Advice on tankmates plz

[mermaid_girl]

ok heres what i have in my 20 gallon(width 10 inches, length 20 inches, height 22 inches) tank:

5 plastic plants
2 rock decorations
1 inch of gravel
Penguin filter
1 Air Rock thing
4 pristella tetra
3 gold tetra
3 head/tail light tetra


My tank has had fish in it for 2 days and I am researching what to get and i need some info plz. I am hopin to add swords and mollies but there are others that i want to add. (plz remember that this list is for over a long period of time, sorta a wishlist) I need to no if they wood be good with each other and with what i have now.

4-6 Hexazona barb
4-6 Rosy Barbs
2 Blue Gouramis
3 Dalmation mollies (1M, 2F)
1-2 Egyptian Mouthbrooder Cichlid
3 Platies (1M, 2F)
3 Swordtails (1M, 2F)
4 White Clouds
4 White Skirt Tetras

Thnx

Mermaid girl

 

[juliethegr8t]

Hi there, and welcome . First of all, has your tank cycled? Since you say your tank has had fish in it for two days, I'll assume it hasn't. I hope I'm wrong however, because if it hasn't, you have too many fish in it for cycling, and may lose some. Secondly, if these fish survive, you're about halfway to being fully stocked since you probably have around 10 inches of fish (rule of the thumb is around an inch of fish per gallon of water). The wishlist of fish you have is way too many for a 20 gallon tank, you could never add that many, unfortunately. So for now, worry about cycling your tank and helping the fish you already have survive. Good luck, narrow down your list to compatible fish you're really interested in, and then (in quite a while) give it go.

 

[Missy]

I agree. Unfortunately, I thought I had cycled my tank enough and was putting the fish in slowly enough however, I royally messed up and have lost several fish, am fighting a bad case of Ick and I'm just now, after nearly a month of disasters, starting to get the tank under control. Sorry to ruin the fun but trust me, it really stinks to have a tank go bad on you the way mine has. I think if I'm lucky, my remaining fish may survive. I'm not sure though about the two molly babies I have in a breeding net. I've already lost their 35 other siblings to a nitrite spike in their baby tank. Live and Learn I guess but still embarassing and upsetting.

Be patient. Let the fish you have settle in for a few weeks. Get the ammonia to 0 and the Nitrites too. Then, even though you haven't listed them, you really should get a few catfish to help with the bottom of the tank. Lots of different kinds of corys (buy three of the same kind) and their cute too

 

[Moe]

Hi
I did the same thing. I didn't know about cycling the tank and put a lot of fish in. My tank is now 8 weeks old and sadly most of the original fish have died. My tank is also 20 gal. You can put in one inch of fish per gallon and that is counting their adult size, not their current size. So, if all your fish survive the cycle which is about 6 weeks you can only add a few more. You should have some bottom feeders and maybe something that hangs out on the top (labyrinth fish) all the fish you have now hang out in the same region of the tank. It's nice to have some top middle and bottom fish to balance the tank out.

 

[mrV]

4 pristella tetra
Pristella maxillaris ? If does, it's a shoal fish, so buy these more. Like 6 more.

3 gold tetra

What is scientific name for this fish? But probably it is a shoal fish like tetras usually are.

3 head/tail light tetra

This is a shoal fish too. Needs friends

So, don't buy any other species more, but make those "shoals" bigger. Buy couple friends to them, like

8-10 P. maxillaris
8-10 "Gold tetras"
8-10 Head-and-taillight tetras

It's not very good idea to buy another shoal fish either, because 20gallon is still quite "small" tank and 3 small shoal is enough. Two shoals is ideal, because then the shoals can be bigger. If those shoals are too small, fishes become alittle shy and they don't behave as they should be.

