20g Long Stocking Question

[BruinAquatics]

Hey guys so Ive been planning a rescape and upgrade from my current 10g main tank for a while now and now that the plants are on their way, ill finally be able to start this weekend. Ive got everything sorted out for the scape and all but this question is related towards a little later

So im upgrading to a 20g long tank

My current stocking in the 10 thats going in the 20 is:
1 betta mahachai female
2 corydoras aenus (one bronze one albino and also a pair)
2 tiger endlers
1 ADF (african dwarf frog)
1 Black Nerite Snail.

I have a few different ideas for a stocking for the 20g and here's the main one

Betta Mahachai pair
4 Corydoras aenus (or 3 not too sure)
6-10 endlers
1-2 ADF
1 black nerite snail
and a little bit of a stretch but: 1(or more??) hillstream loach(s)(borneo sucker loach species so the smaller ones)

From my expirence with Betta mahachai males is that they're good with other fish even with the presence of a female. They wont really bother the endlers at all. The wild bettas in my expirence (imbellis and mahachai) seem to pretty rarely go into bubble nest mode/protective mode so that won't be in issue. Obviously every fish is different so if things go wrong on that aspect i can always add a fish to my 10g Blackwater tank.

In the 20 long ill be adding A heavily established Aquaclear 30 and sponge filter (from this original 10g)
It'll also have plenty of root feeders and water column feeder plants. Along with some pothos to help with filteration if my nitrates are too high

I plan on increasing my stocking a couple weeks after i setup this tank just to get everything settled in and avoid any ammonia spikes.

What do you guys think? (Im not so concerned about compatibility although if you have any suggestions in that area please let me know, but im more focused on bioload)

(also rescape/build thread coming soon)

 

[pepperedcorydoras5]

You need at least 5 corydoras, and you need at least 5 corys of each species. and the male betta might harass the female. You might want to do research about keeping a pair of bettas. All else is fine.

 

[BruinAquatics]

I can boost my Corydora count to 5 then. I have done plenty of research with Wild Betta pairs and their species (so not the common betta splendens) and have kept multiple pairs before so id say that im pretty well versed with them.

 

[pepperedcorydoras5]

Okay then, all sounds good. I didn't get notified when you posted a reply, so sorry about the late response.

 

[e_watson09]

Are your goals to breed the bettas or just have them? That'll really make a difference in the way I respond.

If your goal is to breed I'd consider an even lighter stock than you currently have to give yourself the best chances of breeding and survival of the young without the parents eating them.

If you don't plan to breed my only conerns are the cories, that's really a bit on the small side of tank for a shoal of cory cats. If we were talking pygmies itd be a different conversation but the ones you mention need more space for a whole shoal. Then the ADFs are fine as long as you make sure they're getting fed. They have terrible eye sight and aren't the greatest when it comes to fighting for food so I'd worry the extra cories would mean they wouldn't eat as much as they should be.

 

[BruinAquatics]

A little bit of both for the bettas

I think it would work either way though since ive had them breed in a 10g with other stocking before. Also Betta Mahachai dont eat their babies and let them be.

Yeah i was a little nervous about the Cory's but I still feel like 4 ish would be good?? But still not sure so im definitely gonna have to do some reconsideration.


My ADF definitely is able to get enough food. She reserves spots of bloodworms for herself that the corys dont go to and she gets food pretty easily.

 

[coolio3991]

Hey guys so Ive been planning a rescape and upgrade from my current 10g main tank for a while now and now that the plants are on their way, ill finally be able to start this weekend. Ive got everything sorted out for the scape and all but this question is related towards a little later

So im upgrading to a 20g long tank

My current stocking in the 10 thats going in the 20 is:
1 betta mahachai female
2 corydoras aenus (one bronze one albino and also a pair)
2 tiger endlers
1 ADF (african dwarf frog)
1 Black Nerite Snail.

I have a few different ideas for a stocking for the 20g and here's the main one

Betta Mahachai pair
4 Corydoras aenus (or 3 not too sure)
6-10 endlers
1-2 ADF
1 black nerite snail
and a little bit of a stretch but: 1(or more??) hillstream loach(s)(borneo sucker loach species so the smaller ones)

From my expirence with Betta mahachai males is that they're good with other fish even with the presence of a female. They wont really bother the endlers at all. The wild bettas in my expirence (imbellis and mahachai) seem to pretty rarely go into bubble nest mode/protective mode so that won't be in issue. Obviously every fish is different so if things go wrong on that aspect i can always add a fish to my 10g Blackwater tank.

In the 20 long ill be adding A heavily established Aquaclear 30 and sponge filter (from this original 10g)
It'll also have plenty of root feeders and water column feeder plants. Along with some pothos to help with filteration if my nitrates are too high

I plan on increasing my stocking a couple weeks after i setup this tank just to get everything settled in and avoid any ammonia spikes.

