Stocking Ideas?

[AquariumCowboy]

So I'm trying to decide what type of fish to stock my new 20 gallon tank when the time comes. The dimensions are 24''x12''x16''. My water pH is 7.4. I'm most likely going to change it up and use some black sand (Which I've never done before) that I will use to heavily plant the tank. I'm also adding some rocks that I'm going to attach together to form a cave or two along with some driftwood. I was thinking of getting a small school (6-8) of fish like tetras or danios, Some shrimp(2-4?) as my bottom dwellers, and a pair of fish as my "showcase fish", I was thinking maybe a male and female dwarf gourami or even a pair of male swordtails? (I don't know if my tank would be large enough to prevent any aggression from two males). I'd like to get some opinions on different stocking ideas with the tank setup I'm planning. The fish I listed are just a general idea so I'm open to different ideas!

 

[Wills]

I would go for a dwarf South American Tank
 
2 Laetacara Dorsigera
10 Ember Tetras
10 Pygmy Cories
2 Red Lizard Whiptail Catfish
 
Wills

 

[LyraGuppi]

Here is a plan, if I may try....
 
13 neon tetras
1 orange hi-fin swordtail, male
6 cories.....of some kind
Add shrimp if you want.

 

[AquariumCowboy]

Wills and LyraGuppi, Thanks for the ideas! I'm liking where this is going

 

[Aviici]

10 Celestial Pearl Danios, 4 Venezuelan Cories, and a Male Betta, a white one!
 
Think those colours would look cool with black sand CPDs are amazing little beauties!

 

[Goggy]

Puffer tank DO IT!!!!

 

[LyraGuppi]

Oh my gosh Goggy.....

 

[Goggy]

Oh my gosh Goggy.....

hah im quite crazy with puffers! 

10 Celestial Pearl Danios, 4 Venezuelan Cories, and a Male Betta, a white one!
 
Think those colours would look cool with black sand

CPDs are amazing little beauties!

Yes love pearl danios thanks to my uncle! he didn't discover them but he caught em, bred em, and introduced them to the fish trade!

 

[AquariumCowboy]

I've never had puffers before lol

 

[Malex530]

South American definitely. Here is what i would do 
 
6-8 Cardinal tetra
5 Corydora
2 Ram cichlids (bolivian,german,electric, gold) 
To add some life to the top you could add floating plants, or 5-6 hatchetfish (Or both!) 
 
Keep in mind you would need to keep the ph at about 6.0-6.5 for the fish to be happy. 
Love those CPD though. You could definitely add them instead of hatchets. 
 
How are puffers by the way? Any species suitable for a 10 gal species tank?

 

[AquariumCowboy]

Thanks Malex530! That group sounds awesome

 

[Malex530]

Are you going to add the Danios? 

 

[AquariumCowboy]

I might! I've kept danios in the past and I've always loved them. I'm not in a rush to make a final decision since I'm still getting all the pieces together for the tank. I figure that way I can do my research and really try to design the tank specifically for the fish I plan on stocking the tank with.

 

[Malex530]

Seriouslyfish.com is a good site for research, enjoy the journey!

 

[AquariumCowboy]

Thanks! Yeah I've been using that site it's really informative