20 planted fish

[bettaboi]

ok in my 20 gal planted i would like to know some kinds of fish that will get along well and look good any suggestions

 

[George Farmer]

Where do I start?

A lot depends on personal taste and water parameters. Livebearers (Mollies, Platies, Guppies etc.) would be great in hard, alkaline water. Most other species prefer neutral to softer water but many are adaptable to harder water. I prefer to see a limited number of species in larger groups rather than loads of seperate species of one or two specimens. i.e. a shoal of 20 Neons looks better than 2 fish of 10 seperate species.

As I say, it's down to personal taste. In a 20G small fish would be preferable. Some examples I can think of right now.

Upper water - Dwarf gouramis, Livebearers

Midwater - Small tetras i.e. neons, cardinals, glowlight, black neons.
Rasboras i.e. harlequins

Bottom - Corydorus species, various small Loaches

Algae eaters - Otos, Amano shrimp (livebeares too if they get hungry!)

 

[bettaboi]

thanks keep the ideas coming

 

[alabaster]

If I were you, I'd get about 6-8 amano shrimp and about 16-22 small fish, like:

harlequin rasbora,
neon tetra,
glolite tetra,
cardinal tetra,
or
checkered barb.

I encourage you to go with a large school of fish, plus some shrimp. A school looks MUCH, MUCH better than a variety of fish, especially in a planted tank.

Or, you could get a school of 40-50 piranha!

 

[Nospherith]

a limited number of species in larger groups rather than loads of seperate species of one or two specimens

Couldn't have said it better.

One of the infallible stocks for a 20g is to have a bunch of small shoaling fish with a pair of dwarf cichlids. The dwarf cichlids will use the tetra or rasbora shoal as an indicator to various threats and happenings of the surrounding environment. The vibrant colors of dwarf cichlids will compliment those of the plants and naturally will evolve to be the fauna focus.

So even though I have 1 Blue Ram, 2 male guppies, 3 SAE's and 7 oto's in my 20H, I plan on replacing the 13 cardinal tetras that succumbed to an ich plauge and eventually get a mate for the Ram.

= pair of Dwarf Cichlids (Blue Rams)
= 11-15 shoaling fish (cardinal tetras)
= algae eaters (11-15 shrimp, 7 otocinclus)

 

[George Farmer]

Bear in mind water chemistry with more sensitive species i.e. Rams and Cardinals require soft water to thrive.