Stocking List.

Byron

Hi cheerfulmelody, and welcome to Tropical Fish Keeping forum.

Now to your issues. First, we have a section here called "Tropical Fish Profiles" that you can access via the second tab from the left in the blue bar across the top. In posts, if the name of a fish or plant is written exactly as it appears in our profile, it will be shaded so you can quickly see that fish/plant profile by clicking on the shaded name.

If the "algae" eaters are Otocinclus, they will be fine; check our profile for Oto Catfish for more info on this species and photos. If the fish is actually a Chinese Algae Eater, commonly sold as "algae" eaters, return them; as noted in the profile they are not suitable fish (and as they grow they eat less algae anyway).

A 20g is too small for angelfish, unless you had a breeding pair. As noted in the profile, they should be in a group as they are shoaling fish, and that means a 4-foot tank. Pterophyllum scalare is the species of the commonly-available angelfish.

Dwarf gourami have issues, again see the profile; I would suggest Honey Gourami are preferable in a 20g, note the info on numbers, etc. in their profile. Tankmates have to be carefully selected as it mentions.

Many fish, like the loaches, are shoaling fish which means to be healthy they need to be in a group; this must be considered when thinking about each fish, as it means adding several fish to the aquarium. And a 20g, while larger than the 10g, is still not very large.

Hope this helps a bit; ask away, we are all here to help out when we can.

Byron.

cheerfulmelody

Waiting for this evening so that I can get a good picture of the tank without the windows making a glare on the tank.

As far as my edited stocking list I think I will get 4 more loaches, and try to get a trio of honey gouramis.
Would a trio of the gouramis be enough of a group? Is it going to be difficult to find two females and a male? I like my peaceful tank and don't want any more males than needed so there will be no territory issues. All of my fish have come from Petsmart but am thinking of visiting a few of the specialty stores in the area. Are the khuli loaches and the honey gouramis something that these stores will carry?

Byron

A proper fish store is likely a better place to buy fish. They may (if lucky) have hobbyists for staff to help; they will sometimes take back fish on exchange if you do make a mistake--we all have. And they will likely have more variety and better quality fish.

One male and 2 female Honey Gourami would be fine. The photo in our profile shows a pair so you can better tell them apart.

Byron.

cheerfulmelody

Here is a clear photo of my tank currently. I have nice little lights but none of my photos in the dark came out very well before the battery died so I am waiting for it to charge.



I would like to add some more plants also. What kind should i get if I want something taller? I read that the gourami like to have top floating plants what kind would be best for them? If I go to a fish store do I have to worry about snails? I bought these because they said snail free and it has been true. These plants were a third of the size when I got them!

Byron

Those are sword plants, of the genus Echinodorus. They are most likely Echinodorus bleherae which is the most commonly seen sword in stores; other possibilities may be E. amazonicus or E. grisebachii. They will probably be close to the top of the water in a few months, and spread out. Check out our profile for E. bleherae, it is the most likely species.

Floating plants definitely for gourami, and most other fish too for that matter; it settles them. Water Sprite is ideal, or a stem plant left to float; Brazilian Pennywort and Wisteria work fine floating. All these plants are in our profiles, click on the shaded names. The two stem plants will also make good taller plants, as noted in the profiles.

Snails are a blessing in any tank; they perform cleaning you could never achieve. I am always glad to see them in my tanks--and I have hundreds (of snails I mean, not tanks--yet).

And one suggestion, a black background. Just plain black, or dark gray or dark brown, will make the fish and plants really stand out and provide some security for the fish. Fish really do like dark surroundings.

cheerfulmelody

Well things have been slow for our tank. Thought our loach had died but discovered it today hiding under the gravel. Had visited multiple local fish stores and hadn't found any that we wanted to purchase new fish from. Went to the flea market this morning purchased an additional heater and light strip and we were ready to set up the second tank. Went to one of the last specialty fish stores in our area today and loved it. We were looking for something flashy to highlight our tank and while I don't think they are the flashiest fish we got a pair of Kribensis Cichlid. (Their appearance is slightly different than the fish profile photo of them.) They are hanging our under one of our Amazon Swords that they have claimed as theirs and are starting to explore the tank. While there we also purchased a banana plant and three corkscrew val. We started moving the smaller platys to the second tank so they would not be dinner for the cichlids.

Attached Images

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	tank2.jpg (30.6 KB, 13 views)