20G Stocking

[juniorskeptical]

Hi! I am a first time aquarium owner, and I just got a 20G long tank. As of right now, I was thinking of getting 1 Dwarf Gourami, 5 Tiger Barbs, 5 White Skirt Tetras, 1 Peacock Gudgeons, and 3 Ghost Shrimp. AqAdvisor says this would be a 94% stocking level and 69% filtration capacity. My first question is, would this be a pretty sustainable tank as far as everyone getting along and being healthy? If not, can you recommend something similar that would be better? Also, with these fish, would they be fairly spread out(i.e. would there be fish in the top, middle, and bottom of the tank, or would they all be in the middle?) Lastly, is there a certain order I should add these fish? I know you shouldn't put all the fish in at once. (Sorry this post is a handful) Thanks in advanced!

 

[mrsjoannh13]

Hi! I am a first time aquarium owner, and I just got a 20G long tank. As of right now, I was thinking of getting 1 Dwarf Gourami, 5 Tiger Barbs, 5 White Skirt Tetras, 1 Peacock Gudgeons, and 3 Ghost Shrimp. AqAdvisor says this would be a 94% stocking level and 69% filtration capacity. My first question is, would this be a pretty sustainable tank as far as everyone getting along and being healthy? If not, can you recommend something similar that would be better? Also, with these fish, would they be fairly spread out(i.e. would there be fish in the top, middle, and bottom of the tank, or would they all be in the middle?) Lastly, is there a certain order I should add these fish? I know you shouldn't put all the fish in at once. (Sorry this post is a handful) Thanks in advanced!

Hmmm that actually seems like a lot. I have a 20 gallon with 5 skirt tetras in it and I would probably only go to about 7 or 8 of them, max.

I am not sure about the tiger barbs with the tetras in terms of compatibility. I think the tetras would get nipped by the barbs. Also, the tetras are slow swimmers and fairly serene so I think the aggression from the barbs would stress them out. Tiger barbs and skirt tetras will all be in the middle of the tank (not top or bottom dwellers) so they will get pretty crowded in a 20 gallon if there are 10 of them. If it's a 20 gallon long you might be okay but a standard 20 gallon would not give 10 mid-dwellers a lot of room.

A gourami is a schooling fish so it will do best in a group of 5 or 6 of its own kind. I definitely saw the impact of this when I only had 1 skirt tetra. They do get stressed and it impacts their behavior. I think they are compatible with tetras so maybe more of them with the tetras might be an option in lieu of the tiger barbs?

I am not familiar with the other fish but I'm sure some folks will chime in on those. But maybe do more research on the tiger barbs if you are deadset on having those in your tank to see what fish they are compatible with.

 

[Colin_T]

Hi and welcome to the forum

What are the tank dimensions (length x width x height)?

What is the GH (general hardness), KH (carbonate hardness) and pH of your water supply?
This information can usually be obtained from your water supply company's website or by telephoning them. If they can't help you, take a glass full of tap water to the local pet shop and get them to test it for you. Write the results down (in numbers) when they do the tests. And ask them what the results are in (eg: ppm, dGH, or something else).

Depending on what the GH of your water is, will determine what fish you should keep.
Tetras, barbs, gouramis, rasbora, Corydoras and small species of suckermouth catfish all occur in soft water (GH below 150ppm).

Livebearers (guppies, platies, swordtails, mollies) occur in medium hard water with a GH around 200-250ppm.

If you have very hard water (GH above 300ppm) then look at African Rift Lake cichlids or use distilled or reverse osmosis water to reduce the GH and keep fishes from softer water.

--------------------
Tiger barbs and skirt/ widow tetras are renown fin nippers and should not be kept with slow moving peaceful fish or fish with long fins.

--------------------
Peacock gudgeons will starve in a tank with fast moving fishes like tiger barbs and skirt tetras.

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Dwarf gouramis (Colisa lalius) and all their colour forms are regularly infected with the Gourami Iridovirus and or Fish Tuberculosis (TB). These fish should be avoided until the Asian suppliers can prove their fish are clean and free of these diseases. Neither of these diseases can be cured and once they are in the tank, they remain there until the tank is scrapped and disinfected.

There are other small species of gourami that are usually free of these diseases and usually do better in aquariums.

 

[Essjay]

A gourami is a schooling fish

Gouramis are not actually shoaling (or schooling, which is different) fish. Unless a tank is very large, males cannot be kept together. With most species, it is better to keep them as a trio with 1 male and 2 females, or possibly more females, as with a m/f pair the male can pester a female to death. With some of the more aggressive species, even females can cause problems for the other fish. both gouramis and non-gouramis.




