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Hi!

I want to add some tankmates for my zebra danios within the next month or so and was looking for suggestions. I originally was going to do neon tetras but I hear they have so many problems and the LFS doesn't ever stock cardinals Here's my info... any suggestions would be great! I don't have a large LFS and they don't always have the same stock but it would be nice to get ideas to keep an eye out for

20g standard tank (no tall or long), cycled & running for 14 months
Temp: 78F
PH: 7.5
Hardness: 0 (very soft water lol)
Current occupants: 6 Zebra Danios (and unknown # of fry that don't ever want to survive.. it's like there's a steady supply of them though, geez). Tank also has a couple plants that continue to sprout off new baby plants so the gravel has a nice little forest going on.


Also, I am getting another 20g tank from my grandma as soon as I can find a ride over there with everything with it. Not sure if it's a tall, wide or standard though and I don't really know what I want to keep in it... I like colorful fish that can have a fun personality. I really miss my old betta and thought about a school of females but didn't know how strong the current from the filter will be or anything yet.

Anyway, thanks in advance!

I'd go with some bottom dwellers, maybe some yoyo loaches or small corys. Stay away from clown loaches and emerald corys though as they get way too big for your tank.

Bronze or albino corys are pretty tough and generally easy to find 3-6 of them should be good in your tank. Both corys and loaches are really active.

Barbs make a good tankmate with zebra danios. I'd stay away from tiger barbs though as they tend to be nippy if not kept in a large enough (10+) school. Rosy barbs are pretty hardy though if you add corys you won't be able to have a large enough school of them so I'd look at gold barbs, or even some raspboras.

It's a good idea to check out what your LFS has and check back here on any fish you're not familiar with. Read up before hand on any you might be interested in and learn how to really recognize them. Many LFS' I've been to have a habit of loosely naming what they sell and often someone new to the hobby will end up with fish that are not at all appropriate for their tank.

Generally fry don't survive, that's why there are so many of them. You can purchase a breeding trap or fry net if you want to try and net them out and keep them safe, otherwise the other fish in the tank will usually snack on them. The more plant cover you can provide the greater their chances of survival are.

As for the new tank, if it's a tall it will limit your stocking. Long tanks are best as they allow the most surface area, though they're sometimes harder to find good stands and lights for.


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Hi! Thanks for the reply

I had some Albino Corys in the past but they didn't do well for some reason They might have been ill when I purchased them from the LFS but they looked active and healthy. I haven't tried any since.

Other than tigers, I don't remember seeing my LFS carrying much for Barbs. I do remember a couple Rasboras though. At one time I was considering the Harlikien Rasboras but I went with guppies. I'll have to see if they still have any in stock since it was well over 5 years ago.

Yeah, I do a lot of research in advance. I don't have transportation except once a month normally though so when I am setup for new fishies I try and get ideas ahead of time and do my research and then see if the LFS has any of the breeds I had hoped to find. If not, I make note of what they do have and do some more research and hope they still have them the following month I make it to town *sigh* Be easier if I had better transportation I do do my research before I buy fishies though Want to make sure I can take proper care of my little guys.

Saving the fry isn't a huge deal. If they make it, great, if not they'll make a nice snack for the adults I guess. I think they keep laying eggs but I can't see where they are laying them. I've been finding fry for the last 2-3 months (maybe sightly longer) but they are normally around new-born size. I can always tell when there is a new batch during a water change LoL This is my first batch of Danios though so I wasn't too sure about the fry. I'm more used to Guppy fry. They managed to survive well enough on their own and I ended up with 3 tanks full of the little guys LoL

The 20g tank is a standard. Got it yesterday along with a 10g filter, internal filter (Cascade 600.. never used one before), heater, light & power head (what are those for? I've never used one... not sure what kind it is, just says "550" on the top of it).

Powerheads are just for moving the water around in the tank. It's good for larger tanks that have just one filter so that there are fewer dead spots. They can also act if placed a little above the water line as a way to agitate the water and therefore increase oxygenation of the water. Handy to have but not really necessary, you might find that it's way too powerful for your tank. I've had fish sucked up by powerheads before .

Internal filters are ok, I've got one running in my 20, they just take up a little bit of space and are a little more of a hassle to clean to me compared to a HOB filter. If you plan on running both the 10g filter and the internal filter together I'd suggest putting them on diagonal corners of the tank.

