What Should I Put In

[Aqua Boy]

I have a 20gal. tank and was wondering what i could put in there I like big but colorful fish and I also like crabs!

 

[rabbut]

What fish do you currently have?
What are your water stats for ammonia, nitrite, nitrate and pH?

The way I usualy advise doing things like a stocking list, is to go look round your LFS. Make a list of ones you like, and then come back here with this list. We can then tell you what will and won't be suited and surgest a number to get

All the best, and to the forum
Rabbut

 

[waterdrop]

Yes, welcome to the forums!

Fish looking happy there! What are your water test results? What type of testing equipment do you have?

How about that stick - did that come from the LFS or perhaps from the back yard..?

~~waterdrop~~

 

[Aqua Boy]

I have 3 tiger barbs 1 scissortail rasboris and 2 red claw crabs they have the right nitrite,nitrate and ph


what is LFS

I like pacu,pictus cats,invertabrates,black moor goldfish, oranda goldfish, barbs, green spotted puffers, and corys.


Aqua Boy

 

[ALW]

LFS= Local Fish Store

 

[Aqua Boy]

oh thank you I got my stick at my LFS

 

[Jazzzz]

your sig needs a major resize but welcome

 

[rabbut]

I have 3 tiger barbs 1 scissortail rasboris and 2 red claw crabs they have the right nitrite,nitrate and ph


what is LFS

I like pacu,pictus cats,invertabrates,black moor goldfish, oranda goldfish, barbs, green spotted puffers, and corys.


Aqua Boy

OK, the Tiger Barbs need a bigger group of arround 6, as do the scissortails. With these added, you would be about done untill the tank is about 6 months old, and then you can consider a few more. The tank has to mature before you think about raising your stocking levels any further.

It's all well and good saying the pH, ammonia, nitrite and nitrate are all fine, but that doesn't tell us much about them. They may well be fine for the current fish, but we don't know how your planned stocking will react to them. Can you give us numbers please?

Now on to what to consider further down the line;

pacu; way too big for a 20g

pictus cats; way too big for a 20g

invertabrates; Could you please be a little more specific. Invertibrates cover crabs, lobster, shrimp and snails....

black moor goldfish; these are coldwater fish, and thus aren't realy suited to your tropical set-up

oranda goldfish; these are coldwater fish, and thus aren't realy suited to your tropical set-up

barbs; You will be adding more tigers anyway to get their group up, more may make the tank a little "samey". If you do want to add another group, any type of barb other than Forontosa and Cherry barbs will be fine. The first get too large and the latter will be nipped by the tiger barbs. Aim with any barb, for a group size of 6

green spotted puffers; These aren't realy community fish, and will pick on any fish that doesn't eat them, and thats only because in that situation, the roles would reverse

corys; These would be the best choice. Any type would be fine. Larger corries would be good as a group of 4, and dwarf spiecies in groups of 6+

HTH
Rabbut

 

[Aqua Boy]

your sig needs a major resize but welcome

how do I resize?

 

[Aqua Boy]

nitrite 1
nitrate 0
ph 7.5
ammonia 0

is that healthy??

invertabrates= shrimp or snails


peppered corys

3 more barbs

5 more scisssor tails


is this correct??

 

[Aqua Boy]

how do I resize my sig?/?

 

[rabbut]

nitrite 1
nitrate 0
ph 7.5
ammonia 0

is that healthy??

In a word, no. Ammonia and nitrite should always be 0. The fact that nitrite is raise rings alarm bells with me... Take a read of [topic="224306"]this thread[/topic], so that you know what to do about the results. The tank isn't cycled, and this will caurse you a major head-ache over the next few weeks, as large and regular waterchanges are going to be the only way to keep the fish alive

invertabrates= shrimp or snails

Shrimp will be fine, as they don't add a large amount to the bio-load of the tank. They are so low-waste in fact that I only start to count them once the group size gets past about 25 individuals Snails are high-waste though, so I wouldn't add any if you want more fish

peppered corys

3 more barbs

5 more scisssor tails


is this correct??

After the tank has settled back to zero ammonia and nitrite, you can add 3 barbs in the first week, wait a week checking that ammonia or nitrite don't creap up again, and then get 5 more scissor tails. After that wait mebe 5-6 months, and then get your corries

4 peppers would bering you to fully stocked IMO

There is a difference between cycled and mature, hence why I advise you to wait a few months before corries. Mature tanks have a "biofilm", a coating of bacteria over everything, making the tank more disease resistant. A cycled tank can only reduce the ammonia produced by the fish to zero ammonia or nitrite at the same rate of production. A tank that is only cycled won't yet have a bio-film, and this is what you need for the stability given by a mature tank, for adding fish past about 1 inch per gallon

All the best
Rabbut

 

[Aqua Boy]

ok i'll lower the nitrite and would the fish eat ghost shrimp?

 

[rabbut]

Nope.

Don't add any more fish untill ammonia and nitrite have been consistantly sitting on zero for at least a week solidly Adding more fish before then will make the nitrite problem worse

All the best
Rabbut

 

[Aqua Boy]

nitrite 0
nitrate 0
ph 7.5
ammonia 0

is it good now?

and when can I put fish in???