Help me choose a fish for my 20 Long

[Ken 153]

My 20 long is finally ready for fish.

Ammonia-0

Nitrite-0

Nitrate-30ish

pH-8.1

KH-240 maxed out the strip

GH-18 maxed out the strip

A Marineland Pro 125 and a medium CoOp sponge for filtration.

I have a few characteristics in mind but would like help finding the fish fulfills them.

Something that tops out in the 3 inch range, I only plan to have 6-8 in the tank.

Not aggressive, but active.

Pretty but not flashy.

I kind of don’t want to deal with livebearers and lots of babies.

Probably the only tankmates will be Hillstream Loaches, and whether I want them or not, snails.

I'd like to hear your personal experiences.

What am I looking for?

 

 

[Andy's Fish Den 543]

I would go for a pair of kribensis, then maybe some rasbora swimming around the upper levels.

[Colu 644]

With the higher pH I would go with some  BUTTERFLY GOODEID males 2.5in females 3.2in

[David Ellsworth 46]

Maybe a small group of threadfin rainbows?

[JettsPapa 369]

I was all ready to suggest you duplicate the stocking in my 20 long with sparkling gouramis, celestial pearl danios, and pygmy corys, until I saw you want larger and fewer fish.

Since that's the case, maybe a single school of one of the mid-sized tetras, like lemon, serpae, or pristella?  Or a group of honey gouramis?

[Ryan S. 54]

Rainbow shiners with hillstream loaches is what I have in my 20 and I love it!  Both are cooler water and enjoy stronger filtration.  Shiners are active, look really good and are hardy.  I also have cherry shrimp in mine and they do quite well also.  With your rock piles you could easily pull this off. 

[H.K.Luterman 617]

I've had no experience keeping them, but I'd love some Florida Flagfish. They really look neat and they're not something you see often. I think they'd do well in a 20 long.

[ArneDoug 14]

@Ken hi what a lovely tank, I would stock it with 6-8 danios like of a zebra or leopard variety, I recommend these fish because in my experience they like a twenty long because it gives them the room to swim. I would not get these if you don’t want something fast or flashy, since danios want to dart around and some when the light hits them can actually “flashy.” If this tank is in the living room that can be really cool but places like in your bedroom can be really annoying. Best of luck, please upload pictures when it’s done!

[James Black 1,045]

As soon as I saw that tank I imediatly thought, Apistogramma. You could do one apistogramma and then some harlequin rasboras or some rummy nose tetra. That would look GREAT

[MAC 733]

I like the suggestion above or threadfin rainbows. 

Another thought would be a group of bigger body tetras like black skirts, bleeding heart or diamond tetras. I've never personally kept them but I think the diamonds would really pop in that tank. 

Edited February 6 by MAC
Really like those yellow rocks by the way.

[Jmcloonan 5]

Loaches, Kribs, and Furcatas? More importantly I wanted to say your aquascaping is awesome! Very well done. 

[Rickf 2]

Cpd and dwarf corys!

[Kat_Rigel 255]

So many good suggestions! I second the danios suggestion, but keep in mind there are different types than the plain zebra danio. For example, I have kyatgit danios, which I really like.

Tetras are a good one too, and I am a fan of pencilfish, but those may be a tad small.

What about emperor tetras? They have these cool blue and yellow eyes that can really stand out, and they are also a larger tetra.

[Ken 153]

Thank you for all the suggestions, this forum is great. I'm busy googling all of them. There are so many that I either hadn't considered or didn't know existed. Analysis paralysis is killing me.  😉

[Jmcloonan 5]

I second emperor tetras. One of my favorites. Trying to decide if I can afford a big enough batch for my new 150

[JettsPapa 369]

Black neon tetras would also be a good option, in case you want something to add to your analysis paralysis.

[ererer 39]

Lots of great fish being suggested, but I'm concerned that many of them should have softer water with a lower ph, esp. many of the south american fish being suggested, like apistos.

[b_ball34 9]

I would do Praecox rainbows.

 

[binkysmom 20]

red neon rainbows (psuedomugils). Gorgeous and a very fun, active fish. 

[ElTigre 8]

A dream fish of mine is a chocolate gourami.  I think it would look awesome in that scape with maybe some corys on the bottom and a small group of chili rasboras while the gourami would be the star of the show!

[Ken 153]

22 hours ago, ElTigre said:

A dream fish of mine is a chocolate gourami.  I think it would look awesome in that scape with maybe some corys on the bottom and a small group of chili rasboras while the gourami would be the star of the show!

That really is stunning. I wonder if you could keep a small group in a 20 long. I know nothing about gouramis. Aren't  they quarrelsome?

[brighamthatcher 6]

for some reason my first thought is glowlight tetras. they could look pretty good in that tank.

[ElTigre 8]

@Ken i would recommend keeping just one chocolate gourami in a 20 long and just have a couple dither fish to hang out with it. 

 

[Ken 153]

4 hours ago, brighamthatcher said:

for some reason my first thought is glowlight tetras. they could look pretty good in that tank.

They would, the lighting and background would really make them pop. I have Glowlight Rasboras (Rasbora Hengeli) in a tank a couple feet away from this one . They are quite similar to the glowlight tetras and really pretty little guys. Here's a not so good picture I just took.

[JettsPapa 369]

14 hours ago, Ken said:

That really is stunning. I wonder if you could keep a small group in a 20 long. I know nothing about gouramis. Aren't  they quarrelsome?

You're probably thinking of dwarf gouramis or 3-spot gouramis (blue and gold), which certainly can be.  Other species, like honey gouramis and pearl gouramis, are much less aggressive, and are suitable for community tanks, and can be kept in groups of their own species.  They're great fish.