# Stocking ideas for a new 20 Gallon Long



## Aurie (Jun 3, 2013)

If for some reason you go with less CPD then I'd up the corys. They are sooo tiny. I have some in a 46 (transients from a 20 tall) and I have 3. 2 love each other and constantly school. I guess the other is ok being by itself. I will eventually get more when my 55 is set up and half of my fish get xfered. I hoped they would school with my dainty (hasbrosus spelling?) coreys but they don't school but who knows if they don't mind the company. CPD's are less than an inch and are very shy and timid so I'd imagine that your stocking would be ok with 10 cpd, maybe 9 corys and some tetras. I don't know the size of the tetras. If neon size maybe 7?\


Please note that the shrimp are about 0 bio load so I didn't include them in calculations. I only used what I would feel comfortable with myself.

What exact filtration are you going with?


----------



## randpost (Feb 9, 2014)

Aurie said:


> If for some reason you go with less CPD then I'd up the corys. They are sooo tiny. I have some in a 46 (transients from a 20 tall) and I have 3. 2 love each other and constantly school. I guess the other is ok being by itself. I will eventually get more when my 55 is set up and half of my fish get xfered. I hoped they would school with my dainty (hasbrosus spelling?) coreys but they don't school but who knows if they don't mind the company. CPD's are less than an inch and are very shy and timid so I'd imagine that your stocking would be ok with 10 cpd, maybe 9 corys and some tetras. I don't know the size of the tetras. If neon size maybe 7?\
> 
> 
> Please note that the shrimp are about 0 bio load so I didn't include them in calculations. I only used what I would feel comfortable with myself.
> ...


Yeah, shrimp aren't that bad in terms of bio-load, but my Amano Shrimp are all female and full sized (roughly 2 inches each). I see them crawling by with 2 inch poop noodles attached to their tails all the time. Not really sure how to account for their bioload.

I will order 10 pygmy cory cats and keep whatever survive USPS handling. Hopefully all 10. I believe the Tetras stay under an inch, but I am still up in the air on tetras or micro rasboras. 

For filtration I will use an AC70 HOB and a Sunsun HW-302 since I have those sitting in the garage already. Should be plenty of filtration.


----------



## Aurie (Jun 3, 2013)

all I can say is: sounds good to me.


----------



## wicca27 (May 3, 2009)

if its corydoras pigmaeus go with like 20 at least. they are awesome little things. and i mean little they max at about 1 inch. i have like 15 in a 10 gal and have a hard time finding them lol.


----------



## randpost (Feb 9, 2014)

wicca27 said:


> if its corydoras pigmaeus go with like 20 at least. they are awesome little things. and i mean little they max at about 1 inch. i have like 15 in a 10 gal and have a hard time finding them lol.


Those pygmy Cory's do look like pretty cool fish. I have other Cory's but they all have gotten big and fat (3-4").
I may up my Pygmy count later, but I just ordered the 10 Pygmy Cory's along with 10 Strawberry Rasbora (Embers sold out over night). I already order the 10 CPD yesterday. If anything, I will probably increase the CPD count if I deem I have the room. 30 fish under an inch and 4 Amano should be a good start. Hopefully the rasbora and CPD mesh well together. time will tell. If not, either should be easy to give away. 

If the Pygmy's stay under an inch, everything in my tank will be under an inch except for the Amano.


----------



## randpost (Feb 9, 2014)

Everything has been ordered. I ended up getting the following shipped.

11x Ember Tetra's (Hyphessobrycon amandae)
10x Celestial Pearl Danio's (Danio margaritatus)
10x Pygmy Cory's (Corydoras Pygmaeus)
10x Green Tetra (Microdevario kubotai)

Only thing I am worried about now is bio-load. Everything is really small, so hopefully it will be fine.


----------



## Aurie (Jun 3, 2013)

Test your water almost daily and do water changes since you're adding them all at once. While they're not big fish they'll still create ammonia levels higher than a cycled aquarium could handle right off the bat. It'll take up to a week for bacteria to populate (maybe longer). I've always added slowly but within a week or so everything is hunky dorey.


----------



## randpost (Feb 9, 2014)

Aurie said:


> Test your water almost daily and do water changes since you're adding them all at once. While they're not big fish they'll still create ammonia levels higher than a cycled aquarium could handle right off the bat. It'll take up to a week for bacteria to populate (maybe longer). I've always added slowly but within a week or so everything is hunky dorey.


I used bottled ammonia to cycle and have my tank processing quite a bit daily. They should be okay. I will definitely monitor daily, thanks for the tip.


----------



## randpost (Feb 9, 2014)

I received both of my online orders of fish today.

The order with: Ember Tetras, Microdevario Kubotai, and Pygmy Cories arrived perfectly.

The second order from Ebay with: CPD's arrived with all 10 CPD's dead in a dry bag. The bag sprung a leak in transit... The seller will be shipping 10 more on Monday. 

Here is the unboxing video. Please ignore the music, my 2 year old picked it out. I didn't bother posting the second unboxing since it was all negative.

http://youtu.be/HLV8P8MNaZo



Video of the fish swimming around the tank just after adding them. Colors are already popping in only a small duration of time.

http://youtu.be/IQ9U9HDEsAM



Pictures are from a few minutes after placing the fish in the tank. Night lights are on so the fish can adjust. Hence the grainy photos


----------



## AquaAurora (Jul 10, 2013)

Sorry about the DOA, hopefully 2nd batch makes it.
If you use Seachem Prime you can do a larger dose of it to safely bind ammonia and nitrites to prevent spikes from affecting fish. Used on the 12 g when a large batch of blyxa I got completely melted a shot up ammonia. Dwarf puffers are still alive and well, and BB colony bigger now from mini cycle.


----------



## randpost (Feb 9, 2014)

AquaAurora said:


> Sorry about the DOA, hopefully 2nd batch makes it.
> If you use Seachem Prime you can do a larger dose of it to safely bind ammonia and nitrites to prevent spikes from affecting fish. Used on the 12 g when a large batch of blyxa I got completely melted a shot up ammonia. Dwarf puffers are still alive and well, and BB colony bigger now from mini cycle.


I have a bottle I've never used. Great tip. I will use it if the need arises. Thanks

Sent from my SM-G900T using Tapatalk


----------



## randpost (Feb 9, 2014)

My reshipment of CPD's arrived today Priority Mail. All 11 are alive and well.


----------



## AquaAurora (Jul 10, 2013)

Glad to hear!


----------