You could always try calling your LFS and ask if they have a specific fish in stock. Might have a list ready for them and ask about a few. A good LFS will most likely let you know they could order something in for you, though that's often risky as you would have two sets of transport for the fish back to back increasing stress with them.

I'd say look into raspboras, the harlies caught your eye once so you know they're something you're interested in. I have some with my barbs and danios and they get along quite well.

You might consider giving the albinos another try, though if your zebras are anything like the ones I've had they're more than happy to nibble on the bottom of the tank for any goodies they missed the first time around.


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Thanks for the info I won't worry about the power head then. I'll hang onto it though for the future. I eventually want a large tank. I've wanted an Oscar since I was little and seen my grandma's To bad she sold their 100+ gallon tank a long time ago, not that I'd have anywhere to put it right now LoL

Filters I have to wait and see on still. I want to make sure the LFS still carries the sponges and/or cartridges or not still since it has been quite awhile since my grandma bought all of this stuff. I figured the internal would be harder to clean, but if I just stick with the other that won't be very strong for the tank and I'll have to watch how it gets stocked in the future....

I'll see if they still have the rasboras at the LFS next time I'm in there and may go with those since I had researched them before and know they should be fine with my setup Thanks!

I'll look into the cories again also one day I actually only have a few danios that hang around the surface. The smallest guy hangs around the bottom and "protects" an area of plants that he staked out it seems LoL The others hang around the other side with the plants and like to play in the bubble wand most of the time LoL

Might try looking at Big Als website for filter media and cartridges. You can always cut the sponge down to fit. That's what I did when I had a lot of AC filters running on different tanks, bought a bulk pack of sponges and cut them to fit the different sized filters. I pretty much only use the sponges or ceramic noodles in the filters, rarely do I run carbon through so I buy once and I'm set till they start to fall apart (which I have yet to see happen ).

That sounds like danios !

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I forgot about that company LoL Any idea if they will still send out a free copy of their catalog? I got one a long time ago and still have it somewhere around here but it's nearly "ancient" and I'm sure a lot has been changed since I got it. I'll take a look and see if I can find some goodies on their site. I need to get a bio-wheel for my other 20g filter.. Dumb LFS can't order one in and they only have 3 sizes, none of which will fit my filter

Still waiting on a trip to town here too....

I've been looking into the rasbora a bit again to refresh my memory and will see if the LFS has some in stock (they don't like to order for people very well... tried a couple times). Any suggestions for the new 20g? If the internal filter doesn't work (haven't tested things yet) or I can't find filters/sponges, I'll have to use the 10g filter. I figured I'd need different fish depending which filter since one will be really weak and the other will be very strong LoL Any suggestions for a place to start? There are so many breeds to choose from. I'll be doing freshwater.... LFS doesn't have much for the chichilids (LoL I forget what they were called, don't mind my spelling) and prefer not to do goldfish. Last time I was in the LFS they had a couple types of tetras, guppies, gouramis... mostly tropical fish but I can't recall the other types they had.

Well goldfish are a big no no in tanks anyway minimum I'd put a goldfish in is a 150 gallon and that's if they were mainly by themselves. So don't worry I wont ever suggest that!

By all means contact bigals! I'm sure they'd send you out a catalog. Probably easier than sorting through their site, I've had trouble finding what I want there without having to resort to typing in the search bar.

Shame about your LFS being less than customer friendly. Have you checked in your area for fish or aquarium clubs? Most of our fish right now come from the auctions held by the local club, which means we often end up with quite a lot of cichlids since they're so easy to breed.

Tetras would work rather well in the 20. Especially if you stick with the smaller ones since most aren't nearly as active as many of the asian fish.


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Yeah, bigger the tank the better for the goldfish I think also. A long time ago a friend gave me her old 5g tank with 1 goldfish and I upgraded to a 10g tank a couple months later but the fishy quickly outgrew that too. I gave him to another friend I had at the time who had a larger tank. I missed him a lot though... if I stick my finger in the tank he'd come up and suck on it... that one really seemed to enjoy the contact.. he'd rub around on my hand when I cleaned the tank each week too LoL I miss goldfish, but the upkeep was far too hard and I figured the 20g wouldn't be much different.

