Returning to proper stocking levels

Tetra Guy

Hey folks,

Made a hard choice I've been putting off. I've had to give away some of my fish, due to species incompatibility, tank size, ect... I've had these fish for some time. I gave them to an experienced aquarist. He was impressed with how healthy and vibrant they looked. So at least they will get a good home.

So Bryon was helping to guide me to a successful planted 20 gallon. I'm not done yet though. Here's my stocking now: 6 Lemon Tetras, 5 Neons, 3 Cherry Barb (1 male, 2 female), 4 Veil Tail Cherry Barb (1 male, 3 females), 2 Marble Hatchet Fish, 3 Ghost Glass Catfish, 1 Silver Tip Tetra, 1 Head & Tail Light Tetra, 1 White Skirt Tetra, 1 Pristella Tetra, 1 Clown Pleco, 1 Rosy Barb, 1 Gold Long finned Danio. I know I'm over stocked, so any help on narrowing this down to a good level would be much appreciated.

My tank is planted. Today I bought a 6,700 K Daylight tube to replace the 10,000 K out of my single T5 fixture. I noticed this light doesn't have a bluish hue to it, which is nice. The fish and decorations light up better.

I've been having some trouble getting my plants to perform wall, so hopefully this helps. I use flourish once a week, and API root tabs. I put a couple in about 3 weeks ago and have not noticed much change, again hopefully the new light will remedy this. The only other thing I can think of to help is CO2.

Thoughts on any/ all of this?

Maxillius

A little DIY co2 couldent hurt!
Just take a 2 litter bottle and a 500 ml one some yeast any kind will work but try and not get the quick riding one :P
mix 2 cup sugar like half a tea spoon of yeast and half the 2 l of warm not hot water, it should be a little hotter then body temperature, srill hole in the cap little smaller then the hose make sure you use a good drill bit to not have any leeks if you do just use super glue*silicon wont hold very long as you move the bottle some time the tubing bends and makes a gap in the silicon) run thi tube in the 500 ml bottle (this one should have 2 holes in it hehe) intoo water then another tube thats is not in water that comes out of it intoo the aquarium! to diffuse... nothing better then a un used cigarette filter, you just nee to wet it and squeez it a little. Mine last about 3 weeks with pizza yeast :P
(love to make my own pizzas :P) I put the tubing deep in my aquarium right under where my filter ejects water
the bubbles from the co2 follows the water and goes back down in the aquarium and alot of it just gets pushed back down untill they are simply gone.

Quantum

The skirt tetra and the silver tip can be a bit nippy, are larger tetras, and are more active, so upping the numbers of these would crowd the tank more.

The rosy barb needs a bigger tank (and needs to be in a group), same for the glass catfish.

Danios are really active and an group of these may make the other calmer species nervous.

I would start by trying to rehome these and the cherry barbs for similar reasons, then deal with he remaining fish. You only have room for a few groups so you wouldn't be able to get appropriate numbers for each. So, for the final stock something like: the lemons, neons (maybe add two more), upping the number of hatchets to six and maybe the plec (I think this species needs wood in its diet) would be nice - substitute one of these if you prefer another species. Having a few singles (like the head and tail light or pristella) shouldn't be a big issue, but if you could rehome them as well all the better.

Btw, did you get the coralife bulb I mentioned in the other thread?

Byron

I would not recommend CO2 in this situation. Plants do not need added CO2, and it will set up a new higher level for other nutrients and light. Given your (Tetra Guy) issues in that other thread, and the fact that you still have way too many fish in a 20g tank, I really cannot recommend you going down yet another different track.

Plant-wise, this should improve. I am not a fan of the API substrate tabs, others have used them and reported problems; don't remove them (they are said to really cloud the water if disturbed), just don't add any more. The Flourish Comprehensive once a week with the better lighting needs time to make its impact.

To the fish. What do you want in this aquarium, by which I mean, the sort of aquascape? Most of the remaining fish are shoaling fish that should have a few more in the group, but some have to go as there is not sufficient space. Do you have any favourites among what's left? This might be a good place for us to start building a compatible community.

Byron.

bigfish93

I have 7 Lemon Tetra in my 20 gallon aquarium with a few snails and that's it. I would recommend picking your favorite of the fish and getting a shoal of 7 or 8. That should just about fill up the tank. You could also add a substrate fish if you wish.

beetlebz

I keep glass cats in my 20g, and they might be my favorite fish of all. I keep mine with a bunch of cories, and a bolivian ram, and the tank does just stellar, fish wise. My ram is like a puppy. Just food for thought. There are a couple stray other fish that are old are singles (for the moment) and everyone gets along, and its an entertaining tank to watch.

food for thought.

Tetra Guy

I like the final stocking you suggest. I wish I could keep the Cherry Barbs, I like their look. I bought an Aqueon T5 fixture.

Tetra Guy

Fish wise, I would like a top species, Marble Hatchets, if possible, 2 middle species, like the Lemons, Neons or the Glass cats, and I already have a Clown Pleco, he has wood (he spends most of his time there) He comes out whenever I feed, I drop in a algea wafer about every 4 to 5 days. What about a corydorus for the bottom also?

Tetra Guy

He guys, I thought I would show some pictures of my tank. These pictures were taken a few days ago. I no longer have some of these fish. Can anyone help me identify my plant species?

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Tetra Guy

Here is a few of my shrimp tank, no shrimp yet. Same thing, does anyone know what plants these are. I have Duckweed in this tank, I know that one.

Also, when do you trim plants? As you can see some of these are growing out of the tank up against the tank lid, lol!

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