A 20 Gal Tank - what fish?

[pepper]

I've gotten a 20 gallon tank. I have no idea what fish to put in it? I'd like maybe 2 medium fish and a couple of little ones? Any suggestions?

[osteoporoosi]

Hahaa, I love suggesting fish into other peoples tanks.

suggestion 1(temp. about 26-27 celcius, soft and acidid water):
1 male betta
15 ruby/blue emperor tetras

suggestion 2(water rates same as above):
1 honey/dwarf gourami
15 ruby/blue emperor/cardinal tetras

suggestion 3(water rates same as above):
1 male betta/1 honey or dwarf gourami
5 kuhli loaches
5 amano shrimps

[flynngriff]

I've had problems with bettas and gouramis not getting along in the past. I think my betta thought the gourami was another betta. If you do decide to mix them, keep a close eye on them.

[ron v]

Pepper, do know what your water parameters are? PH, hardness? It makes sense to me to match your fish to the water you have. Especially, if you are undecided about your fish.

[MyraVan]

We have hard, alkaline water: 300ppm GH, 7.8 pH.

Our 20 gallon tank is unheated, and has the following in it:
6 zebra danios (4 regular blue & silver, 2 gold ones)
3 rosy barbs
2 hillstream loaches
1 nerite algae-eating snail and a small collection of pest snails (pond snails and ramshorns)

It is planted. The substrate is plain gravel, too large for growing plants well, so the plants are growing in pots with Flourite in them.

I think that one decision you have to make before you set up the tank is, will you want to add plants to it or not? If you will, you need to put in a substrate suitable for plants. You can grow plants in pots as I do, but it's not as nice; the plants don't naturally spread as they would in a good substrate. In my new office tank I have a good substrate and the entire floor of the tank is planted, so I don't have to vacuum the gravel, which saves time and effort.

If you decide that you do want plants, then ask in the planted tank forum about substrates and we'll give you some good recommendations. Once you've got the right substrate, you'll need good lighting, but you can add the lighting later, if you want to add the plants later.

[osteoporoosi]

I didn't mean to put bettas and gouramis together. I meant a betta or a gourami.
Sorry for being too indistinct

[night_day]

Hey pepper, in my heated 20 gallon, I have

4 Platys, 4 guppys and 4 tetras. They are all considered small fish though (someone correct me if I am wrong!) Of those breeds, I like the tetras the most. The guppys are great cause of their fantastic color, the platys are ok, they are the most active, chasing each other around!

[Imbrium]

I suggest cherry barbs. They won't bother other fish. They aren't fin nippers, so you can keep a long-finned fish like a betta with them. The males are bright red. They're very active, and they play tag all day. I would get 5 or 6. If you get a mix of males & females the males will color up more. Just don't get more males than females because they will pester them non-stop. They are pretty hardy, easy to take care of.

[osteoporoosi]

Cherry barbs are an excellent suggestion.
How about 6 barbs and 1 betta?

Livebearers and tetras do not mix well together, tetras prefer soft water, livebearers hard and alkalinous.

[fishboy]

if you don't want a heater i'm a big goldfish fan and you could most likely put 2 FANCY goldfish in a 20 gallon. NOT COMETS OR POND FISH such as kio commons or shubunkins. Put you could get orandas, ryunkin, bubble eyed, clestial eyed(my favorites), pearscale, lion head. stuff like that only need a ballpark of 10 gallon per fish

[osteoporoosi]

No, even fantails and orandas grow HUGE. They need atleast 100gallon tank.
Here few excellent examples:
http://bigwhiteguy.com/images/daily/goldfish.jpg
http://www.kevinwakeman.com/fpics/jun702goldy.jpg

[Cichlid Man]

Originally Posted by pepper @ Thu Apr 14, 2005 6:42 pm

I've gotten a 20 gallon tank. I have no idea what fish to put in it? I'd like maybe 2 medium fish and a couple of little ones? Any suggestions?

Anything which dosn't grow more than 3-4 inches, isn't aggressive, and likes a ph between 6.5 and 7.5. There are thousands of combinations of fish out there, but the key is selecting the right ones which are ideal for your setup and, get on with your other inhabitants.
Best to tell us which fish you are mainly intrested in and we can work around that, deciding which other fish will be compatable with them and what your water parameters need to be.

[pepper]

Thank you for all the suggestions. I don't know about my water yet, I'll figure all that stuff out tonight

[fishboy]

some goldfish grow huge it depends on the care, food, and surrondings they get

[osteoporoosi]

They all grow huge in proper care and proper size tank or pond.

[shadowd_dreamr]

in one of my twenty gallon tanks I have:

2 pink kissing gouramis,
1 green cory,
1 bumblebee cat fish,
2 gold barbs,
1 white skirt tetra,
2 black skirt tetras,
and a baby pleco.


in my other twenty gallon tank I have,

1 Blue oranda,
1 rosy barb,
1 reg pleco,
1 white cloud,
1 neon,
2 serpea tetras,
and a red platy.

[Fishfirst]

Kissing gouramis will get too big for a 20 gallon, check out dwarfs. The bumblebee catfish will also outgrow a 20 gallon fairly fast and eat smaller fish.