Beginners Questions

[Tacocat]

I am planning on buying a tank this size:
24.1 in L x 12.6 in W x 17 in H (61.2 x 32 x 43.1 cm) (20Gallon)
But I will supply measurements for the tank spot tomorrow. (Tank isn't definite)
Will respond to any messages tomorrow
Thanks!!

Nooo don't get a high tank(personal opinion) More fish prefer long tanks over tall tanks, ad tend to do better in them. Also, you don't need to be tall to see from the top

I recommend a planted tank as they are the prettiest and the best for your fish(unless they aren't). If you plan on getting a 20gal, you could try dwarf cichlids, as they don't really need much, and you can find out a lot about them on youtube. They're also very pretty(try apistogramma) and will breed, which you can sell the fry for a handsome sum. Kribensis pairs are also nice, and may or may not fit in your 20gal (idk never kept kribs).

edit: if you get a floating plant, choose anything but duckweed
just don't get duckweed

 

[FishHobby99]

Nooo don't get a high tank(personal opinion) More fish prefer long tanks over tall tanks, ad tend to do better in them. Also, you don't need to be tall to see from the top

I recommend a planted tank as they are the prettiest and the best for your fish(unless they aren't). If you plan on getting a 20gal, you could try dwarf cichlids, as they don't really need much, and you can find out a lot about them on youtube. They're also very pretty(try apistogramma) and will breed, which you can sell the fry for a handsome sum. Kribensis pairs are also nice, and may or may not fit in your 20gal (idk never kept kribs).

edit: if you get a floating plant, choose anything but duckweed
just don't get duckweed

Hate duckweed. Finally gone. Crap clogged the filter. I don’t think it’s all that awesome looking anyway. Ugly! IMO.

I don’t like hi tanks either. The 30 G hi that came with my 2 pink axies sits empty now. Moved them to a 40 G low. Their growth was stunted due to a variety of factors in the high. They’ve each grown 1.5 inches with their new tank & improved diet.

 

[Tacocat]

Hate duckweed. Finally gone. Crap clogged the filter. I don’t think it’s all that awesome looking anyway. Ugly! IMO.

I don’t like hi tanks either. The 30 G hi that came with my 2 pink axies sits empty now. Moved them to a 40 G low. Their growth was stunted due to a variety of factors in the high. They’ve each grown 1.5 inches with their new tank & improved diet.

I wish I could get rid of my duckweed but I'm lazy and don't want to do too many water changes(school etc), so I want the duckweed so it can control nitrates. And my parents refuse to get me any other floating plants because "It's floating and looks like duckweed and is ugly and will grow as fast and it costs money and you still have to get rid of the duckweed and aaaAaAAAAaaaAAaAAAAaA"

 

[FishHobby99]

I scooped the duckweed out with a net & tossed it over the back deck.

good that it is reducing nitrates! Very important !

 

[Byron]

The issues in this thread are all over the place, so let's hone in on what matters at the present time.

GH and pH of your source water, you have to find this out. Mention of the water softener on the tap raises another issue that can harm fish. You need to find out how this softens, and also can you bypass it somehow? We need the GH and pH of the water before it goes through the softener.

Plants...if you read the articles on cycling I linked earlier, the one about using plants is important. If the tank is planted and the plants are showing signs of growth, and there are floating plants included, your cycling issues are non-existent. This also impacts how you add fish. Shoaling fish, like all tetras, need a group, and all of the intended number should be added together at the same time for the species. Black Skirts are not suited to this small a tank, but other tetras that are will be the same.