The usual definitions are:
shoaling - a fish which lives together in large numbers in the wild and needs to be kept in a group.
schooling - shoaling species which swim together in a co-ordinated manner. Not many freshwater fish are true schooling fish; most only school as a defence mechanism when they feel threatened.

 

[juniorskeptical]

Hi and welcome to the forum

What are the tank dimensions (length x width x height)?

What is the GH (general hardness), KH (carbonate hardness) and pH of your water supply?
This information can usually be obtained from your water supply company's website or by telephoning them. If they can't help you, take a glass full of tap water to the local pet shop and get them to test it for you. Write the results down (in numbers) when they do the tests. And ask them what the results are in (eg: ppm, dGH, or something else).

Depending on what the GH of your water is, will determine what fish you should keep.
Tetras, barbs, gouramis, rasbora, Corydoras and small species of suckermouth catfish all occur in soft water (GH below 150ppm).

Livebearers (guppies, platies, swordtails, mollies) occur in medium hard water with a GH around 200-250ppm.

If you have very hard water (GH above 300ppm) then look at African Rift Lake cichlids or use distilled or reverse osmosis water to reduce the GH and keep fishes from softer water.

--------------------
Tiger barbs and skirt/ widow tetras are renown fin nippers and should not be kept with slow moving peaceful fish or fish with long fins.

--------------------
Peacock gudgeons will starve in a tank with fast moving fishes like tiger barbs and skirt tetras.

--------------------
Dwarf gouramis (Colisa lalius) and all their colour forms are regularly infected with the Gourami Iridovirus and or Fish Tuberculosis (TB). These fish should be avoided until the Asian suppliers can prove their fish are clean and free of these diseases. Neither of these diseases can be cured and once they are in the tank, they remain there until the tank is scrapped and disinfected.

There are other small species of gourami that are usually free of these diseases and usually do better in aquariums.

The dimensions of my tank are 24" x 12" x 16"

The water in the tank(after using Aqua Safe, Easy Balance, and Safe Start) has a GH of about 45ppm, KH of about 40ppm, and pH of about 7(I got these values from using API 5 in 1 test strips, so hopefully they are accurate enough).

 

[Colin_T]

You have very soft water.

I would drop the tiger barbs, skirt tetras and dwarf gouramis. The barbs and tetras because of their agro nippy nature and they need a bigger tank. The gourami due to disease issues.

The shrimp and a couple of peacock gudgeons would be fine.

You could add another species of small gourami like the honey, licorice, Indian banded or sparkling gouramis.

You could add some small peaceful tetras like neon or black phantom tetras.
Avoid serpae, Beunos Aires, blind cave, skirt/ widow tetras because they are all fin nippers and need a bigger tank.

--------------------
If you cycle the aquarium first, you can add all the fish at the same time. However, it usually takes around 4-6 weeks to cycle an aquarium. Cycling the aquarium is where you let the beneficial filter bacteria develop and these keep the water clean.

You can do a fish in cycle where you add some fish, minimise feeding and do big regular water changes, and the filter bacteria still develop. However, if the ammonia or nitrite levels get too high while the fish are in the tank, you can kill the fish.

You can get bottles of beneficial filter bacteria and these can help speed the cycling process up and reduce the time it takes to about 2-3 weeks. You can use these bottled bacteria with fish in the tank.

If you want to do a fish in cycle, add some tetras and bottled bacteria. Let the tank run and then add the other fish after the filter has developed the good bacteria.

 

[juniorskeptical]

You have very soft water.

I would drop the tiger barbs, skirt tetras and dwarf gouramis. The barbs and tetras because of their agro nippy nature and they need a bigger tank. The gourami due to disease issues.

The shrimp and a couple of peacock gudgeons would be fine.

You could add another species of small gourami like the honey, licorice, Indian banded or sparkling gouramis.

You could add some small peaceful tetras like neon or black phantom tetras.
Avoid serpae, Beunos Aires, blind cave, skirt/ widow tetras because they are all fin nippers and need a bigger tank.

--------------------
If you cycle the aquarium first, you can add all the fish at the same time. However, it usually takes around 4-6 weeks to cycle an aquarium. Cycling the aquarium is where you let the beneficial filter bacteria develop and these keep the water clean.

You can do a fish in cycle where you add some fish, minimise feeding and do big regular water changes, and the filter bacteria still develop. However, if the ammonia or nitrite levels get too high while the fish are in the tank, you can kill the fish.

You can get bottles of beneficial filter bacteria and these can help speed the cycling process up and reduce the time it takes to about 2-3 weeks. You can use these bottled bacteria with fish in the tank.

If you want to do a fish in cycle, add some tetras and bottled bacteria. Let the tank run and then add the other fish after the filter has developed the good bacteria.

Thank you very much for the help!