Stocking for a Well-Established 20gal?

[Marinebio444]

I have a year-old 20 gallon tank (12" wide by 24" long by 16" high) that I want to restock. What fish would work well in it? I'm really good on cleaning and water changes, and i just got a new filter. I currently have 3 angels and 4 neons, of which i will give away the tetras and one of the angels. Now what?

[MCHRKiller]

Your tank isnt sufficient space for more than 1 angelfish with some tetras or corydoras and thats it. You would be better off to get rid of 2 of the angels and leave the neons.

1 Angel
6 Neons
1 Bristlenose

or

1 Angel
6 corydoras

[rich311k]

I have to agree one angel is more than enough. If the angel is a big one or becomes a big one the neons could be in danger. Beside that I agree with Jenn's stocking ideas.

[Marinebio444]

What if I sold/gave away all of them, and I totally restocked?

[MCHRKiller]

That would be your best option. You would have quite a few choices out there. Heres a stocking example that I would personally do for a tank of that size:

6-8 Cherry barbs or Harlequin Rasboras
3 Otos
3 Sparkling Gourami

or

12 Celestial Pearl Danios
3 Scarlet Badis
3 amano shrimp or 10 cherry shrimp



It would also be helpful if you posted some fish species that you are interested in keeping.

[Marinebio444]

Well, i kinda wanna start breeding fish, what are some easy ones that will make me at least some money?

[rich311k]

I would do a trio of apistos or a pair of blue rams and 6-8 rummy nose tetras.

[Marinebio444]

Are those easy to breed?

[MCHRKiller]

Generally...yes they are easy to breed. But do be aware when you factor in additional tanks to rear fry, food to feed the fry and then your time and effort doing daily WCs to ensure proper growth of the fry....breeding fish for an sort of "profit" is a bit of a lost cause.

[rich311k]

Not easy but they will breed. I posted that before you added the breeding part. The problem is anything easy to breed will be readily available and you wont get much for the fry.

Kribs would fit nicely, look great and are quite easy to breed.

[KingFisher]

IMO a pair of kribs would be the easiest fish to get to breed in a 20g, however, unless you have a larger commercial operation or some type of rare and expensive fish, you will not make much money at all on breeding. Also if you decide to breed fish, be sure to have people or a shop that will buy them before you get started, otherwise you may end up with 100 baby fish that no one wants.

I'm glad you decided to rehome all the angels because I think that nothing under a 29g would be enough for even a single one.

[Marinebio444]

if I got one of those breeders for inside my main tank, would that work, or do I really need another tank?

[MCHRKiller]

You would need another tank. Fry to grow properly need pristine water tons of space and feedings every 4-6hrs. You are also looking at doing daily to every other day 50% waterchanges. You also have to remember that stores wont purchase young cichlids until they are atleast 1-1.5".

[Marinebio444]

ok, scratch that whole breeding part, haha, I'm a sophomore in highschool who has lots of work and not a lot of money, so i wouldn't be able to sustain a breeding business

[Marinebio444]

Ok, the main ones I want are guppies, gouramis, and maybe a betta. If I have a betta and two gouramis, how many guppies do u think I could have? Without the betta? Without the gouramis? Without both?

[Maestro]

Bettas and Gouramis are generally a bad mix, because they are both anabantoids, which means they are territorials towards related species. A 20 gallon can host a Betta, or several different species of Gourami, such as Pygmy, Honey, or Dwarf.

Guppies also occupy the same level of the tank as Bettas and Gouramis, so the Guppies will probably be harrassed, there was even a topic about this a few days ago: [Only Registered Users Can See Links.]

So it's up to you to decide whether you want a Betta, Gourami, or Guppies. From there you should decide on a shoal of Tetras, Rasboras, etc. to occupy the middle portion, and a shoal of smaller Cories such as Panda or some other catfish to occupy the bottom.

[Marinebio444]

I'd probably want either Guppies or Gouramis. How many of each of these can I comfortably put in my tank?

[Lab_Rat]

For breeding purposes, I would not do the gouramis in a 20g. You could breed a ton of guppies in a 20g with no issue, and if you get selective with your patterning and tails you have your best shot at even being slightly profitable fish breeding. You could easily have 15-20 guppies in that size tank if you keep up with the maintenance, but remember to have a plan for all the fry.

[Maestro]

I'd probably want either Guppies or Gouramis. How many of each of these can I comfortably put in my tank?
With Gouramis, it ultimately depends on which species you decide on based on their sizes and territorial behavior.

However, I can't give overall numbers for either until you brainstorm a full stock list. When you do, please post it here and we will fine tune it for you.

[Marinebio444]

I visited another forum site where you could post a tank setup and the admin will decide whether the arrangement is good. I posted the following setup, and was given the all clear:
6 Female Guppies
6 male guppies
1 betta
2 Dwarf Gouramis

[Lab_Rat]

I visited another forum site where you could post a tank setup and the admin will decide whether the arrangement is good. I posted the following setup, and was given the all clear:
6 Female Guppies
6 male guppies
1 betta
2 Dwarf Gouramis

Not sure what site that was but I have no idea why they would find that a compatible mix. It is a bad stocking list for the following reasons: Betta + gourami = fights. 2 dwarf gouramis in a small area = fights. The livebearer ratio is way off as well. You generally want 1m/3f ratio so the females are not harassed to death.

A better stocking plan:
9 female guppies
3 male guppies
1 dwarf gourami OR 1 betta

If you're wanting to breed guppies for money, remember the gourami or betta will eat the fry as they drop.