16 Gallon stocking

Morasea said:

So I just recently found a cheap 16 gallon for 20 bucks and decided to pick it up. It’s dimensions are something I haven’t ever seen before and it’s a tall tank.

I’m in the process of setting it up and cycling it now and I’m planning on it being a planted tank. Right now the two options I’m considering are:
Option 1: 3-4 pea puffers in a heavily planted tank
Option 2: 1-2 sparkling gouramis with a school of 8-10 chili rasboras with some sort of bottom dweller/algae eater in a planted tank.
I’m leaning towards option 2 and where I’m not sure is if I’ll be able to fit more than one gourami and if adding algae eaters or bottom dwellers will make me overstocked.

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Rocky998 said:

Welcome to the forum! Glad to see you already know how to cycle with ammonia! Usually new comers to the forum/hobby dont know about cycling... There are many things for a 16 gallon that providers website to.find tge GH (general hardness) of the water. Without knowing this we can not recommend any fish. Some fish are hard water and others are soft water. If you have soft water I would highly recommend peacock gudgeons, they are peaceful towards other fish and are super colorful. They also can reach up to 3 inches

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Rocky998 said:

Welcome to the forum! Glad to see you already know how to cycle with ammonia! Usually new comers to the forum/hobby dont know about cycling... There are many things for a 16 gallon that could work... Chili rasboras are really cool but require a very low PH. I would recommend testing the water or looking at your local water providers website to.find tge GH (general hardness) of the water. Without knowing this we can not recommend any fish. Some fish are hard water and others are soft water. If you have soft water I would highly recommend peacock gudgeons, they are peaceful towards other fish and are super colorful. They also can reach up to 3 inches.

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Morasea said:

I should’ve mentioned lol… I am just recently getting back into the hobby and I’m new to this forum but I’ve been in the hobby in and out over the past 5 years haha. I have water that sits at 6.5PH and can’t remember my GH off the top of my head but I do plan on planting it so that will help lower it.

I’ve always had nano tanks in the past and have considered the peacock gudgeons but have never been able to get fully into them. I’m looking for something a little newer and something I haven’t tried before but I’m still open to other suggestions

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Rocky998 said:

Oh ok... Usually a low ph like 6-7 (or lower) means you have soft water... A high PH indicates hard water

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Morasea said:

Ok thanks good to know, I will try double checking tomorrow. If all goes well there, does it seem like it’ll be overstocked with everything I want? I’ve never kept either fish so I’m not sure if it will be.

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Sgooosh said:

i got my old 15g stocked with a betta

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Rocky998 said:

What algae eaters would you want? And I would go for a group of 5 sparkling gourami. They can be territorial so to have more means they will have others that keep them in check. Just have a lot of tall plants and maybe some driftwood near the center... You could do a trio if you wanted but 5 or 6 would be a better number.

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Sgooosh said:

i got my old 15g stocked with a betta

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Morasea said:

I was thinking about either a small group of ottos, a bristlenose pleco or banjo catfish, but corydoras are my favourite! That sounds awesome but would a group of gouramis that large be compatible with the chili rasboras in my size tank? If I was able to keep a shoal of both I’m guessing I’d have to stick with a single algae eater like a BN or something similar to keep the bioload down but I’m not completely sure

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Rocky998 said:

If you did the larger shoal of sparkling gourami you wouldnt be able to have any other fish really, but you do have to look out for what is best for the fish. I got 3 peacock gudgeons and they are the same as thos gourami... They are better in groups of 6-8... Well, I got 3 and one died in 2 days... I feel like the other two singled him out which stressed him. This is just a thought... About the bristlenose, I wouldnt keep one in anything less than a 20 gallon.

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Morasea said:

That’s good to know, I didn’t realize they were one of those fish that only thrived it schools. I absolutely agree though whatever's best for the fish! With that said I think I’ll look around for a different centrepiece fish. Any cool ideas? I’m definitely really interested in the more uncommon fish.

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Rocky998 said:

I love uncommon fish as well! You could do instead of a "centerpiece" fish two schools/shoals of small fish... Like the rasboras and then do a banjo catfish OR a shoal of corydoras.

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Morasea said:

Although I love uncommon fish, I love cherry barbs… I’d have to look into their water parameters but I think they’d look great together in the tank. I’ll have to do some looking around

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