Soon to be empty 20g tank

yvez9

you don't know JACK FISH
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Well, my girlfriend decided to buy an 15 gallon aquarium this week and she loves my guppies so I will give them to her as I don't like them as much as i thought I would...

Now, you can see my tank in the pictre, it is mainly planted right now and I'm planning to add a tube to form some kind of cave in it.

I'd rather a few larger fish (3-4 inch) then many small ones.
I though maybe a cichlid or gourami tank would be fun.

I really like gouramis, would they fit in with cichlids?

I'd also want to have some sort of algea eater in there...


So far here is what I'm thinking...
1 big mouth pleco (Chaetostoma sp)
2 or 3 bolivian rams (or any other kind of ram that fit in a community tank)
2 gouramis (one male and female, probably dwarf)

and then there is still room for maybe 2 fish left
I'd like some nocturnal fish to keep me entertained at night :p
 
This is my reply to your previous post (in the beginners forum) where you hadn't listed your plans:

Gouramies are generaly shy fish and don't do well with other large or boisterous fish (such as cichlids).

However, a gourami tank would be a great choice .

For algae eaters, otos are a great option as they are small and peaceful. If you can find them, a SIAMESE algae eater would be even better and flying foxes aren't that bad either but are rather active and I qouldn't realy keep them in a 20 gallon.

There are SO many small shoaling fish to choose from but something peaceful would be best for gouramies - black phantom tetras/black skirt tetras are my favourite tetra and the males display to one another beautifuly. Harlequin rasboras are by far the best schooling fish and swim very tightly packed as well as being attractively colored. Rummynose tetras and golden dwarf barbs are also nice, small shoaling fish.

Danios, IMO, especialy zebras, are stunning fish but are very active and can (sometimes) be too active for a shy gourami tank, causing some gouramies to hide. However, they can also have the effect of reassuring shy gouramies and getting them to come out of hiding. With smaller gouramies, however, I wouldn't suggest them as good tank-mates and with larger gouramies there realy isn't much room that both the gouramies and danios, both being mainly top-dwelling, require.

Good gouramies for a 20 gallon are honey gouramies (colisa chunae/sota) and dwarf gouramies (colisa lalia) and all their variants. Dwarfs look substantialy larger though they are the same size (2 inches) as honeys but they are also much more fragile due to in-breeding. You could keep 2 dwarfs (females are hard to find and less colorful) in your tank with a medium school (8-10) of some sort and 3 otos.
Alternatively, 2 male honeys (not DWARFS) and 4 female honeys (not DWARFS) with a shoal of 7 and 3 otos may also be nice.

Alternatively, you could try a pair of pearls (trichogaster leeri) or a male and 2 females though this is pushing it a bit. Then a shoal of 6 and 2 otos.
A single pearl with a medium shoal and 3 otos would also work. Pearls are stunning fish and the males develop the most beautiful flame-orange and olive coloration. They grow up to 6 inches but are very, very peaceful (except for when breeding or highly territorial males - there are exceptions).

Three-spot gouramies are also a possibility but are more aggressive so I'd go for only one. Opalines are by far the most interesting of the three-spot (trichogaster trichopterus) variaties and both sexes have the same attractive blue coloration.

Moonlight gouramies (trichogaster microlepis) are beautiful fish with a purple tinge in some lighting that is offset by bright orange or yellow feelers. However, though not as aggressive as the three-spot gourami, they grow larger so you could only comfortably keep one and they are best kept in a larger tank.

Other gouramies you could try and are quite common are the croaking (trichopsis vittatus) and sparkling gouramies of which you could keep a similar number as with the honeys. These can be quite fragile.
Also, giant/banded/striped/indian gouramies (colisa fasciata) and thick-lipped gouramies (colisa labiosa) are peacful and moderately sized at 3-5 inches. You could probably keep about 3.

What you must remember with gouramies is that their character can vary and, while some individuals will get along and be laid-back and peaceful, others may take an immediate (or not-so-immediate) dislike to one another and become very aggressive and territorial. However, I think part of the interest in keeping gouramies is derived from their personality and the fact that each one is unique.

Now that I see what you had in mind, rams would work with gouramies and the pleco would too but I don't know what size it would get to. Consider pearls instead of dwarfs and then you wont have room for other fish :p
 
thanks sylvia, as always :)

The pleco i listed grows to 4 inches

so 3 bolivian rams that grow to about 3-4 inches and 2 gouramis (i do like the pearl and opaline and i think i'd get one male and one female if possible)

1 big mouth pleco
3 bolivian rams
2 gouramis (pearl or opaline)

That would give me 6 beautiful fish
 
Sounds great - just make sure that if you go with the opalines you don't get 2 males. Males have pointed dorsals. A pair like you said would work.
 
I'd most likely get a couple

is there any chance of them breeding in there?
 
Should I modify my tank setup to accomodate the rams? I think they prefer rocks and caves right?

I plan on setting up a cave but no rocks in my tank for now though... and very little room to do so now with all the plants! I could maybe fit one in an unplanted corner though
 
The rams would like rockwork but they are also fine with plants and a cave and things. Gouramies love plants BTW - do you have any floating plants? They appreciate those a lot.

Opalines may breed but you'd better hope they don't cause the male will become very aggressive towards all the other inhabitants.

Pearls are less likely to breed in a community but mine have done so in the past. They aren't particularly aggressive though so a pair of pearls breeding wouldn't be a serious problem.

Floating plants and a not-too-strong current will increase chances of breeding. As will a relatively high temperature and just slightly acidic/soft water.

Opalines are very easy to breed but I would do that in a seperate tank...
 
All right, I'll stick to pearl then

Someone around here offers to give away a trio of convicts (not sure of gender yet as they are too young), would these substitute for the bolivian rams or would it be a hassle to have them get along with the gouramis??

Otherwise, could I setup a new world cichlid tank with the convicts and rams, and of course a pleco as the clean up crew?

Cichlids are so beautiful
 
Convicts are VERY aggressive. They wouldn't get along with gouramies or with rams. Also, if 2 of those convicts were to pair up in the 20 gallon, the third would probably be killed. Plus you'd need to get rid of all the convict fry. If you want to go with convicts, in this size tank, you'll need to go for a species tank and take out the third fish once 2 pair up...
 
:(
Well I guess I'll have to stick to my rams and gouramis then. So long free fishies!
 

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