TempestBlayze said:
I have a 20 gal tank with 4 zebra danios, 2 painted tetras, 1 weather loach, and a algea eater. As most of you probably know aside from my paintes tetras I have a lot of very dull colored fish. I was wondering if any of you guys know if there is a nice bright and colorful community fish out there(aside from neons...I got neon desease).
I was thinking about a Blue zebra cichlid or a electric yellow labido cichlid but I wasnt sure if they would eat the fish in the tank or outgrow my tank.
This is a side issue, but are you aware that you've got major problems with the size and aggression of some of the fish you've already got in there?
A weather loach is not really a small tank fish - it grows to about 11"! If you "algae eater" is a Chinese Algae Eater that grows to about 11" too (not including tail) and is highly territorial and aggressive. It also stops eating algae after a few months and prefer a diet of other fish's eyeballs or whatever.
It is a general rule of thumb (which is pretty good in this case) that you should have 1 inch of fish length (not including tail) per US gallon of water. Not only that, but an 11" fish would barely have room to turn around in your tank, let alone two. You should either re-home those larger fish (take them back to the LFS and make a scene) or seriously consider getting a much bigger tank (55 gal minimum really). Weather loaches are actually excellent pond fish, I'm told.
Another issue is your "painted" fish. "Painted" tetras, in case you aren't aware, undergo a process that is extremely painful and dangerous for the fish (many don't make it) in which the fish is injected with nasty dyes. The dyes wear off after a while, but many fish live little more than a few months due to the serious harm the dye does to their bodies. In many countries "painted" fish are banned because its considered animal cruelty. What is more, the dye wears off after a few months anyway and you end up with some rather more subley coloured fish. (I realise you may be already aware of this, which is why you are asking about naturally coloured fish).
Since tetras are schooling fish, you should ideally be looking for some same-species tank-mates for them (once the nasty dye wears off). A school of pale tetras weaving in and out of some attractive plants and bogwood, a pair of blue gouramis and a school of cardinal tetras makes a gorgeous tank, just to give you an idea.