The friendliest place on the web for anyone with an interest in aquariums or fish keeping!
If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.
I have an empty 20 gallon, and I am wondering what type of tank people think would be interesting to have. The catch, the fish have to stay in the 20 gallon, not outgrow it.
20 gallon tank, I like the small/medium tetras, couple Cory catfish, maybe some Cherry Barbs (most peaceful of the Barbs).
You options are many, just do research before going to the fish store, have a plan and stick to it! Impulse fish purchases can cause mucho trouble, and sometimes (not always, there are lots of good ones too) the folks at the fish store will tell you anything to get you to buy.
Ooo...Go with a planted tank! Then put some real colorful fish in; maybe a school of small tetras (you can add a really nice size school to a 20), a school of corys, and maybe some dwarf gouramis (not 100% about the tetra/gourami compatabilty, but I think if you go with neons/cardinals it should be ok). Lots of movement/lots of color and most levels of the tank will have fish in em.
You COULD do a SW tank with a 20, but its considered a nano-tank and the small amount of water means LOTS of work keeping things within proper parameters; marine fish don't handle the water fluctuations the way most freshwater fish do. Consider a 20 gallon salt equivalent to a 1-5 gallon freshwater and you'll get the idea.