New Twenty Gallon Tank for My Little Cousins' Birthday!

[bruinsbro1997]

So for my cousin's birthday, aunt wanted me to set up a tank for his fifth birthday because he really likes fish, and I was like why not? Today while we were up at a hospital I explained cycling, PWC, fish and everything to her. She totally got it! So then I asked my cousin what type of fish he wants, what substrate, and if he wanted live plants or not, all into simpler terms for him. In the end he wanted to choose these fish for his twenty gallon:

-5 zebra danios
-5 neon tetras
-5 gold barbs
-5 emerald cories
-1 german blue ram

Is this good for a twenty or am I overstocking this tank?

 

[Ausfish]

Over all it might be a bit overstocked, especially for a 5 year old. I would definitely drop the ram since it might get aggressive.

 

[Mogurako]

I wouldn't bother with the neons and just bump up the number of Dianos, they are allot hardier. Drop the barbs and ram in favor of some kind of dwarf gourami that would make a good center piece. If I remember emerald cories can get fairly large go with a smaller Cory like peppered. So something like this:

10 danios
1 Dwarf gourami
5 Peppered cories
10 RCs

 

[mfdrookie516]

Long or high? I wouldn't put zebra danios in a high, but a long would be ok.

 

[bruinsbro1997]

Thanks for the quick responses guys! The tank can either be a 20L or 20H it's all up to him really. I will revise that stoking list, however he still wants something that is red-colored. Any suggestions?

 

[HUKIT]

Cherry barbs......

 

[mfdrookie516]

Definitely look in to a 20 long then, quite a bit more stock options that way. Red... as HUKIT said... cherry barbs. Or you could look in to glofish, there are some red ones I believe. Off the top of my head, I can't think of any other red fish that would work in a 20 long...

 

[bruinsbro1997]

So would this be ok in a twenty long?
-6 cherry barbs
-10 zebra danios
-1 DG (any thoughts on cosila lalia?)
-5 peppered cories
-10 RCS

Could we add to the number of RCS? They're really tiny...

 

[Mogurako]

So would this be ok in a twenty long?
-6 cherry barbs
-10 zebra danios
-1 DG (any thoughts on cosila lalia?)
-5 peppered cories
-10 RCS

Could we add to the number of RCS? They're really tiny...

That looks pretty good, you can add mor RCS that was just a random number I threw out there. They don't have a big bio load you could probably add 20 or so and be just fine.

 

[bruinsbro1997]

Alright! Thanks for letting me know; I was looking at RCS the other day. They're really tiny! I don't know if he'll really notice them, but I'm sure they'll be a great addition.

Well, time to cycle the tank! I need some advice. I currently have biological and mechanical filtration in my tank plus activated carbon. I still have to cycle my cousins tank plus a twenty gal I have myself. Do you think I have enough bacteria on my carbon bag to get my cousins tank cycled? Also if I took out the mechanical filtration in my filter to cycle my other tanks would that still leave enough bacteria for my main one?

 

[Coleallensmom]

Definitely go for the RCS- my 6 yr old has his own tank and he LOVES his shrimp. He has a twenty long with this stocking:

-5 cherry barbs
-7 danios
-4 peppered cories
-RCS

He picked all the fish and really takes and interest in the tank. Good for you for taking the time out to help your cousin with his first tank!

 

[bruinsbro1997]

Definitely go for the RCS- my 6 yr old has his own tank and he LOVES his shrimp. He has a twenty long with this stocking:

-5 cherry barbs
-7 danios
-4 peppered cories
-RCS

He picked all the fish and really takes and interest in the tank. Good for you for taking the time out to help your cousin with his first tank!

Thanks! Yeah he is really into fish, while he was playing on my phone he was browsing through my pictures and he saw my fish tank. And he was like "Can I have your fish?" It was really cute! He really wants this tank and he actually picked out the fish based on color preference, so I think he's doing very good!
Plus I can also get some cash from doing it, since my aunt doesn't want to clean it and my cousin obviously can't, she says she will pay me every month to come over there and clean the tank for them.