on, since everyone's taste is so different.

I was just trying to prepare you for the fact that its possible the really good stocking people (Assaye, Curiosity101, Oldman47 et. al.) might feel that technically you were already significantly stocked, given the size the Plec can grow to. One of the principles of stocking usually is not to assume a fish will be re-homed necessarily, as unfortunately it becomes tougher and tougher to do as they grow larger. Not trying to give you a hard time about it, just trying to relate information openly. I could also be wrong!

Another great fish in a 20g is the Rasbora Heteromorpha (aka Harlequin) if stocked in a grouping of 6 or more. These are really hardy fish that tolerate a wide range of water chemistry and mature with increasingly rich iridescent pink/orange blend around the edges of a black trangle marking on the sides. Silver hatchets also make an interesting fish if you have a tight-fitting lid.

~~waterdrop~~

 

[lvbengal]

Well, since mollies generally require lots of mineral content, other fish that thive in that environment like livebearers could be considered: platies, guppies, swordfish, endlers and the like. It works really well to visit local shops and/or look online and develop a short list of potential favorites for members to comment on, since everyone's taste is so different.

I was just trying to prepare you for the fact that its possible the really good stocking people (Assaye, Curiosity101, Oldman47 et. al.) might feel that technically you were already significantly stocked, given the size the Plec can grow to. One of the principles of stocking usually is not to assume a fish will be re-homed necessarily, as unfortunately it becomes tougher and tougher to do as they grow larger. Not trying to give you a hard time about it, just trying to relate information openly. I could also be wrong!

Another great fish in a 20g is the Rasbora Heteromorpha (aka Harlequin) if stocked in a grouping of 6 or more. These are really hardy fish that tolerate a wide range of water chemistry and mature with increasingly rich iridescent pink/orange blend around the edges of a black trangle marking on the sides. Silver hatchets also make an interesting fish if you have a tight-fitting lid.

thanks....I am about to purchase a 120 gallon tank for my cichlids mix and i would want to move the pleco there once he is a bit bigger...thoughts?
~~waterdrop~~

 

[meguro]

a 120g tank will be much better for the plec than a 20g, make sure he still has places to hide though. what cichlids do u have? or is it a future plan?