I just can't figure out how many fish I can have
 

Hello everyone,

I'm new to this website and forum but I've had my 20 gallon freshwater tank for about a year now. It is stocked with 7 Sunburst Platy fish; the biggest one being possibly an 1" 1/2 long. They are very small fish and are doing very well.

I've had them since December of last year and besides them being in the tank I have one Anubius plant and 3 Mondo Grass plants. I use a Marineland Penguin Bio-Wheel 100 filter system, a bubble wall and the temp is a steady 75 degrees.

I do a 20% water change every two weeks using only API products. I use Stress Coat and Stress Zyme when changing the water. I feed frozen Brine Shrimp a few times a week as well as feed them API tropical flake food.

Can I add anymore fish? If so what would you recommend adding? I'd like something other than Sunbursts if possible.

i would reccomend adding guppies. they are prittier than sunburst platies and petsmart just started carrying male cobra guppies.

You can certainly add more fish. Maybe some corys, dwarf gourami, etc. I just want to let you know (and I bought these also without knowing) that mando grass is not an aquatic plant. It will slowly deteriorate and die and provide no benefits to your tank. They do look nice for a while. Along with some new fish, you might think about adding plants. They will really help with water quality. Look up plants that meet your lighting and decorating taste.

Do you know if your 7 platy are all male or all female? I would assume one or the other, or you would have fry appearing, and this is important because they will survive and greater affect the tank's biology.

Assuming the platy are all one sex, then a few other fish are OK. Some substrate fish, someone mentioned corys, and perhaps a Whiptail catfish for something unusual. Presumably your water is medium hard and the pH is basic (above 7) to suit livebearers, so this has to be considered when selecting new fish.

If getting guppy, make sure they are all male, same issue as above. Other fish options with what you have, and assuming medium hard basic water, might be Pristella Tetra, Zebra Danio, etc. These fish need small groups, 6-7 of each. Not suggesting all these will fit, just one species in a group of 6 or 7.

You will note that the fish names above shaded; that means the species is in our fish profiles, and you can click the name to see the profile with information, specific needs, and photos.

Byron.

Mondo Grass?
 

You were right about the Mondo Grass. I've already started to notice it deteriorating and little "thread like" blades are everywhere. I might as well just throw them away or do you know if they can be planted in a pot like a regular plant? I appreciate all the information you have provided. What types of plants would you recommend other than the Anubius I already have. Have you seen the "moss balls" they have out? I heard these were pretty good but I didn't know if it was just a gimmick PetSmart has to get you to buy something that looks kind of cool. What types of plants do you have?

You could probably plant the mondo grass in a pot. I have heard that it is actually used as a border plant in gardens. I've seen the moss balls but, I don't know anything about them. Lots of people like them. I have sagittaria (broad and narrow leaf and dwarf), crpyt . wendtii, water sprite, green cabomba, corkscrew vallisneria, amazon sword. These are in three different tanks. I've seen some very nice looking setups with only one or two types of plants. If you have the bulb that came with your tank, you probably have low/moderate light. The anubias you have are good for that. Most of the crypt plants would work. Letting some water sprite float would work as it would be close to the light. There are lots of possiblities. I buy my plants online at aquariumplants.com because I don't know of any places around here that have a good selection. By the way, I see that we're neighbors ! Good luck and have fun !