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will this work??/ 1 butterfly fish,i betta,i fw lobster,5pakstani loches,5 red phantom tetras???

never had the fw lobster or the pakstani loaches but the others r fine the odd male betta will flare at african butterfly fish if thats the butterfly ur referring to if by that u meant the some cichild the red phantoms woodnt thrive in the harder more alkaline conditions

ud have to get advise for the loaches n lobster from another member sorry

i ment the non-cichlid kind.

Since the butterfly fish is a surface dweller you could be looking at some real problems putting it in a tank with a betta. Also you might want to make sure that your tank is tightly covered with that butterfly fish.

Also, from my understanding the fw lobsters will attack your fish when they are sleeping.

As far as the loaches go, the pakistani or yoyo loach is a very cool fish that I am looking forward to getting when we get our next tank. I would not recommend getting 5 for a 20 gal because they get to be around 4 inches and that would be a lot of waste load for your tank.

So, with all that said, my suggestion for your tank stocking is:

6 red phantom tetras
1 betta
3 pakistani/yoyo loaches

OR

6 red phantom tetras
1 butterfly fish
3 pakistani/yoyo loaches

Both options might be considered overstocking a little bit so you will need to be careful on testing and water changes. I would also suggest that if you go with a betta you add him last, as then he won't think the whole tank is his. Anyhow, sorry for such a long post. Let me know if you have any other questions.

-Beth

Depending on the individual, red phantoms, or rather, phantoms in general can get to be a nippy. I'd feel better having the butterfly in there rather than the betta.