Fish recommendations?

[Baldrick]

Hi all.

I was looking for recommendations for the next fish to add to my daughters 20 gallon tank.

Right now we have 3 Swordtails and 6 neons. She loves the neons and I was thinking of getting a couple more.

What are some cool, attractive fish that would go well in a community tank? And how many of each should I get? My wife said they saw Guppies at the store and liked them. Any thoughts on Guppies?

I would like to add a Pleco at some point too.

Thanks for any ideas!

 

[talloulou]

If you really want a pleco I'd get a bristlenose for that tank. Keep in mind the guppies will multiply quickly unless you get all males or all females. Personally I would skip on the guppies and the pleco and get a cute school of cories. They are active, hardy, easy to care for and highly entertaining as they are always busy doing something especially if you have 5-6 of them. They make a great fish for a kids tank. The bristlenose plecos are cool but they aren't the most entertaining fish though Jchillin might disagree. They aren't as active as I'd think you'd like for a kids tank. Most other plecos will get too big. You should get a mystery snail. They're very cool and my kids are fascinated by ours.

 

[JustOneMore20]

I second the cory idea. Bristlenose plecs stay on the smaller side (~4-5in) but produce alot of waste and IMO need a tank bigger than 20g. They also hide alot, so wouldn't be out much (same with most plecos).

Cories, in a big enough group (6+) would be out alot and they are very cute so your daughter would probably love them.

You could add a couple more neons, since she likes them, and then get a group of 6-8 cories of the same type. There are tons of cories to choose from. I'd go with a type that stays on the smaller side, if you can. Panda cories are awesome and they stay around 2 inches. Also, false Julii cories or Leopard cories (corydoras trilineatus) if labelled correctly stay around 2 inches. Others are Bandit cories (Corydoras metae) and Skunk cories (Corydoras arcuatus).

Any cories will do, but some get over 3 inches...so with the smaller ones, you could have a larger group IMO.

 

[blazeyreef]

I third the corry Idea! I would (personally) get panda corries cause I think they are just SOO CUTE... and they are small ( in the Pygmy genus) and all the little kids that come to my house like mine! and you may want to get an otto (or more like 3) to clean the algea etc, the snails are cool to but I hate freshwater snails LOL
(opps I just saw that the post before me recommended panda's )

 

[Caspar]

Pristellas would set the Neons off nicely. Cory are great too.

 

[hc8719]

i dont care for mine, but your kids may like kuhli loaches (kids love to call them eels)