20 G. Stocking Ideas

[FreshwaterAfishianado]

So I recently lost the entire stock of my 20 gallon community tank and am currently in the process of tearing the tank down to do a complete cleaning and possibly rescape before I attempt to restock it.
I was considering trying a dirt-bottomed tank and heavily planting it but not sure yet. I do know that I want live plants in it this time around though.
My previous stock included platys, swordtails and panda corys but I think I want to try something different this time around and was hoping to get some suggestions on species suitable for such a small tank.
I really like the look of German blue rams, but not sure if a 24"x12" footprint is large enough for a pair, also like diamond tetras but I think I am going to try to create a biotope with them once I get my 30 gal. Setup.
I like the look of large schools if small fish but would like to keep somewhat hardy species.
Any suggestions will be welcomed, ty in advance.

 

[wrightt3]

In my 15 gallon (same footprint as your 20g) i have:
-6 neons
-1 male betta
-1 blue ram
-1 bristlenose pleco
It's a very colorful and peaceful set up but i think i just got lucky with the betta and the ram. You could always try something similar...

 

[CJH0825]

In my 20g high tank I have 2 kribensis ( male and female ). Perfect for breeding. And the good thing about Kribs is they don't eat the fry. They are extremely good parents.

 

[FreshwaterAfishianado]

How big do the BN plecos get? And I am surprised the betta tolerates your ram, must be a very calm betta.
I had to look up what a kribensis is, beautiful fish. Would you say that the pair max out the 20 tall or would there be a few compatible tank mates I could consider?

 

[CJH0825]

The kribs max it out. you might be able to put maybe 2 or 3 danios in with them, But during breeding they do get aggressive.

 

[wrightt3]

BN plecos usually reach between 4-6 inches (females are generally smaller). I've been keeping + breeding them for about three years now and i have only had one that exceeded 6 inches.
There is some minor aggression towards my ram but nothing serious. The betta will on the rare occasion chase him away but other than that they seem to ignore each other.
 
If you go with the pair of kribensis i would avoid having any other fish because even a single one can be very aggressive in smaller tanks. As mentioned, danios may be okay because they stay mainly at the surface opposed to the bottom like the kribs but they should ideally be kept in groups of 5-6 and are very active so a 20g may be pushing it a bit.

 

[SamB]

I have 2 GBRS in my 20

 

[jcabs100]

Maybe, you would be interested in a sorority tank with female bettas. I've seen some that are beautiful. I believe the stocking was...
 
6-8 female bettas
4-5 ottos
3-6 pygmy corydoras of you choosing (since youre probably not interested in corys maybe 2 bristlenose plecs)

 

[Noahsfish]

if you're seriously considereing gbrs make sure your water is kept very warm, and more importantly that it's very soft and acidic.  In my experience an easier, and just as beautiful fish are apistogrammas.  a bit biased towards them because, well, I actually own a pair.

 

[FreshwaterAfishianado]

What kind of apistos do you have? They're beautiful fish, hard to find in the LFS in my area though. I know there are hundreds of species of apistos though, are there any that are more hardy than others?

 

[Brahmza]

GBR's would do well. Most people say that you need to keep your PH around 6.5, but I've kept them in my tap water which is at 7.3, and they did very well. I never managed to get fry from them, but they laid a batch of 60-80 eggs every 2-3 weeks (blame my panda cories..lol). I'm also debating on what to do with my 20g now. I want to try a breeding setup of some tanganyikan cichlids. If you want a species-only tank, I have a colony of Neolamprologus Multifasciatus in a 15g standard tank. 5 adults currently, and about 30 fry swimming all over. Just toss in some shells for shelter and breeding. Use a crushed aragonite substrate with them if your tap PH is below 7.5, and it'll buffer the PH and hardness up to their liking.

 

[FreshwaterAfishianado]

OK so I went to a few LFS today and a tiny little fish caught my eye. One store was selling neon dwarf puffers and another was selling pea puffers, the one selling the pea puffers was charging double the other one. Are these the same fish being sold under different names?

The reason I added this to this thread is that I was doing a little reading and I think I want to stock this 20 tall with these little puffers and some ottos. I really like the suggestions all of you gave, and I am actually picking up a 55g and a 30g tomorrow and am going to stock the 30 gallon with apistos. (The 55 will have to wait until I move into a bigger place but the guy was selling both tanks with hoods for $50us!)

So what would be good stocking numbers for these fish? From what I gathered I could have 4 DPs and 6 ottos if the tank is well planted with plenty of hidey holes. Obviously I am going to be sure he tank is cycled before adding any fish but seeing as the puffers are the pickier of the 2 species would it be better to stock say 3 ottos, then 3 more then maybe 2 DP at a time? I was thinking this may make the biofilter as robust as possible before the puffers are added and may help with their aggression as they will be moving into territory already occupied by the ottos, or would the order not matter?

Just throwing some more ideas around, ty again for all of your input, and all of your advice is greatly appreciated. The community of this forum has taught me 100x more than any LFS rep has.