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i got a new 20 gallon and i have a list of fish i am interested in. Can somebody tell me if all the fish in my list are compatable?i would like to know soon, im picking out the fish in about 3 days. Thanks!

What came first? the chicken or the egg? No really.....

sorry, i forgot to add the list, here it is:
Guppy
any kind of Gourami
Sunburst platy
Dalmation Lyretail molly
Jewel Cichlid
Danios/Glofish
African Cichlids
Dwarf Gourami
Black molly
Lyretail guppy
Sunset coral Dwarf Platy
Swordtail

Please help! Thanks for those who help me!!!

What came first? the chicken or the egg? No really.....

Guppy - Only females or dull coloured non-flowy males, they look a bit too similar to bettas.

any kind of Gourami - general rule is not to keep two species of labyrinth fish together. Maybe some sparkling gouramies, but that'd be the only ones I'd try.

Sunburst platy - should be fine

Dalmation Lyretail molly - Slightly different water needs, possible, but not the best choice IMO.

Jewel Cichlid - Way too big and way too cichlid-like. It'd probably chomp on the betta.

Danios/Glofish - Shortfins should be OK, longfins are a bit hit and miss. They can also sometimes be a bit nippy.

African Cichlids - Generally not, maybe in a larger tank you could consider rams, but that'd be about it IMO.

Dwarf Gourami - as above, its generally not a great plan to mix labyrinth fish.

Black molly - Slightly different water needs, possible, but not the best choice IMO.

Lyretail guppy - tasty! that flowing tail might get chomped, and lyretails are usually pretty slim and fine, so it'd be a bit risky.

Sunset coral Dwarf Platy - should be fine

Swordtail - should be fine, but they are a bit more boisterous and grow larger than platies.


Out of that list, I'd go with a mix of livebearers. Maybe some Dwarf coral platies and some sunset platies, and a trio of guppies (pick a male who doesn't look too bright and bold and flowy so the betta doesn't think of him as a threat) and that should give you some nice colour and movement as well as some babies if you want to collect them. Otherwise, your betta can get some live food

Other suggestions -
White Cloud Mountain Minnows
Kuhli loaches
Harlequin rasboras
Lambchop rasboras
Neons or cardinals


Have you looked at bottom feeders?

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

woops, i forgot to say i wont put a betta in the tank. does that change anything???

What came first? the chicken or the egg? No really.....

yup, changes a lot of things I'll whip this over to Getting Started as they are the stocking experts.

From that list, the only one that would be a definite no IMO would be the jewel cichlid, as they'll get a bit too big for a 20. Mollies can also be a bit borderline.

Myself, I'd still love a livebearer tank, but I'm a sap for colour and movement

Depending on how you set it up, I'd get 6 platies, 4 guppies, and 3 kuhli loaches for the ground. (check out the green and dalmation platies too, they are quite interesting)

You could also go with a dwarf gourami (probably just a single one in that size tank) and 6 danios and maybe 2 otos.

You could go full on guppy, and just get 10 guppies and put some breeding grass down, sit back and watch It is colourful, but you might get sick of it quickly as it is only the one type of fish.

What sorts of africans did you like? What was it about them that caught your eye?

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

i have a 10 gallon with 9 guppies in it, and i like the African Cichlids because they are colorful and active. they also have different patterns. thanks for the help!

What came first? the chicken or the egg? No really.....

My advice is to figure out how you want to fill the bottom of the tank and the upper section of the tank.

Bottomdwellers like cories, ottos, and small plecs would do well.
6-8 corie cats (Many species common in petstores are larger species thus the actual # will be the species available to you)
3-6 otos (Take care in introducing them, they should ideally be the last newcomers in a cycled tank. A good idea is to get all the other fish, wait a few weeks and grab the otos)

1 small plec (Bristlenose, Clown, rubbernose)


Be aware that bottom feeders will not make the need to clean less frequent.



As far as fish that swim in the upper levels you have a huge variety. One popular way of stocking is to have a small school and one larger more flashy fish.

6-8 of any of the smaller schoolers (varietys of tetras and rasboras)

If you can find microrasboras, you can have a HUGE school of them. Seriously they are tiny. Mine are full grown at .7in!

1 Dwarf or honey gourami, MAYBE one pearl, or a trio of sparkling.


ETA: Danios! I love the long fin variety. Which ever you decide to get, they should all work(exception: giant danios). I think 6 might be the max due to their activity level.


I'll do graffiti,
If you sing to me in French.

sooo... are the other fish you didnt mention still able to live with the ones you did?

What came first? the chicken or the egg? No really.....

Darn I forgot the livebearers.

I actually wasn't quite basing it off your list, just more or less giving a basic guide.

With the exception of the cichlid, all of the temperments should go well together. However 20 gallons isn't much room for a hodgepodge of all those species you listed.

I would pick a just a couple of species that you really adore and focus on them. Many fish show their most interesting behavior with other fish of their kind.

The suggestion of the livebearer tank was a good one. Losts of color and its fun to watch their lifecycle. One obvious thing to think about is the fry. At some point you will want to decide between keeping them or letting them get eaten

I'll do graffiti,
If you sing to me in French.

