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Small schooling fish ideas for my new 20 gallon fresh water tank?


JS Fish
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Setting up 20 gallon tank. Gonna have cherry shrimp, honey gouramis, maybe peacock goudeons, and a pleco.

Any ideas for a good small school fish that gets between 0.5 to 1.5 inches long?

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Edited by JS Fish 1324
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On 1/27/2024 at 6:19 PM, xXInkedPhoenixX said:

Of course your parameters and the fish preference should always be checked but I'd like to suggest:

Emerald Dwarf Rasboras

Ember Tetras

Kubotai Rasboras

I've never seen the emerald dwarf rasboras before. Are those common to find in local fish stores like pet super market?

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On 1/27/2024 at 6:25 PM, xXInkedPhoenixX said:

They're not going to be common sadly no. Probably would have to buy them online or have a fish store order them for you if they can. 

Ok, thanks

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On 1/27/2024 at 6:24 PM, JS Fish 1324 said:

I've never seen the emerald dwarf rasboras before. Are those common to find in local fish stores like pet super market?

I personally have never seen those in like petsmart for example. I recommend: White Cloud Mountain minnows, green neon tetras,….trying to 🤔 think….

Zebra danios or cherry barbs and the like.

Harqulin rosabras

You could prob have a army of. Shrimp in a 20 but not everyone likes just shrimp.😄

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I might also be cautious with the honey gourami and shrimp. they for sure will eat shrimplets. How about a large school; of chili rasboras, maybe 30+. with some green neons, possibly. play off the red and green contrast.

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On 1/27/2024 at 6:28 PM, Bigdog99 said:

I personally have never seen those in like petsmart for example. I recommend: White Cloud Mountain minnows, green neon tetras,….trying to 🤔 think….

Zebra danios or cherry barbs and the like.

Harqulin rosabras

You could prob have a army of. Shrimp in a 20 but not everyone likes just shrimp.😄

Yea, I was thinking about haraulin rasboras

On 1/27/2024 at 6:45 PM, Tony s said:

I might also be cautious with the honey gourami and shrimp. they for sure will eat shrimplets. How about a large school; of chili rasboras, maybe 30+. with some green neons, possibly. play off the red and green contrast.

I was planning on putting java moss in the tank in a place the honey gouramis wont go often. There are also some places the shrimplets can hide away fro the gouramis

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Also, I was planning to let the shrimp population to grow to atleast 20 before putting in the gouramis. That way, the shrimp will be completely settled in.

Edited by JS Fish 1324
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On 1/27/2024 at 4:45 PM, Tony s said:

How about a large school; of chili rasboras, maybe 30+. with some green neons, possibly. play off the red and green contrast.

I have a school of 20 Chili’s with another 10 or so Green Neons in my 20 long blackwater tank. They’re great together. 

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My best advice is to ensure that all the fish you’re wanting to stock it with prefer the same temperature, and to be careful with what kind of Pleco you get. Lots of Pleco’s get massive, so make sure you pick one that’s appropriate for your 20 gallon tank. They also like to dig (at least my Bristlenose do), so just be ready for that. 

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On 1/27/2024 at 8:08 PM, GoofyGarra said:

Endler's Livebearers maybe?

 

Na, I'm lookin for a fish that schools pretty tight and looks good in the 20 gallon I have set up.

On 1/27/2024 at 8:16 PM, JS Fish said:

Na, I'm lookin for a fish that schools pretty tight and looks good in the 20 gallon I have set up.

They are pretty but I dont think they will go well especially with my shrimp

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ember and neon don't school in a 20 ; they are fine fishes - but the tank has to be fairly large to see schooling behavior. In my 8 foot aquarium my cardinals are finally schooling. 

For something like a 20 high; you might try kubotia rasbora but to be honest even if they swim constantly a 20 just isn't much swimming room. Rather than a schooling fish (which really need a longer aquarium); i'd look for something like ember which mostly will just sit around looking pretty. Another option is green neon tetra (smaller cousin to neon tetra). I would stay away from larger fishes like cardinals and neon though i suppose you can do neon if there is not much else. Most domestic tetra commonly sold will be flexible with water hardness unless you are extreme - certainly in the medium range - tds 150 or so there shouldn't be a noticeable problem. If you are up around 300 or so i'd look at live bearers which prefer harder water.

 

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On 1/27/2024 at 8:47 PM, Tony s said:

I love the look of neon tetras, but for the life of me, I can't keep them alive. Jason Adams at prime-time aquatics has said if you want a school of 10, you'll need to buy 20-30.

the genetics are just trash here.

The first month is tough but if you get past that keeping them 5+ years is easy enough

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On 1/27/2024 at 9:59 PM, Scapexghost said:

I love the look of neon tetras, but for the life of me, I can't keep them alive. Jason Adams at prime-time aquatics has said if you want a school of 10, you'll need to buy 20-30.

the genetics are just trash here.

In all fairness, I believe Jason has fairly hard tap water, and Neons tend to be a softwater fish.  While Neons and such can adapt, I believe Neons are predominantly wild caught.

I usually get better than 90% survival on green neon tetras shipped from Aqua Huna.  They have very soft water very close to my tap and tank water.  I raise my GH to around 4-5 degrees and my KH is kept at around 1-2 degrees. I have very little ongoing mortality of them as well.  I think I have had two pass from swim bladder issue out of about 30  in 2 years that have made it past quarantine.

Edited by Pepere
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On 1/27/2024 at 8:47 PM, Tony s said:

I love the look of neon tetras, but for the life of me, I can't keep them alive. Jason Adams at prime-time aquatics has said if you want a school of 10, you'll need to buy 20-30.

the genetics are just trash here.

i usually go for wild caught tetra though to be honest i've had good look with the ones aquahuna sell. I haven't purchased neon in a long time since all my aquariums are large and i go for the prettier (imho) cardinals. In a 20 i'd look for green neon which will give you neon in a small package.

On 1/29/2024 at 7:19 AM, Pepere said:

 While Neons and such can adapt, I believe Neons are predominantly wild caught.

I

That was true in the past but these days most neon and cardinals are tank raised in large farms. You can get brazil and columbia cardinals (don't know about neon) if you look for them but they are less common. 20 years ago most were wc because the industry didn't know how to mass breed them.

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On 1/29/2024 at 2:22 PM, anewbie said:

That was true in the past but these days most neon and cardinals are tank raised in large farms. You can get brazil and columbia cardinals (don't know about neon) if you look for them but they are less common. 20 years ago most were wc because the industry didn't know how to mass breed them.

Are the Brazil and Columbia farms using river water which would also be soft?

 

 

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