Plans for community tank, need advice ;)

[Allie]

I am new to the aquarium hobby, and I have been planning what fish I am eventually going to get in a 20 gallon tank. The community will be tropical, and I have been doing quite a bit of research on all the species, as well as talking to many pet store associates, but continue to find contradictions to everything I've read and heard:confused:. My hope is that I can get some opinions from others more experienced than I with these kinds of fish. Here is my tentative list of what I'd eventually like to have:

3+ Zebra Danios
1 Leopard Danio
3-4 Fancy Guppies
3+ Neon/Black Neon Tetras
1 Bottom feeder
2 Mollys
1 Swordtail
1 Platy
1 Female Betta

Any advice on temperaments, temperature, water turbulence preferences, ph and water hardness, or general advice to a newbie is extremely welcome!

[Kissyboots]

Welcome!!

A good guideline when stocking a tank is to go with the "one inch of fish per one gallon of water rule of thumb."

My 20g community tank used to have the following:

3 Swordtails
2 Peppered cories
2 Otos
4 Black neon tetras
2 Ghost shrimp

So I think your list went over the stocking limit.

As for the fish:
-Not sure about danios, never had them before.
-Guppies reproduce really fast, so if you get them, make sure you have males only.
-Make sure you really want tetras. There's lots of different kinds, but I got VERY bored with my black neons...
-A good bottomfeeder would be some kind of cory. But they like to live in groups so you should get at least three.
-I hear mollies get really large.
-Swordtails are really active and also reproduce, but the offspring usually get eaten.
-Not sure about platies, but I think they are similar to swords.
-Bettas are cool. The males tend to be more aggressive than the females, but it really depends on the fish. Just remember: they don't like current quite as much as other fish, so you need a place for them to lay around. And they don't eat flake food. They need their own food; I use betta bites.

You'll probably also want to get a testing kit. I have the API Master Test Kit which I got from Freshwater and Saltwater Aquarium Supplies at AquariumGuys.com fairly cheap. (They also have a discount for us members so be sure to get the code for that!)

Anyway, I think I'll end my wall of text now. Good luck and feel free to ask more questions as you get setup. Don't forget to cycle!!!

[brian1973]

Welcome to the tank... Kissy ended her wall of text so I will begin mine

Mollies can grow up to 4- 5 in. even though mine only got about 3, guppies/Mollies/platies/ swords are all livebearers becareful getting any females because they can have alot of babies over a 3 month period.

I would say try to follow the 1 inch of fish per gallon rule. You can go alittle over but for a beginner my advice is try to stay under. That means you take the adult size of the fish you want to keep and once you hit the 20 inch mark you are fully stocked. for example 2 Mollies we will go 3in each times 2 equals 6 so you have 14 to go.

As for bottom feeders check out planetcatfish.com to get some ideas if you dont want to go with cories.

My advice ditch the danios, mollies, and betta.. platies and swords are basically the same thing, according to an article I was reading in a fish mag a couple months ago 99% of the platies on the market are actually a cross between swords and platies.

Mollies can be aggressive even though they are a community fish. The LFS will probably tell you to use aquarium salt, you dont need to so dont waste your money. I would recommend the test kit Kissy linked you to.

Good luck and dont be afraid to ask questions.

[iapetus]

Actually, the first piece of advice I would give is to narrow down the scope of your questions. They're pretty open-ended, so it's hard to give you specific advice. (I hope that doesn't come across as harsh; it's meant to help you get the most out of the Tank! )

The first thing that strikes me about your stocking list is the variety. For a 20G tank, you've got a lot, maybe too much. I say this particularly because you've got a few types of schooling fish. I would say go with either tetras or danios, but not both (most, but not all, types of tetras and danios school); and, because of their schooling nature, go with at least 6, not just 3 or 4.

Research the adult sizes of the fish you pick. For example, you don't want to take home a common pleco as your bottomfeeder, as they reach 12+ inches, which is way too big for your tank.

Make sure you cycle the tank first. Most of us recommend a fishless cycle.

IMO, swordtails get bigger than mollies.

Ditto on the API test kit.

It's not a surprise that you'll get conflicting advice; that's why research beforehand is key.

Finally, welcome to the Tank, Allie!

[brian1973]

Originally Posted by iapetus

IMO, swordtails get bigger than mollies.

How big do your swords get...maybe I didnt feed enough..lol

[iapetus]

Originally Posted by brian1973

How big do your swords get...maybe I didnt feed enough..lol

The largest one has got to be at least 4" long. I've never seen a molly that comes even close to her in size.

[brian1973]

I had 1 female molly that was about 31/2 to 4 when she died but the rest stayed around 2.5 to 3.

[Fishmonger70]

Actually a pleco is going to take a while to reach 12 inches. I've had mine for 2 years now and he's only about. Three and a half to 4 inches long so far. Gives you some time in case you want to upgrade your tank in a couple of years.

[blue_ram]

Originally Posted by Kissyboots

-Make sure you really want tetras. There's lots of different kinds, but I got VERY bored with my black neons...

In a larger groups and when they get bigger the black neons are mare active and stay towards the top middle of the tank. When small and with only a few, they tend to stay closer to the bottom and closer to cover.

Maybe in your new 55, you might want to give a school of 6-8 a try, they are fun to watch when they play in the water current and they get 2 - 2.5 inches so they are a medium sized tetra. Drop a little bit of frozen daphinia in the water with them and they frenzy, kinda reminds you that there is a little bit of pirannah in every tetra.

[midmichman80]

I have had standard plecos go from 3" to 10" in a matter of a few months. My brother in law kept one for a year or two with no size change, he gave it to me and the thing grew 10" in a couple months. I don't feed my plecos very often either, once a week. They can grow a bit quicker than one would think.