2ft Long 20 Gal Tank. Any Experience?

[excaliborg]

Having aquired a 2nd tank i've been looking into what type of fish to stock it with. My initial thought was a Malawi Cichlid tank, however after reading the FAQ found that it was not recommended to keep them in a 2ft long tank so I got onto other ideas about a planted tank with small tetra's...

Was all well and good till i took another trip to my LFS and was amazed by the Lake Malawi's they had in stock and their behaviour was very interesting to watch.

So.. Does anyone have any comments about keeping the fish in a relatively small tank? I can cope with weekly water changes and other maintainance jobs easily enough.

What sort of stocking would i be able to achieve?

Is there a good site detailing each type of Malawi Cichlid with a picture? As i can recognise which ones they had in stock but don't know the difference between for example the bright yellow, blue and black, or black and white...

Thanks for any help.

 

[SamUK]

look into sheldwellers.

i dont kno much about them (someone else will tho) but they look like mini malawis and are small enough for your tank i THINK.

 

[jayjay]

Yep shellwdellers would be good, you could also try a pair of n. brichardi if you can remove the fry.

 

[Xebadir]

I currently have just started a 2ft Long 20gal tank, and so far have had no problems. From what i have read you have a couple of options:

1. Tanganikan Shelldwellers: These fiesty little guys max out fairly small sizes:
There are the true shelldwellers: Neolampralogus Brevis, Neolamprologus Multifaciatus, Lamprologus Occelatus, Lamprologus Spelendens Which all have very interesting natures, and are fascinating to say the least. With the 20 gallon you could look into possibly having two species of these, however this depends on agression and the structure of you tank.
Then there are the "Shelldwellers" those who use shells in which to breed: They include: Neolamprologus Caudopunctas, and Neolamprologus sp. These grow slightly larger and are also very intriguing again from lake tanganika.

2. Malawi Dwarfs: As many times as people will tell you there are some species that can be kept in a twenty gallon ONLY if you are careful with how you stock:

One option is Pseudotropheus Saulosi http/www.cichlid-forum.com/profiles/species.php?id=1 A smallish species by Mbuna standards, these fish a monomorphic while juveniles(yellow zebra striped) graduating to Dimorphic adults, blue and yellow male and female respectively. You could keep these in a 20gallon with the following proviso: keep your school to about 5-6 at adult size, and make sure you have adequet filtration: 6-8 turn over volume per hour. To do this if buying juveniles, buy 10 fish, and as they grow to adult size remove any that are overly agressive or display male colouration, except one. Thus when they reach adulthood you should have 1(possibly 2 if your fish are not overtly agressive) males, and 4-5 female specimens. This gives you a very pretty tank, and a great display of cichlid behaviour. Make sure you provide adequet rockwork for the cichlids to hide to minimise stress from agressive, in this size tank I believe a rockwork rubble is effective.

Another option is a small agressive species tank: Pseudotropheus Socolofi In this situation maximum 1 male 2 females in my opinion, otherwise you will loose fish, and i cant guarantee that you still wont.

3. A Tanganikan Mini community such as outlined in cichlid-forum cookie cutters: again you may not be interested in this as tanginakans can be less colourful that the malawi.

4. If your willing to take a risk, and find a lower agressive pair you could try the fish in my signature, but i cant guarantee no problems

With all these combinations you could introduce A longfinned or albino Bristlenose pleco or multiple thereof for variety and algal duty.

www.cichlid-forum.com is definitely the place to look for all information on cichlids, has profiles of many of the species, and feature articles describing behavious, feeding, chemistry and habit. Have a good read before rushing out to buy your cichlids.

Good luck, and hope you find something that interests you.

 

[excaliborg]

Thanks a lot for the help, the shell dwellers seem really interesting little fish and i'll definately look into them. Would think finding a place that sells them is hard though, don't recall seeing them anywhere

Pseudotropheus Saulosi seem interesting too will deffinately look out for those!

Cheers guys