Community 20gal

[pyratess]

I want to start a new tank and was thinking over which fish would be best together. Any insights & suggestions would be great.

1 Dwarf Gourami
1 Sailfin Molly
2 Swordtails
4 Harlequin Rasboras
4 Zebra Danios
1 Bristlenose Catfish

I also like Boeseman's Rainbowfish - would they be a better addition than other species? How many would I have to get for them to be happy? (I've read different opinions on different sites...)

I'm wondering if instead of having a small school of Rasboras and a small school of Danios, if I should just go with one bigger school of one species.

I'm mostly afraid that this is too overstocked for 20gal. In that case, which would be best together?

Also, are these guys compatible? I've done a fair amount of research but if anyone has any personal experiences with these fish together, that would be appreciated.

[Dave66]

Depends on if that's a pure sailfin mollie or not whether your tank is of sufficient size to keep one with your other choices. Pure velifera sailfin mollie can approach six inches. If it's a hybrid, about half that.

Boseman's rainbowfish are nice, but a proper school of them of six or more would be too much for the size of your tank. Were it me, I'd have six or eight harlequins and zebras, and the goramie. Bristlenose catfishes, if it's the one commonly available, grows to five inches. I'd replace him with a smaller corydorus species, like Corydorus panda, which grow to under two inches, five of them would be suitable. The swordtails, either two males or two females, for obvious reasons, but if it were my tank, I'd omit swordtails all together, since they can be hard on smaller fishes.

You really have a limit of what you can reasonably keep in a tank that small. So several danios and rasboras, some corys, and a dwarf goramie. Live plants will be helpful as well to aid with stability in your tank.

Dave

[pyratess]

Thanks! I'll have to talk it over with my brother (we're working on this together) while we wait for the tank to cycle (: Any suggestions for the "best" way to to cycle a tank?

[flydustydawg]

There is a really good sticky about cycling tanks. I would check that out it has everything you need to know.