New 20g tank :) what to do?

[mommytron]

So in search of a tank stand for our 10g tank, we found another 20g high tank with stand and versa top for $10

so now we have to figure out what we want to stock it with.

we know that it's going to be a planted tank (low light) with PFS. we need to pick up another piece of driftwood, and i might try to do something with the various rocks and slate i have laying around.

so pretty much we just need help figuring out how to stock it.

so, if you had an empty 20g, what would you do with it?

some things to consider: we prefer peaceful community fish, but wouldn't mind straying from that a bit for this tank. we would love to have a sizeable centerpiece fish (or a couple) but also love schools of smaller fish (we love our tetras ). we also would love to have a pleco in this tank, one that is bigger than our pitbull. would a bristlenose get too big? are there any other options for plecos for a 20g?

i'm open to anything right now, we want to do something a bit different with this tank, even if it's out of our 'comfort zone'

so any suggestions are welcome. TIA

 

[gkuzel]

Well, I like schooling fish for a 20 gallon, but you have quite the clean slate! maybe a dwarf Gourami or two! Geeze I love new tanks!! =] Pleco, wize, I'd try maybe a candy striped pleco. They don't get that big. I've heard the Bristlenoses stay fairly small.

 

[mommytron]

i think we're staying clear of gouramis. we've had two and lost both within a month or two. plus, having two together is bad news.

i think we're leaning more towards a german blue ram, or an apisto, or something of that nature. we'll probably settle on what we're able to find around here, i'm just wanting to look at all my options first.

so any other suggestions?

 

[rain87]

I'd say a bristlenose pleco, a school of rummy nose tetra, and a couple dwarf gourami.

 

[rain87]

Well if your staying away from gourami I would go with rams then for sure

 

[Josh]

I wouldn't put a bristlenose in a 20g tall. Minimum would be a 20g long and even then you're pushing it. They get to be about 4 inches fully grown.

I'd go with a few corydoras.

 

[rain87]

That is a good point fully grown it would probably be to big for a tank that says some oto catfish would be a good option too

 

[alLexX]

you could try a cray.they might eat fish, but who knows,you might get lucky(like me)and find one that doesnt eat your fish.

 

[gkuzel]

A shoal of corys would be ideal for a 20gal. and I'm a huge ram advocate I have four Bolivians in my tank right now. Keyhole cichlids are full of personality, and they don't get large (just another Idea =)). I know you don't care for the gouramis, but honeys are awfully cute. and You can keep more than one dwarf in the tank, it shouldn't be an issue.

 

[ejaramillo01]

I love rummynose tetras. Yes they are a bottom swimmers, but they school great between driftwood, ornaments, plants, and roots.
In few words is always a pleasure to see them swim in my tank!

 

[James_in_MN]

My largest tank is a 20g high community tank, with:

10 black neon tetras
5 five banded barbs
2 female bettas
3 ottos
a bunch of ghost shrimp

I went with female bettas as a centerpiece because good rams were hard to find here (I saw lots of the deformed balloon rams, sad) and they're more sensitive than other fish. Therefore, I'd have to go with a GBR pair for your tank, knowing that they may get aggressive when mating. One other option could be bolivian rams, which are supposed to be hardier fish.

 

[gkuzel]

I've had my Bolivians for quite some time, and having other rams before, they are the most docile.

 

[siva]

I'm working on stocking 2 20's myself right now so I'll just share with you what I've chosen. In one I have 6 HiFin black skirt tetras, and on the way 6 borneo redfin rasbora, and 6 striped kuhli loaches. I had a GBR for a centerpeice fish in there, but it died quickly after purchase. I've been told this is common with lfs stock so I think I'm going to try again from a breeder, and decided to go with a larger tank for them, but if you can get your hands on a good one they make a great centerpeice fish for a 20 gal. In my other one I think I'm going to put 5 gardneri killifish, 2 males 3 females. They are just beautiful. I'm going to put a few oto's in one of them too, once it's been estabslished for 6 months-ish. I also really want to get my hands on some blue tetra and/or green fire tetra

 

[mommytron]

HN1 and severum mama sell some gorgeous cochu's blue tetras. i've been thinking if i get tetras again, i'm going to go for cochu's. i think i may be able to get them around here though. if not i'd go through them.

assuming we can find a good one, i think we will definitely be going with a german blue ram. i'd also like to find some dwarf cories, as i have otos in one of my tanks already, and a pleco in the other. and i've been wanting cories for a long time.

 

[arangarajan93]

For your tank i'd add:
1 walking catfish (centerpiece)
9 mollies.

 

[siva]

Well actually 9 mollies would terribly overstock the tank. Mollies are a bit large for a 20gal and have a large bio-load (produce alot of waste).

Oh really...you don't see cochu's very often. Atleast I don't! Yeah cories are alot of fun. I have some julii's and they are really cute. Perfect for a 20 because they only get to like 1.5"

 

[mommytron]

julii's only get 1.5" !?!?!? no chiz!! i loooove julii's .... they're gorgeous, but i was under the impression they'd get too big.

yeah, i had never heard of cochu's until i saw that severum mama had them. and they are awesome. after that i started seeing them every so often at my LFS. they don't look as good as severum and HN1's, but all my fish i've gotten from there have colored up considerably more after i've taken them home and they've adjusted to my tanks.

yeah, not a huge fan of mollies. my daughter really likes the black ones, she seems to gravitate toward them when we go to pet stores. i'd like to do a brackish tank sometime in the future, maybe i'll have to get mollies (they like brackish, right?) my husband wants a dragon goby, too

i've never heard of a walking catfish. i hope you don't mean a talking catfish (aka striped raphael) cuz they get HUGE! i wouldn't put one in anything less than like a 125g (i think that may even be too small)

 

[gkuzel]

I REALLY hope he doesn't mean the walking catfish I'm thinking about that gets over three feet long, and is native to asia. Most cories stay small.

 

[siva]

Well cories range from .75" to 3" inches so it depends on what you mean by "small". The ones in the 3" range I wouldn't put in a 20 gal tank.

Yes the julii max out at 1.5" so I would feel fine putting them in a 20. Even the pandas that get to 2" would probably still be OK, but I prefer the julii personally I just ordered some hasbrosus which I guess stay to about .75" so they should be fairly adorable. Those would work in there too if you could find them. I can never find cool stuff locally