My sister got a 20 gallon too, and she doesnt have an account, so can you tell me if her list is compatable to? She will get more than is on the list, she just doesnt know what kind she wants yet. ok, well, heres the list:

Pictus Catfish
Dwarf Gourami
Sunset dwarf Gourami
Lyretail Molly
Sunset coral Dwarf platy
swordtail
Pearlscale goldfish, and she already has a veiltail goldfish

thanks! Thanks, i know u already said only 1 or 2 laberynth fish together, but im just typing what is on her list.

What came first? the chicken or the egg? No really.....

Is she going to want to keep the veil tail goldfish in the tank too?

What sort of filters are you guys using? Can you tell us the make and model?

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

it is topfin starter kit 20. the filter is a Top Fin.20. it came with the kit. and yes, she wants to keep the goldfish with the other fish

What came first? the chicken or the egg? No really.....

Seeing as how goldfish are coldwater, tropicals aren't really a good match for them.

The thing that worries me most is the goldfish are big, messy fish. They also do a lot of growing in their first few years. By confining him to 20 gallons your sister isnt doing him or herself alot of favors.

I'll do graffiti,
If you sing to me in French.

ok, she has a smaller tank and will put the goldfish in it. the fish that are in it now will go in the 20 gallon. so, about the other fish.... are THEY compatable? my sister was about this, but she will deal with it

What came first? the chicken or the egg? No really.....

nevermind.... she has decided to keep all the fish in the 20 galon. she is very stubborn. so... what might be the wort that can happen? And are the other fish compatable?

What came first? the chicken or the egg? No really.....

The worst is the overloading of the bioload which equals stress, sickness, and fish loss.

Regular maintainence can help keep this at bay, but with the goldfish you are really running the risk of this.

The best you can hope for is keeping a gold fish alive for a lot shorter time than they are capable

I'll do graffiti,
If you sing to me in French.

Show your sister this picture so she can see how big goldfish can get. Hopefully that convinces her that she needs a bigger tank to keep it in.

Joe Potato

I'm pretty sure the that pic was taken at 2 years.

Wasn't his name Bruce?

I'll do graffiti,
If you sing to me in French.

I believe so, Katie.

Joe Potato

In that tank the goldies have to go for size issues obviously, but there is an aggressive fish in there - the pictus. Pictus in a mood can fight like hell, they will also eat any fish they can fit into their mouths, moreover, a pictus is a panicky fish, and has to be given whats called "barbel room" ie: if they live in small tanks where their barbels are constantly lacking room to stretch out they become hyperstimulated and either go mental with stereotypical behaviour, begin to wane, go incredibly shy and fail to feed, or the start "mad dashing" and injuring themselves on the glass. Despite the smallish size, they are better suited to 30 gallon plus tanks. A 55 would be ideal. They are a very hyper, and busy fish, and in a small tank they make other fish nervous .

It always comes as a culture shock to many, but goldfish are really pondfish, and when catering for veiltails and pearlscales that may be too fragile for the great outdoors by virtue of malformed swimbladders that come as standard, they really require tanks that start at 30 gallon when a couple of inches long, 55 gals or more when they double that, and 200 gallon or more when they reach full adult size. Anything less leads to a condition known as dwarfing, when the fish stays smallish but the liver continues to grow at the normal rate, and consequently the fish usually dies of dropsy and organ failure,swimbladder failure, organ compression, or failure of the immune system typically before they reach 5 years or so. A poor showing for a fish that should make 30 years if properly looked after. Every goldfish has the potential to weight in excess of 1lb, given correct care. Real recordbreakers make nearly 3 lb, with comets coming out twice the size of the superdeformed veiltails. If you thought bruce was big, see what this angler line caught along with his normal carp- a goldfish that had been released into a lake.

http://newsdrive.fishingworld.com/NewsDriveImages/ArticleFiles/000/01/14/86/0000005087IM_225X225.jpeg


If they dont suffer dwarfing and continue to grow at normal rates, as many if not most do, obviously they will pollute the water to the degree that keeping up with water changes becomes impossible, the filter overloads and all the fish , including the goldie, die of ammonia and nitrite poisoning.

She has also mixed coldwater and tropical and thats not the done thing for so many health reasons I cant even be bothered to list them.

Kick her butt

Fish dont deserve to die just because someone is a bit stubborn. Not to mention the aspca and the rspca are co-ordinating to bring in new legislation on both sides of the big blue, and its gonna be law pretty soon. Goldfish in bowls and inadequate housing is soon to be set as a legitimate criminal offense in all likelihood, and its a good thing too, for it is animal abuse and a tortuous level of it at that. A lot of people who think its ok to overdo the stocking and ignore the possibility of animal deaths may find themselves facing prosecution in the near future as a result of new, better defined, laws. A rude, but long awaited awakening to say the least for some. Ignorance over the next couple of coming years will no longer be an excuse, and for possibly the first time ever fish will have some basic rights to humane care that authorities can act upon .

Might as well get her used to the better principles of fishkeeping. Pretty soon it wont be something to be shrugged off so lightly. I think its a good thing, it will finally make things clearer for people.

Where I am, in the UK it will come as a huge shock. 90% of goldfish owners are almost completely unaware of their fish's growth potential, and hardly has it ever crossed their minds how to care for them properly, or that by complicity their lack of knowledge and the tradition of goldfish in bowls actually makes them a fish abuser.

I for one, am glad that they will at last have their eyes forcibly opened.