New 20 gal freshwater tank.

[Chapin]

Hi ppz, i just got a new 20 gal fw tank. i got a deal at boxing day so i had to buy it!!! But i don t know what to put in yet. i am cycling it for the moment, how long should i let it run without fish in it? The girl at the pet shop told me about a week. Well people i need suggestions, i love sharks and i saw some nice bala tri-colored sharks. what else can i put them with? Or ca i have balas in that tank?

Thanks in advance for your good advices.
(I thought i had an otocinlus, but it turned to be a CAE and i love it. Could i have one in my 20 gal?)

 

[mike47517]

No bala shark they get too big.

You might be able to get away with a red tailed shark though.

I dont know much about CAEs but i think you could have one in a 20 gallon but beaware they get pretty big too.

For the cycling - Just cycle till paremeters are right.

What kind of tank do you want ( community, breeder, chichlid, etc...)?

 

[Chapin]

well a community one i guess, but if you tell me that i can only have 2 red tailed sharks, i ll only put that in. i really want sharks so i ll do the sacrifice

 

[Zagz]

For a 20 gal no sharks at all. They all get too big, or too aggressive. For cycling you need an ammonia source, such as pure ammonia or a raw shrimp. Here are a couple of links to make cycling easier to understand. The SW article works for FW as well. Mike meant well but forgets newbies may not know exactly what cycling is. http://www.aquariumadvice.com/articles/articles/3/1/Cycle-your-salt-tank/Page1.html

http://www.aquariumadvice.com/artic...ks-for-your-fastest-fishless-cycle/Page1.html

 

[Chapin]

Thank you ZAGZ, im gonna read the links. But do you have any suggestions of fish?

 

[mike47517]

Do you like the look of this fish? I tried searching around for fish that look like sharks. Heres a pretty similar one. And it only grows up to 2.5" so it would be fine for a 20 gallon.