how manny mollies?

Tyler burkett

im setting up a tank that is 2ft by 1ft(around 20 gal.) with a bumble bee catfish and i want to put dalmatian mollies in it. that said i know they need a school and i need to know how many i can put in my tank so its not crowded and there are enough mollies to have a healthy school.

Tyler burkett

i actually have decided on a pair of German blue rams but i want a non pleco bottom feeder because i currently have a Clown Pleco in my Betta tank that i am urgent to move into the 20 gal tank with the rams. if i can put more bottom feeders what would be good.

DragonFyre14

I'm not sure if you are still intending on getting mollies, but the recommended 'school' size for any fish is usually about 5. However, I don't believe Mollies need a school. If you plan on breeding them, get about 1 male for every 2 or 3 females.

As far as bottom feeders go, If you already plan on moving the Clown Pleco into the tank, I'm not sure you really need any other bottom feeders. Especially since the bumblebee catfish is typically a bottom dwelling fish.

Tyler burkett

im not going to get the bumble bee because i want the rams and i need to put the clown in there. i was thinking 6 dwarf loaches would look nice and im still going to feed the bottom feeders.

DragonFyre14

Okay. Well I still think that if you were to get too many more bottom feeders the bottom of your tank is going to be a bit over crowded (on the bottom at least). If that doesn't really bother you, I guess you could try the dwarf loaches but make sure they all have enough room.

Tyler burkett

there is plenty of hiding spots and my Clown Pleco prefers to stay on plant leaves and he is pretty shy but i have it all planed out so there is a high and low bottom level.

Byron

If it is your intention to spawn the rams and raise the fry (or have them survive), I would not have the pleco. At night most any catfish (which are nocturnal or semi-nocturnal) will easily eat the eggs or the fry.

Dwarf loaches need a group of course, say 5 minimum, which would work. To my knowledge they are not active at night, but even so they are pretty good at exploring every nook and cranny and might still manage to get the eggs/fry, so just bear that in mind.

You will also need a group of upper-water fish to keep the rams settled, what we term dither fish. On their own, all dwarf cichlids can be very shy, but having other fish swimming around with and above them tends to settle them. But here you are getting into space issues, in a 20g, esp with the loaches. For suitable upper fish, have a look at the smaller characins (pencilfish, hatchetfish, some of the tetras) and rasbora (medium-sized species, like those in Trigonostigma). A group of 6-7 of one of these.

Byron.

Tyler burkett

so i can go with the pair of rams,my Clown Pleco,5 dwarf loaches,and a school of tetra.what tetra would do good with them.i found all of the water parameters for all the fish and there is almost no room to go up in down with pH,temp,and hardness.so i need a tetra that can fit this small range of water parameters.if need be i can do without the loaches.but if i can replace them with something smaller that would be even better.

Byron

First, the Blue Ram is not an easy fish. And if you want a pair, make sure you observe the fish in the store tank and then choose an obvious bonded pair. This fish will not accept just any mate, and in the confines of a 20g that will mean a dead fish in no time if they have not bonded. Also, they need warmth, 82F, or absolutely no less than 80F. Not all shoaling fish can manage in this, but several can. Another water parameter issue is the GH and pH. If the rams are commercially-raised, as they will be unless you get them from a direct importer, they need to stay in water very close to that in which they were raised. This beautiful fish has a 4+ year life span, but sadly it seldom lasts half this long solely due to all of the fore-going.

There are a few cory species that do fine in warm water, and one is Corydoras sterbai [click the name for the profile with photos]. Another is Corydoras leucomelas. These might be better than the Dwarf Loach. Same issue with eating eggs/fry of the ram though, just so you know.

Tetra. Cardinal Tetra and Green Neon Tetra manage in warmer water, but it must be soft and slightly acidic. Check through the profiles, there may be others I can't think of off the top of my head.

Byron.

Tyler burkett

i actually have decided that i will put the clown in my other tank if its ok to put it with the corys. and i will have the ram tank.so tell me whats the best way to stock my tank to complement my rams? i am not worried about the eggs getting eaten because they wont be able to stay in the tank anyways.so whats the best fish that makes the rams my centerpiece but brings life to the the other levels.