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If you got a free 20g tall, what fish would you stock it with? No plants, just a reg. filter and heater.

~Mo

(I am looking for cool ideas to try myself)


~Morgan~

well, what I have found that works:

corys, the more the better, at least 5, they will keep the bottom of your tank interesting.

lemon tetras! they are by far the most entertaining tetra I have seen...they are always playing tag or dancing/showing off for the females. a school of 6+ is nice.

Cherry barbs! very fun to watch, and they go EVERYWHERE! the males are bright red, females brownish in color. I would recomend for a smaller tank 1 male and 2 females.

My dwarf gourami I have in my 10 gallon is a beautifull fish, spends most of his time at the surface.

so, my thoughts:

1 male dwarf gourami
3 cherry barbs (1m 2f)
6 corys (peppered or bronze seemed to be the heartiest i have found)

or, get rid of the cherry barbs and add a small school of lemon tetras.

my ideas are if you over filter the tank and do at least a 20% water change a week.

i think that i would go with some rams, or some kribs. and maybe throw in some tetras or danios too. i like alot of exotic fish but most that i like won't go too well in a 20 gallon.

Renegade545,
king of the frontosa

A 20 gallon tank ?

I'd have to admit that I have always been intrigued by a number of awsome fish that could go in there. The combination I would have to try would be:

6 - 8x Panda Cories (They are waaaaaaaaaay too cute)
8x Black Phantom Tetras
A pair of rams ^_^

It would be a very active tank!

Or you could always do a small number of Mbuna, like 3, and a rubberlipped pleco.

Inky

how bout 120 guppies? LOL yes i did it and they lasted a very long time.

but you could possibly also do a pair of angels and dwarf gouramis. and a couple of Corydoras. and possibly a few rummy nose tetras.

i know someone who has this setup an the angels did not get that big at all and there is no problems with any of the fishes getting along

Fish tanks are an expensive addiction

I'd lower the water level 6 inches, get an African Butterfly fish, 4-5 corys for the bottom (don't get dwarf corys - they could be dinner), and you're set.

Be sure and still get a cover for the tank because the ABF can jump really, really well.

Eric

Wow, so many different suggestions! All are great ideas: I am really liking Inkling's though.

Anyone else?


~Morgan~

ummm i would go whith some small cichlid and breed them but thats just me.

Platies. Maybe 8, with 2 of each colour type. I might also add a few kuhlies

OR

A cray They love no plants, all the more room to move

For animals, the entire universe has been neatly divided into things to (a) mate with, (b) eat, (c) run away from, and (d) rocks. - Terry Pratchett

Bumblebee goby

Jade goby

more gobies?

OR

3x platies

2x khuli loaches or ottos

3x amano shrimp

1x pearl or dwarf gourami

12x Neons or Glolights or any other small schooling cyprinids

OR

1x Male betta

8x Cories bronze, peppered, or panda

8x glolight or neon or cardinal or any small schooling cyprinids

OR

A pair of convicts or sheepshead acara






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I really like all of these but I gotta say that GobyFan's suggestions I really like.
Callatya: where would you find a crayfish? That sounds really interesting!

Thanks!
~Mo


~Morgan~

MoFish - Open your front door, drive/walk to the nearest creek, and start flipping stones, looking in small holes near the creek's side, etc...Crayfish/crawdads are all over the USA, and your neck of the woods is crawling with them. You might be able to find live ones at your local bait store, too, or perhaps some of your grocery stores sell live ones for eating.

They're very interesting critters to keep, but keep only one. They're also very adept at catching fish, so it's really best to keep them by themselves.

Eric

ohhh! A ton of possibilities here! Well, if you are looking to really define the levels of the tank, which looks quite neat in my opinion, I would be temped to go with something crazy! (oh, and just before I suggest these, I have have hatchets before (but unfortunatly they got ich later on,) and these fish usually got along to gether well, perhaps it was because they hung out on different levels of the tank)

suggestion 1

1 fancy pleco, like an orange seam, or a blue phantom!
6 hatchets (silver ones are nice)
5 tetras (nubers vary depanding on size)

*note! Your filter choice effects how many fish in the tank, get a good one if you get the pleco, and make sure there are caves, and lots of em'

5-6 dwarf puffers

or

pair of apistogramma
6 cories
6-8 cardinal, black neon, or glowlight tetras or harlequin rasboras
a BN if you get algae

Myself, I would get a school of tetras like 12 neons or cardinals. Also as alot of people have already suggested, I would get some bronze corys. Oh, ottos are cool too but can be sensitive to water conditions.

"Talk is cheap. Action can be almost as affordable"

Thanks everyone for the GREAT suggestions! I think I have a basic stocking list for my tank, but I won't be getting anything else any time soon: I still have fish in there but I wanted to do something different.

coco moo: I like the idea of hatchets but I haven't seen any around here . But thanks for the suggestion anyway!

Idea 1:

Pair of Appistos
10 neons, glowlites or harlies (etc)
5-6 cories (probally false julii)

Idea 2:

Pair of Blue Rams
12-14 neons, glowlites or harlies (etc)
*I don't want to get cories in this 'idea' because the rams that I had be for hung out at the bottom ALL the time and I don't want them to be stressed because of the cories.

Any one have any other suggestions of small schooling fish that are about the size of glowlites/harlies/neons/cardinals/black neons? or it that all?

Thanks again!


~Morgan~

rummynose tetras are nice and small but they're a little less common than the others

i like the african butterfly fish idea, was looking at one of those for my 25. you could drop the water level and put some branches in the empty part and get a couple of archer fish. when feeding comes along you put crikets on the branches and they will shoot them down with water that they squirt from their mouths and eat them, rather cool to watch.

Renegade545,
king of the frontosa

Don't archers grow much too large for a 20 gallon tank? And aren't they brackish?

Eric

Hi,
As everyone is packing this tank with a variety of fish,
please remember that this is a 20G "Tall" tank and not
a 20G "long" tank. It's surface area is restricted, and
the surface area should be what determines the stocking
of the tank - not its capacity

Frank


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