Considering a species-only 20 gallon setup

[laritheloud]

I'm in the planning stages of my first 'colony'/beeding project setup in a 20 gallon long once my 55 gallon is rounded out, but I'm not sure where I want to start. Initially I was thinking a friendly and rewarding livebearer like platies, limias, or goodeids, but I also really like the idea of picking up a pair of Pelvicachromis Taeniatus Nigerian Red or Moliwe (species of Kribensis) and letting them parent their babies. My water has been alkaline (dKH 10 to 12) and pretty soft on the GH front, and I add some minerals with wondershells to dGH 6. I don't really want to mess with with parameters more than that.

The only thing I've bred so far are my diamond tetras, and it's been a total accident the whole time. They happen to be super prolific, though, and they've doubled their numbers from 6 to 12 and counting in a community tank. I'm impressed that fry keep surviving.

What are some interesting breeding projects or single-species 'oddball fish' setups for a 20 long? Please don't recommend puffers, I don't feel like they're a fit for me. I think I have a couple of LFSs that will take my overflow in exchange for pay or credit, but I am one of those that likes to hold on to a thriving colony for as long as I can handle the water changes. 🤣 

[Colu]

I would definitely start breeding some wild type livebearers  black chinned livebearers remain small or  liberty Molly's poecilia salavtoris are really colourful or orange lined guppies 

[ScottieB]

I'm converting a 20l to a shell dweller tank, I think that size tank is build for them. Your water parameters are low for them but using a fine crushed coral or a "cichlid sand" would help buffer all those numbers up. 

I do love colony breeding livebearers too. Maybe something on the C.A.R.E.S list? Then as you get them to a LFS others can help with the conservation efforts. 

[laritheloud]

On 3/8/2022 at 11:09 AM, Colu said:

I would definitely start breeding some wild type livebearers  black chinned livebearers remain small or  liberty Molly's poecilia salavtoris are really colourful or orange lined guppies 

This is honestly at the top of my list. What beautiful strains!!!

[Guppysnail]

Not a live bearer but have you considered something like panda corydora. My 20L panda tank is crazy fun relaxing and they lay just enough eggs that I will not get overwhelmed like livebearers and I hatched a few in a fluval breeder box no chemicals needed. Pandas are hardy, easy and carefree. On my highest stress or sad day they are incredible at bringing me around. Here is a quick clip of them eating tubifex. They clown around the entire tank. 

 

[laritheloud]

On 3/8/2022 at 11:40 AM, Guppysnail said:

Not a live bearer but have you considered something like panda corydora. My 20L panda tank is crazy fun relaxing and they lay just enough eggs that I will not get overwhelmed like livebearers and I hatched a few in a fluval breeder box no chemicals needed. Pandas are hardy, easy and carefree. On my highest stress or sad day they are incredible at bringing me around. Here is a quick clip of them eating tubifex. They clown around the entire tank. 

 

To which I say: Why not both panda cories and livebearers? 🤣 might be ambitious. I do love my catfish, though. Thank you, friend!

[Colu]

On 3/8/2022 at 4:40 PM, Guppysnail said:

Not a live bearer but have you considered something like panda corydora. My 20L panda tank is crazy fun relaxing and they lay just enough eggs that I will not get overwhelmed like livebearers and I hatched a few in a fluval breeder box no chemicals needed. Pandas are hardy, easy and carefree. On my highest stress or sad day they are incredible at bringing me around. Here is a quick clip of them eating tubifex. They clown around the entire tank. 

 

You can't go wrong with panda Cory's I had regular large spawns when I use to keep a group in a species only with a layer of Javan moss 

[laritheloud]

On 3/8/2022 at 1:46 PM, Colu said:

You can't go wrong with panda Cory's I had regular large spawns when I use to keep a group in a species only with a layer of Javan moss 

TONS of moss in that tank right now so I have that covered. I've been hoping my corydoras elegans might spawn in my 29 gallon tank but no dice yet. Meanwhile, the Diamond Tetras keep multiplying 🤣

[Colu]

On 3/8/2022 at 7:03 PM, laritheloud said:

TONS of moss in that tank right now so I have that covered. I've been hoping my corydoras elegans might spawn in my 29 gallon tank but no dice yet. Meanwhile, the Diamond Tetras keep multiplying 🤣

I had great success breeding Cory's with large water changes with cooler water

[laritheloud]

On 3/8/2022 at 3:21 PM, Colu said:

I had great success breeding Cory's with large water changes with cooler water

To be fair, Colu, I also only have one female in my group of six. It miiiiight be a bit of a long shot to get my elegans to breed, though I've heard it's favorable to have more males than females in a group of cories. I do feed daphnia and higher-protein foods several times a week and change 30% of the water weekly, temp in the tank is set to 77-78 degrees with my Inkbird and I usually change it with 75/76 degree water. Maybe someday they'll give it a go!

