Stocking Opinions

[Durbkat]

That is the perfect substrate for corys.

 

[onemisterchristian]

I wouldn't recommend ottos. They're awfuly hard to acclimate. Plus they need a constant established algae diet for them. They are a fairly fragile fish and need a lot of maintenace.

 

[dreworz5]

yeah. thats what it sounded like when i read a profile on them.

 

[onemisterchristian]

It seems like you like bottom dwellers? Have you looked @ goo obo gudgeons? Gobies, or maybe a couple of smaller plecos i.e. ancistrus I beleive.

 

[dreworz5]

nope, ill google them now

i would like to ave a nice mix of both bottowm, and middle

 

[dreworz5]

how about 3 corys, 6 black tetras, maybe 3 ottos, and either a couple zebras or another kind of tetra??

 

[teaker1s]

partly number two
I don't know why bala sharks are so popular as I would guess that 90% of people have too small tanks, personally I dislike tiger barbs as I've seen a lot of fin nipping.
cories are nice.
depending on what region you decide on maybe ram (microgeophagus ramirezi) as black neon tetra's are s.america as well as long as the rams didn't try to attack them if they are small

 

[dreworz5]

how big do rams get?

 

[onemisterchristian]

About three inches, generally smaller. But i'm no expert so...
German blue ram
Bolivian Ram

Or you could also do a trio of apistos
Apistogramma Panduro
Cockatoo Dwarf Cichlid

Whatever you chose make sure you do a lot of good research to make sure you can maintain the fish you like. Godd Luck. Hope I was of some assistance.

 

[Durbkat]

how about 3 corys, 6 black tetras, maybe 3 ottos, and either a couple zebras or another kind of tetra??

No you can't have danios, they are to active for a 20g I believe the minimum tank size for danios is a long 20g. I wouldn't get another kind of tetra because you would have to get at least 5 of them and that would really over stock your tank. What about 6 black widow tetras, 3 ottos (from what onemisterchristian said, don't expect them to live very long unless there is a constant algae supplier or I think you can feed them algae wafers till more algae builds up), 5 corys then I'd say your set.

 

[Nevergone815]

The big no-no in either setup is the bala shark. Baka sharks are schooling fish, they grow big, they are highly active. 90 gallons is probably a minimum. And a lonely bala shark is going to be just that-lonely!

Tiger barbs- well, a lot smaller than balas, obviously, but tank is still on the small side; as Durbkat says they are very active.

I think you should go for scenario 3:

5 cories

and either 8 black neons

or 6 lemon tetras

You could perhaps cut down the number of cories to 3, and have two small schools of say 6 tetras each.

i agree with dwarfgourami

you're tank (whether you did it on purpose or not) is set up ideally for a school of cories. try to get the same kind as they will school and interact better. others will do fine if you like variation but may or may not interact like a same species school.

here would be my suggestion (based off of my tank and others that i have observed)

3 cory cats
6 black neons
6 lemon tetra
3- otto cats

or

3-5 cory cats or 3 otto cats
8 tiger barbs

the tiger barbs are provided that your tank is long, which it looks like it is a regular 20 gal. they need a whole lot of room to chase each other around!

 

[qwikimpss]

Corys are awesome but if you want some nice bottom dwelling species you could go with some Boita genus loaches. I just got some Yo-Yo Loaches over the weekend and love them. You could have 2-3 in there if you wanted, but Corys are little charmers.

I just want to interject that I disagree with the opinion that Ottos are hard to keep. I have had spectacular luck with mine but not everyone has the same experience and everyone has their own opinions.

 

[dreworz5]

3 cory cats
6 black neons
6 lemon tetra
3- otto cats


this wouldn't be over stocking??

 

[Nevergone815]

3 cory cats
6 black neons
6 lemon tetra
3- otto cats


this wouldn't be over stocking??

well i wasn't really thinking lol. i was thinking more for the 55 gal tank. i meant to say that otos added for 55 gal and put in parentheses "(only if upgrade to 55 gal)" i don't know much about lemon tetras, black neons and otto cats but a lot of people have them in tanks with a whole bunch of other fish. i personally think that cories can go in just about every tank and personally as long as you have a balance of bottom, top and middle dwellers you can "overstock" to an extent.

what most people don't understand and that i learned is that there is a lot of gray area in the fish world as well as the rest of the pet industry. there is no black or white (no certainties). look at my tank set ups and i have no problems. even with the male betta in with the platties. a lot of people couldn't get this to work but i did and it was due to fish temperment.

from what i have observed is that black neons grow the same size as regular neon tetras, cardinal tetras and bloodfin tetras. if he wants a good school could involve (now that i think about it):

3 cory cats
3 neon tetras
3 black neon tetras (assuming they are like the others)
3 bloodfin tetras
3 cardinal tetras

the tetras will all school together in the middle of the tank and be a colorful school and the cories will sweep up the leftovers from them missing food

this is providing that all the above tetras grow the same size (stay small)

i am just throwing out suggestions

if people don't think this will work they are entitled to their own opinion as am i

as for the overstocking i really don't know how big the ottos get i didn't do much research on them since i don't PLAN (key word) on getting them. i prefer cories so you can choose either the cories or ottos if it will make you feel better

 

[Durbkat]

the tiger barbs are provided that your tank is long, which it looks like it is a regular 20 gal. they need a whole lot of room to chase each other around!

I wouldn't get tiger barbs because tttnjfttt said that he wouldn't put them in anything under a 30g.