What do you guys think? (Im not so concerned about compatibility although if you have any suggestions in that area please let me know, but im more focused on bioload)

(also rescape/build thread coming soon)

So I highly suggest you get atleast 5 more endlers, 4 more corydoras, and a few more frogs. Will the tank be a planted tank. If so then bioload is not as low. So for a normal tank it will be 1 inch per gallon is the rule of thumb. But if you plant the tank especially heavily you can increase it to 1 and a half to 2 inches per gallon. so a good example is a betta is about 2 inches fully grown. And african dwarf frogs is considered 3 inches. A guppy/ endler is 1 inch.

A little bit of both for the bettas

I think it would work either way though since ive had them breed in a 10g with other stocking before. Also Betta Mahachai dont eat their babies and let them be.

Yeah i was a little nervous about the Cory's but I still feel like 4 ish would be good?? But still not sure so im definitely gonna have to do some reconsideration.


My ADF definitely is able to get enough food. She reserves spots of bloodworms for herself that the corys dont go to and she gets food pretty easily.

So big thing with aquariums is live or fake plants. It really determines how many fish what fish and so on. The main thing is, you go with a planted tank I recommend getting more endlers they help eat algae especially green hair algea and if you have 2 bettas then definitely want a planted tank. Also what kind of corydoras do you have. I have 4 panda corydoras in my 10g amd they love it. I have 4 of them with my male betta. AND they get along great.

 

[BruinAquatics]

Yeah for the endlers i was gonna boost them up by at least 5 to 6. (Total of 7 to 8). 6 corydoras? Ive heard a lot of different opinions on how many cories or if i should even keep mine. 6 may seem good but i was thinking of capping it at 5 to be safe. Im planning on getting one more frog for now.

It'll be a fully planted tank with some heavy rootfeeders, water column feeders, and some stem plants. I have a thread of my aquascape and types of plants in the aquarium build section.

 

[BruinAquatics]

Update on a stocking question:

Pair of Betta Mahachai
7-10 Male Endlers
5-6 Corydoras (Aeneus mix: Orange Venezuelan, Albino, Bronze)
1-2 ADF

and would adding a bn pleco or clown pleco be pushing it (especially if I wanted to raise some of the baby cory's in there)
Or should I stick to a hillstream loach (single or trio). I would likely do the smaller Borneo Sucker Hillstreams or Chinese Butterfly hillstreams rather than the larger Sewellia Linneolettas

It's for a 20 long, over filtered and heavily planted tank.

 

[coolio3991]

Update on a stocking question:

Pair of Betta Mahachai
7-10 Male Endlers
5-6 Corydoras (Aeneus mix: Orange Venezuelan, Albino, Bronze)
1-2 ADF

and would adding a bn pleco or clown pleco be pushing it (especially if I wanted to raise some of the baby cory's in there)
Or should I stick to a hillstream loach (single or trio). I would likely do the smaller Borneo Sucker Hillstreams or Chinese Butterfly hillstreams rather than the larger Sewellia Linneolettas

It's for a 20 long, over filtered and heavily planted tank.

I definitely think get atleast 1 more frog. And also Cory's do better in big groups. I definitely wouldnt get plecos or even a hillstream loach. They need bigger tanks. I would get more of 1 kind. See you want them to be happy. You have to many different types of Cory's they dont school together and they need a school to be truly happy. I'd stick with 2 kinds of corydoras at most. With the size tank you have the Venezuelan and the albino are good. I'd do atleast 3-4 of each. Best thing is the Venezuelans stay small so you can add even more of them as long as you tank is heavily planted what kind of filter do you have. If it's a canister Filter then that would make it so you can have even more in there too. I'd say the number of endlers is good for the size. The number of frogs is okay maybe 1 more. Can you post a picture

Yeah for the endlers i was gonna boost them up by at least 5 to 6. (Total of 7 to 8). 6 corydoras? Ive heard a lot of different opinions on how many cories or if i should even keep mine. 6 may seem good but i was thinking of capping it at 5 to be safe. Im planning on getting one more frog for now.

It'll be a fully planted tank with some heavy rootfeeders, water column feeders, and some stem plants. I have a thread of my aquascape and types of plants in the aquarium build section.

Yeah the more male endlers you have the calmer they will be. I recommend an odd number so if there are any aggresive one they dont pick on one to much. With the frog 3 seams to be a good number for me. And yeah with the corries it's best to have 1 maybe 2 species because they feel most comfortable in groups of atleast 6 but minimal number is 4. You want them comfortable and in the wild they are in streams in very large groups.

 

[Motherlovebetta]

I’d scratch the hill stream I could be wrong but everything I read about them says lower temp, high water flow. You could do a clown pleco then. I have two in my 30 and they don’t bother my cories at all.