I wouldn't know where to begin looking for a club around here. I'm sort of stuck at home with no transportation to begin with but when I do get to town the trips are limited on both time and locations I get to go *wants my own car & license!!!* The town itself is very dinky though. My grandma went through a fish specialty store almost 20yrs ago that's not here anymore. Just have a small local pet store and a chain store that sell fishies, and a couple of the grocery stores that sell food & filters in their pet sections. Not much available around here for anything

I'll make a list of the tetras they have next time I'm in town Got the Whisper filter cleaned up today and asked mom to check for filter cartridges at the grocery store she works at tonight... convenient & cheaper by almost $2, otherwise I'll check at the LFS next time. Hoping for a trip to town soon *waits*

Hi,
Whare are you located?
My wife and I go into town once a month too. It's an
hour and a half drive, one way. We live in Colorado,
inside the Rockies at 10,000 ft elevation and come down
into Denver for Drs apts, and shopping, etc.

Frank

-->>> The Confidence of Amateurs, is the Envy of Professionals <<<--

Hi Frank

That's cool.. My brother just moved to Colorado with his girlfriends mom and I just became an aunt a few days ago They are in Florrisant, I think it was? LoL

I'm in south-west Washington, about an hour from the coast. My lack of town trips is due to lack of transportation Stuck at home still and both parents work nearly full time and usually graveyard shifts. My brother gave me his old firebird when he got out of the military in June and helped me get my permit finally (almost 30yrs old, how sad *sigh*) but the car has some problems that dad is trying to fix so I've only driven 1 time so far Want to get out of here.. sick of living at home and being stuck in the house with no way out every day

Gotta finish up online. Friday's I do my water change and I have to hurry before it starts sprinkling again... stupid summer weather -_- LoL

Went to town today and stopped by the LFS as the first stop to see what they had... *sigh* The tank the Harlequins were in had a couple of ill looking fish with them and they only had about 5 Harlequins anyway so I passed. Maybe next time I'm in town they'll have more and the tank will look more healthy. Here's the list of other fish though... Any suggestions for the other 20g (or if the Harlequins fall through, tankmates for the Danios in my current 20g)?

Tetras
Head & Tail Light
Bleeding Heart
Gold Pristella
Emperor
Diamond
Black Phantom
Red & Blue Columbian
Blind Cave
Bloodfin
Hi-Fin Skirt (black & white varities)
Red Eye (also had a "Balloon Red Eye"
Serpae
Silver-Tip
Orange Von Rio
Glo-light

Barbs
Gold
Cherry
Tiger (green, albino & "tiger"
Red Glass
Neon Rosy
Tinfoil

Cories
Spotted
Julii
Emerald Green
Albino

Also had some "Golden Wonder Killies" (I've heard the Killie fish stay small).. Other Chichlids they had were larger species. Also had a couple types of Gouramies. Rest of freshwater were mostly livebearers.

I'm pretty much a barb fan, never really had a problem with any except tiger barbs. So long as you get a big enough school of TBs they're ok, but to me a 20 is a tad on the small side for a big school of hyperactive TBs.

My favorites for a 20 with danios would be the gold barbs. They stay a little smaller than rosey and TBs, and are slightly less active, but are a great goldfish gold color.

Of the corys listed, 'emerald green' sounds to me like green corys which get too big for a 20. Any of the other three would go well, Albino/bronze being the hardiest, but going into an established well looked after tank any of the others should be fine.

Not a huge fan of tetras, though I did have diamonds for a while and liked them quite a bit.

Never had killies, but my thought is that they wouldn't get along too well with active zebra dandios. Kribs would be my suggestion if you want to go cichlids. Mine have raised young a few times, and had a number of batches of fry (most of them usually get eaten by other tank mates). Have my kribs in with some danios right now and they do ok.

Good call on skipping over the harlie tank, never a good choice to take fish from an unhealthy tank, even if the ones you're picking look ok.

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Thank you for the suggestions I will look further into the ones you listed. That narrows the list down a bit for me. I'm on dialup so research is slow going and hard to do LoL

The Gold Barbs were very pretty and I am fairly sure they'd have those in stock for years so that might be a breed they will still have next time I get to town too.

