Got an empty 20g

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wilson

Aquarium Advice Freak
Joined
Feb 3, 2004
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376
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canada
Well almost empty it has just one snail left(my other goldfish died for some reason). Now i want something different to stock it with. I would like some panda corise but if they wont work then i dont need them. I wnat something different like mabye kribensis or something. Lots of ideas what you would do with it would be great. Thanks
 
The Kribensis Cichlid requires at least a 50 gal tank, so the 20 gal would be way too small for this little guy. I'm not exactly sure what a panda corise is, is it the same thing as a Panda Dwarf Cichlid (I am just assuming you are talking about a cichlid because you mentioned the krib)? The Panda requires at least 30 gal. With a 20 gal tank, options are minimal. If you are looking along the lines of Cichlid's, you could go South American Dwarf. The German Blue Ram is a beautiful fish and requires a minimum 20 gal. They are peaceful and fun to watch. That's the only S.A. Cichlid that I can think of. You could also do a school of smaller fish. For example, Tetra's, Guppies, Rasbora's, or Rainbow's. Rainbow's are beautiful fish. I spotted a Boesemani Rainbow that I would have LOVED to get, but no room.
 
Panda cories would work fine, and so would other species of cories, just be sure to buy a group of them as they are schooling fish. I don't know anything about kribs but I have heard that a pair can be kept in a 20 gallon no problem. Blue rams or Bolivian rams would also be really nice. Blues are more colorful but Bolivians are more hardy. You could get a small pleco like a rubberlip, clown, or bristlenose. Maybe add some tetras, most do best in groups of 6 or more. I keep rummynose, green fires, and gold pristellas and I love them, any of those would be fine. If you do rams and/or tetras I would get either real or fake plants, they prefer to have plants around. Oh, and if you get a pleco add some driftwood to rasp on. :mrgreen:
 
Ok, I feel stupid now. Corise is supposed to be Cories. :oops: But Severum is right, Cories will be fine in a 20 gal. But the Panda Cory requires a 30 gal tank. You can check some profiles at www.liveaquaria.com
 
Some of liveaquaria's profiles are a little suspect to me... mostly good info there but I think sometimes the minimum tank size is a little off. If you think the panda cories will get too big for your tank, there are tons of other kinds that would work that you would probably like.
 
Thanks everyone. I like the idea of a pair of german blue rams, 3 panda cories, and maybe some sort of tetre. Anyone else got anything, that sucks about the kribs too because i thought they would be cool. O well.
 
if you choose another fish, try to find a mid to top dweller... cories and rams, in my experience usually hang out at the bottom... HTH
 
Ok thanks. Yeah i was wondering about the liveaquaria.com's profiles. The tank size seemed a bit big for a fish that only gets 2.5". Do you think 3 would be fine in a 20?
 
20 gallon

One good thing would be is get a gourami and get a green spotted puffer. get a couple of plecos, and a panada cory. you should put allot of spots to hide. drift wood is good to use. Allot of plants are good. Make sure you get potted plants! Pot less plants always tend to come out.
 
Wouldnt a puffer attack the other fish. Plus im starting a dwarf puffer tank using another tank i already have so i want this one to be different.
 
A couple of Pleco's? The tank size is only 20 gal and unless you plan to hunt down a specific species, they get huge. There are several that stay under 5 inches, but the common pleco's get over 12 inches. In a tank that size, I'd say either get a small pleco (Rubber, Pitbull, etc) or maybe algae eaters or snails. But you won't need one for a while, not until you start getting algae.

The thing with Live Aqauria's profiles is that they are giving you a tank size for the amount of swimming area that each fish needs. Some fish only get to be about 3 inches but they need tons of open swimming area. If you put them in a 10 gal tank full of plants, they will not be happy.
 
So cories wouldnt be happy in a 20g? Or would they work. I think i will stick with them and some type of german blue ram, and the maybe a small school of fish. If that would work. :)
 
You can always try it and if they get too big or look unhappy, take them back to the lfs. Remember, cories love to be in larger numbers (at least 4)
 
In case you are going with the cories, rams and tetras and are thinking what else might go good with them I'd say a dwarf gourami would also look nice in there.
 
You dont think that would be to much. So this is one idea I have:
pair of german blue rams
3-4 panda cories
4-6 blacn neon or neon tetras
possibly
1 dwarf gourami
 
That is going to be pushing it with the bio-load. The Rams are going to be 3 inches each, the cories 2 1/2 inches, the tetra's 1 1/2 inches, and the gourami 2 inches. That will be 31 inches of fish. I would recommend 6 Cories and 5 Neon's. They both school and like plenty of fish of the same species. The neon's like to be in odd numbers of at least 5. The Cories prefer at least 6.
 
Well you could have the 6 cories, 5 neons and a dwarf gourami. But if you really want the rams then go for it I guess, just keep up with the maintenance, rams are sensitive. I've heard cories and tetras don't produce that much waste though?
 
Could i not get the gouramis and get a small school of like 3 of the smallest tetra or such?
 
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