another new 20g idea

[young_cichlid]

lungfish. how about lungfish? read that some species get 5in or smaller in aquaiums.

[Nightside_Eclipse]

The one I've seen was HUGE.

[young_cichlid]

african lung fish get 2ft:ssuprised:

[smaug]

Are you serious?Cmon now.:help:

[Wiggs]

just curious, why do you seem so intent on keeping a predatory fish? you will be hard pressed to find ANY fish like that to put in a 20g, and once you do, it's going to make a mess of your tank.

If watching it eat live fish and the like is the appeal to you, think about the price of food D:

[Northernguy]

Most predators if not all require very large tanks.
Some get over 6ft! Start with the norm in fish and when you get that huge tank get a small whatever and watch it grow.It won't take long!lol

[smaug]

This is about the only smallish predator I can think of that would do ok in a smaller tank.If your lucky it would also eat non living food as well.
http://www.whozoo.org/Intro2000/vivo/Vi_leaf_fish.htm
The amazon leaf fish,if I didnt like my little fish so much,I would have one of these little monsters.

[HomaridNoob6]

Honestly in a 20g I wouldn't want anything predatory. You're gonna have 1 fish in the tank, and especially with like a lungfish it's not gonna be a very lively tank. A lot of community fish are really active at feeding time and just as much fun if not more fun to watch than one big huge monster fish swallowing a goldie whole every once in a while, and then hiding the rest of the time.

When I was younger I only wanted to keep mean fish, my first two decent sized tanks were a 100 gallon red belly piranha tank, and a 225 gal SA cichlid tank. Those were a lot of fun to watch, but before that, I had my juvenile GT (that later became the fish i built my cichlid tank around) in a 20g, the tank and fish were given to me as a present. I loved that GT, but man it was a boring tank, the fish didn't have room to be active even when small, and you couldn't put anything else in it. So he hid most of the time, and never showed his beautiful colors that he wound up showing in an appropriate tank.

There are plenty of options for community fish in a 20gal that are still gonna be voracious eaters and put on a show at feeding time. Be patient, I know it's hard, but if you are you can save up, have a tank to enjoy in the meantime, and eventually afford a tank for some nasty monster tankbusters that you want :)

Just for an example and I'm done with my essay. Right now I have a 50 gal that has 1 GT in it, and he will need more space eventually. I had to have a GT again couldn't resist. The tank looks so empty, but I can't put anything else in it because he will kill it, I even had to take the female out, after they mated once he beat her the heck up and ate or destroyed the eggs. no idea what thats all about. The point is, the tank looks pretty empty, and is nowhere near as fun to watch as my 20gallon community tank, even my 2.5 gallon shrimp tank is more active.

I'm not trying to discourage you from doing what you want, just saying wait a while then you can get an appropriate tank that you will enjoy and won't be a constant source of stress and problems for you and the fish.

[young_cichlid]

you makin more senes than me but the thing is i wont be geting any thing larger than my 55g and im not the nice fish type. i prefer mean fish. like my convicts ya know? so if you have any mean fish ideas then pm. thanks

[young_cichlid]

just curious, why do you seem so intent on keeping a predatory fish? you will be hard pressed to find ANY fish like that to put in a 20g, and once you do, it's going to make a mess of your tank.

If watching it eat live fish and the like is the appeal to you, think about the price of food D:
its the live fish thing. i thought (mama always said dont think) my convicts would spawn enough to cover that........

[young_cichlid]

Are you serious?Cmon now.:help:
no, im not THAT serious.

[btate617]

Smaug gave you a good idea, a leaf fish, Monocirrhus Polyacanthicus would be a cool pred for you.

[young_cichlid]

ill give it some thought

[MCHRKiller]

How about a shoal of Exodons(Vampire Tetras) theyd be perfect for taking care of fry. Theyre like piranhas only mini

[Northernguy]

How about a shoal of Exodons(Vampire Tetras) theyd be perfect for taking care of fry. Theyre like piranhas only mini

I thought they needed a bigger tank!
Pretty crazy little fish.Huge schools of them is pretty wild!

[MCHRKiller]

Nah, a 20G long would work out alright for a small group :) Id go for 5-6 and let that be it...theyll be like a micro pack of wolves.

Due to the lack of activity and incredibly slow growth there are actually a couple of species of Serrasalmus piranha that could work for you. Serrasalmus eigenmanni and Serrasalmus sanchezi are the best options IMO. The Sanchezi will reach a maximum size of 5" and could stay in your tank permantly...the Eigenmanni will reach a maximum of about 7" in the tank. It would be adviseable to upgrade the Eigenmanni to atleast a 30G 3ft tank at maturity tho. Unlike most piranha the Serrasalmus genus are primairly solitar ambush hunters thus arnt very active either...but they have some pretty awesome teeth and personality to their keepers.

[young_cichlid]

i had thought about exodons but the piranha sounds nice

[jaysee]

Tiger barbs are pretty mean. If I drop a feeder guppy in they all converge on it like pirhanas and destroy it immediately...even after they've been fed.