 

[Bright&BeautifulFish]

Nooo don't get a high tank(personal opinion) More fish prefer long tanks over tall tanks, ad tend to do better in them. Also, you don't need to be tall to see from the top

I recommend a planted tank as they are the prettiest and the best for your fish(unless they aren't). If you plan on getting a 20gal, you could try dwarf cichlids, as they don't really need much, and you can find out a lot about them on youtube. They're also very pretty(try apistogramma) and will breed, which you can sell the fry for a handsome sum. Kribensis pairs are also nice, and may or may not fit in your 20gal (idk never kept kribs).

edit: if you get a floating plant, choose anything but duckweed
just don't get duckweed

Hi. The only reason I am getting the tall is because that’s what fits… The measurement for the area I’m putting the tank is:
24in long and 16in wide.
I willl continue to look for better tanks though

The issues in this thread are all over the place, so let's hone in on what matters at the present time.

GH and pH of your source water, you have to find this out. Mention of the water softener on the tap raises another issue that can harm fish. You need to find out how this softens, and also can you bypass it somehow? We need the GH and pH of the water before it goes through the softener.

Plants...if you read the articles on cycling I linked earlier, the one about using plants is important. If the tank is planted and the plants are showing signs of growth, and there are floating plants included, your cycling issues are non-existent. This also impacts how you add fish. Shoaling fish, like all tetras, need a group, and all of the intended number should be added together at the same time for the species. Black Skirts are not suited to this small a tank, but other tetras that are will be the same.

Yes there is a way to bypass the filtration system. I only have it on my Kitchen sink so I could use any of the four other sinks in my house.

My water is town provided, and when they bill us it says we are paying the town. They have a Website. Would the GH be referred to as “GH” on there? Or do you think I will need to call them?

Will look into tetras, butI want to confirm my GH first.

Thanks to all

 

[Byron]

Hi. The only reason I am getting the tall is because that’s what fits… The measurement for the area I’m putting the tank is:
24in long and 16in wide.
I willl continue to look for better tanks though

Yes there is a way to bypass the filtration system. I only have it on my Kitchen sink so I could use any of the four other sinks in my house.

My water is town provided, and when they bill us it says we are paying the town. They have a Website. Would the GH be referred to as “GH” on there? Or do you think I will need to call them?

Will look into tetras, butI want to confirm my GH first.

Thanks to all

GH is general hardness, sometimes termed total hardness. It will be a number followed by the unit of measure they use, something like mg/l, degrees, maybe ppm. We can convert whatever it is. This may be given in the water data, if not you can call them; just make sure you get the unit they use with the number.

 

[Bright&BeautifulFish]

Ok! I think I found it! Does this number make sense? :
53 ppm or 3.1 grains of hardness.
Thanks
If it does make sense is this hard or soft water? Thanks!

 

[Byron]

Ok! I think I found it! Does this number make sense? :
53 ppm or 3.1 grains of hardness.
Thanks
If it does make sense is this hard or soft water? Thanks!

That's the GH, and 53 ppm [this unit is common in the hobby, the other is dH which would be 3 dH here] is very soft water. So you have options for fish like tetras, rasboras, gourami, dwarf cichlids, most catfish. I have left out other groups like danios, barbs and loaches simply because they need more space than a 20g high provides as they are all shoaling fish (need a group) and barbs/danios tend to be quite active swimmers so more space (length) for these. But you still have dozens, even hundreds, of species to select from. Just stay with small fish, and ask us.

 

[Bright&BeautifulFish]

That's the GH, and 53 ppm [this unit is common in the hobby, the other is dH which would be 3 dH here] is very soft water. So you have options for fish like tetras, rasboras, gourami, dwarf cichlids, most catfish. I have left out other groups like danios, barbs and loaches simply because they need more space than a 20g high provides as they are all shoaling fish (need a group) and barbs/danios tend to be quite active swimmers so more space (length) for these. But you still have dozens, even hundreds, of species to select from. Just stay with small fish, and ask us.

Ok! Yay! I will look at tetras and fish like that! Thanks You so much!

Anyone have specific species suggestions?
Thanks!
I will check back later after I’ve done some research!

 

[Bright&BeautifulFish]

Ok! After browsing I found these species that I thought looked pretty. Which are the best/ hardiest/ would be happiest?
(note~ these are ideas and I AM NOT going to put all of them in)

Tetra Ideas:
Moonrise Tetra (or other of sort)-
Are glo-fish mistreated to become that color? I would not like to get them if they are, but if they aren’t they are very pretty.

