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i have a 20 gallon, 3 year old tank.
currently i have:
2 angelfish
2 bandit corydoras
6 harlequin rasboras
1 clown plecostomus

i would like to get rid of the angelfish and maybe the clown plecostomus.
then stock it with this:
11-12 harlequin rasboras
5 bandit corydoras
1 dwarf gourami
(?)1 clown pleco
or...
15 harlequin rasboras
3 bandit corydoras
1 dwarf gourami
(?)1 clown pleco

but these are some of my problems:
1. should i get rid of the clown pleco?
2. what could i do instead of the bandit corydoras?
3. should i do a dwarf gourami or do more harleys or bandits(or other fish)
4. would a dwarf gourami be fine living in a 7 gallon tank or not?
5. or any other suggestions for stocking as long as there is a huge school of harlequin rasboras

this summer i would also like to redo gravel, add driftwood, add real plants if i can buy a 7 gallon tank that i can setup to keep the 6 harleys and remaining bandits and maybe the clown pleco in until i am done. would fill with some old water from 20 gallon. would this work???

why does this have to be sooo complicated!!!

kj fishy-finn <*)))><
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11-12 harlequin rasboras
5 bandit corydoras
1 dwarf gourami
(?)1 clown pleco

I think that sounds good. Except, I would up the cories to atleast 6...maybe even 8.

I like the idea of a centerpiece fish, but I too like big schools of fish.
You can still have a big school of 12 and have a centerpiece too.

If the clown pleco isn't hurting anything, i would just leave him in there. I don't think they do as good a job at eating algae as other plecos and ottos, but I would keep him anyways. If the algae is too much for him then I would look into a different type.

You could have any type of cories. There may be some smaller loaches, but someone else will have to give you those names, because I don't know which ones are smaller.

I am not sure about the DG in a 7g. I have kept one in a 10g before. I actually don't find them very interesting, so its your choice whether to get one or not. What are the dimensions of the 7g? That may decide if he would be ok in there.

If you are only planning to put the fish in the 7g for a short time (like a few hours) they will be ok while you redo the 20g. I wouldn't keep them in there long though. The pleco alone would produce enough waste to stock the tank. If you don't leave them in there too long, then you really don't have to worry about a cycle or anything. Maybe put some gravel and water from the 20g into the 7g. That way you will have some gravel to put into the newly redesigned 20g and hopefully prevent a mini-cycle.

Definitely get rid of the angels. They would be much happier in a 29g or larger. Really for 2, a 40g tall tank would be the minimum.

Good luck! Hope this helped some.

*Kristin*

the clown pleco doesnt really do any cleaning that i know of because i still have to wipe algae off the front of the tank everytime i clean it. i may just get rid of him. do you really need to have an algae eater???

kj fishy-finn <*)))><
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From my knowledge the clown plecos arent really that good at eating the algae I think they are in the wood eater category.I think they might also feed on detrius sp?

I would say if you looking for algae eaters that stay kinda small go with ottos or you might look into bristlenose plecos i think it should stay about the same size as a clown but they do a much better job with the algae.

but should i go with catfish to eat left over food or an algae eater??? which is more required in an aquarium??? do you even need either of them except for the reason to have fish in all levels of tank???

kj fishy-finn <*)))><
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Cory Catfish eat leftover food and you have them anyway.

You don't NEED an algea eater. In my aquarium i have no algea, but that's because there are about 200 Common Pond Snails i am desperatly trying to get rid of. When they are all gone however, i am considering a few Ottos. You can carry on scraping it off, but that usually ends up quite messy for me, so i would consider a few ottos.

12 Harlequin Rasboras
6 Bandit Corys
1 Dwarf Gourami (or other gourami of choice)
3-5 Ottos

I think that would be ok.

At the moment, you are really overstocked, but if you remove the 2 Angels & the Clown Pleco, you can add more Corydoras & Harlies. So i would suggest this setup:-

6 Bandit Corydoras & 12 Harlequin Rasboras

or

6 Bandit Corydoras, 8 Harlequin Rasboras & 1 Dwarf Gourami.


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what could i do instead of bandit corydoras that are fun to watch and keep???

from what i read, do ottos eat algae and waste off the bottom of the tank like cories???

what is a common cory that is 1in. long that is easy to care for??? then i could do 15 harlies and 3 2in fish or 7 1in fish.

kj fishy-finn <*)))><
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Bronze Corydoras are very easy to keep & they eat food from the bottom of your tank, but they don't eat Algae & Otos eat mostly Algae. All Corydoras are quite active, if they are kept in a schoal, but i find Albino Corydoras are really active. Bronze & Albino Corydoras get about 2 inches in size.


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what about Corydoras habrosus known as Dainty cory or salt&pepper catfish? or Corydoras pygmaeus known as Dwarf or Pygmy corydora? any more info on them besides in profiles? are they easy to find in fish stores?

kj fishy-finn <*)))><
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Dwarf Corys are good. I don't know much about either of the species, but you could definatly have 6+

IME the smaller cories are hard to find. It all depends on what your LFS stocks though. It seems like you are using the inch per gallon rule. I don't like that rule. It is ok for beginners, but doesn't really apply to alot of situations.

Panda cories are pretty small. They are entertaining, but need excellent water quality and don't like the gravel to be nasty. They are a little easier to find in my area then the smaller cories.

Ottos are algae eaters and only eat algae. They do not eat leftover food. You can have both cories and the ottos, if you want. While cories do eat the leftover food, remember you still need to feed them something. I feed mine shrimp pellets and they love them.

I like Jason's stocking ideas...but I'm going to add ottos, since you say you have some algae.

Either:
8 Harlies
6-8 Cories (if you go with Pandas, they would prefer 8)
1 Dwarf gourami
3 ottos

or

12 Harlies
6-8 Cories
3 Ottos

*Kristin*

i am not using the inch per gallon rule. i use the height times width divided by 12 for freshwater rule that i read in a book and then add five to it to come up with 30 inches and my tank is 20 gallons. i thought i would just clarify that for everyone when you make stocking suggestions. off the clean my aquarium now!!!

kj fishy-finn <*)))><
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does anyone have anymore ideas??? i still dont know what to do.

kj fishy-finn <*)))><
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By the looks of things everyone is going with Corys.

How about trying an asian biotype, in that tank you could have something like

4 Kuhli Loaches
10 Harlequin Rasboras
1 Dwarf Gourami

are panda cories more active than bandit cories??? because my bandit cories stay in the back of the tank and hide a lot.

kj fishy-finn <*)))><
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generally speaking do panda cories get to be 1.5 inches or 2 because i have seen both and just wanted to clarify it.

kj fishy-finn <*)))><
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I have never kept bandits so I dont know if they are any less active than pandas. My pandas hide alot. They swim out in the tank every once in awhile...mostly when I'm not near the tank. They run and hide when I get close to the tank. I think they are braver when you have more. I only have 6 in my 29g and am currently looking for 4 more.

Mine are about 1.5 inches. I think their max is 2, so I would use that when calculating. You want to use their max adult length.

*Kristin*