Any recommended bottom dwellers?

[tapirtamer]

I'm still cycling the tank and I have other fish to add first, but I don't like being indecisive and I want to figure this out now.

I'm a first-timer with a 20 long planted tank. Once everything's ready, I plan to have a temperature of 78F (25.6C) and ideally a pH of 6.8, but it might have to be 7.0 (tap water is very basic. Have to see how hard it is/how much treatment is needed to break below neutral). The plants are sparse now, but I plan to add more. There's an area I plan to leave unplanted so bottomfeeders can freely dig if they like. Most of my substrate is FlouriteBlack gravel, but the unplanted is Flourite sand so it will (hopefully) be safe for barbels.

With all that said, bottom dwellers? I plan to get some ember tetras first, then fish for the lower water column, and finally a betta... but I can't decide! I thought bandit corys would be cute (and they'll stir the sand up to help prevent anaerobic pockets), but they prefer slightly cooler water. I love otos and would appreciate their help with algae, but the care guide here says they get stressed out easily and you should limit messing with the tank to once or twice a week, and I'm someone who likes to get my hands wet.

Every time I research bottom dwellers, most are either too nippy for a betta community, too big for a school in a 20 gallon, or they don't quite match the water parameters or care style. I just want to make sure that whatever I choose will be comfortable and happy, and I know you guys probably have plenty of suggestions!

 

[AlsCritters]

Panda corys and sterbaI corys!

 

[ProudPapa]

Where's your ph now?

 

[faydout]

To be perfectly honesty, I'd leave the PH alone. Having a stable PH is more beneficial than trying to drop the PH and maintain that.

 

[RyanC14]

KuhlI loaches, sterbaI cories or bronze/albino cories are all good options.

 

[DuaneV]

Dont mess with the PH, its better to have it stable than chase a number. And pretty much any fish you buy from a petshop is going to be fine in almost any tap PH.

If you're keeping the tank at 78, you're limited with Corys. SterbaI are probably your best bet but you could also do Adolfio, Emerald Green or Bronze Corys.

 

[tapirtamer]

Where's your ph now?

Right now it's at 7.8. My tap water is about 8.1, but the tannins and substrate help neutralize it juuust a bit.

Panda corys and sterbaI corys!

I thought panda corys need bigger tanks? Or at least, the care guide on here recommends 30 gallons. SterbaI corys could be cool, though I worry about the size. I don't want to overstock.

I think the main problem is that I'm a perfectionist/control freak tbh

To be perfectly honesty, I'd leave the PH alone. Having a stable PH is more beneficial than trying to drop the PH and maintain that.

But I thought pH is important? I've had some people tell me that as long a it's not, like, 9pH or 5pH or something drastic like that, it doesn't matter, but then I've had others tell me that pH is the most important water parameter to keep fish healthy, aside from the obvious ammonia/nitrites/nitrates. I'm getting a lot of mixed information!

 

[DuaneV]

Messing with your PH will lead down a slippery slope and can cause issues with your fish. 7.8 is more than fine. My tap is 7.8-8.2 and Ive kept Discus and GBR's in it no problem, and that's over 36 years and 2 wells on this property. PH is important, that's why its important to KNOW its going to be a particular number. Having it fluctuate, adding things to adjust it, etc., is not good.

Panda's don't need a bigger tank, but they really won't be happy in 78 degrees. In a 20 long, any Cory that stays under 3 inches you can do 12-15 easily.

 

[tapirtamer]

Dont mess with the PH, its better to have it stable than chase a number. And pretty much any fish you buy from a petshop is going to be fine in almost any tap PH.

If you're keeping the tank at 78, you're limited with Corys. SterbaI are probably your best bet but you could also do Adolfio, Emerald Green or Bronze Corys.

It doesn't have to be Corys! Any fish that spends most time at the bottom of the tank is good.

 

[DuaneV]

Besides Corys you have Loaches and Plecos and not too many other options (Dwarf Chain Loach would work too). Especially if you're keeping it at 78. Lots of fish say, "Temps: 72-79" but its bull. I would NEVER put a KuhlI Loach in 78, they prefer 84-86 and that's a BIG difference. Same with Corys. Most prefer low to mid 70's. When you keep fish that prefer warm water in cooler water it slows their metabolism, causes digestion issues, causes stress and disease. When you keep a cool water fish in warm water it speeds their metabolism, the activity level goes up, they eat more, poop more and it shortens their lifespan.

I like the idea of a planted 20 long with a school of Ember Tetras and Corys. They live together in the wild in Brazil and its makes a cool biotope to keep country similar fish together.

 

[kelm23]

A little off topic, but you seem very concerned about pH but you haven’t mentioned your water hardness. I would invest in a test kit for gH and kH. My tap water has a pH well over 8 on the API master test kit, BUT my tap water is soft with a kH of 0-3 and gH under 5. So that means my pH plummets once the water has sat for a while. My tank that has been setup for almost 2 years with ember tetras has a steady pH between 6.8-7.0. I do water changes (~25%) weekly with tap water that I let sit with water conditioner in it overnight.

 

[tapirtamer]

A little off topic, but you seem very concerned about pH but you haven’t mentioned your water hardness. I would invest in a test kit for gH and kH. My tap water has a pH well over 8 on the API master test kit, BUT my tap water is soft with a kH of 0-3 and gH under 5. So that means my pH plummets once the water has sat for a while. My tank that has been setup for almost 2 years with ember tetras has a steady pH between 6.8-7.0. I do water changes (~25%) weekly with tap water that I let sit with water conditioner in it overnight.

It has high GH and low KH. I'm not sure about degrees of hardness, but the GH is over 180ppm (highest the test strip goes, planning on buying a drop test) and KH was 0, but I used Tetra EasyBalance and that brought it up to 80ppm KH. The water has been in there for about 3 or 4 weeks (didn't start cycling until 2.5 weeks ago), but because of evaporation and pulling tank water to rinse off filters (even with the lid, SO MUCH cat hair finds it's way in somehow. Ugh), I've put in more treated water since then (about 3 gallons two weeks ago, and three gallons a few days ago).

 

[AlsCritters]

I thought panda corys need bigger tanks? Or at least, the care guide on here recommends 30 gallons. SterbaI corys could be cool, though I worry about the size. I don't want to overstock.

I think the main problem is that I'm a perfectionist/control freak tbh

Yep, kinda forgot you only have a 20 and those are the bigger corys!