Any room for new fish in my 20G?

[Shootamonkey2]

Hi all, I was wondering if I could get new fish in my tank. It is 20G (standard rectangle).
Currently I have:
1 Sunshine Molly
1 Pearl Gourami
4 GloFish
2 Fire, 2 Neon, and 2 Bloodfin Tetras
1 Rainbow fish
3 Cory Catfish
2 Guppies (female is pregnant)

I was going to keep one of the Guppies when they matured. I was planning on letting the Tetras die off before I would get new fish. I was planning on getting 3 more Cory Catfish and 2 Cichlids. Can I go for this?

[rich311k]

I would say you are pretty full. You also have several partial schools. What kind of rainbow fish is it?

[Brhino]

you're pretty well stocked at the moment, approaching overstocked. What kind of rainbowfish? Some of them are bigger than others. Your tetras, corys, and glo fish would all appreciate a slightly larger school, but then you'll be even closer to overstocked.

When you say Cichlids I hope you mean Dwarf Cichlids. Most kinds of Dwarf cichlid would work in that tank if there was room, but a "regular" cichlid would terrorize that tank.

[SunSchein89]

Hmm... well the new cories shouldn't cause too much trouble since they will mainly be on the bottom while the other fish will take up the rest of the room in your tank. Without knowing what cichlids you were looking to get, I can't really help you out on that one, but your tank is pretty close, in my opinion, to being fully stocked already. Also, with the tetras you may want to consider bringing two of the species back to your LFS and just making it 6 of one species so they could all school together and feel more secure. I'm not quite sure what the "rainbow fish" is either. If you mean a threadfin rainbow fish, then he would need some tank mates as well as he's a schooling fish too, so that may require some rearranging of livestock if you need to make two schools of fish in there. If it is a threadfin, I would say at the very least there should be three of them in there. Also, could you provide a picture or description of your tank so we can get a better idea of how crowded it is with decor/plants?

[Shootamonkey2]

I have a Madagascar Rainbowfish. I was waiting for the Tetras to die off before I would buy the Corys and Cichlids. Is that OK?

[Brhino]

the Madagascar Rainbowfish prefers a school and needs a bigger tank. He's not going to do very well by himself in that size tank.

Why are the tetras going to "die off", exactly? They can easily live 5 years or more.

Once again, what cichlid did you have in mind? some dwarf cichlids will work, most others will not.

[Piscine]

I'd say no to letting fish "die off". Just net them, throw them in a bag full of TANK WATER, and find a store that will take them back.

[Shootamonkey2]

My Rainbowfish seems to be happy alone. He interacts with the smaller fish. By the I mean play... I guess you are right about the Tetras. The Cichlids I was looking for are American I believe. I heard they don't get very big. Can anyone name a Cichlid that can stay at least 2 inches if possible?

[rich311k]

Apistos, rams shellies.

[Shootamonkey2]

Awesome. Do you think I can still go with the Cichlids and Corys?

[rich311k]

I would drop the bow and the gourami. Pick one species of tetra and get 6. Remove the others to another tank or back to the LFS. If you did that I could see a couple more corys and a pair of rams or apistos.

[Shootamonkey2]

Sorry but I'm extremely stubborn. I'm not going to drop the Pearl and the Bow. I paid a fortune for them... And I love them.

[rich311k]

Fair enough then. I would leave it as it is then. Except I would pick one tetra or another. A couple more corys would not matter one way or the other.

Think about getting a 4 foot tank and getting a half dozen of those bows. You will see them at their best then. I love my bows.

[Shootamonkey2]

Nah I just upgraded to a 20G.

[dane]

Sorry but I'm extremely stubborn. I'm not going to drop the Pearl and the Bow. I paid a fortune for them... And I love them.


i don't think you should keep fish then if your not willing to do what is best for the fish .

also why ask for advice if not willing to research and or take it

your already overstocked with what you have at 117% your under filtered
you have a very bad mix with not having proper numbers of the fish you do have

[Shootamonkey2]

I'm not underfiltered...

[Shootamonkey2]

So here is the fish I would like in my tank after my Tetras pass on. I actually will probably give the Tetras to my LFS.

1 Pearl Gourami
1 Bedotia (Madagascar Rainbowfish)
4 GloFish
1 Sunshine Molly
5 - 6 Cory Catfish
2 Guppies
1 - 2 Ram Cichlids

I believe that's about it... thumbs2:
And please stop telling me to give up my Bedotia. I asked my LFS if it was OK to keep him and they said yes because he is in particular a very social fish.

[Brhino]

And please stop telling me to give up my Bedotia. I asked my LFS if it was OK to keep him and they said yes because he is in particular a very social fish.

This guy's ([Only Registered Users Can See Links.]) LFS told him to keep 10 common goldfish in a 5 gallon tank. Just sayin'.

[Wild Turkey]

Taking advice from someone who stands to make money off of you is probably not a great idea. Its best to double check any information that an LFS gives you.

" Always keep more then one Bedotia geayi together in an aquarium."

