Stocking a 20 gal

[Jujubee]

I recently purchased a 20 gallon tank. I'm extremely excited. My only thing is now to figure out the best stocking options
I was thinking 2 german blue rams
Rummy nose tetras
Marbled hatchets
And maybe even possibly Spotted blue eye Gertrude's.

Would this mixture work? It is planted, I have several bulbs that are growing in addition to already grown plants. It is going through its cycle. After only 5 days I already have nitrite readings, ammonia and nitrite are low for now so hopefully this cycle is easy and painless!

I have a top fin filter for 30 gallons does 150 gal of water per hr. I was thinking of adding another filter roughly a 10-20 gal filter. I did use aqua advisor and it did say I'm only at around 78% with 2 gbr 5 hatchet 5 rummy nose tetra 4 spotted blue eye Gertrude's and I even added 4 panda Cory's to the mix just to see.
The only recommendation was more filtration. At the same time I feel like that's a lot of fish for one tank!

Any suggestions?

 

[bettaowner]

I would not add rams, hatchetfish, or rummy nose tetras. The gertrudae would work with Pygmy cories and chili rasboras

 

[Jujubee]

Why do you not suggest those fish by chance?

 

[Goldfish loach boy]

Is it a 20 high or 20 long

 

[Jujubee]

Long sorry I should have said that

 

[josh7]

I think you could do a stock of

6- pygmy cories
6- Hatchet fish or rummy nose tetras
2- GBRs

That's it though that stock would max out your tank.

 

[bribo12]

I think you could do a stock of

6- pygmy cories
6- Hatchet fish or rummy nose tetras
2- GBRs

That's it though that stock would max out your tank.

I agree with this but if you pick the hatchets you may want something other than the Pygmy cories. This is due to the cories and rams taking up the bottom and the hatchets at the top, the middle will be pretty empty.

 

[josh7]

That's true go with rummy noses instead if the Cory's like 6 of them for your middle level.

 

[Coyne]

I think you'll find that asking for stocking advice is a bit like asking what toppings you should have on your pizza. Everybody will have their own opinions along with compelling reasons as to why they are right.

Ive found AqAdvisor.com to be a pretty decent guideline for stocking help. Its not the final word on anything, but it gives me a good idea of where my stocking level is at (some people feel thats it tends to err on the conservative side), if I have enough filtration, and whether or not there might be some conflict between different species.

Here is how my 20 Long is currently stocked:
1 Molly
7 Serpae Tetras
9 Gold Tetras (think Neon Tetras, but gold in color)
7 Pygmy Corys
1 Bristlenose Pleco
1 Mystery Snail
1 Rabbit Snail
3 Nerite Snails

As you can see, this is quite a bit more than the "maxed out" stocking list that was suggested above. Am I overstocked? I dont believe so. My fish are healthy and active and the aquarium itself does not appear overly crowded.
Im also using about 3 times more filtration than a 20 gallon typically needs and perform 50% PWCs every week. So this is something else you'll need to factor in when deciding how to stock your tank.

My last suggestion would be this: Go to your LFS (or more than one, if you can) and look at all the different fish. When you see one you like, write its name down and do some research when you get home (or look it up on your phone while youre still at the store). Find out how big it will get. How aggressive is it? Will it be happier in a school or shoal? Any special requirements.
Ive seen many fish that I thought looked super cool, only to find out that it grows to over 12 inches or that its a notorious tank bully. Im always glad I find out before I purchase it.

Good luck.

 

[azmodan]

Your original stock sounds good although I would skip the spotted blue eyes. They are a very small rainbowfish and would do best in a species tank or a nano fish tank. Good alternatives to the spotted blue eyes would be furcata rainbows or threadfin rainbows. I'd also aim for 8-10 rummynose as they are less shy in greater numbers.

Just to give you an idea here is my 20g stock:

9 rummynose
7 pentazona barbs
1 GBR

 

[Jujubee]

Thank you guys! I'll deff skip out on the blue eye spots and stick with the gbr hatchet and rummy nose.
Would snails or shrimp be fine to add just to add a little more pop to the tank? I know gbr might eat the shrimp but how about snails? I deff like that stocking idea I'm super stoked

 

[josh7]

If you have quite a bit if cover get cherry shrimp or ghost shrimp like 10 or so. Also you could add 1 mystery snail and lots of netrite snails.

 

[Jujubee]

Fantastic I love red cherry shrimp! And already have 2 nerites I want to move. Thank you

 

[josh7]

Sweet sounds like a plan up load some pics when it's done.

 

[Jujubee]

Will do! It'll be a while but yall will deff be the first to preview!

 

[josh7]

Sounds good!