Stocking a 20g

[stevenht]

I have a 20g tank. My carpet is just starting to grow in on one half of my tank and I have some pretty awesome swords in the back and a rocky area in the middle. I'm planning on adding more plants eventually so it will be fairly heavily planted in 5-6 months.

What would be your picture perfect community tank for the size?

I'm not a fan of barbs
I like schooling fish (I have 5 tetras in a 10g tank already. so no tetras)
I'm looking for more "intermediate" level fish
I like hardy fish

Thanks in advance

 

[Goof]

What's wrong with barbs? I find charry barbs to be a good fish, can live in non aggressive tanks and semi aggressive, and quite hardy. mine don't really school. But I've ran into a new hybrid of barbs I'm contemplating for my 54g, Round Banded Barb that schools but might be a bit big for your take at 3 to 3.5ichs.

There are zebra danio's and they are pretty hardy, and fun.
Rummy-nosed tetras (I'm assuming you have neon/cardinal tetras) they look awesome in schools.

 

[guppygourami]

What type of tetras in the 10? And as centerpiece fish DGs are great fish )


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[stevenht]

Yeah goof I have 2 glolites and 3 black neons and they all school really well and enjoy each other. I wanted to move them to my 20 but they love their tank and it's established. I don't hate barbs but I know they nip

I ended up getting a dwarf gourami for my centerpiece today and he's loving his plants. So now I'm really to the point of what goes good with a dwarf gourami

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[guppygourami]

Oh awesome! Send us a pic And I've heard of many cases where barbs don't nip, especially if they're some of the more docile species or if you have a good number of them so they'll only pick on each other. Have you thought about neon tetras? They look really nice with dwarf gouramis


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[stevenht]

I'll upload pics tomorrow morning. Not too many marks on him just a 2 toned orange and blue.

I do like neon tetras. They're hardy and are in the same temp range.

I got a cory cat today and I'm going to get more tomorrow. I do like bottom feeders as well. My substrate is black so cory cats are the only thing I can see. I also thought about the possibility of putting a school of glass catfish in there. I have a pretty strong current off to one side that they really would enjoy schooling in. I know they're extremely hard to care for but dwarf gourami's can be a little picky too and they both have the same care requirements in temp and pH.

 

[stevenht]

What's another good bottom feeder to compliment the Cory cats? I plan on getting 2 more Cory cats to get to 3.

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[stevenht]

This is Fred

 

[mambee]

Cories are best kept in groups, so I would up your school to at least 5.

Kuhli loaches are pretty cool.

I love glass catfish, but they will be very shy unless you keep at least 5 or 6 of them. Another underappreciated fish is the debauwi cat, which also needs to be kept in schools.

 

[stevenht]

Mambee I love glass cats but I heard they're water has to stay perfect 24/7. I have thought about loaches. I've also thought about a young pleco cause I can move it to a 100g tank when it becomes too big for mine. What about a knife fish or possibly bn cat?

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[mambee]

BNP are great fish and they don't get too large. Other types of pleco get too large and create too much poop.

If you do go with a BNP, don't forget to give it supplemental feedings of algae tabs or zucchini. I slice zucchini then freeze it, which makes it sink.

 

[TMaier]

I like my kuhli's they are a great clean up crew.

 

[stevenht]

Great! I think today I'm gonna get my Cory cat population up and get a bn! Now if I could stop being so picky with my gourami. I actually threw the guy in the middle of a dying walmart female betta sorority and since I threw him the bettas aren't fighting as much because the gourami is the king of the tank so there is no reason for the bettas to fight. I'm gonna move them from my tank and put the remaining 3 in a heavy decor and planted 10g.

What goes good with a dwarf gourami?

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[stevenht]

Like I stated before I'm really not a huge fan of barbs in my 20 with the nipping tendencies. I want a fish that will pop and had personality.

I just lost my GBR to ich yesterday so I wanted to possibly get another one of those. There is plenty of territory for the ram

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[stevenht]

I like my kuhli's they are a great clean up crew. View attachment 288443

My girlfriend got one not too long ago and he's the best part of her tank hands down. Waiting for LFS to get more of them so we can give him some friends. Same with my cory cat.

 

[Barliman]

View attachment 288434
This is Fred

He's a handsome guy, even if he does swim upside-down.

 

[stevenht]

Haha I meant to edit that photo. Sorry lol.

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[guppygourami]

He's a handsome guy, even if he does swim upside-down.

LOL! I also had a DG named Fred and another named George. I didn't know two males couldn't be kept together. Is it ironic that the first injury was a lost ear?


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[stevenht]

Haha that's too bad because they look so good together and I don't have the resources or the tank to create a species only of DG so the aggression will be spread out far enough.

Is a Bolivian Blue Ram ok with them?

 

[stevenht]

Update

I got 4 blood fin tetras today. They school up right behind the current under a big leaf. They seem to be happy already and from what I read, are very hardy like most other tetras.

Now I'm just gonna wait for more cory cats to come in at my LFS so I can get 3 of those to make 4 total and it will be complete!