Skirt Tetra-
I know that long-skirt tetras are not good for my size, but are these guys?

Neon Tetra-
Very pretty!… But small…Would be happy with plants and snails though, so seems like a good choice?

Gourami: Very pretty. I see though that normal gouramis are not supposed to go in my size tank, so dwarf? Or honey? I will most likely go with honey if I go gourami, because I heard dwarf are susceptible to disease..

Catfish
I these are the only ones my shops have….Do they all need sand?
Cory Cat/ albino Cory cat- Cute!
Ghost catfish?-???
Pictus- Too big for my tank.
Peppered Cory- Not sold at mine but I heard you can ask for them! Crazy cute!

 

[Bright&BeautifulFish]

Follow up~ Anyone have ideas for flowering plants?
Thanks To everyone on this thread! You have ALL helped me sooooo much!!!!

 

[Byron]

Moonrise Tetra (or other of sort)-
Are glo-fish mistreated to become that color? I would not like to get them if they are, but if they aren’t they are very pretty.

I had to search "moonrise" tetra, seems to be some sort of "glo" (or is it "glow"?) tetra. No aquarist should buy these. This particular monstrosity is achieved by genetic manipulation, and that is something we should not be encouraging, when so many natural wild species are in such risk of extinction.

Skirt Tetra-
I know that long-skirt tetras are not good for my size, but are these guys?

Any variety is the same species, and it needs more space to swim than a 20g high. And they do tend to fin nip, so small spaces can increase that likelihood.

Catfish
I these are the only ones my shops have….Do they all need sand?
Cory Cat/ albino Cory cat- Cute!
Ghost catfish?-???
Pictus- Too big for my tank.
Peppered Cory- Not sold at mine but I heard you can ask for them! Crazy cute!

Ghost catfish are very delicate, and require a specific environment. You could have a group with nothing else if you like, but they are very secretive and do not swim around much. Not lways easy to feed.

Pictus need a groujp, and at least a 4-foot long tank.

Cories need sand. You could have a group (15-20) of one of the dwarf species. The larger species, like albinos, peppered, etc could work, though some members will suggest space is not sufficient, so I won't argue. You want 7-8 here.

 

[Bright&BeautifulFish]

I had to search "moonrise" tetra, seems to be some sort of "glo" (or is it "glow"?) tetra. No aquarist should buy these. This particular monstrosity is achieved by genetic manipulation, and that is something we should not be encouraging, when so many natural wild species are in such risk of extinction.



Any variety is the same species, and it needs more space to swim than a 20g high. And they do tend to fin nip, so small spaces can increase that likelihood.



Ghost catfish are very delicate, and require a specific environment. You could have a group with nothing else if you like, but they are very secretive and do not swim around much. Not lways easy to feed.

Pictus need a groujp, and at least a 4-foot long tank.

Cories need sand. You could have a group (15-20) of one of the dwarf species. The larger species, like albinos, peppered, etc could work, though some members will suggest space is not sufficient, so I won't argue. You want 7-8 here.

Thank You! This helps me a lot. So neon tetras and Cory cats and honey gouramis are basically my best options?
Thank you again.

 

[Tacocat]

Thank You! This helps me a lot. So neon tetras and Cory cats and honey gouramis are basically my best options?
Thank you again.

You could do that, but on personal opinion I would try something other than neons purely from personal preference(neons are kinda boring imo, maybe black neons and gouramis(some will argue)) if that's your only stocking, you can put some shrimp and snails in there (preferably nerite snails(will not take over a freshwater tank because they need brackish to breed), and caridina/neocaridina shrimp). For clean up crew maybe otocinclus and amano shrimp, and if you're brave a bristle nose, but some members might argue that's overstocked or will need a bigger tank, so I won't argue that.

EDIT: didn't see the honey gouramis. Yeah they should be fine