Stocking ? for 20g

TinaM

Hi Everyone! Newbie here. I have had a 20 gallon tropical freshwater tank for about 6 weeks. It is fully cycled and have the following:

3 Pearl Danios
1 Glo-Danio
1 long finned Zebra Danio
1 male MM Platy
1 male Black Molly
1 female Dalmation Molly
3 Julii cats

Three questions...
1) I feel kinda sorry for my lone Platy. Should I get him a Platy buddy?
2) Should I get another female molly? My black molly seems to be nice to her and is not harrassing her yet. Always have read the 1 to 2or3 ratio.
3) Do I have room for some type of sucker catfish/ algae eater. No algae yet, but want to be proactive. I currently use Omega One Veggie Rounds and the whole tank loves them! So I know I will have to provide some substance for the algae eater in the meantime. I was thinking of a snail, oto or small species of pleco.

Any suggestions would be welcome! Thanks!!

squishylittlefishies

yes, you might want to get another girl molly just to be safe. also, mollies like brackish water better, but can live in fw. for a bottom feeder you should get some otos or amano shrimps. both are adorable, and great algae eaters/cleanup. They both stay small and produce very little waste. plecos get HUGE and produce a lot ofwaste. snails are also huge waste producers, so keep that in mind. hope that helped

DragonFyre14

So two things, 1. The pearl danios should be in groups of 5 or more, julii corys (assuming thats what you mean by cats) should be in groups of 4 or more, and the glofish and longfin Zebra Danio will shoal together, but they still need a group of 5 or more.
2. the temperature requirements aren't entirely compatible... the molly's prefer higher temps, as do the julii corys, but the danios,glo fish, and Platy don't like the higher temps.

TinaM

Thanks. Picked up three otos today. They are so cute and immediately started sucking on the walls. Changed my mind on the pleco and snails due to the waste issue.

All my danios shoal together and play all day. I dont think they realize they are different. Wish I had their energy!

I wasn't aware that my tankmates had different temp requirements. Will this be an issue? The temp is steady at 78.

With the addition of the corys and otos I should NOT add salt to the tank. Correct??

DragonFyre14

I don't think the temp difference will be too much of a problem. It's not entirely healthy for the fish who need a temp that is out of the range you leave your tank at. at 78F it is slightly higher than what your danios and Platy's need. but it fits perfectly into the ranges your molly's corys, and otos prefer.

now keep in mind, since you have a female molly, your tank will be overrun with babies soon. (although with how many other fish you have in their, you may not have a big problem as long as there isn't a ton of places to hide) this could become a problem since i believe you are getting close to being overstocked.

As far as salt goes, some people say cory's can tolerate a tiny bit of salt in the tank, however, a lot of people (from other fish forums) say they can't tolerate any salt. So I guess I would err on the side of caution and not add any salt to the tank (at least while the corys are in there) Same goes for Otos. no salt for them. :)

fish monger

I'd forget about the salt and not worry about the temperature issue. 78 is a pretty safe temperature for most tropicals. Babies are always a big problem with live bearers, unless you want them and can manage them.