20 GallonTank

[HeatherW]

I too am setting up a 20 gallon tank - didn't know if it was ok to piggyback off the other post or not, so made my own

I have started out with 7 cherry barbs, so I guess I am kinda going with the semi aggressive community. do I have to stay that way? I was thinking of the following:

7 cherry barbs
1 gourami (either a dwarf or regular size)

then I didn't know what else I wanted. can I go with
3 scissortail rasboras or
3 tiger barbs or
3 skirt tetra or
3 red minor tetra

also can I put an angel fish in here - I read that they should be in something bigger than the 20. how fast do they grow? can I start him in here and then move him later?

and lastly... I was really wanting a molly but now I am not sure he would fit in with this tank.

any advice would be welcomed! thanks so much. I am learning all this for the first time

 

[jcolon]

I'd say rasboras are your best bet for a twenty ... Your other choices tend to be active fin-nippy shoaling fish that need larger tanks with at least 5 per group.

Either neon or cardinal tetras would do as well.

 

[absolutangel04]

Hello. Is it a 20g long or a 20g tall? That makes a difference in some of my answers. Congrats on the tank.

 

[HeatherW]

oh! sorry about that. it is a 20 gallon tall. I have a big broken ship type thing as my decoration if that makes a difference and like 4 really tall fake plants in the background

 

[00youknowit00]

I agree with jcolon, rasboras would be the way to go IMO

 

[HeatherW]

can I add the molly in there or not really?

 

[absolutangel04]

So, you od have some choices to make, but I think you will end up with a really great tank. Personally, I do not keep any angels in 20's, but I know plenty of people do. Thats just personal preference. If you want an angel, you could possible get one to go the cherry barbs, but that owuld all that go in the tank IMO. I think a dwarg gourami would be a better choice as a centerpiece though personally.
If you choose not to get an angel, a school of rasboras would be great. The tiger barbs can be really active and nippy, so I don't recommend them for this particular set-up.
If you want the gourami, then no serpaes either IMO because of the nippiness.
If you wanted to keep the barbs and get a dg and a couple of mollies, IMO that would be fine. Or, the barbs, a dg, and like 6 rasboras. I think that 2 schools is a bit much in a 20g personally though so I recommend the barbs, mollies, dg mix.

 

[HeatherW]

I think that 2 schools is a bit much in a 20g personally though so I recommend the barbs, mollies, dg mix.

OK, do now that I see what you re saying about the two schools of fish, I am coming up with another idea. I have two MM Platys in my 5 gallon that I was thinking of moving to somewhere else. I could move them to the 20 gallon. so I would then do this:
7 cherry barbs
1 dwarf gourami
1 molly
2 platy

how does that look?

 

[absolutangel04]

Personally, I think that looks good. It sounds like a very attractive mixture. Both mollies and platies come in such cool colors!
Just a note, both mollies and platies are messy fish, so just make sure you keep up with those pwc and you will be doing great!

 

[HeatherW]

Just a note, both mollies and platies are messy fish, so just make sure you keep up with those pwc and you will be doing great!

so should I be looking at 10% PWC weekly or 20% PWC weekly - in the long run of course. I understand that until everything gets established I may be doing more

 

[00youknowit00]

Well personally I do at least one 50% weekly, but that's just me. Fish really benefit from fresh, clean water so I feel good doing large ones. But really you only need to change enough water to keep your nitrates <20. So your water tests shall determine how big your weekly pwc will be.