 

[mermaid_girl]

thnx everyone for ur input . . .i cycled the tank for the 24 hrs that i was informed that i had to before i added fish . . .also i have checked the pH before i added the fish and a couple times since then(i have the dip strips). none of my fish have died and its been almost a week. yay! they school together since they are all similar size, especially the golds and head/tails. otherwise i'm fighting a mild case of ich (thank god i caught it really early) and the fish i mentioned above are for over a really long period of time(5 yrs or so?) and the catfish u mentioned . . . could u give me some of its stats?(what it eats, behaviour, compactibility)

Thnx

Mermaid Girl

 

[juliethegr8t]

Hello again. I just wanted to make sure you know exactly what cycling is. It's impossible to cycle a tank in 24 hours, check some of the posts around here and do some research on the net about cycling to learn more about it. Basically, you have to have an ammonia and nitrite spike and then return them to 0 before you are completely cycled. pH is not the important thing to be testing during this phase, you need to get some testing supplies for nitrite, ammonia (most important are these 2), and also nitrate.

Also, even if you want to add these fish over 5 years, you still can't have that many in a 20 gallon tank at one time. Of course if you have fish die you can replace them, but never add that many as a total amount. You just can't overstock like that, no matter how long you wait inbetween to add fish.

Finally, I would recommend some sort of catfish too if you wait till you're done cycling. I have 2 panda corydoras (a type of catfish), and they're wonderful. There are many types of corys, and they're great scavengers and help keep the bottom clean. They will eat flake food that has fallen to the bottom, but it's good to give them some sinking food also to make sure they get enough to eat. They're very peaceful and good community fish if they're being picked on.

Good luck, and once again, I reeeeeaaaaally recommend you do a lot more research on exactly what cycling is so you can protect your fish during this time and also know the details about it.

 

[mermaid_girl]

hey there julie . . . yes i no about 4-6 week cycle that my tank is goin through right now and i have a water testing kit for it.

Will your catfish go good with the types of tetras i have now? Could u give me some info on its tempermant, behaviour, feeding habits etc? Is it readily avalible in pet stores and if not, which could i get from a pet store that wood go good?

And the same questions for the corys . . .if u dont mind.

Thnx a ton!

Mermaid girl

 

[baseballfan111]

the cories need freind or friends dont just buy one get 3 or 4 they are kool fish


cories are the friendlist fish alive

they need food other than left over food of other fish i would HIGHLY recomend HIKARI SINKING WAFERS FOR BOTTEM FEEDERS. I feed 2 a day

also you can find cories at most petstores but if you have a all fish store they will have albino cories i havnt seen those in petstores and i would say they are my fav kind of cories, or they are called pink somthing i forgot

cories = catfish

DO NOT GET A CHINNEZE ALGE EATER WARNING IF YOU GET ONE THEY WILL GET HUDGE AND AND WILL NOT EAT ALGE AND THEY WILL KILL YOUR FISH THEY GROW HALF A FOOT TRUST ME U DO NOT WONT THESE THEY SELL THEM IN A LOT OF PETSTORES FOR SOME REASON PROBLEY SOMETHING WITH MONEY

 

[juliethegr8t]

baseball fan is right, corys need to be in groups to be kept happy, they like to have buddies and they'll be much more active if they do. I think they'd probably go fine with what you have now, they're very peaceful fish and will leave your other fish alone. However, if you have any fish that will nip them, they don't defend themselves, so they won't be happy.

They will eat flake food that has fallen to the bottom, but bbfan is also right that you need to give them some sinking wafers to keep them healthy. I also use Hikara Sinking Wafers, my corys love it. As for behavior, they stick around the bottom of the tank, and sometimes like to hide, but the more you have, the more active and less shy they'll act.

Most pet stores do have some type of corys, so research to find out what type you want. There are several varities that come in different colors and sizes. There are emerald corys, which are greenish, pandas, which are brown with black spots, albino - pinkish, etc. Some are rarer than others, but you should be able to find some sort. I've found albinos at all my lfs, along with many others. I had a hard time finding pandas, but finally found them and I'm so happy with them.