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I read as many articles and conversations about shellies in a 10 gallon. As i read i saw that it was very possible and accomplished, but i also read that its harder to keep the water parameters in tune. Well due to the fact that i have an empty 20, i thought this would be a little bit better. Am I right? I want to keep a few pairs and trios of shellies if iam going to keep them at all. I learned thats shellies will create colonies and that i will be able to have more males in my tank due to more territory. But how much diffrent will the difficulty fluctuate in keeping up the water parameters as opposed to a 10g?

question summarized- Is there going to much of a diffrence in the upkeeping of water parameters between a 10 and a 20 gallon?

20 GALLON LONG CURRENTLY EMPTY ~~~~ 10 GALLON W/ STRIPPED CONVICT

I say if you got a 20 gallon, go for that size then. Even if the stocking was the same as the 10. Bigger tanks just look better. Or is space and/or money an issue? A heater, powerfilter or w/e else is more expensive I suppose for a 20, but not that much more.

only one species of shellies can be tanked due to territory/hybernizing issues. 20g is much better then a 10g. Its really the best size for shellies. obviously the more room the more fish you can have. bio-load isnt goign to be much of an issue these guys dont pump out a large quanity of mess. Floor space is mostly the issue with shellies.

Multies live as a colony but your gona need a 4ft tank or so to get them to form multiple colonies. i have a 30 breeder and it hasnt happened. Other species are more like harems like occies. They will require far more territory then multies. Tend to squable more.

Do your research and fit the needs of the fish you want. If your after color then occies are the way to go. Lots of flashing and showing off. If your more into a colony look and lots of antics then multies are the way to go.

In any case 20g is a vast improvment over a 20g. more water volume means less issues with temp/parameters fluctuations. Also more time to react to issues. And like mentioned more room for more fish.

Good luck and enjoy your new tank.