20 gallon centerpiece fish

[sinibotia]

Hey everyone!

I have a 20 gallon high, cycled and everything, with 4 peppered corydoras and 19 glowlight tetras. It used to have two blue rams, but they were of poor stock and didn't last very long. I'm wondering what else I could put in as a centerpiece? Preferably a pair of some kind of cichlid, but I can't find anything besides bad german rams and hybrid apistos.

Would keyhole cichlids be good in a 20 gallon? I did see some at Petco recently. Otherwise, maybe a male betta or some kind of gourami? Gouramis always used to die quickly on me, so I have an aversion to them, but I could give them another shot.

Just as an aside, my icon is a photo of the tank- the plants are plastic, water is fairly soft.

 

[bettaowner]

Sparkling gouramis could work.

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[PNWaquarist]

My personal feeling is that keyholes may be a little small for a 20 high. Then again, perhaps somebody with experience in this area will tell me otherwise. They're also very skittish. A betta (either sex) will probably kill your Glowlights. A Dwarf or Honey Gourami will probably work, but you'll need to get good stock (i.e., not from Petco).

A single Bolivian Ram might work. Unlike GBRs, they can thrive down to 75 F. They're also hardier than GBRs and tend to be peaceful towards tankmates if not attempting to breed. Ditto for a single male Cockatoo Apisto. IMO, you have too many Glowlights to do a breeding pair.

 

[HUKIT]

I'd do a pair of Trichogaster fasciata.

 

[Brookster123]

I think keyholes would be fine.

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[sinibotia]

I'm bumping this old thread because I've got essentially the same setup and still not sure about a centerpiece. The tank is a thickly fake-planted 20 tall, so the glowlights have plenty of room to get away from any cichlids. Looking for more out-there ideas though.

 

[azmodan]

A 20h is a little small for keyholes. How about dicrossus filamentosus or dicrossus maculatus? I also agree that a honey gourami would be a great choice. Very underrated community fish.

 

[sinibotia]

A 20h is a little small for keyholes. How about dicrossus filamentosus or dicrossus maculatus? I also agree that a honey gourami would be a great choice. Very underrated community fish.

Oh I love those two dwarf cichlids! I'll have to look into those.

Not a huge fan of gouramis, might have something to do with the half-dozen dwarf gouramis I lost in the first year I was fishkeeping...

Anyone have any really out-there ideas? Maybe something that isn't a cichlid, more of an oddball fish. (Still looking at cichlid ideas too!)

 

[azmodan]

Hmmmm offhand I'd say your current stock really limits what you can do oddball-wise. A species-only tank would give you some neat options but it sounds like you're set on the community.

 

[sinibotia]

Hmmmm offhand I'd say your current stock really limits what you can do oddball-wise. A species-only tank would give you some neat options but it sounds like you're set on the community.

I wouldn't say "set", just don't have a place to put the tetras and the corydoras. I'm just looking for something I haven't kept anything like before- but I've kept a whole hell of a lot.

Out of curiosity, what would you suggest for a species-only tank?

 

[Fishobsessed7]

American flagfish jordanella floridae, would be nice for a species tank.


Fishobsessed7

3 tanks and counting! (6 if you count the bettas)

 

[sinibotia]

American flagfish jordanella floridae, would be nice for a species tank.


Fishobsessed7

3 tanks and counting! (6 if you count the bettas)

That wouldn't work for a community tank? I had one in a community waaay back.

 

[Dallascowboys16]

Id get a pair of Apisto CACs or another species. They would keep the "South American" theme and you'll be able to observe some cool behavior.

 

[Fishobsessed7]

That wouldn't work for a community tank? I had one in a community waaay back.

They may work in a community.


Fishobsessed7

3 tanks and counting! (6 if you count the bettas)

 

[azmodan]

I wouldn't say "set", just don't have a place to put the tetras and the corydoras. I'm just looking for something I haven't kept anything like before- but I've kept a whole hell of a lot.

Out of curiosity, what would you suggest for a species-only tank?

Red eye puffer
Dwarf puffers
African leaf fish
Shell swelling cichlids
Freshwater goby/hill stream loach river tank

 

[sinibotia]

Red eye puffer
Dwarf puffers
African leaf fish
Shell swelling cichlids
Freshwater goby/hill stream loach river tank

Funny you should mention shell dwellers and dwarf puffers, I've got another 20 gallon with a big colony of multis and I'm getting a pair of dwarf puffers in the mail today for a 10 gallon....

Hillstream loach tank woulda been epic.

 

[sinibotia]

What about killifish? I've never done those before, anybody know a lot about them?

 

[Fishdude3233]

I've had/bred 5 or 6 different species ok killis. Which ones are you looking at?


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[TheresaM]

Peacock gudgeons!

 

[sinibotia]

I've had/bred 5 or 6 different species ok killis. Which ones are you looking at?


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I don't know; I haven't had a killifish since literally my first aquarium when the LFS convinced ignorant me and my ignorant mother to buy one to cycle it. It's probably the group of aquarium fish I know the least about.

Hehe, least. Like, least killifish?