20 gallon

[lelouchzeta]

I'm planning a 20 gallon tank for my new room... I would prefer small, peaceful fish that are fun to watch! (I mean they're all fun to watch, but I like watching foraging behavior and when they are all adorable and glittery)

I definitely want cory cats! they're so cute. I would also like some celestial pearl danios and maybe some neon tetras... and some little sakura shrimp. And one betta OR one gourami.

With that in mind, I think I need soft substrate.
I have fluorite..which I'd at least like to use some of, because it looks great. I'd like to have some dwarf hairgrass at the bottom...so could I cover that in shrimp substrate? What works best for shrimps and cories?

How many of each should I have, or are there any I should not mix...I know that for some there's like a minimum of six..so just tell me what you think!

 

[tamtam]

The CPDs, tatras and cories all need shoals/schools. So you want 5-6 of each at least.

The cories, neons and a Dwarf gourami would get along great though I'm not sure about the CPDs.

It wouldn't be an aggression issue but I've often heard they are very timid fish so they may spend a lot of time hiding in your set up. The DG would probably very intimidating to them.

I have neons, lambchop rasboras a Sunset Gourami and some platies in my 20 gallon. I have 3 mickey mouse platies and a red wag. The color mixture is very nice. They are my "all over" fish. They spend all of their time checking things out, picking algae off decor.

The neons and rasbora often hang out in the output from my filter. They surf around in the current.

My stock for an idea is 5 neons, 5 rasboras, 4 platy and the gourami. This is considered a bit over stocked by some. I run 300 GPH for filtration and do 40% or so water changes every 5 days on average.

 

[lelouchzeta]

My stock for an idea is 5 neons, 5 rasboras, 4 platy and the gourami. This is considered a bit over stocked by some. I run 300 GPH for filtration and do 40% or so water changes every 5 days on average.

Do you think 5 cory cats would have less waste output than the platies and the gourami combined? I am kind of in lurve with cory cats and would be sad without them
I'd also be willing to forgo the rasboras to avoid being so overstocked that I couldn't safely skip town for a week. (my family would feed them but not change the water)

 

[tamtam]

Cories would def have less bioload than platies. My platies are poop factories!

You could do say 5 corys, a DG and a nice school of neons. Maybe 7 or 8. No worry about the CDPs hiding all the time. This would leave you not over stocked and still give you good numbers.

 

[Samzter]

Yeah if you removed the platies you could defiantly get the Cories. I love my little panda Cories too!

 

[lelouchzeta]

I used to sort of like the aesthetic of minimally stocked tanks, but got sort of burnt out when people kept asking me where all the fish were and I didn't have much to watch because all my fish were tiny and grumpy and hiding in the plants
I like these ideas a lot. I could definitely go with 5-6 cories and 7-8 tetras...
Would the RCS be okay? I reallllly like them.

I keep flip-flopping between a female betta and a dwarf neon gourami (not sure if that's specifically what it's called and can't be bothered to check ) I like bettas a lot... but for some reason I have had poor luck with them and I always hesitate too long to give antibiotics because I am indecisive... they always come into my life in the WORST shape well one beautiful male was actually doing pretty well when I got it and then I stupidly shared my water-changing equipment with my super-old sickly betta that had some kind of bacterial infection and it died. bah. At least I never make the same mistake twice

 

[librarygirl]

You could try a betta but the thing with bettas is that most are aggressive and don't like tank mates. You could add it last (giving the other fish time to establish territories) and see what happens, but be ready to pull it out if problems arise. I agree that Corys would do well....I have them too and they are super cute. I'd do Pandas or pygmy or dwarf in a 20 gal; some of the larger ones (like sterbai) I think seem too large in a 20. Pandas are my favorite anyway Sand substrate would work great for them. I'm not sure what consistency Flourite is....is it sharp? Corys constantly dig on the bottom and have sensitive barbles which can get injured on sharp substrates.

 

[lelouchzeta]

You could try a betta but the thing with bettas is that most are aggressive and don't like tank mates. You could add it last (giving the other fish time to establish territories) and see what happens, but be ready to pull it out if problems arise.

I do have alternate housing available if needed. Chances are, I'll just skip the betta and get a gourami.

I agree that Corys would do well....I have them too and they are super cute. I'd do Pandas or pygmy or dwarf in a 20 gal; some of the larger ones (like sterbai) I think seem too large in a 20.

I wouldn't put corydoras sterbai in a 20 gallon.. I was definitely thinking pandas or julii.

Sand substrate would work great for them.

I'm aware of that whole barbel situation, but I'm not going to use sand. I'm going to find something soft.
I'm thinking the fluval shrimp substrate will be soft enough, because it is rounded and squishy and I can easily crush it between two fingers. I put shrimp in rough substrate, and they got lost and probably squished, so I won't make that mistake again. I'll be careful. I'm just not using sand.

But now I'm wondering what lighting to use if I want to grow dwarf hairgrass and crypts n' stuff. Am I right in thinking LED lights are tricky with planted tanks? I'm sort of confused about that.