Starting up my 20L :)

[AfricanCichlidOwner]

What are your suggestions on fish? I'm doing freshwater. Thank you SO much for your input.

 

[Rose22]

What are you into? Colors, shape, schools, one bigger centerpiece and a few smaller fish, more fish all around the same size?

 

[AfricanCichlidOwner]

I was thinking gourami, but what else can I put on there? I like colors too so I mean anything that looks good schooling fish would be cool too.

 

[AfricanCichlidOwner]

I have a synodontis catfish I was wondering if I can put him in my some gourami?

 

[librarygirl]

Not sure, I think some Syndontis get too large for a 20 L (5"+) plus they prefer groups. How large is it now? What species is it?

 

[AfricanCichlidOwner]

Petricola, and I'd say maybe 1.5 inches. What do you think would do well with those gourami? Anything else?

 

[azmodan]

Some good schooling fish would be rummynose, cardinal, and lemon tetra. You could also do a shoal of some of the smaller cory species like pandas. And with your dwarf gourami you could also do a single German blue ram, provided you've let your tank mature a bit. I actually prefer honey gourami to dwarf gourami, as when they color up they turn a very bright yellow and orange.

 

[AfricanCichlidOwner]

Thank you so much.

 

[Rose22]

Not to be a downer, but isn't 20L around 5 gallons? What type of gourami were you thinking about getting? A dwarf gourami will get too big. If your tank is 20 gallons by all means go for it with the school of tetras and a gourami, but if you did mean Liters, your tank is WAY too small for all that.

Some good alternatives in a 20L, and there are a few gourami speceis that could work:

-Dwarf Croaking Gourami
-Pygmy Gourami
-Sparkling Gourami
(these 3 are all the same fish, it just has several different names)

-Licorice Gourami
-Scarlet Badis (awesome looking fish! I would choose this one)
-Dwarf Puffer
-Betta
-Various snails and shrimp

 

[Dbigfish]

Is this a 20 gallon long tank? I'm assuming it is in which case we are in a similar situation I went with a school of neons and a school of glo fish a German blue ram as the centerpiece fish and some oto catfish to help keep the algae down

 

[AfricanCichlidOwner]

Yea it's a 20 gallon tank. I went with a few different mollies, a peppered Cory, and a Pleco(cleanup). They're doing awesome! I even got a pregnant one lol.

 

[Dbigfish]

What kind of pleco did you go with?

 

[AfricanCichlidOwner]

I wanted a bridle nose but I couldn't find one anywhere, I got a common.

 

[Alyxx]

That common Pleco is gonna get way too big for a 20 gallon tank. They need 120+ gallons and get to be well over a foot long. They also make more waste than they clean up. Other than that, your stock seems pretty good.

 

[Dbigfish]

You may want to take him back if you can and hold out for a smaller species to come along such as a bristlenose, clown, or rubber liped pleco

 

[AfricanCichlidOwner]

Is there any other sucker fish like pelvis that clean glass?

 

[Wiggles24]

Petricola don't get big. Have u looked at panda garras?

 

[Alyxx]

Magfloats clean glass and don't grow at all ; )

There are some algae eating sucker fish that don't grow too big, but for the most part "algae eaters" can be a bit unreliable. Most will come to prefer other food sources over the algae that may grow in the tank. Also, in a lot of tanks algae won't be a problem. If you don't keep the lights on too long or have the tank in direct sunlight, you might not have much algae at all. If you do, a scrub brush or a mag float will be a more reliable way to keep the algae off the glass. You could also think about getting some sort of snail. But remember, if you leave the algae cleanup to the animals in the tank, you won't necessarily have a tank free of algae. In my experience you are more likely to just have a few trails where the algae has been eaten away.

Once your tank has matured more, you could think about getting a small group of otos. They stay fairly small, but they need a mature tank that has lots of algae, because it can be pretty hard to get them to eat anything else, and they will often starve to death in a tank that doesn't have algae.

 

[AfricanCichlidOwner]

So I need to get rid of the Pleco? I have a mag float sitting around I guess I'll put it on lol.

 

[Alyxx]

Yeah. Not only will the Pleco outgrow the tank and get stunted in the process, but they have a massive bioload. In other words, they poop a lot and put out lots of ammonia. It would really up the amount of maintenance the tank would need on a weekly basis to keep your nitrates in check once the tank cycles. The good news is, without it your tank will be able to support more fish than it would with it in there. Keep an eye out for the smaller varieties if you really want a Pleco, though. They are fun fish to watch, but with smaller tanks you really need the smaller kinds.