Post up your fish tanks/aquariums!

I'm sure I'm going to have a lot.

Right now I'm trying to decide what mix of fish to eventually go with and what to start out with. With such a small tank I know I won't be able to have a lot of fish (or anything that gets very big), but I'd like to try to have as diverse a selection as possible.

I'm not a big fan of mollies or guppies.. so right off that bat that eliminates two popular fish that would seem to work well with a tank of this size.

I've always liked clown loaches, red tail sharks, and corydoras. Neon tetras aren't bad but I'm assuming they can't be placed with any of the aforementioned fish. Are there any cichlids that are small enough to be kept in 20 gallon tank? I know most grow to be a decent size.

Any suggestion on different fish and what does and doesn't go together would be appreciated :thumb:
 
These two red spotted sevs followed me home :hiding: the little one is about the size of a quarter

8epu7ena.jpg
 
HeelsandEers said:
I'm sure I'm going to have a lot.

Right now I'm trying to decide what mix of fish to eventually go with and what to start out with. With such a small tank I know I won't be able to have a lot of fish (or anything that gets very big), but I'd like to try to have as diverse a selection as possible.

I'm not a big fan of mollies or guppies.. so right off that bat that eliminates two popular fish that would seem to work well with a tank of this size.

I've always liked clown loaches, red tail sharks, and corydoras. Neon tetras aren't bad but I'm assuming they can't be placed with any of the aforementioned fish. Are there any cichlids that are small enough to be kept in 20 gallon tank? I know most grow to be a decent size.

Any suggestion on different fish and what does and doesn't go together would be appreciated :thumb:
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Corydoras are great with the neon tetras. Cardinal tetras are similar but have more color and get about a half inch bigger. As for cichlids you could keep keyholes they stay small and are very passive even when breeding.
 
I'll look into some different tetras and those keyholes.

A few corys is about the only thing I'm certain on so far. I remember them always being easy going, relatively hardy fish.

Clown loaches aren't going to work with a 20 gallon tank. Any smaller loach that might?
 
Clown loaches will work for a while but will eventually need a much larger aquarium. There are smaller loaches but your choice of fish are mostly bottom dwellers. Corydoras always at the bottom, loach always at the bottom, and cichlids are the same. Also loaches and corydoras are schoolers/shoalers . So at least 3 of each will be the minimum. Keep in my size of tank and bioload. The more fish the more cleaning you have to do.
 
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I have a 10 gal tank with two kuhli loaches. Theyre not 'out and about' kinda fish but theyre cool to watch when you feed them. And since they hide under stuff they work well with most other cold water fish.
 
Very nice! Looks like he might have a nice head hump!

Have any new pics of the babies?
 
I hear ya! As long as you are doing well :)
Glad the babies are doing good too :D

oh! I appear to be ich free! :D
 
Yeah...they've been better for a few days now! It's awesome. I did a gravel clean a few days ago. Salt and heat was great. We just started to lower it down 2 degrees today. I'm going to do the gravel vac again tonight.
 
Flippercon said:
Clown loaches will work for a while but will eventually need a much larger aquarium. There are smaller loaches but your choice of fish are mostly bottom dwellers. Corydoras always at the bottom, loach always at the bottom, and cichlids are the same. Also loaches and corydoras are schoolers/shoalers . So at least 3 of each will be the minimum. Keep in my size of tank and bioload. The more fish the more cleaning you have to do.
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Didn't realize the cichlids were primarily bottom dwellers as well. I may have to stick with a few smaller corydoras for the primary bottom dwellers. I definitely don't want to overcrowd the tank but would like to keep it reasonably filled.


So I've been reading about the nitrogen cycle and the concept seems easy enough. I've just read so many different ways of going about this and items that need to be bought to start off and it seems a bit confusing.

Assuming I have nothing as far as water treatment and testing goes, what specifically would I need to get? I do have a bunch of old half used bottles of various things, but I'm going to go out on a limb and say they don't have a 8-10 year shelf life :giggle:

I do have a ph testing kit. Not sure if that would still be good or not?

What I do have:
tank
heater
pump/filter
colander
few decorations
syphon/vacuum
thermometer
nets

If anyone can think of anything else that is necessary/useful I'm open to suggestions.
 
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HeelsandEers said:
Didn't realize the cichlids were primarily bottom dwellers as well. I may have to stick with a few smaller corydoras for the primary bottom dwellers. I definitely don't want to overcrowd the tank but would like to keep it reasonably filled.


So I've been reading about the nitrogen cycle and the concept seems easy enough. I've just read so many different ways of going about this and items that need to be bought to start off and it seems a bit confusing.

Assuming I have nothing as far as water treatment and testing goes, what specifically would I need to get? I do have a bunch of old half used bottles of various things, but I'm going to go out on a limb and say they don't have a 8-10 year shelf life :giggle:

I do have a ph testing kit. Not sure if that would still be good or not?

What I do have:
tank
heater
pump/filter
colander
few decorations
syphon/vacuum
thermometer
nets

If anyone can think of anything else that is necessary/useful I'm open to suggestions.
Click to expand...
You will need a dechlorinator/water conditioner to remove anything harmful in tap water. You will also need an ammonia source to start the nitrogen cycle. Have you decided to cycle with fish or without? What kind of substrate are you going to use? As far as the tests just throw them out. I would get an API master freshwater test kit. They are a whole lot cheaper on line vs mom and pop. The kits usually have a 3 year shelf life on them.
As for the cichlids yes they are bottom dwellers, but by far the most rewarding fish to keep. If you choose to go with a fishless cycle simple fish food will do as an ammonia source.
 
Which would you recommend? The fishless cycle does seem a bit better, all be it, a relatively long cycle. I do have some ammonia hydroxide as well (90% NH3, 10% water) which I believe would work.

I wish I could get some mature filter media but no one I know has a fish tank :giggle:
 
Went to the lfs today and told them about how I lost one of the red spotted gold severums from the same bunch they had there. The owner gave me him:

radumy2y.jpg
 
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