Sandra the fish rookie

@laritheloudI love all of these choices.. see that is my problem.. I just can't pick.. also not sure my LFS will have these so I would have to order them online which is totally fine. my only issue is if they breed (which I am not trying to do) and they become aggressive.. 😞

@JettsPapa I have been reading that they are very skittish. The 40gallon is in the main living room and my house is open concept.. so there is always movement. My tank is quite planted but don't want them to hide all the time. Could I see a picture of your tank? I am hoping mine is planted enough. I mean I still have some time. I have Otto's and Panda cory's in QT so I have at least 3 weeks to research and confuse myself even more.. 🙂

My other concern, is I will eventually have some guppies in there as the overflow from the 20G. I hear that there are some fish that get super annoyed by guppies. Anyone have Diamond Tetra's??? I saw a picture of those ones. Man what a pretty fish. @Colu would Bolivian rams be okay with guppies?

I am working on starting to add fish to the 40G I would really like a centerpiece fish for that tank. But I would prefer something that will get along with guppies, corydora's, Plecos and Otto's fish. I have watched some many videos that I am beginning to overthink and overwhelm myself. I am a community tank kind of gal, so want a fish that would terrorize other friendly fish. Or, should I get larger schooling fish? IDK.. ugh.. What do some of you have? Pros and cons??

@anewbie Thanks!!! Ya, I decided to stop at 2 plecos. The super red long fin is pretty and active at least but think he will get much bigger than the clown will. My clown I barley see. Since adding more otto's they are REALLY happy. But I really feel like I need more Panda cory's. I have 6 now, I found one alone in the LFS and brought him home so that will be 7. I think I will go to the LFS and see if they can order me some more 🙂. I have 15 more Ottos in QT (with one panda cory). I am going to add some Otto's to the 20G as well.

@tolstoy21 LOL!! I am really glad I got the additional Otto's. I started with only 2 because that is all the LFS had. I ordered some from Flip Aquatics but all he had was 3. Saturday the new 3 otto's were added to the display post QT .. and MAN.. they are happy.. they are swimming and zipping around the tank day and night! So once the others are out of QT I am going to add some to my 20G and the 40G. I feed my bottom fish with veggies (Zucchini, cucumbers, green beans, watermelon and cantaloupe are top favorites), wafers and I also use bottom sinking fluval bug bites and Nano extreem that they like as well). Another question about Otto's. What is a good amount for them? or should I say a minimum amount for them to be happy grouping wise? I already have 5 in the 40 gallon. Should I add 5 more to the 40 and 10 to the 20 G?? The current stocking in the 20G = A LOT of guppies, 1 mystery snail, 1 Ramshorn snail, 5 corydora, 2 shrimp. My tank seems to be handling the load, but I do plan to transfer some guppies to the 40 gallon as the fry get a bit bigger 🙂

Thank you so much @lefty o my otto's are super easy to feed. They eat all veggies, wafers and I will put some bug bites in there and they seem to really like that as well.

@lefty o Cool! do they need to be in groups? if so how many for a 40 gallon? I agree with you about the plecos. I only see the super red pleco at this point.. the clown he is beginning to come out a little more now that I am adding more fish.. I would probably have to order the panda garra's online. So once the otto's and corydora are out of QT the panda garra will be the next ones I purchase.

Thanks everyone! I was walking around my LFS this afternoon... and they had a TON of otto's.. healthy ones too! Sooooooo I bought them.. ALL OF THEM (15 of them). I have 5 in the 40 gallon. I think I will add some more to the 40 and add some to the 20. My 40 is way cleaner than the 20 and I think that the Ottos help quite a bit. There was 1 panda corydora that was all alone so I brought him home too and will add him to my panda cory pack in the 40. I just couldn't leave him there 🙂 all alone..no other corydoras with him.. no other panda friends.. so he is in the QT tank with the ottos. Anyone have experience the Panda Garra? they look like really neat little fish too. I am afraid to have to many catfish.. is that even possible?

@Fish Folk see photo below. This tank has been going for a while. I really wanted to get the population going in the 20 before moving on to the 40. My LFS had ottos..15 of them.. I bought all of them and will add some to the 20G to help with algae in there. There was 1 lonely little panda corydora..so I brought him home too ..they are all in the QT tank.. (I couldn't leave him all alone..)

I have been fighting algae on my plants for a while now (see post algae is becoming a drag). I feed my fish once a day and one day they don't get fed at all..hoping they will EAT stuff in the tank. Cory recommended a SAE .. so I made the mistake of researching them and per what I have read, they can get as large as 5-7 inches???? that is quite large for a 20G high..No?? its that hair algea ..it DRIVES ME NUTS!!!! I just remove leaves etc. to try to get it under control. I have decreased my light and it really does not change even if change my water every week or every 2 weeks. Whatever is there STAYS there unless I remove it..the new growth is clear of it..but the lower parts of the plants have it..so I would have to remove all of it..I am using easy carbon as well .. Will panda garra eat that stuff? I want an excuse to get one of those too..because they are super cute. Shrimp are an option, but the molting is just creepy to me.. I always think I have a dead shrimp in the tank.. Any recommendations are welcomed and appreciated!