- [Only Registered Users Can See Links.]

[Shootamonkey2]

Taking advice from someone who stands to make money off of you is probably not a great idea. Its best to double check any information that an LFS gives you.



- [Only Registered Users Can See Links.]

I did. I asked a friend's dad of mine who has 15 years of experience with fish and he also said it was fine.

[Irish2539]

I asked a friend's dad of mine who has 15 years of experience with fish and he also said it was fine.

Fine,? Its like putting a monkey in with a bunch of rabbits, Poor monkey wud be bored :hmm3grin2orange: !

But i can see u aint gonna change ur mind, At least u are willing to sort out some of ur other stock!:22:

[Shootamonkey2]

Yea... But what do you people think about my feature wishes for fish in the tank?

[dane]

I'm not underfiltered...

1 aquarclear 20 and a underground filter if you still have it yes is under filtered a AC 20 is perfect for a 10 gallon with stocking up too or below 100%

[dane]

So here is the fish I would like in my tank after my Tetras pass on. I actually will probably give the Tetras to my LFS.

1 Pearl Gourami
1 Bedotia (Madagascar Rainbowfish)
4 GloFish
1 Sunshine Molly
5 - 6 Cory Catfish
2 Guppies
1 - 2 Ram Cichlids

I believe that's about it... thumbs2:
And please stop telling me to give up my Bedotia. I asked my LFS if it was OK to keep him and they said yes because he is in particular a very social fish.


this is even more worse than your last . your now seriously overstocked !!

[sheamurai]

You might consider leaving the guppies or the rams off your list...if you did one or the other rather than both, you'd likely have a happier tank once those fish reach adult size. Or were you planning on rehoming them once they were full grown?

[Lab_Rat]

Yea... But what do you people think about my feature wishes for fish in the tank?

Wish for a bigger tank...that's the only way your stocking could be considered appropriate. Pearl gourami need more length than a 20g and the improper housing of the rainbowfish has already been mentioned. I would not recommend rams until you have more fishkeeping experience as they are not for beginners.

[Shootamonkey2]

Alright. But seriously, why would I need to get a bigger tank? I got a new one 2 months ago. -_-

[jimw/oscar]

Alright. But seriously, why would I need to get a bigger tank? I got a new one 2 months ago. -_-

But was it a big enough one for your purposes?

If a guy with 12 kids gets a new 2 seater car and then finds he can't use it to get his kids to school does it make sense for him to say "but seriously why would I need to get a bigger car I got a new one 2 months ago"

[Irish2539]

If a guy with 12 kids gets a new 2 seater car and then finds he can't use it to get his kids to school does it make sense for him to say "but seriously why would I need to get a bigger car I got a new one 2 months ago"

Haha! much better Analogy then my monkey and rabbits one,thumbs2:

[Shootamonkey2]

Yea that's true. The tank was supposed to be for my Pleco but he died. Then, I got a couple more fish to replace him since he was so big.

[Wild Turkey]

I did. I asked a friend's dad of mine who has 15 years of experience with fish and he also said it was fine.

Unfortunately, according to the general consensus and any article I can manage to find both of your sources were wrong.

15 years of fishkeeping unfortunately does not always equate to 15 years of experience. Hopefully if you take anything from this experience it will be that you need to double check your information, species profiles are always the best place to start.

For example; Ive owned a car for almost a decade but I still dont know jack about cars. ;)

[Shootamonkey2]

Uh huh... I see...

[Lady Hobbs]

From what I'm seeing here from your posts is you are asking people for advice but when they give it, you shoot them down. They offer their opinions only to be told you won't listen so what is the purpose in asking the questions? When you don't hear what it is you want to hear, you start another thread asking the same questions again.

Twice you have written you are waiting on your tetra's to die so you can cram your tank with even more fish. Tetra's can live for several years if cared for but to purchase them only to sit and wait for them to die is a very unusal reaction to this hobby. The rest of us try to keep our fish alive and work on our tanks so that they do.

If you have your other small tank, why not set that one up as well and move some of your fish into that one? Your tank size went up 10 gallons, not 100, and you still have a small tank and still need to pay attention to stocking levels. It does little good to increase tank size if you again overstock it.

[Plant Man]

From what I'm seeing here from your posts is you are asking people for advice but when they give it, you shoot them down. They offer their opinions only to be told you won't listen so what is the purpose in asking the questions? When you don't hear what it is you want to hear, you start another thread asking the same questions again.

Twice you have written you are waiting on your tetra's to die so you can cram your tank with even more fish. Tetra's can live for several years if cared for but to purchase them only to sit and wait for them to die is a very unusal reaction to this hobby. The rest of us try to keep our fish alive and work on our tanks so that they do.

If you have your other small tank, why not set that one up as well and move some of your fish into that one? Your tank size went up 10 gallons, not 100, and you still have a small tank and still need to pay attention to stocking levels. It does little good to increase tank size if you again overstock it.

Nicely written!

If I could add something to this I would have to say "buy a larger filter, you are underfiltered".