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Don't feed them more - it's a common trap to fall into with fish, I've done it myself, and still have to resist the temptation. Food left on the bottom should be removed, since you're in a cycle and doing regular water changes, you should also be vacuuming the upper layers of gravel as well...

Leaving the tank run does not cycle it, it just leaves it running. A cycle requires an ammonia source (In your case, fish) and takes a 3-6 weeks in general. What's your maintenance routine, and do you have a test kit (liquid, preferably - strips are less accurate, and while a cheaper initial...

Going by nmonks book, there's a few more than just two species of bumblebee goby, and stripe identification isn't reliable, only pinning them under a dissection microscope and counting scales, which is inconvenient if you want them to be alive afterwards. All of the species are perfectly...

Aside from immense tanks, the only "successful" attempts I know of were in uncycled or unfiltered tanks. Certainly if the fish are sufficiently stressed by their environment, they'll be less prone to fight each other. There was one just a month or two ago on this forum of something like a dozen...

He's a guppy. Actually looks like his tail looks short. Maybe it got torn and the "sword" is the normal length. If that is the case, it'll just grow back.

The community creator on Thinkfish gives a very high estimate - in theory, you probably could have a tank stocked to the levels they give, but it's going to be a lot of work, definitely not recommended for a beginner, and not for a tank that's been running less than 6 months. For starters...

Since they're both males, provided the tank is stable, 1-2 male guppies may be possible, but I'd also invest in an upgraded tank. A 20 long isn't too expensive, and Christmas is just around the corner.

A lot comes down to the betta's personality, but in general, gouramis, brightly colored fish, and long finned fish sometimes trigger aggression in bettas. Any fish with even the slightest nippiness in it may not be able to resist having a go at the betta's fins, even if they don't bother any...

They may be less aggressive when they aren't kept singly, but it also hurts less when you only get hit by one car. I'd suggest keyhole cichlids. Similar body shape to convicts, though a bit smaller, and exceedingly peaceful. If you want a bit bigger, festivum or severum perhaps. If you have...

If the plecs are small 4-6 inch adult size (bristlenose, clown plec, bulldog, etc), then that's ok. Common plecs will far outgrow the tank. The clown loaches could use a bigger group, but depending on the dimensions of the tank, they'll likely outgrow the tank eventually. Drop one or both ruby...

The store owner's probably lumping all plecs together. Bristlenose only get 4-5 inche, and one should be fine in that tank, since it's a bit over 20 gallons.

I might be behind your posts, do you still have your fish? The fish you had mentioned are reasonably hardy and should stand up to a fish-in cycle if you manage ammonia levels. Fish-in cycles aren't ideal, but if you get on top of them quickly and keep them in check, fish can come through them...

The commonly sold species of paradise fish shouldn't be big enough to eat neons, though they're not a great community fish because of their tendency towards aggression. Swordtails aren't that nippy, you can get fights between males, and they're the most aggressive of the common livebearers, but...

I'm not the best person to answer, but the markings do look about right. A lot of the juveniles I see in stores don't have the red throat yet.

It is - it's very prevalent in cichlids and bettas, but it happens in all fish. You'll get individuals that are more tolerant of tankmates, and you'll get rogue individuals of a peaceful species that become highly aggressive. Thinkfish is a nice site if you really want to push stocking limits...

Well, one word of comfort in there, your fish will probably be fine unless the florescent tube breaks in the water and leaks mercury. The tank is quite well insulated - water itself is not a great conductor, and glass is a near perfect insulator, plus all the hardware that touches it like the...

Get a liquid test kit like the API freshwater master kit. Hundreds of tests for what you need to know for about the same price as 5-in-1 strips plus ammonia strips (which only give you 25 typically). There are electronic tests for at least some factors, however, the cost is extremely high...

He consolidated the question with his other thread.

Some people get flicking after water changes or anything that stirs up gravel, it usually goes away in a couple hours.

Euthanasia is sometimes the only answer, however, ich is easily contained - the water born stage is vulnerable to aquarium salt, copper, malachite green, and a few other common medicines. An isolation tank is always important, regardless. New fish should be quarantined for several weeks, as...

