Suggested Tank Mates

[Popster]

New to the forum.  I have a 20 gallon long currently home to a male Mustard Betta, 2 cories and 6 Harlequin Rasboras.  Any suggestions on if I can add more tank mates that would be interesting other than adding more cories or Rasboras?  

[AnimalNerd98]

There are plenty of options, but first I would definitely suggest adding more cories until you have a school of 6 or more. What kind of cories do you have? If you have aeneus cories, you could have a mixed school of the albino and bronze colored ones. In terms of bottom dwellers, you could also add kuhli loaches, hillstream loaches, a bristlenose pleco, or an African dwarf frog.
 

If you’re into them, explore the world of snails and shrimp. Nerite snails are great algae eaters. Pond snails, ramshorn snails, and Malaysian trumpet snails will fill up the aquarium and act as your clean-up crew. Rabbit snails and apple snails aren’t great algae eaters, but they come in a wide variety of colors and shapes. For shrimp, you can look at Amano shrimp, ghost shrimp, Neocaridinia shrimp, and even bamboo shrimp (but this last one will require a bit more special care). 

You could also consider other schooling or shoaling fishes. Neon tetras are always a crowd pleaser. Ember tetras, black neon tetras, chili rasboras, kubotai rasboras, and rummy nose tetras come to mind. Do some Googling and see what colors you’d like to add to the aquarium. 
 

Besides tetras and rasboras, you can also look at some of the smaller species of rainbow fish like furcata rainbows and signifier rainbow fish. Guppies and other livebearers will quickly fill up a tank and bring in a lot of color. 
 

There is a huge number of combinations. There are so many critters I didn’t mention, but these are just supposed to give you some ideas and let you do your own research to see what you like. If you have any questions about specific animals, just make another comment or post. 
 

Happy fish keeping 🙂 

[Popster]

Thanks AnimalNerd98.  I have the 2 Albinos.  Adding some bronze would add some color which is what I'm striving for.  I will start looking at the options you suggested and see what appeals to me.  Thanks again. 

[Jayci]

I actually like the setup as is! I think a larger school of the Rasboras would be nice.

Ive never owned Harlequins, but I assume they are mid-top level swimmers.  If that's the case, maybe decide on another smaller bodied species that swims closer to the bottom; that will complement the Rasboras nicely.

[Cinnebuns]

On 8/21/2022 at 11:33 AM, Popster said:

New to the forum.  I have a 20 gallon long currently home to a male Mustard Betta, 2 cories and 6 Harlequin Rasboras.  Any suggestions on if I can add more tank mates that would be interesting other than adding more cories or Rasboras?  

Unfortunately your next best step is to add more cories. They really need to be in a group of 6 or more. What kind of cories are they?  Knowing that could help guide exactly how many you could keep. 

After you complete the cory school you do have other options. I would suggest something for algae control like a snail. There are many options but in this situation I would advise a nerite snail or 2 or 3. They are by far the best algae eaters and have a minimal bioload. They come in some pretty cool patterns and colors and over 20 varieties!  The most common ones you will find are zebra followed by tiger. One of the best parts of nerite snails is they cannot reproduce in freshwater so will not take over your tank. Females will lay eggs but they won't hatch. 

Here are some examples of my nerite snails:

Red Racer

 

King Koopa

 

Zebra

 

Nerite snails are beautiful and amazing algae eaters but if you are looking for something more interesting try a mystery snail. I would advise starting with 1 and possibly adding 1 more if you wanted. They get pretty large and have a considerable bioload. They come in some beautiful colors including purples and blue. They are actually surprisingly agile and have a more quirky personality than you might ever expect from a snail. They do lay eggs that can hatch in your tank however they are very easily discarded if you don't want them to hatch. 

Here is all the mystery snails I had at one time. All but 2 are categorized as magenta color.  1 is chestnut and 1 is purple. For clarification since magenta and purple look similar, magenta has a light foot and purple has a dark foot. 

 

This is just an example of their spunky personality. He is holding onto a string from the spawning mop below and floating up. 

 

 

 

Edited August 21, 2022 by Cinnebuns

[Popster]

Thanks everyone for the suggestions.  I decided I'm going to get some fork-tailed furcata rainbows.  I ordered 6 from Aqua Huna and hopefully be here Thursday. 

[anitstuk]

On 8/24/2022 at 9:19 AM, Popster said:

Thanks everyone for the suggestions.  I decided I'm going to get some fork-tailed furcata rainbows.  I ordered 6 from Aqua Huna and hopefully be here Thursday. 

That's a good choice. Please keep us updated on how they go! 🙂 

[Popster]

Fork-tailed furcata rainbows arrived today from Aqua Huna.  All healthy.