Convict + ?

[stilyagi]

Hello all, I am fairly new to fish-keeping and am looking to add something to my tank but I'm not sure exactly what yet. Thoughts and advice are what I'm needing now.

My tank is a 20L and I have a Fluval 205 (40 gal) turning the water over. I have 1 female convict, probably 3 inches long, definitely the queen of the tank. I also have a peppered cory, 1 zebra danio, and a red-tailed blue variatus platy.

Originally, I had the cory, zebra and platy in a 10 gal community tank and I added the convict with the intention of one day having a breeding pair in the 20L. Once I switched to the 20, however, I decided against the 2nd convict because of one thing: the platy follows the convict around EVERYWHERE. At first the convict was not pleased but the platy persisted and now they are jointed at the fishy hip.

So my question is this: what can I add that will stand up to the convict but leave the platy alone? I had thought some sort of barb but I think they would decimate the platy and little zebra (which just swims in and out of a bubble curtain in the middle of the tank). Would some sort of loach be appropriate? Clowns get too big I think, but I don't know enough about the rest of the breed to guess at another type...

I don't truly need to add anything, but I thought some more mid-tank activity would be nice.

Thanks in advance for any input!

[Lab_Rat]

I'd increase the number of danios up to 6 and bump up the number of cories as well, assuming this is a 20 gallon long tank and not a 20 liter tank. They are both schooling fish and should be kept with others of their own kind.

[stilyagi]

Yes, sorry, 20 long.

[D21right]

I understand you said you wanted a breeding Pair but then changed your mind (Not A Bad Decision) but I was thinking something similar to what Lab Rat said but also adding another female Convict, having Just Females isn't bad at all. I had to do it recently to stop breeding lol Sometimes it just needs to be done lol. Good luck and Let Us know what decision you make.

[icefreeze57]

Yeah add to the schools... Also a 20g may be a little small for a convict....

[stilyagi]

Sorry for the long silence. A 2nd female is an option I hadn't considered...but probably not a road I will take. I added 5 more Zebras and will add a couple Corys in the near future.

I also added 2 Kuhli loaches...did I make a huge mistake? So far, everyone is getting along great, the convict could care less about the rest of the fish in the tank, as long as she isn't eating...hopefully it stays that way.

[sheamurai]

Are you seeing the kuhli's much? If you want to see more of them you will need a larger number of them - they are another fish happier in groups.

[stilyagi]

Well...actually yeah...they are out a lot. My substrate might not be small enough for them to burrow into but I do have a lot of hiding places for them. Their most interesting behavior is swimming in vertical circles at along the front wall of the tank. One of them seems to enjoy swimming into the current caused by the filter outlet and getting pushed across the length of the tank :ssmile: