Centerpiece fish 20 gal?

[SnailorJ]

Hi all,

I'm looking for a centerpiece fish for my 20 gal. It's fully cycled and planted + driftwood, pH around 7-7.2 and hard water. I have two Cambridge Aquatics 5-20 gal filters. I currently have 12 neon tetras, 4 striped kuhli loaches (will eventually be 6), and 3 nerite snails. I love my big school of neons as they are very bright and active and look great with the greens and reds of the tank. However, I think it would be really cool to get a centerpiece fish. I've been doing some research and it seems that the honey gourami would be a good choice. I would love to get a pair if I can find a male and a female, but I don't know if they are really right for my tank or not. Any other suggestions or advice? My tank is close to fully stocked, so I could be convinced to give up a few neons in exchange for being able to add a neat centerpiece fish.

(Not interested in a betta. I had mine in there originally and he got too stressed. I don't want to have to divide his tank and add another if it doesn't work out with a new one)

 

[ArtistGardener]

I have a fully planted 20 gallon with 7 neons, 5 glowlight tetras, 3 otos, shrimp, and 2 honey gouramis (and a male platy that I just added). I just love the honey gouramis. They are a great size for a 20 gallon, gentle and beautiful! here is an image of them so you can see how well they fit into a tank that size.

 

[azmodan]

German blue ram
Bolivian ram
Apistogramma cacatuoides
Dwarf gourami
Honey gourami

 

[TLfreshhhhwater]

How bout a hatchet fish? There really cool and friendly , and if your looking for something more colorful maybe a honey gourami

 

[SnailorJ]

The rams are beautiful! But I've read they are difficult to keep and need soft water, so I'm not sure they are the best choice? I'd love to have them though. The honey gouramis sound like a good choice still too! I'm looking for something colorful, so hatchet fish don't really fit the bill. They are neat though

 

[abw0004]

I would recommend a Blue or Gold ram (male and female). BUT you are way overstocked as it is for a 20 gallon tank. Remeber the rule of thumb for every inch of adult fish (excluding tail), for a gallon of water. Your neon tetras alone have it stocked out at 24 inches of fish.

 

[ArtistGardener]

The bioload of neon tetras is so low that she is perfectly fine with a dozen of them. AqAdvisor lists her load of 12 neons and 6 kuhli loaches at 88%. She can safely add one or two smallish centerpiece fish, especially if she has good plantings and more than adequate filtration. My tank is almost the exact same load as hers, and I can't get my nitrates past 5. I went from once a week water changes to every 10-14 days and am still low in nitrates.

 

[abw0004]

I stand corrected. Please ignore my first post. But I am still a big fan of the rams but you would need a pair. What is cool about them is they will pair up and stay faithful to each other for the rest of their lives. I also have two dwarf Gouramis as well and the male is stunning to look at

 

[SnailorJ]

Very neat, thanks guys. I tend to ignore the one inch per gallon rule because it can be so inaccurate, and stick with aqadvisor, though I've heard some people say it understocks. Better safe than sorry though. My tank is also heavily planted and has plenty of filtration and a strong bio filter.
So you've never had a problem with the rams? It think that would be awesome, but if they're truly so difficult to care for I don't want to risk it. Maybe I'll see which my LFS has a pair of...decisions decisions!

 

[abw0004]

Yes they can be difficult to care for but it is not impossible. The only really hard part is sexing them. I would research which ram you want, then after that how to determine male from female

 

[severum mama]

Inches per gallon is irrelevant and IMO does more to steer someone in the wrong direction than to help them out. There are so many variables that go into stocking that, for the most part, any "rule" just ends up being a gross oversimplification (spoiler alert: I feel the same way about stocking calculators, although they are leaps and bounds beyond inches per gallon. I just see too many people recently focusing solely on aqadvisor results).

Rams tend to like warmer water than neons, so I'm not sure I'd recommend them for this setup unless you're willing to take your neons out of their "comfort zone."

 

[abw0004]

If it helps, I have 5 neon tetras, 4 guppies, 2 dwarf Gouramis with my two Gold Rams. I keep my water at 78 degrees

 

[severum mama]

Most breeders prefer 80+ for rams. I've kept both species, many times, and yes you can keep them together, but it is a little outside the neons' preferred temps. This is one of the reasons that folks will choose cardinal tetras as tankmates for rams rather than neons.

 

[SnailorJ]

Hmmm. I don't want to buy a fish that isn't suited to my tank. It sounds to me like the biggest problem with the rams would be the pH and hardness of my water, as my water tends to be 7-7.2 and it is hard (I don't have specific parameters for kh or gh)

So the honey gourami would be a better choice then? Would any other kind of gourami work?

 

[ArtistGardener]

Many of the gouramis would be too big, but two honeys would be perfect. A single male dwarf would be OK, too. The honeys seem to be more hardy for some reason.

 

[SnailorJ]

That's what I've read, too. I will probably go for the honeys then. Maybe the rams if I really feel adventurous. Thanks all!

 

[azmodan]

Just want to quickly chime in about the rams. They're not as hard to take care of as people make out but they do need great water conditions (0 ammo, 0 nitrites, and nitrates >20). Live plants help keep nitrates low and give rams places to explore and hang out in. Most recommend introducing them to mature tanks (tanks at least 3-4 months established). They do prefer softer water in their natural habitats but they've been commercially bred for so long that they adapt fine to harder water too (my water is quite hard too). If you decide to go the route of a ram I'd recommend trying to seek out local bred ones as these tend to be healthier and more hardy. Bolivian rams are also a hardier (though less colorful) alternative to the GBR.