20g specimen or stream tank stocking advice

[Rnbwfimmy]

I recently lost my puffer fish, and I may be giving up my dream of having one. I already have a 55 tropical community, and I think for my empty 20 I'd like to keep it a species or specimen tank. The only critter that's in there is a reticulated hillstream loach, the temp hangs out at 72-75, and there's some extra aeration but I keep the strong current to one side. I want one or two oddball, cichlid, or interesting fish in there that would be compatible with him. OR possibly a couple of schools of fish that would appreciate the same environment, potentially with a showcase fish of some sort. Any ideas?

 

[Rnbwfimmy]

I'm looking at either a single or pair of convict cichlids or jewel cichlids, since a specimen tank is good for aggressive fish like that

 

[Congoman]

All the hemichromis (jewels) get a little big for a par in a 20 gal your pushing it with cons also. Look into west/central african dwarfs such as nanochromis as they are somewhat rheophilic also of your interested in upgrading to a 30g look into steatocranus.

 

[Wy Renegade]

I don't know anything much about the loach, although a quick internet search shows that it should be in a minimum of 30 gallons. In regard to the cichlids, either convict or jewel, a 20 gallon tank is too small for a pair of either species.

 

[Rnbwfimmy]

That is not even a little bit true about reticulated hillstream loaches, they're only a couple of inches, I would look at the tank size on more sites before saying that.
What about just one convict or jewel? I get a LOT of sources saying a 20 is great for a pair, and those fry will be snackins for the knifefish in my other tank, but I'm just fine with one if it would be comfortable

 

[Rnbwfimmy]

Also, it's pretty clear you just clicked the first link, which is live aquaria.
Most would agree live aquaria gives irregular reccomendations on sizing, anything that's a 20 they bump up to 30, always. A hillstream loach is a small flat fish that hangs out on rocks

 

[Wy Renegade]

That is not even a little bit true about reticulated hillstream loaches, they're only a couple of inches, I would look at the tank size on more sites before saying that.
What about just one convict or jewel? I get a LOT of sources saying a 20 is great for a pair, and those fry will be snackins for the knifefish in my other tank, but I'm just fine with one if it would be comfortable

Also, it's pretty clear you just clicked the first link, which is live aquaria.
Most would agree live aquaria gives irregular reccomendations on sizing, anything that's a 20 they bump up to 30, always. A hillstream loach is a small flat fish that hangs out on rocks

Well, quite frankly, other than the live aquaria site, I didn't see any sites that had a tank size recommendation. I did notice several discussusions on other forums and clicked on a few of them quickly and once again, most recommended a 29gal tank min.

If you're interested in a stream tank, here is an excellent source article;
Hillstream Loaches - The Specialists at Life In The Fast Lane — Loaches Online

You may of course already be familiar with it. As I said, I really don't know much about the loaches. As for those sources who are telling you that a 20gal is great for a pair of convicts, I think you need to do some more looking. Almost every source I've seen online, including the cichlid site recomends a 29gal as minimum size, additionally my own experience with these fish tell me a 20 gal is unsuitable for a pair.

In regards to the loach and the cichlids are they even compatible? The loach is a coldwater/fast flow fish and the cichlids are warm water/sluggish flow.

 

[Rnbwfimmy]

Fair enough, but he really is small and happy in the 20, I can see zero things about his size, behavior, or waste production that would suggest a bigger tank.
Convict cichlids in particular seems to have a very large temp range, I've seen suggestions ranging between 68 to 74 and ones from 74 to 80, in any case they're clearly not very temp sensitive and would be fine at the same subtropical temps my loach is in currently. In fact, convict cichlids have been known to migrate to volcanic lakes at high elevations where the water is cold. If it were really a problem, the loach can always move to one of my other large tanks, he's not really the issue here.
I can understand that a pair might be pushing it, I get as many sources saying its the perfect size as a do sources saying its too small, which is part of the problem. My question is, how would one fair just alone, at 74 degrees, in a 20 gallon tank?

 

[Rnbwfimmy]

Also my puff ignored the loach completely, he's so small and sleek, predators dont care about him

 

[Rnbwfimmy]

But I also want to know what other kinds of setups might be ideal, if there are interesting unique specimen fish for a 20, or possibly nice current loving tank mates for my loaches so that I could up the stream effect more than I could before (again, his oxygen and temp is fine where he's at)

 

[Autumnsky]

White Cloud Mountain Minnows come in different colors and fin lengths, they like cooler water.

 

[Kimlafeiet]

White Cloud Mountain Minnows would b ea good choice to add to your tank. They are colder water fish, and like the current. They would probably go nicely with your hillstream loach.

 

[Wy Renegade]

Excellent suggestion - the mountain minnows with the loach and a high water flow set-up of some sort would be cool. You could do something similar to what is described in the link I posted or even something with an canister filter pulling water out on one end and putting it back in the other. You might need some additional powerheads to keep the volume of water moving up.

 

[Rnbwfimmy]

Right now I keep an extra power head on next to my hob filter to create more aeration, but it's not a
Strong current except in that spot. I'm willing to make the system more river like if I get more fish that would appreciate it and go for that kind of setup. I like white clouds in pictures, but whenever I show them to my partner she doesn't care for them, they're maybe a little too small. I had neon tetra for half a second even that would get sucked up by the filter unless I put a cover on the intake.
I do like Rummynose and zebra danios. They're not the most exciting thing in the world, but I like strong schoolers and with some kind of dwarf cichlid as a showcase it could be a cool set up. What do you think?
Also what do you think about hatchets in this kind of set up? If they're a no go I'd understand, but they have that oddball factor I like

 

[jhawk__]

Do a German blue ram. They are in the cichlid family and are peaceful. You could also add a school with them.

 

[Rnbwfimmy]

I love German blue rams, but I have one already in my other tank, he's a love nugget. While they're super pretty, they actually do require a way higher temp than the loach would be comfortable at, around 78-82

 

[jhawk__]

I love German blue rams, but I have one already in my other tank, he's a love nugget. While they're super pretty, they actually do require a way higher temp than the loach would be comfortable at, around 78-82

That's true, forgot about the temp differences. Most fish are pretty adaptable though, so it might work.

 

[Rnbwfimmy]

I think that high of a temp in particular would deplete oxygen and not be kind to my loach

 

[Congoman]

Yeah I really don't know much about the loach but I've been keeping jewels on and off for a few years IMO a single specimen (depending on sp) would do fine in a 20 long assuming you dont over clutter with decor. As for the loach size wise it would probably be ok but the temp req are pretty different.

 

[Rnbwfimmy]

I do like kribs and apistos though