Aquarium stocking question

[BettasXD]

Hi I am planning to get a 20 gallon tank and I’m wondering if this stocking will work and if I could add more of any if the following fishes. Thanks in advance!

Stocking:
14 harlequin rasbora
4 honey gouramis
10 panda cories

 

[AmyKieran]

Hi I am planning to get a 20 gallon tank and I’m wondering if this stocking will work and if I could add more of any if the following fishes. Thanks in advance!

Stocking:
14 harlequin rasbora
4 honey gouramis
10 panda cories

Well before we answer that, do you know your water hardness? This can usually be found on your companies water website. The numbers may seem confusing but just screenshot or copy them here

 

[BettasXD]

I searched it up and here is the form from the government:
https://www.pub.gov.sg/Documents/Singapore_Drinking_Water_Quality.pdf

Another website says it’s 64ppm. Not very sure if it’s accurate tho.

I thought these kind of parameters like ph and water hardness does not matter very much as long as they are consistent?

 

[AmyKieran]

I searched it up and here is the form from the government:
https://www.pub.gov.sg/Documents/Singapore_Drinking_Water_Quality.pdf

Another website says it’s 64ppm. Not very sure if it’s accurate tho.

I thought these kind of parameters like oh and water hardness does not matter very much as long as they are consistent?

Okay so your Germans degrees hardness is about 3 which is very very soft. The harlequins will be okay but the gouramis and Corys won’t. Would you perhaps lower the number of rasporas and consider angelfish?

 

[BettasXD]

I can get these fishes all from my LFS. My LFS breed these fish themselves so shouldn’t the fishes be fine in soft water?

Also, don’t angels need a tank of at least 40g?

 

[AmyKieran]

I can get these fishes all from my LFS. My MFS breed these fish themselves so shouldn’t the fishes be fine in soft water?

Well there’s the argument, yes they will be bred locally but these fish will have lived in soft water for millions of years

 

[BettasXD]

Oh okay. Any schooling fish and bottom dwelling fish that you recommend?

 

[Colin_T]

They will be fine in soft water as long as there is enough room for them to move about.

 

[AmyKieran]

Oh okay. Any schooling fish and bottom dwelling fish that you recommend?

Neon tetras are pretty universal and look cool? I know I said no but you could probably get away with corys to be honest. Maybe a school of neon tetra with angelfish and Corys?

 

[BettasXD]

Neon tetras die easily form what I heard due to overbreeding leading to poor genetics. Is that true? And I also heard that angelfish needs a tank of at least 40G?

Umm who should I listen to? So are those fish fine or not in soft water assuming the space is big enough?

@Colin_T so do you think that 20g is big enough?

 

[Essjay]

Cories and gouramis will be fine with a hardness of 3 dH. They are both soft water fish.
However panda cories are unusual because they come from cooler, faster moving water than most cories. If you substitute pygmy cories, they'd be a better match.

I thought these kind of parameters like ph and water hardness does not matter very much as long as they are consistent?

Hardness, GH, is important. If hard water fish are kept in soft water they suffer mineral deficiency which means they get sick easier and don't live as long as they should. Soft water fish kept in hard water develop calcium deposits in their organs which again means they don't live as long as they should. We should aim to keep fish which originate from water with roughly the same hardness as our tap water.
As long as the GH is suitable, the pH can be slightly outside that found in the original habitat, and it's better to leave pH alone rather than try to change it.

 

[Byron]

This 20g tank is no where near sufficient for angelfish. These fish attain six inches in body length with a vertical fin span of 8-9 inches. And they are shoaling, so you should have a group (in very large tanks) and then other compatibility issues arise. A lone angelfish is frankly inhumane as it is denying the fish something it sees as necessary (the group to interact). And even then this tank is not adequate anyway.

All fish in post 1 are, as @Essjay said, soft water. And thee rest of her post is bang on too.

 

[BettasXD]

Cories and gouramis will be fine with a hardness of 3 dH. They are both soft water fish.
However panda cories are unusual because they come from cooler, faster moving water than most cories. If you substitute pygmy cories, they'd be a better match.

I chose panda cories instead of Pygmy cories as pygmy corys swim in the middle level of the tank, at least a bit. With the rasboras and gouramis, plus the pygmy corys, I was scared that it would all be quite crowded. So I chose panda cories instead as they generally stay at the bottom of the tank.

So do you think I should change the panda cories for Pygmy cories?

 

[Essjay]

My concern over panda cories is they have different requirements from the other fish on your list - pandas need cooler water and faster flowing water than gouramis and harlequins so I was trying to think of a cory which needed slightly warmer temps and slow moving water but was also suitable for a 20 gallon tank. If other members can suggest a cory that would be suitable, then go with their suggestions rather than pygmies

 

[Byron]

I've gone over your intended stocking again, and frankly I would stay with panda cories here. The pygmy cory is not always a good match with larger upper fish, and the honeys are that, as are the harlequin rasboras. And these have less demanding parameter needs, so a tank in the 76-77F/25C temp range is going to work. The rasboras won't mind a bit of current (pandas do like this), the honeys should be OK.