Empty 20L

[sammydee]

After my DIY disaster, which left me with only two neons left out of 15 fish I need to restock.

I'm getting a big chunk of money off my grandparents, so I should have about £40 - £50 to spend on new fish. Hit me with ideas

 

[sylvia]

Well...

You are talking about a 20 gallon right?

4 more neons first of all.

Will it be planted?

If yes, a pair of rams, a pearl gourami and some black phantom tetras or otos or harlequin rasboras would be nice.

Or maybe a few cories, a pair of pearl gouramies and some more neons.

Or you could go for realy tiny fish - get 6 neons, 6 spotted rasboras, 3 mosquito fish (1 male, 2 female), 4 sparkling gouramies and 5 pygmy cories.

Or you may want very colorful fish - a dwarf gourami, a trio of platies, 3 khulie loaches and maybe a pair of blue rams.

Or just fill up the tank with neons and cardinals or harlequins or black phantoms or rummynoses...

What kind of fish did you have before? What are looking to make out of this tank? I suppose it has to be a peaceful community but will it be planted etc? Basically, what kind of fish do you like/find interesting or have thought about getting?

 

[sammydee]

It is a twenty gallon long, with sand substrate and plants.

Before I had rosy barbs, ghost catfish, neons, an angelfish, some ottos, and some rosy tetras. I would rather have three or four types of fish, rather than so many different types but less in each group, if you see what I mean?

I don't want angelfish again (problems with neons ) but I'd go with the ottos again definately. I also want some loaches - I love the Kuhli loaches but I'd need to add some sort of cave/hangout for them. I'll have to get neons as well I guess cos two by themselves won't be happy. I really loved the rosy barbs too...

Thought about puffers but they apparently need snails so that is a problem. I thought about maybe an Amazon biotype tank or something?

I really don't know theres so much choice!

 

[Inchworm]

Hi sammydee

IMHO, a 20 gallon long tank is a nice tank, but because it has a lot of bottom area, but is short, it's a great tank for bottom feeders but not a very good tank for fish that like to cover a lot of area. Small fish seem to work out better than large ones for this reason too.

My corys love this size tank and I would suggest getting several kinds of them. Otos and kuhlis get along well with them, and a nice school of neons would look great swimming above them.

You can make a nice, natural looking cave by using 3 rocks with a piece of slate or other flat rock on top. If your plants allow, this can be nestled among them. I have some that have, over time, grown nice soft algae on them and they look beautiful. The corys love them too.

For very small corys, don't hesitate to get the C. habrosus, C. hastatus or C. pygmaeus. They are active and since they are so small, you could get many more of them than any of the others.

Because of the dimensions, this tank does not need what might be considered a "centerpiece" fish. The school of neons will serve this purpose.

 

[sammydee]

Wow that sounds cool. I like that idea Inchworm. I'm pretty sure my brother (it's his tank too) will want a large fish or pair of large fish though. I'll try and negotiate with him. I think your idea sounds pretty cool.

EDIT: Oops I forgot to say. I have a flower pot turned on it's side for a cave, but will the Kuhli's be happy with that? Will the cories need a separate hideout place?

Thanks!

 

[sammydee]

Also forgot to say water params - I must be feeling particularly dozy today:

kH: 7 or 8
pH:7.4 (but I can lower it with co2)

Is this Ok for the fish outlines so far?

 

[Inchworm]

...I have a flower pot turned on it's side for a cave, but will the Kuhli's be happy with that? Will the cories need a separate hideout place?

Hi sammydee

I have flowerpots in a couple of my tanks, but the corys seem to prefer the rock caves more.

I think they like smaller spaces. They never seem to mind crowding in together and sometimes the sit on top of each other in there. Another thing about the ow rock caves is that it's darker in there too, and corys like to get into the shade sometimes. B) I've noticed that sometimes instead of going into the flowerpot, they hang out on the shaded side of it.

Corys are agreeable little fish who don't mind sharing their cave with others. I have a big weather loach in one of my tanks and he gets along fine with them, even to sharing their cave when he wants to. In fact, I used to have a betta who would hang out in the cory cave, right in the middle of them. It always looked so funny to see them all in there together.

 

[sammydee]

Minor problem: my mum has put her foot down and said no kuhli loaches because they "look too much like eels".

So my new revised list consists of:

8-12 neons, 2 rams, ??cories??, 4/5 ottos, and maybe some glassfish instead of the loaches?

 

[Inchworm]

Hi sammydee

Too bad about the kuhlis. Your mom would surely come to enjoy watching them if she gave them a chance. But maybe another time.

The little glass catfish are lovely fish, very interesting and unusual, and they are very peaceful too. They would fit in nicely in your planted tank.

http/www.thetropicaltank.co.uk/Fishindx/glasscat.htm

The only fish I don't know much about are the rams. If they are anything less than peaceful community fish, it might not work out too well.

For corys, since they are schooling, you will want to plan on 4 to 6 of them, If you get the dwarf ones, you could get many more because they are so small.

 

[sylvia]

the rams would be fine

 

[Ben]

with the rams added i have a feeling this is going to be one awsome tank

so i figured that since you have a CO2 system going,youre having lots of plants ?
sounds great
DD

 

[Raechal]

I heard that glass cats can get up to 6 inches in length and do better in atleast groups of 6. I would skip out on these and just go for the otos, cories, neons, and rams.

If you're wanting a hardier ram, I would go for a pair of bolivian rams. Although they aren't as colorful as the german blue rams which need VERY good water conditions. They also sometimes just die for no apparent reason at all. They can be fragile fish, so watch out with these guys. They make a great addition to any community fish and look gorgeous in planted tanks.

I would get 2 rams, 4 otos, 6 cories, and then a group of like 8 neons maybe.

The neons are a mostly mid-dwelling fish, the rams will be a mid to bottom dwelling fish, the otos will usually just hang on the side of the glass and show you their fat little tummies ( ) and the cories will be bottom dwellers. That really leaves nothing as a "top-dweller", but since it is a 20 gallon long, it isn't that tall anyways, so the neons would serve as the top-dwellers kind of.

Sounds like it will be a pretty tank! Goodluck!

 

[pellegrini]

hey this tank sound like a cool idea, i would get a nice piece of drift wood and put some java moss and fern on it and have it on a inclined bank in the far right corner then i would get some plants. some that your corries will like are dichiandri. it's a great foreground plant that requires fertilizer and about 2-3 wpg. also, if you don't get the rams and tetras consider adding small boesman rainbow fish with some celebese rainbows ina school. i have a 10g set up like this and it's very cool

 

[sammydee]

We had some glass cats before and they didn't get to more than two inches in length max. I have got quite a few plants but they are low-light, low-maintenance plants like java fern, java moss and cryptocoryne. I'll do more research on glass cats to see about them.

Thanks for the ideas!

 

[littlefishie]

I would get 2 rams, 4 otos, 6 cories, and then a group of like 8 neons maybe.

I have almost the same in my 15g! ) Overstocked, I know, but I'm running extra filtration and the fish are going into the 34g once it's set up.