Hello (What Fish?)

[Westwood]

Hi to all the community
I have been a fish keeper for about 10 years now, i started at the age of 6.
I have always kept tropical fish, and still think they are delightful animals to keep.
In my tank i have:
1x Angelfish
1x red fin shark (rainbow shark)
1x Plecostomus about 4 inches
2x black widow tetras
6x mollies

I have a 20 gallon tank so there is a little room to spare, as my mollies are all a mix of black and white, and my angel is a silver angel fish, my tank doesn't have much color apart from the red fin shark,
So i was wondering what fish would you add to introduce some colors. I was thinking of a pair of dwarf Gouramis or a pair of siamese fighting fish (betta fish), And/or a few Cardianal tetras.
Thanks in advance,
Westwood

 

[Gytas]

what about guppys ?

 

[kizno1]

What type of plec is it?
If it was sold as a common plec they can grow upto 2 foot long.
How tall is the tank?
Angels need a min hight of 18" but 20G is to small IMO. The rainbow shark will get to big aswell. Black widow tetra need to be kept in groups of 6+. Male and female betta splendens cant be housed together but if there a wild try of bettas then a pair would be fine
Something like
6x black widow tetras
6x mollies
pair of gourami or wild bettas
6 corys
1 bristlenose plec
Hows that look?

 

[Westwood]

what about guppys ?

I have kept guppies many times, but i For some unknown reason they never seem to thrive, and i would like something abit more than

What type of plec is it?
If it was sold as a common plec they can grow upto 2 foot long.
How tall is the tank?
Angels need a min hight of 18" but 20G is to small IMO. The rainbow shark will get to big aswell. Black widow tetra need to be kept in groups of 6+. Male and female betta splendens cant be housed together but if there a wild try of bettas then a pair would be fine
Something like
6x black widow tetras
6x mollies
pair of gourami or wild bettas
6 corys
1 bristlenose plec
Hows that look?

The plec is a Plecostomus it is a common plec that is just the name, i have kept the pleck for about 8 years now, and he has not grown any more, so i am pretty cofident i am not going to have any trouble.
The tank is 18" tall, the angel fish seem to be happy and enjoys life.
The rainbow shark i have kept befor, and from my experience i have lernt when they reach maturity there rate of growth slows and then stops. so i am comfortable with the rainbow shark.
With the Black widows i was advised to keep two for some reason, but i am going back to the shop to pick up another 4 this weekend.
I just canot decide between the gouramis or the bettas
Thanks

 

[kizno1]

what about guppys ?

I have kept guppies many times, but i For some unknown reason they never seem to thrive, and i would like something abit more than

What type of plec is it?
If it was sold as a common plec they can grow upto 2 foot long.
How tall is the tank?
Angels need a min hight of 18" but 20G is to small IMO. The rainbow shark will get to big aswell. Black widow tetra need to be kept in groups of 6+. Male and female betta splendens cant be housed together but if there a wild try of bettas then a pair would be fine
Something like
6x black widow tetras
6x mollies
pair of gourami or wild bettas
6 corys
1 bristlenose plec
Hows that look?

The plec is a Plecostomus it is a common plec that is just the name, i have kept the pleck for about 8 years now, and he has not grown any more, so i am pretty cofident i am not going to have any trouble.
The tank is 18" tall, the angel fish seem to be happy and enjoys life.
The rainbow shark i have kept befor, and from my experience i have lernt when they reach maturity there rate of growth slows and then stops. so i am comfortable with the rainbow shark.
With the Black widows i was advised to keep two for some reason, but i am going back to the shop to pick up another 4 this weekend.
I just canot decide between the gouramis or the bettas
Thanks

The reason the plec isnt growing is because it has been stunted because the tank is to small for it. Same goes for the rainbow shark. You might get away with the angelfish but 30G+ would be best.

Are they betta splendens as in males have the log fins? if they are then a pair wont work males and females cant be housed together unless under breeding conditions with no other fish and evan done properly they do sometimes still fish. Plus the black widow tetras are likely to nip the male bettas log fins.

 

[Westwood]

Are they betta splendens as in males have the log fins? if they are then a pair wont work males and females cant be housed together unless under breeding conditions with no other fish and evan done properly they do sometimes still fish. Plus the black widow tetras are likely to nip the male bettas log fins.

This is the kind of information i was looking for, thanks, so do you think the black widows will be fine with gouramis?
Thanks

 

[kizno1]

Are they betta splendens as in males have the log fins? if they are then a pair wont work males and females cant be housed together unless under breeding conditions with no other fish and evan done properly they do sometimes still fish. Plus the black widow tetras are likely to nip the male bettas log fins.

This is the kind of information i was looking for, thanks, so do you think the black widows will be fine with gouramis?
Thanks

Yeah they should be fine with gourami. but the gourami might not get on well with the angels in a 20G

 

[Flagtail]

Hello and welcome to the forum.
In my opinion you should get a 55 gallon for these fish to be happy. Then you can add more angelfish.

 

[Westwood]

Yeah they should be fine with gourami. but the gourami might not get on well with the angels in a 20G

Thanks, i have kept gouramis and angel fish together in the past and had no troubles.

Hello and welcome to the forum.
In my opinion you should get a 55 gallon for these fish to be happy. Then you can add more angelfish.

Thanks for the warm welcome. I would love the idea of a 55 gallon tank but i don't think My desk is big enough. and i don't really have the space in my room. Nice idea tho.

 

[OldMan47]

Welcome to the forum Westwood.
I just brought home some nice gouramis this past weekend and put them into a large, 120 gallons, community tank with my Betta pugnax, a less aggressive wild type species than Betta splendens. Although nothing too bad has happened, the B. pugnax has definitely decided to exert his dominance over the gouramis. I would expect a Betta splendens male to be even less tolerant with a gourami, but don't really know that for a fact.
Your pleco and red tailed shark bother me much more than the other mixes of fish that you have. As others have already said, a common pleco can grow to be an enormous fish and the red tailed shark can be a real threat to its more peaceful tank mates.