Stocking ideas for 20 Gallon

[FairyFish]

I recently came into possession of a 20 gallon bowfront tank! I haven’t set it up yet, I’m planning to start scaping it next week, but I’m trying to figure out stocking ahead of time. Some fish that I’ve been looking at for awhile are Pygmy Cory Catfish, and some sort of Livebearers (Mollies or Platys). I have pretty hard water, which I’ve heard works well with both of these types of fish, but I have no idea if it’s plausible to get Livebearers in a 20 gallon tank, due to the excessive breeding. I do have a LFS near me that takes unwanted fish, so I could always give the babies to them, but I definitely want to make sure that the fish are happy and comfortable. Does anyone have any other stocking suggestions or more knowledge about this? I’ve only had a little 5 gallon tank with a betta, so I could definitely use some help. Thanks in advance!

 

[gwand]

I have a 20 gallon long stocked with 5 red coral dwarf platys, 6 yellow Tiger endlers and a pair of gold sailfin Mollys. There are always fry in the tank which when young juveniles go to my lfs.

 

[Naughts]

Pygmy cories are soft water fish, how hard is your water in dGH or ppm?
Mollies need 30g+ and very hard water.
The platies might work well.
What is the plan for cycling the tank?
If you let us know the exact water hardness we can make some suggestions.

 

[Back in the fold]

Since you have hard water and are expressing an interest in Platy’s and Mollies get them . In the last couple days I’ve read more than one post where guys think that live bearers are going to overpopulate their aquarium overnight . Fact is that just does not happen . One female only has a brood every other month or so and never that many unless she’s a real brood mare that’s been popping them out for months . Some of those die naturally , a few get eaten and the rest take six months to grow up . If you get eight or ten make it to full grown from a single pair that’s pretty good . That’s been my experience . Your twenty gallon is the perfect size for some Platy’s and Mollies and since you’ve only had your five gallon and a Betta you’re due to branch out and move up . If you feel inexperienced you’ve picked the right fish to learn with . Platy’s are tough . Maybe think about guppies too . Hold off on the catfish until you get your aquarium set up and your Platy’s good and established and you’re satisfied that everything is working well . Good luck and keep us posted .

 

[JackGulley]

I have kept pygmy cories and platies together in my 20 gallon! They will get along great so long as the water quality is right. You should test your water's hardness; the livebearers can take any level of hardness, while the cories will not do well if it's *extremely* hard. I kept my tank only slightly hard (8 dGH).
You don't have to be worried about the livebearers overpopulating. Gestation takes a month, so females can theoretically have a batch every month, but in my experience they will not be constantly pregnant, and most of the fry in each batch will get eaten anyway.

Edited: I misremembered the dGH, it's 8, not 20.

 

[Essjay]

only slightly hard (20 dGH).

20 dGH (aka 20 German degrees) is not slightly hard, it's very hard. Even mollies are OK in 15 dH. Slightly hard is around 10 dH

 

[JackGulley]

20 dGH (aka 20 German degrees) is not slightly hard, it's very hard. Even mollies are OK in 15 dH. Slightly hard is around 10 dH

Sorry, I was pulling the numbers out of my head and misremembered. My water is 8 dGH, not twenty. I'll edit the other post

 

[FairyFish]

Got it, thanks everyone! I’m still waiting on the test kit to come (for water hardness), it was an employee at my LFS that said that my area has hard water, I’ll update once I know the exact hardness! Platys sound like the way to go, thanks everyone for the advice!!

 

[Essjay]

Sorry, I was pulling the numbers out of my head and misremembered. My water is 8 dGH, not twenty. I'll edit the other post

Thank you I would hate anyone reading the unedited post thinking their liquid rock water was only slightly hard

 

[Naughts]

Got it, thanks everyone! I’m still waiting on the test kit to come (for water hardness), it was an employee at my LFS that said that my area has hard water, I’ll update once I know the exact hardness! Platys sound like the way to go, thanks everyone for the advice!!

Does your water company post the GH on the online quality report?

 

[FairyFish]

Does your water company post the GH on the online quality report?

I have no idea, that’s a great idea though, I’ll check that now! Thank you