 

[BruinAquatics]

I definitely think get atleast 1 more frog. And also Cory's do better in big groups. I definitely wouldnt get plecos or even a hillstream loach. They need bigger tanks. I would get more of 1 kind. See you want them to be happy. You have to many different types of Cory's they dont school together and they need a school to be truly happy. I'd stick with 2 kinds of corydoras at most. With the size tank you have the Venezuelan and the albino are good. I'd do atleast 3-4 of each. Best thing is the Venezuelans stay small so you can add even more of them as long as you tank is heavily planted what kind of filter do you have. If it's a canister Filter then that would make it so you can have even more in there too. I'd say the number of endlers is good for the size. The number of frogs is okay maybe 1 more. Can you post a picture

Yeah the more male endlers you have the calmer they will be. I recommend an odd number so if there are any aggresive one they dont pick on one to much. With the frog 3 seams to be a good number for me. And yeah with the corries it's best to have 1 maybe 2 species because they feel most comfortable in groups of atleast 6 but minimal number is 4. You want them comfortable and in the wild they are in streams in very large groups.

In terms of my corys the albino, bronze and venezuelan are all one species (aeneus) as mentioned above. So their shoal would be perfectly fine.

Im starting to suppress myself in wanting a pleco as i don't want to deal with the bioload.

In terms of the hillstreams, ive kept the smaller gastrozymon species in a 10g with medium flow, and 77 F, and I even got them to breed.
Thus im not too worried about keeping hillstreams in this set up. Hillstream loaches really dont need a giant setup and unless their wild caught, many domestic bred hillstreams are perfectly fine in planted, medium flow 77-78F 20 longs.

 

[Motherlovebetta]

Thus im not too worried about keeping hillstreams in this set up. Hillstream loaches really dont need a giant setup and unless their wild caught, many domestic bred hillstreams are perfectly fine in planted, medium flow 77-78F 20 longs.

awesome, my LFS always steers me away from them. May have to find a spot for one.

 

[BruinAquatics]

awesome, my LFS always steers me away from them. May have to find a spot for one.

Yeah i was a but skeptical at first but i found at that these guys are domestically bred. Maybe ask ur lfs if their wild caught or bred to get some clarification. Amazing fish tho!

 

[BruinAquatics]

Alright guys so change of plans.

I'm going to be consolidating my tanks and instead of a 20 long, 10g and 2g, I'm now doing a 29g and a 2g.

So new stocking suggestions?

Here are the fish I currently have
1 Female Betta Mahachai
2 Corydoras Aeneus
2 Endlers
1 ADF
Nerite Snails

7 Espei Rasboras
Guppy Pair (Male Kohaku, female Tiger Mosaic)
2 Assassin Snails
1 Amano
Guppy Fry

Potential Issues during the combination:
Disclaimer: I dont want to get rid of any fish (the snails or an exception) so I'm trying to keep that in mind

Nerite Snail and Assassin Snail issue since the Assassin might try to kill the Nerite so going to have to get rid of one

The mix of Guppy's and Endlers:
I planned on having a bachelor males endlers tank but now that might change
Maybe I'll do female endlers with some males and keep the guppy pair along with them.

New Stocking???
Trio of Betta Mahachai (or pair still kind of deciding)
6 Corydoras Aeneus (Orange Venezuelan, Bronze, Albino)
9 Endlers (including pair of guppy's)
7 Espei Rasboras (should I keep them or no?)
Hillstream loaches 3?
2 ADF

Filteration: Aquaclear 30 AND Aquaclear 20, and possibly a sponge filtered (ALL heavily seasoned and cycled).

Heavily planted

And Possibly pothos if nitrate count is too high.

 

[coolio3991]

In terms of my corys the albino, bronze and venezuelan are all one species (aeneus) as mentioned above. So their shoal would be perfectly fine.

Im starting to suppress myself in wanting a pleco as i don't want to deal with the bioload.

In terms of the hillstreams, ive kept the smaller gastrozymon species in a 10g with medium flow, and 77 F, and I even got them to breed.
Thus im not too worried about keeping hillstreams in this set up. Hillstream loaches really dont need a giant setup and unless their wild caught, many domestic bred hillstreams are perfectly fine in planted, medium flow 77-78F 20 longs.

I may need to get a hillstream then. I have a 20 long with a canister Filter with a pre filter set up tons of lava rock and ceramic rings. it's a planted tank. Working on getting the jungle val and dwarf sag to take over the tank I love the way they look. I have about 10-15 endlers, 3 dwarf african frogs, 1 female black mollie 3 very young yellow mollies. But one has tumors and I dont think it will live much longer. 2 neon tetras and 4 x ray tetras and I have rams horn snails and bladder snails and assassin snails. I maybe able to add 1 hillstream loach. If I can find one.

 

[coolio3991]

I may need to get a hillstream then. I have a 20 long with a canister Filter with a pre filter set up tons of lava rock and ceramic rings. it's a planted tank. Working on getting the jungle val and dwarf sag to take over the tank I love the way they look. I have about 10-15 endlers, 3 dwarf african frogs, 1 female black mollie 3 very young yellow mollies. But one has tumors and I dont think it will live much longer. 2 neon tetras and 4 x ray tetras and I have rams horn snails and bladder snails and assassin snails. I maybe able to add 1 hillstream loach. If I can find one.

So the young mollie than had the tumor just passed away today. So I only have the 2 young mollies left.