[wbentley142]

I have a 20 gallon tank and I want to know if its stocked well.
5x tiger barbs
2x dwarf gouramis
5x kuhli loach

aqadvisor said it's 77%, but I wanted to know what you think?

 

[jaysee]

I have a 20 gallon tank and I want to know if its stocked well.
5x tiger barbs
2x dwarf gouramis
5x kuhli loach

aqadvisor said it's 77%, but I wanted to know what you think?

Based on my experience with all those fish, it's not a tank that is stocked for long term success. Tiger barbs really need a much larger tank and a much larger school. What you will likely see is one fish emerge as dominant and the others hiding in the upper corners of the tank, behind the heater, filter, etc. This will lead to fish loss.

The dwarf gouramis are similar to bettas - they generally don't get along with each other, and the small tank will further feed into that. What you are likely to see is one hiding a lot, and then just dying one day.

Stress is a killer. Keeping them in stressful situations WILL shorten their lives. How much? Depends entirely on how stressful the environment is - may be negligible, may take years off.

I think swapping out the tiger barbs and one dwarf gourami for a group of 8-10 cherry barbs will set you up for success.

 

[jentralala]

Welcome to the forum!!

I agree with Jaysee, especially about the dwarf gourami. I have a male/female pair in a pond that's a pretty decent size, and even with all that space they still nip and chase each other. In a 20 gallon, it's very possible for some serious injuries.

Tiger barbs also get quite large and boisterous, and I wouldn't generally consider them good tank mates for gourami.

As for the kuhli loaches, what type of substrate do you have? Gravel or sand?

What are the parameters for your tank in regards to gh, kh, ph?

AqAdvisor is a good tool, but it doesn't always take into consideration all of the aspects, so it's not great to fully rely on it. When I use it, generally what I do is plug in the fish and do separate research on each fish, look at pictures/videos/journals and compile the best possible stock I can. This is truly key for successful fish keeping.