Need Help Deciding On Scavengers Please

[amoch]

Hi! This is my first post here and am needing some help with fish decisions. I have recently set up my first tank and am almost finished stocking it. It is a 20 gallon high tank that is moderately planted onthe sides and back with both artificial and living plants. I have 4 longfin zebra danios, 2 sunset platys, and 2 guppies that all seem to be getting along fine. I'm wanting to get some scavengers/algae eaters next to complete my little community. However, I don't know how many to get because of the one inch per gallon rule I've heard about. I'm interested in either some leopard corys, angelicus loaches or dwarf loaches and possibly an albino bristlenose later on down the road (I don't really have any algae built up yet). Any help or suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks so much!

amoch

 

[superguppygirl]

Honestly for a cleaning crew I like ottocinclus/hillstream loaches for glass, and corydoras for gravel, corys work best in groups of 3's same with ottos ;-)

 

[Cazgar]

It would be Oto's for me too, but not in a newly set up tank.
All corys need to be in groups so you probably couldn't fit a group of leopards
A group of dwarf corys possibly would go in your tank.
You can't rely on left overs to feed them though, they do need their own food too

 

[amoch]

Thanks for the advice! I've never seen the ottos before so I will definitely check into those. I do like the dwarf corys you mentioned too. I'm partial to get ones more for the gravel than the glass right now because i have some food that sinks and just sits there, although the platys are fairly good and searching that stuff out for me.

 

[superguppygirl]

Try the habrosus or pygmaeus corydoras since they stay around the 1 inch mark, forgot about how difficult the Ottos are at first, definately go for the hill stream loaches or as I call them the Poor man's Ray LOL, I have 2 and adore them! http/www.loaches.com/articles/hillstream-loaches-the-specialists-at-life-in-the-fast-lane

 

[cwa]

May I ask my own similar question here? When is the best time to add an algae eater to the tank, and what about ghost shrimp or plecos?

 

[CezzaXV]

Others have given some good suggestions. Just wanted to pipe in and give my own little bit.

Cories need to be in groups of at least six, not three. Cazgar is right though in that they do need their own food and can't survive purely on leftovers. It should also be known that while these fish can help with leftovers/algae, they are not the solution. If you are having a lot of leftovers in your tank you need to start feeding less, and if there's a lot of algae you need to get down to the root cause, whether that's too much lighting, too many ferts, whatever. Fish are very, VERY rarely the solution to any problem you're experiencing in your aquarium.

I'm personally a fan of cories because they're so freaking adorable.

It's also worth mentioning that the inch per gallon is a guide rather than a steadfast rule. You can usually afford to go above that as long as you're not silly with it and make sure all your fish have enough space. Since all your fish so far are top and mid dwelling species I'd have thought a small school of bottom dwelling cories or similar would be fine.

 

[Aqua Tom]

Otto's


Tom

 

[amoch]

Thanks! I think I'm definitely leaning towards the corys, also because they are so cute. I didn't know about the ones that stay closer to the one inch size, I'll have to look into those. As to the small school at the bottom you mentioned, do you think six would be ok or is that too many? My platys tend to hang out near the bottom sometimes too.

 

[Aqua Tom]

Thanks! I think I'm definitely leaning towards the corys, also because they are so cute. I didn't know about the ones that stay closer to the one inch size, I'll have to look into those. As to the small school at the bottom you mentioned, do you think six would be ok or is that too many? My platys tend to hang out near the bottom sometimes too.

6 is spot on for a corys.