Future Tank

[Phage]

So I am planning to make my 20 US gallon tank into a cold water (65-70F) tank.

I have these fish in mind for the setup
4x Hillstream Loach
1x White Cloud Minnow (got for free, didn't notice it was in my zebra danio bag haha..) and want to add more.
What other fish can I add?
Can I add a shrimp?

Water flow will be high for the loaches.
Try to promote algae growth
Smooth rocks for the bottom. Large to small ones.
Have some plants
and driftwood.

I was thinking of adding my danios in there but I don't know if they would like the cooler waters. They are zebra's and kyathit (the kyathit look more like the burma to me)

Anything I should know before I make this happen?

 

[mikev]

It sounds like you did your research.

You can have more than 4 hillstreams in a 20g (any particular type you have in mind?)
Danios will be fine in a high flow setup, D.Kyathit's come from rapid streams, but D.Rerio (Zebras) would not mind it either. Either species is likely to live longer in cooler water.
WCMM is a shoaling fish, you should get more or return the one you have.
(I keep D.Kyathit's and D.Hikari in one of my hillstream 29g's; it is rasboras and WCMM's in the other)
Chances of hillstream breeding will be greatly diminished with Danios or WCMM's.
Shrimps (I assume Cherry-type?) would be fine, some Java Moss or a similar plant would be good for them.
Other compatible fish would be almost all danios, some rasboras (streamline body types), some gobies (I keep R.Wui's, f.e.), Oto's (assuming you have quiet areas in the tank and algae)...

hth

 

[Phage]

I was looking at Beaufortia kweichowensis as they are the only ones I've seen in shops around here. How many could I keep in a 20g?
I don't need to put the danios and whitecloud in this tank. I have them with my angels and gourami in my 55 gallon. I can keep them there as well.
I do plan to get more white clouds, I think they are awesome. But I don't really plan to breed the loaches.
I would really like to keep shrimp but my angels will eat them so I thought about adding some to this tank.
What other plants could I get?

Thanks.

 

[mikev]

I was looking at Beaufortia kweichowensis as they are the only ones I've seen in shops around here. How many could I keep in a 20g?
I don't need to put the danios and whitecloud in this tank. I have them with my angels and gourami in my 55 gallon. I can keep them there as well.
I do plan to get more white clouds, I think they are awesome. But I don't really plan to breed the loaches.
I would really like to keep shrimp but my angels will eat them so I thought about adding some to this tank.
What other plants could I get?

Thanks.

OK, Beafortia's are not going to breed anyway, so there is no problem. You should be able to keep 6 with no problems. I keep 10 suckers (3 Beaufortia's and 7 Sewellia's) plus other fish in a 29g, which is the same footprint as 20L. (I'm assuming your tank is 20L, 20H is not as good). I'd certainly put either Danios or WCMM's into the tank, it will make it more interesting. Shrimp should be ok with Danios albeit I have a feeling that my D.Kyathits eat some of the baby shrimp.
As for the plants, sucker hillstreams will use anything with broad leafs, albeit Beaufortia's use plants less than other species. Still, I'd consider a large Amazon Sword...it provides the best seatings... You cannot go wrong by attaching some Java Fern to driftwood. Small leaf plants are useless for hillstreams but you want some for the shrimp, so you put some in the back.

Make sure to quarantine unless you are getting the fish all at once.

Good luck.

 

[ALW]

Some more White Clouds and what about Goldfish

 

[mikev]

Goldfish is a possibility...but imho not a very good one. Firstly, they really need a larger tank. Secondly, they are serious waste-producers, and the hillstreams would be living in the goldfish poop. Smaller fish, like white clouds, would not pollute the tank much.

Incidentally, there are now also Vietnamese white clouds (Tanichthys micagemmae)...another species, nice one, and smaller than the usual WCMM's, allowing for a larger shoal.

 

[Phage]

Yea, I thought goldfish get pretty large and poop a lot more. I wanted to stick with small fish.
How do you tell the difference between Tanichthys micagemmae and Tanichthys albonubes? Aside from size. I'm not sure if my fish is fully grown yet so that wouldn't be so helpful yet..

 

[mikev]

They look different too, and are considerably less common, so the chances of getting them by accident are low....

Profile and Photo here.

 

[Phage]

Thanks