What to put in a 20gallon long?

[Visionist]

I've been a reptile/hedgehog person for a decent while now and I've recently become interested in setting up an aquarium. I purchased a Fluval c3 filter and right now the water is cycling. I don't have any plants or substrate in it yet, but I plan to get a few live plants and I haven't decided on gravel vs sand yet.

Right now I'm trying to figure out what fish I want. The few pet stores around here don't have a huge selection but I know I would like possible a Gourami, and a few Orange sword tails. Those are the fish that have caught my eye at the pet stores. I know there are some tetras(emporer, neon etc) at the stores here. I like the Albino sharks but from what I can tell they need a much larger tank. Does anyone have some suggestions as to what would be some good fish and how many of each I could have? Would there be any other nice looking centerpiece fish other than a gourami?
Thanks!

 

[redsea]

Welcome to Aquarium Advice! I think a Dwarf Gourami would be okay in a 20g Long. I also believe that you are correct in your thinking that an Albino Shark gets a bit too large to be happy in a 20g.

I also have a 20g, and if you are interested, you can click on the link in my signature to check it out. I have Cory Catfish, Black Skirt Tetras, and a single male Guppy. I do plan on adding a few more fish to the setup though.
EDIT: Took out Swordtail info, as I am not completely confident on that topic yet.

 

[Visionist]

What about something like:
3 sparkling gouramis (a trio), Or 1 honey gourami
8 neon tetras
3 platies
15 red cherry shrimp
1 nerite snail

The Aqadvisor website puts it at 63% or so of the tanks capacity, does that mean I could have a little more than that?

 

[Fishperson]

What about something like:
3 sparkling gouramis (a trio), Or 1 honey gourami
8 neon tetras
3 platies
15 red cherry shrimp
1 nerite snail

The Aqadvisor website puts it at 63% or so of the tanks capacity, does that mean I could have a little more than that?

Yes, that means that you could have more, although I think AqAdvisor is slightly off, in it's estimate. I would say that if you do go with that, then you shouldn't add any more. I am not a fan of just 3 platies, so I would ditch them, and instead add more neons. Or create a small school of neons and a small school of something else.

 

[Visionist]

Yes, that means that you could have more, although I think AqAdvisor is slightly off, in it's estimate. I would say that if you do go with that, then you shouldn't add any more. I am not a fan of just 3 platies, so I would ditch them, and instead add more neons. Or create a small school of neons and a small school of something else.

I was using that list a bit of a reference, I'm not a huge fan of neons but I just bought 4 Hi fin sunset platy's and introduced them to the tank first. I really like the look of Dwarf gourami's, would I be able to keep more than one though?

 

[Fishperson]

I was using that list a bit of a reference, I'm not a huge fan of neons but I just bought 4 Hi fin sunset platy's and introduced them to the tank first. I really like the look of Dwarf gourami's, would I be able to keep more than one though?

In a 20, no.

 

[Visionist]

In a 20, no.

Why is that exactly? The website puts it at around 75%(I know its just a general basis, not 100% accurate). Do they not get along in a smaller space or something along those lines?

 

[Fishperson]

They don't get along in a tank that small. I suppose you could do a pair, but they would be quite aggressive during mating. 2 males is a definite no, they would fight quite a bit. I am not too sure, but some put in a male and a few females. I would need others to chime in.