20 gal. help!

[LKravitzDO]

Hi! I have a 20 gal. long (~3 feet), it has only 2 dwarf gouramis (both males i think..), a guppy (he was adopted), 5 neons and lots of fake plants. So i have several questions. 1) i want to get some more interesting fish, specifically some clown loaches (I know they can get very large and I do have plans for larger tanks in future, but many books much research has said that most clowns in a tank only average ~6 inches?and this happens slowly...like years?), and maybe a shark or something more exotic?? any recomendations? 2) Live plants? any ideas on adding just a few to see if they will take? Thanks for all your help!!

 

[chishnfips]

red tailed sharks are nice fish I think they grow to about 6 inches, bettas are really colourful (siamese fighting fish) they are very tame but you can only keep one as I think the fight bewteen their own species. there are also loads of different kinds of gouramis to choose from.

and guppies. I love guppies I have four and they are different colours, really vivid.

 

[DarkSide]

Clown loaches, commonly grow 8-12" in the aquarium. (Correct me if i'm wrong) Most sharks get large to house in the aquariums also. I.D Sharks grow 3-4' or something like that (Again correct me if i'm wrong.)

Live plants are pretty much easy to take care of. Put some plant fertilizer (For aquariums) maybe a CO2 injector, lots of light, and watch them grow, and maybe some leaf trimmings here or their.

As for the betta idea. No. A betta would fight (and kill?) your gourami's as the betta will think that they would be competition for a mate.

Maybe a german blue ram? They are exotic, and very bright neon colours, very lovely fish if you ask me. They will get a little aggresive during mating time though.

 

[WILDER]

Your tank is not big enough for a red tailed shark and clown loaches.
http/species.fishindex.com/species_2938e...lack_shark.html

 

[Daveo]

Yes the Bettas will fight but only between two males

 

[mandi]

I agree with DarkSide -- I wouldn't mix gourami and bettas. Males of both species can be very territorial. I would think there'd be at least some fin-nipping problems.

I would think you could add most any type of livebearer, although keep in mind you'll have to deal with fry if you do so.

What kind of substrate do you have? If it's fine gravel or sand, you could get some small corys. They're very cute and playful.

As for live plants, I highly recommend java fern if you want something almost un-killable for your first plant. They're pretty easy to find (even my local Petsmart carries them) and they do well in a broad range of lighting. Hornwort and java moss are also "easy" plants, depending on what type of look you want, try some of them.

 

[sylvia]

You could also try khulie loaches (substrate must not be sharp), danios, smaller non-nippy barbs like cherry or checker or golden dwarf, small non-nippy tetras, smaller rasboras, pygmy/dwarf cories (preffer middle layers so substrate isn't as much of an issue), hatchetfish, bristlenose or bulldog plecostomus catfish, otocinclus cats, honey gouramies, a pearl gourami, colisa fasciata, colisa labiosa, croaking gouramies, sparkling gouramies, small species of peckoltia or panaque, platies, more guppies, swordtails and mollies...

 

[LKravitzDO]

Wow! Alot of good advice (no bettas!) , I'm sad however that I can't fit some clown loaches (they seem to have so much personality!) The german blue ram seems like a great idea, and suggestions on a fish that would have a similar fun personality like the clowns? Maybe I should start trying to fill my zones (ie bottom- top?)... Also any good advice on how to get theses fish if my LFS doesn't stock them? Thanks Again!!!

 

[glolite]

You could keep baby clown loaches and they grow slowly, but would need to be rehomed eventually ( or you might want a bigger tank by then )

 

[sylvia]

Cories have the fun personality of clown loaches and you'll fall in love with khulies once you've seen these :
http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?showtopic=72375
http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?showtopic=72368
http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?showtopic=51494
... They remind me of rabbits crossed with some kind of insect but don't ask me why

If your LFS will order fish in (most do) you'll be able to get whatever you want quite easily.

 

[LKravitzDO]

Thats sort of what I was hoping someone would say (as far as buying small clowns) , I know 20 is on the small side but... I absolutely have plans to upgrade to larger tank within several years?

 

[sylvia]

Please don't get clowns... they may grow slowly but once they have out-grown your tank you will find yourself in a very difficult situation. 12" clown loaches (full grown) won't fit in your tank but even 6" clowns can be hard to re-home. Please don't get them wth plans to 'up-grade'. You never know where you might be in a few years time or whether you can afford the bigger tank they'll need. There are plenty of great fish to get instead and you can always get a bigger tank in future especialy for some clowns. I just feel it's necessary to say this - for the sake of the fish. I am very much against buying any fish you don't have an adequatly sized tank for. Saying you'll get a tank in future just isn't enough. The fish won't understand if they need to spend several months, having out-grown the tank already, waiting for their suitable home. They wont understand you can't afford it or whatever and they'll suffer for it. That simply isn't fair. Now sorry for the rant I just don't like the thought of them ending up without a home like so many others before them.

 

[Inchworm]

Hi LKravitzDO

A 20 gallon long tank is the ideal tank for cory cats. Its large bottom gives them lots of room to play, which is what you are looking for with the clown loaches.

I would recommend getting a school of 6 bronze and/or albino C. aeneus. They are the same species but different colors. Both are friendly and playful. Since they occupy the bottom of the tank, they would not conflict with the territory of the gouramis and they, being peaceful fish, get along with everyone.

Here's a link with information about them:

http/www.thetropicaltank.co.uk/Fishindx/cory-aen.htm

If your gravel is relatively small, and you can provide a cave to give them some shade, they will love your tank and give you many hours of amusement. For the cave, I use pieces of slate set on ordinary rocks. It can easily be taken apart to clean the tank.

 

[Yenko]

If you get German Rams, they will terrorize everything in the tank when breeding time comes. A breeding pair kept four full-size angels huddled in a corner in my dad's 55g. The angels weren't harmed, but it was strange seeing two 1.5" fish rule a tank that size.

 

[LKravitzDO]

Well, thanks guys, I guess I have lot of researching to do, but would appreciate some more recommendations for cool fish (medium sized of course!) I keep gettin mixed reviews about the german blues... BTW anyone know a good LFS in the philly area? (other than petsmart...!!! ), and any reputable online stores?