Some of the names are always iffy. They don't list the latin names or I would have written those down instead. I tried to look up a few the other day and some of them I couldn't find at all so who knows what they really are LoL

The killie they had sounds like they get kind of big and are aggressive. I just remember hearing the breeds on another forum in the past so I wrote that down too so I wouldn't forget. I couldn't remember before since I didn't write them down, but I also remember they had "Australian Rainbows".. I still can't remember what the other Rainbow breed was they had though -_- Tried looking at pictures to refresh my memory but no luck yet.

And yep, I don't really like to buy fish if anything in the tank looks ill or dead. The only time I did was years ago... bought a couple guppies out of a tank with a few that didn't look 100% but they went into a QT tank first and ended up being the start of my giant guppy army (I miss my guppies lol)

Might go to town again in a week or two sounds like, so I'll get busy and lookup the fishies you mentioned Will have to check for the filter stuff for the other tank again too. They had cartridges for the Tetra filter but couldn't find one for the Cascade 600 Internal filter (couldn't even find basic sponge material to make my own) -_- Other pet store might have it since it has a larger fish section but mom never likes to drive to that one... it's in a crowded & busy part of town *sigh*

Sorry for the double post... forget to ask... if the Gold Barbs work out okay, they are a schooling fish, right? Will a school do okay on my 20g with the 7 Danios? Not sure how big they get LoL About how many for a school of the barbs? I normally hear 6-8 for a school but I've also heard of as low as 5 fish and has high as 12 fish for starting. I've also figured 7-10 LoL

Thanks again

Pretty sure rainbows are out of the question, it of course depends on what they're calling 'australian rainbows' But all the rainbows I've seen get pretty big and chunky. Ok if they're the main fish in a 125 but not sure they'd like a 20!

Gold barbs, they stay pretty small for a barb about 2" , so long as they're really gold barbs and not one of the other barbs that just so happen to be golden colored. Frustrating I know ). Luckily barbs tend to be more shoaling then schooling the way tetras are. 3-5 is ok, more is always good, but they're not going to stress out too much in a small shoal. It will of course depend on who else is in with them. If they're the biggest most aggressive small is ok. If you were to have them with a school of tiger barbs I'd up the levels to 10-12.


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I didn't see the "Australian Rainbow" listed here but I seen it elsewhere (I forget where)... they didn't have much info posted though. The other LFS in town used to have the Dwarf Neon Rainbows and I thought about those at one time but by the time I got my 1st 20g tank and got it all ready they stopped keeping them in stock and couldn't order anymore for me, so that's when I went with the guppies back then LoL

Okay, thanks The Gold Barbs they had at the store looked maybe 1 1/2" - 2" and looked like the pictures I've seen around online for them so hopefully they are not mislabeled

I've been through most of my list (finally) and here where the ones that would work best with my water and current tank setup I think... Can somebody help me weed out any that get too big or won't do well with my Zebra Danios? I looked at information on several sites for each of the fishies and it looks like these ones should be okay for size, just didn't know how well they get along with the other fishies....

I thought it best to have a list of multiple breeds to choose from should the LFS either not have enough (or have any at all) of one fishy or if the tank looks unhealthy or whatever... this way I have some others I can check for too... Going to town on Thursday unless something changes

Gold Barb
Cherry Barb
Diamond Tetra
Emperor Tetra
Bleeding Heart Tetra
Colombian Tetra
Black Phantom Tetra

If there is room later for a couple cories, I'll wait a couple months or so for the other little guys to get situated... My QT tank is setup and nearly cycled

*sneaks back for an update* The LFS didn't have half of what they had before so there wasn't much to choose from. I ended up getting a small school of the Columbian Tetras. I'm a "tad" overstocked but the parameters are all stable and I'm able to keep up on it easily.

I have a 2nd 20g tank I got during the summer from my grandma that is complete with a hood & strip light. She also gave me 2 filters and a heater (all which work), so once it gets warmed up outside again I plan on taking it out for a good soaking and scrubbing and see about getting it up and running before the end of summer too

Columbian tetras are really the only ones I like since they're pretty fast swimmers.

The stocking guidelines are just guidelines anyway, so long as you're maintaining the tank weekly and know what you're doing and why you should be fine


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