FishProfiles.com Message Forums

Your original plan seemed excessive. You definately require plants for those species to be happy and as you insist on low maintainence (not a bad thing), how about plastic plants?

I have to say Janna, I would have thought that the fact that neons are angels' main source of food in the wild would be enough to warrant them as a 'no-go' with angels, not just their size.

I am going to go with swardtails, platys and ottos. I have heard alot about blue rams. Could i get one in my 20g?

Two females would be ok, two males might be. Like other livebearers if you want a M/F mix go at least 1M/2F.

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There is water at the bottom of the ocean

Do platys need to be together to school or would i be ok with 1 or 2?

would it be possible to get 2 males in my tank

If you're going to have females as well you'd end up with at least 2M/3F or better 2M/4F, no room for any other fish at that point.

For bottom feeders & such a lot depends on what's available in your area. I have a white spot rubbernose plec (Chaetostoma pearsei), which will max at 4". That's 4" of plec opposed to at least 6" of otos. They are excellent algae eaters.

I also recently found pygmy cories locally. Smaller cories definitely need school of at least 6, 8 or more is better. But they grow to 1" while most other commonly available cories are at least 2".

I really like loaches but your only option for a 20g would be dwarfs (botia sidthimunki). They're offered in stores more often lately but are usually expensive (I paid $20 for 3). They like to be in groups of at least 3.

Platies really are as nice as swords and basically half the size. Active, fun to watch, available in lots of colors. If you definitely want the swords you're bit limited on tankmates in a 20g.

[span class="edited"][Edited by Theresa_M 2004-07-06 06:12][/span]

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There is water at the bottom of the ocean

I am asking alot of questions about stocking my 20g but i don't want to make a bad decision or kill any fish. 2 choices (upon debate)

1)- 3 swordfish 1male-2fem. (would it be possible to get 2 males in my tank)?
3 ottos
8-10 neons

2)- 3 swordfish
3 ottos
6 corys

Am I overstocking or could i put more types of fish in the 2 selections. THANKS

I'd definately go with some sort of algae eater, especially if it's low(er)-maintenance you want. Otos are great, they're smaller than most other algae-eating fish and perfect for a 20 gal.
I have two otos in my 20 gal. They never go anywhere near the algae wafers, so make sure you've got some algae in there for them to eat in case yours don't like the wafers either.

hmmm, Should have bought the 29 gallon.

My thoughts exactly after I got my 20. That's the thing with fish keeping, you're always gonna want more.lol

I might ditch the corys, How many swordtails could i have then? Possibly 2 males and 5 females??

hmmm, Should have bought the 29 gallon. So theres no way i could get a trio of swordtails, some ottos and a school of corys?

Yeah, otos like their own kind. Also, you need to make sure you have enough algae or make sure they accept algae wafers. From what I have heard, they are very delicate fish.

I don't know about 2 female swords solublefish, I really only want a male because they have the swords lol.

I know neons have to be together and so do corys but do ottos need to school?

[span class="edited"][Edited by 2004-07-05 19:44][/span]

If you mean dwarf corys by "small corys", get 6 because they are more of schoolers than the larger corys

I wouldn't recommend just one female with one male. Have at least two females per one male so that the male won't stress the one female out too much. They males are ALWAYS annoying the females.

Maybe skip the ottos and add another female swordtail. Have a school of six corydoras. so...

3 swordtails (1M/2F)
6 corydoras

Sound good?

Oh! or how about just having two female swordtails and keep the ottos?

Could i get a pair of swordfish 1m 1f with 6 neons, 4-6 small corys and 3 ottos?

malawi freak here's some info on how big neons and cardinals get:

Neon Fish Profiles:
http://fishinthe.net/html/fishguide/fishguide_fish.php?FC=156
http://www.aquahobby.com/gallery/gneon.html
http://www.fishprofiles.com/profiles/fw/profile.asp?id=Paracheirodon+innesi

Cardinal Fish Profiles:
http://www.fishprofiles.com/profiles/fw/profile.asp?id=Paracheirodon+axelrodi
http://www.aquahobby.com/gallery/gcardinal.html

-A little unsure WHY Fishprofiles profile on the Cardinal's size and Neon Tetra's size is exactly the same lol

Fishguy101: Try these plants if you want to try any low light plants; Java Moss,Java Fern,some Anubias species,Hornwort,Water Sprite,Anacharis,Asian Ambulia, and some Val species. For more low-light plants go here:
Low:http://www.plantgeek.net/plantguide_list.php?category=1&filter_by=2
Medium Low:http://www.plantgeek.net/plantguide_list.php?category=1&filter_by=3





[span class="edited"][Edited by 2004-07-05 14:57][/span]

[span class="edited"][Edited by 2004-07-05 16:04][/span]

How would this work, Some sword tails, neon tetras, oto cats, some corys and some platys? The main ones i want are the swordtails and corys. Does anybody have any suggestions/comments on this? THANKS

sorry janna but i thought cardanals grew to 1" and neons to 1 and a half inches!

Thanks for the replys, Personally i want to go with 6 peppered corys, a school of neons, 3-4 ottos, 3 swordfish and a pair of fancy guppies. I know that would go over so i am going to have to cut out some of my choices.

Malawi Freak, cardinals get BIGGER, not smaller, than neons. That is why they are recommended instead of neons in tanks with angels.

You could have:

6 small cories, like pandas, pygmies, hasbrosus, or skunks
6 neons/cardinals
1 swordtail (centerpiece, because of potential size)

or

6 small cories
3 swordies (1 male, 2 females)
4 ottos

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They shade the glow of it with their mossy-misty costumes,
They wear masks of silk, porcelain, brass, and silver,
So as not to mislead with their own, ordinary faces.

This all seems like a lot of fish for only 20 gallons of water. Maybe a more realistic stocking:

4 swords
6 cories

or

7 cardinals
3 or 4 otos
6 cories

or 3 swords
8 cardinals

Swordtails can get up to four inches long. If your are going to go with them, make sure the ratio is at least 1M/2F.