my 20g community

hi there! this is my journal for my 20g planted community. it is VERY stocked but rest assured i do regular water changes and have been keeping fish a while. images are of the whole tank and my baby betta boy courtney!!

stocking:
the beastie boys (sailfin molly trio)
reo speedwagon (5 pygmy cory)
alice in chains (5 kuhlis)
didi/DD (1 upside down catfish(i plan to get him a social buddy soon))
handsome snail (1 surprisingly large nerite snail)
courtney/courtney love (1 baby boy ""alien"" betta, id est him at 2-2.5 months old)

plants:
i honestly forget most everything thats in here. i know i have bamboo, water lettuce, water hyacinth, java moss, dwarf lilies, and even more. also somehow duckweed got in there so its literally there forever now (rip my filter intake)

setup: its a 20g tall so you it has slightly more water volume than some 20gs. i also have a 40 gallon tetra whisper filter on it, as i like to upsize for my filters for mishmash community tanks when species allow. no heater i just keep it toasty in my apartment to the discomfort of anyone who comes over. basic standard light that came w the tank and a moonlight light for didi and alice in chains.

feel free to ask questions about my params if youre curious.

i am also attempting (keyword attempting) to grow a pond lily in this thing. its sprouted but we'll see if that lasts. the tanks small for it but im nothing if not ambitious.

Watch out for the pygmy corydoras with the upside down catfish and the mollies... once full grown they will be able to eat a pygmy and it will end badly for both fish.

Pygmies should not be kept with any fish larger than black neon tetras, in my experience. Even skirt tetras are a bad mix.

Have had a skirt eat a pygmy and it ended very bad for both fish because the spines got stuck in the skirt's mouth. Mollies and upside down cats get larger and have larger mouths than skirt tetras for what it's worth.

Be very very wary of this stock mix.

(I have photo evidence if no one believes me of this being a possibility)

CassCats said:

Watch out for the pygmy corydoras with the upside down catfish and the mollies... once full grown they will be able to eat a pygmy and it will end badly for both fish.

Pygmies should not be kept with any fish larger than black neon tetras, in my experience. Even skirt tetras are a bad mix.

Have had a skirt eat a pygmy and it ended very bad for both fish because the spines got stuck in the skirt's mouth. Mollies and upside down cats get larger and have larger mouths than skirt tetras for what it's worth.

Be very very wary of this stock mix.

(I have photo evidence if no one believes me of this being a possibility)

Click to expand...

thank you for the advice!! the pygmy cories are very little and i completely understand the concern, though i have housed plenty of mollies with pygmies in the past and never had a single issue, but i will keep an eye out. i have had didi for over 10 months and he is almost definitely full grown based on his size, though his exact age is unknown as he was a rescue. they have been peacefully housed together for about a month and a half now and they seem to be getting along just fine, he never bothers them. i know that upside down catfish are social animals and once i add another catfish that story may change, so i will definitely be keeping an eye on their behavior. thank you again for the tip.