need new ideas for fish

[Evaunitone]

I have a 20 gallon long with sand substrate and in a few months it should be pretty densely planted. I was originally planning to have rams but I'm having a hard time finding any good quality rams. I don't want to order any fish online so I'm trying to come up with another plan. I've never done the schooling fish but I suppose that could be cool... Any other ideas? Temp is 80 currently.

 

[DragonFish71]

All kinds of ideas.

Right now our 20L is divided into 3 parts with male and female bettas. In the future I plan to do a hillstream loach/white cloud tank.

You can go with schooling fish like tetras, harlequin rasboras, forktail rainbows etc. or even go with peacock grudgeon, which are really pretty fish. Even throw in a few bamboo shrimp, red cherry shrimp or ghost shrimp. A pair or 2 of kribs instead of the rams. (Which is what we did in our 40)

Really you can do a lot with a 20L. It's up to your taste.

 

[epsolon77]

Guppies are a good standby too. They will school. The males look much cooler than the females. They are very easy to breed, so if you are up for it you can get a few males and at least twice as many females and you'll have baby guppies in about a month.

You could do a female betta sorority tank. I love betta's because they are so hardy (They are capable of surviving in a puddle in horrible water conditions) and are very personable. You need to platy peace keeper with the betta's though. A nice school of tetra's is always cool too. I keep black neon tetra's becuase they are much hardier than the standard neon. The standard neon's are very flashy though. Keep your PH really low if you want to keep the standard neon though. They like PH's near the 6's and don't tolerate about a 7 well at all.

I highly recommend spicing your tank up with some shrimp or snails. not only do they provide services keeping your tank cleaner and balanced, they also are really neat to look at. I can't keep shrimp alive in my tanks becasue they are eaten by my angels very quickly, but other than that I love them.

 

[Evaunitone]

I do love the idea of a hillstream tank but I don't wanna bother with having all those plants plus the coldwater plus a strong current. I've definitely thought about red cherry shrimp or maybe those blueberry shrimp, but they are pretty tiny. I am very very interested in a bamboo shrimp and have wanted one for a long time. I've thought about neons and that is an option I'm considering, although for me, I NEED at least one center piece fish. That peacock gudgeon looks pretty cool.

 

[DragonFish71]

Yeah, I have been drooling over the peacocks myself. Every time we go to Aqua Imports I want to get a pair or two. Once we finish getting everyone moved to their new homes though, it's so on!

Bamboos are really cool. We have them in couple of tanks. Just make sure the tank is "aged", they don't do well in newer set ups. Cherrys are also fun but agreed, small.

The hillstream tank is work, but we have a brackish tank, so I guess I'm up for that type of display.

Hmmm, center piece fish.... I would suggest a gourami but they can be like bettas, never know how they will react to other fish.

 

[epsolon77]

Gourami's are something I'm going to try for next, once I get the angels, betta's and guppies very very VERY situated. Well that or a reef tank. I have read that honey goruami's are very tolerant of both eachother and of other fish. They also have the labyrinth organ which makes them very hardy.

I was just reading a book and looking at my neon's flanked by the betta's and angels, and I would bet a good 20 or 30 of them would be a pretty centerpiece fish. The school so well, and especially if you had the standard neon and not the black neon it would be pretty dazzling!

When you talk centerpiece fish I can't think of anything other than my angels. I love them so much. They show off and are GORGEOUS. But they would want something much taller than a 20L...

 

[mgamer20o0]

blueberry shrimp dont breed to color. they are dyed or something in their habitat. if you dont want to order online your best bet would be to go to your lfs and look what they have start writing down names come back and research. there all kinds of cool fish out there but if you are limited into not ordering online you prob have a low chance of finding them.

 

[Evaunitone]

If I got a school of tetras, how many should I get for a 20long? will they breed?

Now I'm thinking I should get some tetras of some kind, the bamboo shrimp, and then another fish or two.

 

[CA_BroncoFan]

If I got a school of tetras, how many should I get for a 20long? will they breed?

Now I'm thinking I should get some tetras of some kind, the bamboo shrimp, and then another fish or two.

You could get about 10-12 of them. If theyre neons then you kinda have to get lucky IMO for them to breed, but i suggest getting some cherry barbs and or gold barbs (really neat and active). In my experiance none of my barbs are aggressive and are really active. My gold barbs each have a personality.