# Stocking a 20 gallon tank ...



## mkayum (Jul 5, 2012)

I have a 10 gallon tank and I would like to upgrade it to 20 gallon tank...



I already have 7 kuhili loaches and a pair of older "bait" minnows and a white cloud minnow. They'll be in 20 gallon tank.

But I wanted to know what kind of good algae eater like cory.. or oto.. or oto or pleco..? I prefer small... 

I had a bad luck owning a pair of chinese algae eaters! I actually thought they'd stay small till a year later.. they doubled and began to beating up on my poor 3 years old gray female minnow! They even bit her and damaged her scales. So I decided to gave them away to the pet store.. the manager said that he'll keep them in non sale tank just for display. 

I have to make sure that the tank wouldn't be overstock.. and I'd pick the right fish to fit with my fish lol. 

Any advice will be greatly appreciated!

Thanks!


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## Crowntailed (Apr 19, 2012)

Well a lot of people like otos but i perfer bushy nose pleco, They max out around 4-5 inches and do fine in a 20g. otos eat more algea but i like the looks of the bushy nose pleco better.


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## AquaKai (Jan 2, 2012)

mkayum said:


> I have a 10 gallon tank and I would like to upgrade it to 20 gallon tank...
> 
> 
> 
> ...


For bottome feeders I'd do a school of 6-8 panda or julii corydoras. A bristlenose pleco would be great for algae. I'm not one for otos because you need to have your tank set up for a while before you get them, and even then they still need extra feedings.

Are you still wanting a "center piece" fish or schooling fish?


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## mkayum (Jul 5, 2012)

AquaKai said:


> For bottome feeders I'd do a school of 6-8 panda or julii corydoras. A bristlenose pleco would be great for algae. I'm not one for otos because you need to have your tank set up for a while before you get them, and even then they still need extra feedings.
> 
> Are you still wanting a "center piece" fish or schooling fish?



I'd want both centerpiece and schooling fish but I already have two minnows. I couldn't give them up because they're bait fish and those two don't fit the theme of my tank. But I'll keep them anyway.

A bristlenose pleco sounds like a nice addition to my tank because I had several pleco and they would grow up to 5 inches and they'd just die on me. I'm not sure if bristlenose would do good job for cleaning the tank or are hardy enough.


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## AquaKai (Jan 2, 2012)

mkayum said:


> I'd want both centerpiece and schooling fish but I already have two minnows. I couldn't give them up because they're bait fish and those two don't fit the theme of my tank. But I'll keep them anyway.
> 
> A bristlenose pleco sounds like a nice addition to my tank because I had several pleco and they would grow up to 5 inches and they'd just die on me. I'm not sure if bristlenose would do good job for cleaning the tank or are hardy enough.


For a centerpiece I'd go with one the apistos, there are tons of them and each one is gorgeous in it's own way I'd also suggest keyholes, rams, and, my favorite, Nannacra anamola.

For schooling stick with the torpedo shaped bodied fish such as Kerri Blue tetras, cardinal tetras, rummynose tetra, zebra danio and so on.

The plecos that you've probably had are common plecos that can get up to24". Bristlenose plecos get 4-5" max, and are very hardy!


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## mkayum (Jul 5, 2012)

AquaKai said:


> For a centerpiece I'd go with one the apistos, there are tons of them and each one is gorgeous in it's own way I'd also suggest keyholes, rams, and, my favorite, Nannacra anamola.
> 
> For schooling stick with the torpedo shaped bodied fish such as Kerri Blue tetras, cardinal tetras, rummynose tetra, zebra danio and so on.
> 
> The plecos that you've probably had are common plecos that can get up to24". Bristlenose plecos get 4-5" max, and are very hardy!


I'd love to have the cichilds! But I don't want to give up my minnows! I'm not sure if they would get along with my minnows. 

I'd go for schooling fish. But I want a cleaning fish that would do well in 20 gallon along with kuhili loaches and possible shrimps.. of course my two minnows too.

Bristlenose pleco seems like a good choice for me.. but is any more like this kind?

Zebra pleco...? something like that.

I had bad luck with zebra danios.... They attacked and picking on my three years old minnow.  I had to return them back to the pet store. It wasn't good for my minnow because I bought about 6 zebra danios! That poor old lady minnow put a good fight against them!


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## Olympia (Aug 25, 2011)

Zebra pleco, if you want to pay $100 a piece.
Clown pleco, Panaqolus maccus, is a nice small one.


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