My staple for community fish is flake. They might be sluggish during the cycle, once water stats are in line they should perk up a bit. Just add one or two at first, then slowly drop it right over their heads once they're eating. Most of what I feed my fish floats. I have sinking foods for...

No. Reef tanks are teeming with all sorts of organisms, most of which would just die on exposure to fresh water. Marine tanks have different nitrifying bacteria, but another consideration, many types of marine sand will alter the hardness and pH of a freshwater tank, which is generally...

You should be ok cycling with what you had, though less is always more when cycling with fish, you are a couple steps ahead of many similar threads :good:

How much did you feed? Since you didn't cycle your tank, ammonia toxicity will be a problem. I'll get on this in a second, but for now, only feed what they'll eat in about a minute every 2-3 days. They'll be able to live on this much food indefinitely. They'll be hungry, but they won't poop as...

They are safe.

Didn't realize this was an old thread and was about to post this, but since you asked already I looked it up. Caffeine is an extremely powerful drug for warm blooded animals (it's used in very low doses, even a strong coffee or energy drink has a minute amount. The same dose of cocaine would...

You can just leave them in. They might get uprooted, particularly short ones, but they're easy to replant. Do that before refilling the tank, it's easier to do most tasks inside the tank while the water level is lowered. Gravel should be vacuumed as often as water changes are done - generally...

Generally best to get the same species of cory - albinos and brozne corys are the same species, if you want to get a mixed group. There's mixed opinions on this, more people seem to have had luck mixing cory species than, say, tetras, so your mileage may vary. Red tailed sharks become quite...

Black neons should be ok too - they're hardier than neons (which have lost the durability they used to be known for from commercial overbreeding). I'd wait at least 2-3 months before adding the neons and 5-6 for the tank to bet well matured before adding the rams.

I'd bump it up to 6 corys. Should be fine then. Leave the neons and rams until the tank is mature (bolivians aren't as sensitive as german blue rams, but the stock is a bit heavy for a new tank, and these are the two most sensitive species on the list), at which point you should even have a...

Kuhlis aren't aggressive. They're generally quite shy unless you have a big group of them. They're also very skinny and quite low bioload despite their 4" length. If this is for the 55 you were talking about in your other thread, the convict would probably make spaghetti of them, but if you...

Convict should be ok in a 20 alone - 30 is the recommended minimum for a pair, and that's accounting for spawning. Without the convict, you've really got infinite options with the 55. If you wanted lots of neon or black neon tetras, you could probably have well upwards of 50 of them in a mature...

Quite a few, until the convict gets near full grown, the small tetras would be eaten in short order. Get big robust tetras, like black widows, serpae, or Buenos Ares and they'll probably fare better. With the convict and pleco, you'd have room for a pretty good sized shoal of them. 12+ easily.

Reefmaster is saltwater. There's also the saltwater master kit, but I think the reefmaster adds a test or two that are of interest to reef tanks but not so much with fish only or fish only with live rock.

If you're being overrun by a livebearing snail with small broods, you could do with more gravel cleaning. Babies will easily get sucked up in a gravel vac, as well as their food source. If you have a thick plant carpet and can't vac most of it, then use snail traps and remove/crunch any you see...

Also, what test kit? Also, define "fine" - many test kits will give a safe range, but particularly with ammonia and nitrite, this is only fine for short-term exposure. Prolonged exposure to any detectable level is bad. Anyway, even if water stats are good, obviously the tank isn't if the fish...

Replacing the barbs should be ok, provided you get the new ones in the same day. You won't be adding much bioload (if the new barbs are young enough that they're still smaller than the cherries, you might even be reducing it temporarily).

Not enough space in 5 gallons for a shoal of neons, I'm afraid, particularly with two platys. Provided both platys are the same sex and there's no worry about fry overrunning you, 2, maybe 3 male guppies should fit if you wait a couple months for the biofilter to fill out and stabilize.

Depends on what kind of catfish, but silver/bala sharks will eat snails. They suck them out of the shells similar to loaches.

They can, though generally not without a specialized breeding setup. They scatter eggs, and will merrily eat their own eggs, which in the confines of a normal tank setup means they basically throw food at each other.