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Hi, I recently purchased a 20 gallon tank. This is my first attempt at having fish so i'm not really sure about what types of fish I should put and if they're compatible or not. I already have all of the supplies I need and the water has been in the tank for about a week now running through the filter.

For a setup I was thinking....

3-4 cherry shrimp
2-3 mystery snails
some type of cory/corydoras catfish (a smaller one)
2 dwarf gourami (male and female)
7-8 harlequin rasbora

Do I have too many fish in the tank? or would I have a problem with the gourami eating the shrimp/snales? I've read the fish profiles on these guys and they are all said to be good for beginners. I'm sorry if these questions seem stupid but like I said this is my first attempt at owning fish so I really have no idea.

Thanks

-Mark

The stocking level would be about right, a little high, but the shrimp would be expensive food for the gouramis. Instead of Corydoras, you might consider khuli loaches, which are very narrow and don't add much to the bioload. You may want to consider just having one dwarf gourami. They really do ok by themselves.

Before adding fish, please consider doing a fishless cycle. Just having water in the tank and running the filter won't do much as far as preparing the tank for having fish... if you have chlorine in your tap water, that will evaporate with time, but chloramine (another chemical municipal water sources use) won't evaporate. Having beneficial bacteria and feeding them to get them to grow in your tank is a much much much safer way of starting up, and will likely save you a lot of money on the livestock as well. Without this, the ammonia levels in the water will spike shortly after you add fish, which is potentially lethal to the fish.

here is an article about fishless cycling

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You'll be perfectly fine with this amount of fish

Its not overstock, but those cherries might not be around for long. Could go for a bigger species like amano's. Cycling the tank usually takes 21- 28 days ish. You'll probably find if you add all the fish this early and all at once, they wont make it. Shrimp do better in longer established tanks too. Give it another week or two without fish, then , add the gouramies, then wait at least a week, add the other fish, and then think about what your gonna do for shrimp.

You should be aware that female dwarf gouramis are pretty impossible to find as they're gray and not colorful like the males.

I only plan on adding a couple small fish off the bat so that I can get some bacteria going, this was a final setup. Also I really like the cherry shrimp so i'm thinking the gourami is gonna have to go. Maybe a school of tiger barbs?

The shoal of Tiger Barbs is fun, I have 9 in my 20g, with 4 otocinclus cats, and they all play nicely. However, a fish with a trailing fin such as a gourami would be far too enticing for a shoal of fin nipping Tiger Barbs. Also, the TB's will tear the shrimp up... I had some ghost shrimp for an afternoon once lol.

Good luck and keep asking questions!! Welcome to fishprofiles!