[Beardedbillygoat1975]

Livebearers, shellies, and corys are all in my wheelhouse. I love my F. gardneri killifish. Super easy to colony breed just need room and lots of plant cover and they do great. A dwarf cichlid setup would be great, your choice of apisto with the corys and why not a livebearer and you've got a breeding for profit setup. 

[Anon]

On 3/8/2022 at 7:43 AM, laritheloud said:

Initially I was thinking a friendly and rewarding livebearer like platies, limias, or goodeids

I'm breeding platies and goodeids right now. Platies are an easy, stress-free choice with tons of variety. You can easily get 20-30 fry from one mom. They'll eat just about anything, and they show zero signs of aggression. They're also incredibly hardy... all of mine survived a pretty bad nitrite spike when I first started the hobby.  

On the other hand, keeping my goodeids (X. doadrioi) has been somewhat stressful. I actually signed up here to ask for help, because the initial pair I bought was trying to kill each other. They ended up tearing the fins on a few fish while I found the right candidates for dither fish. Some goodeids birth less than a dozen offspring at a time, they breed less as they get older, and they only breed seasonally for some people. They're also very sensitive to poor water conditions. If you go with goodeids, I recommend checking out the articles on Select Aquatics and the Goodeid Working Group. 

Platies are going to be more "fun" while goodeids reward patience. Just something to consider! 

Edited March 9, 2022 by Anon
misspoke about offspring #s

[laritheloud]

On 3/8/2022 at 4:53 PM, Anon said:

I'm breeding platies and goodeids right now. Platies are an easy, stress-free choice with tons of variety. You can easily get 20-30 fry from one mom. They'll eat just about anything, and they show zero signs of aggression. They're also incredibly hardy... all of mine survived a pretty bad nitrite spike when I first started the hobby.  

On the other hand, keeping my goodeids (X. doadrioi) has been somewhat stressful. I actually signed up here to ask for help, because the initial pair I bought was trying to kill each other. They ended up tearing the fins on a few fish while I found the right candidates for dither fish. Goodeids only birth 2-5 offspring at a time, they breed less as they get older, and they only breed seasonally for some people. They're also very sensitive to poor water conditions. If you go with goodeids, I recommend checking out the articles on Select Aquatics and the Goodeid Working Group. 

Platies are going to be more "fun" while goodeids reward patience. Just something to consider! 

This is extremely helpful and I appreciate your experience with goodeids. I was reading up on Select Aquatics about them and didn't realize they had a little aggressive streak. I knew they weren't quite as prolific breeders as platies which I was okay with; not so okay with the aggression amongst themselves!

Thank you very much. I'll look into a wild strain of platy or metallic livebearer. I love liberty mollies but I'm nervous that my water isn't 'liquid rock' enough for them... plus, they seem to be pretty difficult to source! Least Killifish I'm saving for a 10 gallon tank. 

Edited March 9, 2022 by laritheloud

[Goosedub]

I just picked up 2 pair of zoogoneticus tequila at an auction this weekend I am super stoked to work with. I also have a breeding colony of multis in a 20L and that is probably one of my favorite tanks to watch.

[PineSong]

I am impressed with your diamond tetra success--they are so pretty, it's nice to imagine having an assembly line for those.

Have you considered wrestling halfbeaks? They're oddballs and livebearers and so cute.

[Jeff]

Chili Rasboras. You could do a boatload of them in a 20. Like 40-50. That would be friggin cool!

[SJ fishing]

I have 3 tanks going, all with shrimp.   1 tank with platys and the other 2 have guppy’s, it’s fun to watch the population grow!  Although I’m getting over run with around 200 platy babies so had to pull the males out lol

[laritheloud]

On 3/8/2022 at 8:56 PM, PineSong said:

I am impressed with your diamond tetra success--they are so pretty, it's nice to imagine having an assembly line for those.

Have you considered wrestling halfbeaks? They're oddballs and livebearers and so cute.

They are so neat looking! I don’t have a full lid on the tank and they are aggressive with males so I’m not sure they are a fit. Here’s a pic of my latest tetra baby in the community, I always find it so adorable when I spot another one! This little guy has been swimming around for a couple of weeks and it’s brave enough to hang out with the other fish.