I'm pretty much a newbie, so forgive me.

While I'm waiting for my tank to cycle, I'm going to do my research on fish. It's a planted 20 gallon tank. I was handed a brochure about setting up an aquarium when I bought it, and according to it I'd need 4 corys and 2 plecos for 20 gallons. Does that seem right? If I stick to the 1" rule, that would leave me room for maybe 6" of fish if the corys don't get bigger than an inch and the plecos don't get bigger than 3.

So, going against what's been recommended in this brochure, I'm thinking of getting 1 cory, 6 neon tetras, 3 pearl danios and/or 3 guppies. But I have no clue what algae eater I should get because I don't want one that will get much bigger than a couple inches. I've heard that most plecos can grow to be giants and I don't want to stunt his growth. Could I get a ghost shrimp instead of the cory so that way I don't have to worry about the size of the pleco?

Thanks!!

Some bristlenose plecos can be used and dont get more the 3 or so inches. Another great option for a smaller tank io Oto cats as they dont get bigger then about 2 inches aeach and you could go with 3-5 of them.

There are a few plecos that do stay small like the clown pleco, bristlenose pleco ect. If you just want something that will eat algae Otocinclus do a really good job and stay small and you could have a few of those instead of one pleco. Depends on what you like.

Thanks! I just don't want to run into overstocking/stunting problems if I get one.

bristlenose are great cleaners have 1 for my 10 and he does an amazing job. as for other fish for a 20 5 longfin zebras would be good and a gourami or 2. If you go with 2 gourami's male and female. Have a 20 with that stock well a few more longfins 10 to be exact.

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20 Gallon, 6 zebra dinos, 4 green tigers, 3 dojo loach's, 2 blue gourami's, 2 GBR's, 2 bristle plecto's, 2 longfin rosybarbs, 1 syno cat, 1 leopard puffer
25 Gallon, 2 clown loach's, 1 yoyo loach, 1 veil angle, 1 royal plecto, 1 female krib.
36 Gallon bowfront, 1 Green Severum, 2 Auratus, 1 Venustus, 1 Acei, 1 Kenyi, 1 Duboisi, 1 Demasoni, 2 other africans I haven't identified, 2 Pictus Cat, 1 Rainbow shark, 3 tertas, 1 Firemouth cichlid

If you decide to keep clown or bristlenose plecos, 1 for a 20 gallon is the way to go. I had 2 bristlenose in my 20 gallon and all they did was fight with eachother.