I am beginning to stock my 40 gallon breeder tank. I now have 5 ottos 6 panda corydoras 1 clown pleco and 1 super red long fin pleco. I find my cory's look lost in there and want to get more (because I LOVE them). I an also thinking of getting more Otto's as well. Is there such thing as too many bottom fish? I am also looking for additional stocking idea as well. I will eventually will move some guppies over from the 20 gallon but would like some other types of fish in there as well. I love community tanks..so want friendly fish

This forum has taught me how to QT and how important it is. I have only had 1 fish die in QT and I think it was stress related due to shipping because there was not evidence of disease. I have a 10G in my husbands office. Its bare bottom but I was struggling to keep it cycled (even using seeded sponge filters) so I added some pest snails, and some plants in tiny terracotta pots to keep some kind of life in there. If I have to use salt, or have to net fish out to add to my display tanks I can easily take everything out put the plants into an dechlorinated bucket of water and put them back in when done. I observe and feed high quality food the first week, use the ACO trio starting the second week and depending on the type of fish may complete a full round of deworming with Paracleanse. I then will observe and feed an additional week. IF they have had NO signs of disease AT ALL I move them to the display. IF they have disease, I treat according to what they are displaying or come to the forum to ask for advise... I keep the QT UGLY.. so I am not tempted to turn it into another display tank..LOL... I can always just buy another NEW tank for that.. haha

@Biotope Biologist That would be helpful. I guess I could put it in my filter for better flow like @ARMYVET mentioned. Non of my fish seem to be bothered by it at all. I thought by increasing my PH and KH it would help stabilize my aquarium better resulting in less alae on the plants. I had another post where Cory recommended using crushed coral to help stabilize my PH. Again, I have no idea what I am doing. I just hate disturbing my aquarium to change water when it looks clear, fish are thriving, plants are growing, and parameters are within normal range. I just want what is best for the animals and ecosystem .. but don't want to over do it and send everything out of wack.

OK Great! I used another brand that is finer between my coarse sponge and my bag of biomatrix and it works REALLY well but like most of you said if I use it on the top it makes my filter water look like it will over flow at least my aqueon anyways.. that filter box is SO narrow so it has zero room for anything else. My tidal is awesome and I never have an issue adding anything addition because there is so much room in it. The finer one is what I use below and also have ACO as another option. I know.. I have WAY to much stuff.. I just can't decide what works best yet.. I am sure it will all get used

So based on the comments, I can hold off on adding anymore coral for now and increase my water changes. Will increasing my water change frequency have an impact on my Nitrates? I suppose as long as I don't clean my filters it should not be an impact.. am I accurate with that one or WAY off.. it too me SOOO long to see nitrates.. I never want them to go away..LOL

@Patrick_G Okay so do you put it just "fluffy" or do you mold it? Does any fibers fly off at all...I am so paranoid about that...

Someone gave this to me. I am worried about it because it looks more like what you would use to stuff a pillow. I have the ACO filter floss but not sure what to do with this.. (besides stuff a pillow with it..LOL). If anyone uses it.. how do you use it???

@laritheloud and @KaitieG I was JUST about to ask that.. I have a Aqueon (came with the 20G kit) and I wanted to upgrade it to the Tidal 35..but I have lots of different ages of guppy fry so it was still in the box till I could figure out what to do with the skimmer part... I have the 55 in my 40 gallon but no guppies in that tank.. what a GREAT IDEA! @laritheloud how did you slid it into the slots??? I will TOTALLY do this on Saturday.. woohoo

I added coral to ALL my tanks! I added a bit at a time not to over do it all at once. 10G got 1 pound , 20 gallon 1 pound, 40G 2 pounds and the 5G has a little less than half a pound.. I added it after water changes. the 5 G has some in the filter and a bit in the tank. I am thinking he needs more in his tank. The PH is still dropping to around 6.6 - 6.8 ish... I have hard water. 280... Should I add more? Wait??? ugh.. I do water changes every 2 weeks sometimes every 3 weeks if all is good chemistry and looks wise.

@DaveO I got that at the grocery store believe it or not.. it was with all the dish cleaning supplies.. its a bottle cleaner.. and YES its perfect for that weird algae.. that is what I use it for too.. and its flexible too.. so I can mold it to the size I need 🙂

@Patrick_G and @Nirvanaquatics It was on Amazon. I don't think it was expensive either. it has perforated bottoms so the towels will dry too!

I set up like this every time I clean my office tank. My husband said I needed "trolley" to keep all my stuff on and bring to each tank. He got me this.. and only after a week using it.. I saw this that he put on it.. LOL.. funny guy.. This is what happens when nurses marry.. HA!

@Brandy That is going to be an awesome fishroom!! Congratulations! I will live vicariously through your updates!! It even has my wheels spinning.. LOL..

Thanks everyone! I just ordered some Water Lettuce on Etsy. If the vendor is good then I will order their frogbit as well.