[Tony14]

I have a 20 gallon planted tank right now with 4 gold barbs, 3 glowlight tetras, 2 silvertip tetras, 2 panda cories, 1 peppered cory and a 3 in pleco (will be moved to a 55 gallon once he hits the 4 inch or so mark) I have the chance to get a pair of australian rainbows from a friend for free.....If i add those two do you tihnk that would be to much for the tank?

 

[djrichie]

once you move the pleco because they have a huge bio=load you should be ok.... one thing if you have that pleco in a planted tank thats not good, they eat roots of the plants.... Look for some Otto Cats..... very small bio-load so you could add 3 of them to your tank with the rainbows and they will do a good job on the algea better than the pleco.

 

[Tony14]

Thanks! My pleco has been in there since i started the tank not quite two months ago and hes been fine with all the plants, but he will be getting moved. None of my lfs have any oto cats (that i can find) I'll keep looking for them though. Im glad that the rainbows should be ok. I wanted to add a little bit of size to the fish and thought they would be perfect to do that.

 

[djrichie]

petco and oetsupermarket sell them ask them to order them for you... just don't get the skinny one you want the bellies to be round

 

[Big J]

I dont think its a big deal. You will have only 12 fish in there and even if you do have it overstocked just make sure you clean it enough.

 

[djrichie]

Overstocking your tank is a big deal......

 

[Tony14]

Thanks. i had an overstocking problem when i first started keeping fish. Lost around a dozen fish.

Cant wait to get these rainbows in now

 

[eaglesfan3711]

Congrats, Rainbows are amazing. I have 4 myself.

 

[Tony14]

got them yesterday, I love them! Is there anyway to tell between a male and a female? One of them has more of a blueish/purple hue to it and the other has a golden hue.

oh and i found some otos at a pet central at the other end of town. Im gong to transfer out that pleco and pick up some of them. What do you guys think 2 or 3 with the fish mentioned above minus the pleco.

 

[djrichie]

I have 3 in a 29 Gal. hex flat back and it clean. They are fat and healthy and had them in that tank for over a year. In my 55C I have 5 same thing. In the 75.... I tring out two types of pleco I found zebra and giant otto's... that tank is only 4 moths now so every thing new is still out. in a 38C I had a few but not sure hwhat in that tank as i been just puttting this and that into it, it's a porject gone wrong and after the hloidays I plan on reworking it

I would go with 3, a good rule is odd number of fish....

 

[Tony14]

3 wont be too much with everything else?

 

[djrichie]

no 3 would be perfect... very little BIO-load with otto's

 

[eaglesfan3711]

got them yesterday, I love them! Is there anyway to tell between a male and a female? One of them has more of a blueish/purple hue to it and the other has a golden hue.

oh and i found some otos at a pet central at the other end of town. Im gong to transfer out that pleco and pick up some of them. What do you guys think 2 or 3 with the fish mentioned above minus the pleco.

It seems like noone is able to tell the difference between males and females, but I find it easy. First, there are a few categories they are placed in. Look at the anal fin. The male's will extend into a point, while the female's will just round over. The males are seperated into two categories. Each tank with a male will have a dominant male. The dominant will be much darker in color and give a much better color than the others. The one in my avatar is my dominant male. Secondary males do have color, but they are much duller. The females are the dullest colored and have the rounded anal fin.

Hope this helps!