New Fishes

[ikermalli]

I bought a 20 Gallon long tank today with a penguin bio-wheel filter. I also bought malaysian driftwood and a heater along with a few plants. I wanted to know what kind of fish are suitable for that tank? They will be in a room with moderate sunlight coming to them. Any help is aprecciated.

-ikermalli

edit: apparently it is not a long

[fishbguy]

Many Many species of fish, including cichlids, tetras, rasboras, catfish, etc. We need to know what you are interested in in order to help you.

[ikermalli]

I want a nice looking fish, that is pretty easy to take care of, they can be in groups of 2 or three. They don't need pH adjustment and colorful. I don't want to get a betta though because I already have one. Also I don't want one that gets sick easily and no brackish or saltwater fish hope I am detailed enough. I am pretty new to fish so I need to find out stuff before I can do anything.

[garfieldnfish]

There are a ton of options.
I would (if it were my tank) get:
1 Bristlenose or rubberlip pleco
3 panda corys
3 African dwarf frogs or 2 apple snails (brigs not cana)
2 Filter/wood shrimp
6 small schooling fish like glolight tetras, mickey mouse rasboras, white cloud minnows etc.

[shade2dope]

you first dont want light hitting your tank it will mess with the tank temp and you might get ALGUE make sure to cycle your tank first (which I know you will) and you might want to soak your dirft wood first(in a bucket tub ect.) as it might cload the water and it releases stuff in the tank that you dont want. I would go for some shell dwellers really cool fish and a chance for you to go for cichlids!!!

[JustOneMore20]

That would make a really nice shelldweller tank. They would need the tank dedicated to them though and prefer hard water and a high pH.

If you are looking for a community setup, I'd suggest:

1 school of 8-10 tetras/rasboras/pencilfish
6 Cories
2-3 Otos
1 Dwarf gourami or 2 Bolivian Rams

[ikermalli]

I waa sorta thinking not to get too many fish, like i will keep 8 black skirt tetras, Won't six cories be alot? Blovian Rams are nice which I think I would get, and the otos I don't mind having but what would be the role of all those fishes? I was thinking to get a few active colorful fish. Garfield fush, your ideas are nice too but i'm not too keen on the snails n ADFs and I won't be allowed to buy them also i'm not too big on shrimp. I know you guys know alot about fish but I think that you guys can give me some ideas and tomorrow I will setup my tank, i'll take some pics of it then you guys can tell me what to put in. Now that I look at it it doesn't look like a long but i'll try to find a pic on google of the tank. Okay here is the tank I have: http://home.pacbell.net/powerfx/images/20gallon.jpg

I don't have alot of plants, I have a big peice of dritwood, and two fake plants that are pretty big. I will buy more if I need to.

[JustOneMore20]

Can you measure the length, width, and height? Thats the best way to tell what size tank you have.

Black Skirts aren't colorful, but if you like them, that would be fine along with 1 or 2 Bolivian Rams. You may want something else to occupy the bottom, thats why I suggest cories. 6 won't be alot. If the tank is truly a 20g long, its 30" long and that is alot of floorspace for bottom feeders.

If you can fine Dwarf Cories (Corydoras pygmaeus, C. hastatus, or C. habrosus), you could have even more.....I'd say 8-10, since they all stay around an inch. They aren't colorful either though.

If you want color, go with the Bolivians and then a school of 8 colorful tetras. Or you could possibly have 2 schools of 6 if you chose small fish.

[ikermalli]

24 Inches long 16.5 inches tall and 12 inches back to front. I only got black tetras cuz the guy said they could withstand the cycle so he said to get them then return them... I am going to post some pics of my not filled tank

[JustOneMore20]

Its a regular 20g, not a long.

[ikermalli]

alright.... well still I love it! Here are some pics





As you know the plants will rise once I add water

edit: It is in my bathroom until my stand is up tomorrow so don't mind the toothpaste and the stuff on the side are extras I got with the tank

[shade2dope]

make sure you have drained the tank before you move it...It looking nice keep us updated

[ikermalli]

Originally Posted by shade2dope

make sure you have drained the tank before you move it...It looking nice keep us updated

It doesn't have any water in it yet Thank you! I will take some pics of it full with 2 black skirt tetras on my stand tomorrow and next week when I get my new fishes I will take some more pics. So, I have decided for sure that I am going to get 8 Dwarf Cory Cats or what ever that name that justonemore20 recommended. I need to know how to take care of them though. I also want some colorful active fish in there too, any ideas? I also wanted to know if guppies are schooling fish because I can keep a school of them then.

[JustOneMore20]

You shouldn't add anything until the tank is cycled though....except for the Black Skirts.

If you don't have the tetras yet, I suggest a fishless cycle. Otherwise, you'll be doing alot of water changes to keep the ammonia and nitrites from getting too high.

You can use pure ammonia or a co-cktail shrimp from the grocery store.

There are 3 species that are dwarf Cories. None are terribly common though, atleast around here. If the LFS in you area don't have them, see if they could special order them. They just require sinking foods and some hiding spots....as well as clean water. Not hard to take care of at all.

[ikermalli]

I already have the tetras.... but I am returning them soon. So could I just get normal cories instead of dwarfs? Should I add more plants to the tank?

[JustOneMore20]

If you plan to cycle the tank with the tetras, you will be keeping them for 4-6 weeks, since thats how long a cycle usually takes.

You could get other cories. I'd get some that won't get bigger than about 2 inches.

[ikermalli]

Which cories would that be? Well I guess I can give them away to my cousins... or I might get some fish that can live through the cycle and get some more fish after the cycle but also I will be doing frequent WCs during the cycle no matter which fish or when I get them

[JustOneMore20]

Some smaller cories are C. trilineatus (False Julii, 3-line Cories), C. panda (Panda cories), C. arcuatus (Skunk cories), and C. metae (Bandit Cories). Don't get any Cories until the tank is cycled though.

Black skirt tetras get pretty big for a tetra (2.5-3 inches) so whoever you give them to, make sure their tank is big enough. They need atleast a 20g tank.

[ikermalli]

WHOA at least a 20? Well my cousins are getting a 20 soon so I will give them to my cousins. How do I initially fill up my 20 Gallon?

[kbjunior8]

which cousin is getting a 20