does this stocking work

[SplatoonSamus]

Would a pair of Apistogramma trifisciata, 5 or 6 otocinclus, and 5 to 8 dwarf pencilfish work in a 20gal long tank with plenty of plants and hardscape to break up sightlines. I plan to breed the Apistogramma, but it is a display tank first.

 

[MacZ]

I plan to breed the Apistogramma

Then scratch the Otos (they shouldn't be added until a tank reaches maturity, 6+ months) and make sure you can always remove one of the Apistos to another tank and the hardscape to catch fry ready for growout.

 

[Mike Wise]

Male A. trifasciata have a reputation for being very aggressive toward females - especially those not ready to breed. Like MacZ, I would scratch the otos and replace with another female if possible. An isolation tank for the male, if it gets too aggressive, is a good idea.

 

[SplatoonSamus]

If I got a different, less aggressive species of Apisto, would this work with Ottos included? If Ottos won't work, is there a different cleanup crew that could work? Also, my tank has been running for 6 months. In the meantime, I had some female platies occupying the tank, but they're going to a friend. I had a period of work where I was very busy for the last couple of months(shouldn't happen again).

 

[anewbie]

The otto should wait at least 6 months after you setup the aquarium because they mostly eat biofilm and it takes a while for a new aquarium to grow such for them to eat. Also to be quite frank a 20 long isn't that tall and while my relatively passive a. sp blutkehl mostly left the ottos along but still there were some conflict since the otto go after 'food' they want and if there happen to be frys in the area the female is going to push them aside (btw the a. sp blutkehl is among the most passive species i've kept).

In a 29 (which is alot higher) the more aggressive a. wolli would chase them all the way to the top even if they didn't have fry - in the end none of the otto in that aquarium died but i'm sure it was a bit stressful; having said that after 6 or 9 months they started leaving the otto alone most of the time.

 

[SplatoonSamus]

How many dwarf pencil fish should I add

 

[MacZ]

If Ottos won't work, is there a different cleanup crew that could work?

You don't need a cleanup crew, that's a misconception turned into a business model. Nobody knows whether you will get any problems that will need cleaning up. Ideally you will have to clean the front glass and maybe the sides regularly and that's it. If you start the tank with sufficiently many plants there will be no problems like this. Concerning food waste and feces: The tank will be lightly stocked, so you will not have to clean up much of that. If you add leaf litter from the start (before even adding the fish) and let it decompose without removing the mulm, the mulm layer will deal with waste. Also dwarf cichlids forage the aquarium floor all the time, they will clean up after themselves.

And IF things turn up that are actual problems, like cyanobacteria or Cladophora-algae, you will not be able to get those under control with animals, but will have to tweak lights and nutrients, which is the first step in any case of algae anyway.

How many dwarf pencil fish should I add

We're talking Nannostomus marginatus? 6-10. I'd go rather for 10.