jerilovesfrogs

hi......i am going to be setting up my 20H soon....i'd like some feedback on some ideas i had for fish.

*julii cory-how many? i'd like 4

*6-8 harlequin rasboras

*one pearl gourami

* 1-2 mystery snails

emily8

Good thing you weren't going to have all of those...when I first read that I was like whoa! overstocked! but watch for dwarf gouramis because they can have the dwarf gourami disease. Cories in general like to be in schools of 4 or more, but they're happier and more active the more you have, so make sure you watch for that when you're stocking. Do you know if it'd be a 20 gallon long or tall?

jerilovesfrogs

no, i know that would be overstocked if i had all of them. it's a tall. know anything about any of the others i listed? thanks for the advice on gouramis....

emily8

You could MAYBE do an angelfish since it's a tall, although I don't know if you're interested in that. The endler's pretty much have the same requirements as guppies. Cardinal tetra will do better in a school of 6 or more, yes, but if you have like 4 or 5 they should be alright. In place of a dwarf gourami, what about a honey?

hooedc

Cherry barbs are a schooling fish. They should be in a school of at least 6 or more. that way u will be able to see more of their character that way. u keep them in 2 to they will probably tend to be a little shy. You can look at all the fish profiles on the website and get a better ideal of what u would like to stock in your tank.

aquariumgirl lauren

Hi! Yea cherry barbs are schooling fish and they are best when kept with 4-6 other cherry barbs. Golden gouramis would be a good choice instead of the dwarf gourami, but you could also do a pearl gourami or a pink kissing gourami. Any three of these gouramis would be good for your tank. GOOD LUCK

kcarmartinez

What about...
6 Cardinals
5 Peppered Cories
1 Honey Gourami

That would give you your bottom feeder, your schooling fish and a centerpiece fish. Cories are so cute in groups.
I like the cherry barbs but have no experiece with them. They are supposed to be peaceful though.
Angelfish would get too big for your tank.

rae64

I am pretty sure the kissing gouramis get to be the size of dinner plates... perhaps you are thinking of thick-lips, as they would be an excellent candidate for your tank.

jerilovesfrogs

thanks rae64, kc and lauren.....yeah honey gouramis are pretty.....how about 2-3 of them, instead of one? i've seen kissing gouranmis...they are so funny! not heard of the golden ones though. i like the idea of cherry barbs, or cardinals for nice color....just can't decide which.

jr177

that seems lke a good plan...Have you thought of tiger barbs i highly recomend them because of all the different varieties and hardiness. The most important thing to do when you get any type of schooling fish is that you get more than 6 of them.and cardinals or cherry barbs sound like a good choice.

gmen4life

convicts lol ill give you some for free

rae64

Haha Honeys would not go well with the tigers or the cons... lol. They would pretty much rip the poor things to shreads! IMO, tiger barbs and cons are best in species tanks, with some exceptions (such as very large tankmates for the con)I would say the less agressive barbs you are looking at are a much better choice for your tank. I am pretty sure gmen was kidding about the cons... lol... unless you just kept a pair!

Multiple honeys are fine, there should not be any agression problems. But, the thick-lips (look a LOT like honeys) I think are solitary. N0t 100% on that though...

Rhan

My vote is:

1 honey gourami (I've had mine 2 weeks and fallen in love with it)
5-6 pygmy cories (because it's a 20H, and that leaves not much of a footprint for larger cories)
6 cardinal tetras or 6 neon tetras
4 male Endlers (some people report aggression in male livebearers, but my 4 male endlers get on well, they school together )

Or another option:
2 honey gouramis (I've heard they can tolerate others of their own kind - I haven't actually tried it myself though)
5-6 pygmy cories
6 cardinal tetras or 6 neon tetras


Either of these options should allow for a colourful, but also likely to be peaceful, happy community tank

Edit: Another thing with these options, they'd still give you a little tiny bit of room to play, I believe, as I'm pretty sure they wouldn't overstock your tank. If anyone disagrees, feel free to do so

jerilovesfrogs

hi...thanks for the vote i'm not really sure what pygmy corys are....the peppered ones only get 1-3 inches.....so that's not too big. what about this combo: 5-6 neon dwarf rainbowfish, 1 honey gourami, 4-5 peppered corys.

the reason i left out tetras is because of their sensitivity to different things. as a fish keeping newbie, i'm concerned. i left out the barbs b/c i've heard of some that will pick on other fish, corys. not too crazy about that idea!

kcarmartinez

I know a lot of barbs are nippy (like Tigers) but cherry barbs are supposed to be a peaceful variety. I would think if the corys are bottom dwellers the cherry barbs would probably leave them alone. But I will have to wait for someone else with experience. I was going to set up a 20H tank with Cherries and Cories. It seemed like it was going to be a good mix.
It looks like dwarf rainbowfish would work as well.
I am wondering if for both the Cherry barbs and the rainbowfish if there is a male/female ration that needs to be followed. (maybe that would make the cherries less nippy)

jerilovesfrogs

convicts, yeaaaah i'm thinking i'll have to save those types of fish for my next tank. haha. but thanks. i don't think i'm going to do tiger barbs....can't risk aggressiveness. i, in fact, think i won't to cherry anymore either! my thinking now is: 4-5 pep corys, 6 rainbows and 2 honey gouramis. on the honeys, would having 2 males be better?

aquariumgirl lauren

No! Not two males because if you put two gourami males together once they start to grow up they can get very territorial and agressive with each other. Two females would be better or one male and one female but they might breed and I don't know if you would want that

jerilovesfrogs

smack me! well i wasn't sure if they were like bettas or not in that regard. soooo no, i don't want to have little fish babies...as cute as that would be haha. so do you have any idea how to tell male/female apart?

aquariumgirl lauren

I think males have longer dorsal fins but I'm not completely sure sorry : (

Rhan

Jerlilovesfrogs: Uh peppered cories get a fair bit bigger than 1 inch, I have one that is almost 3 inches, and very very tubby too lol Pygmies only get to 1 inch though I love both speices Planetcatfish.com is a great site, lists all the different species, and what they're requirements are, as well as the sizes they reach as adults. 5-6 peppered cories might be fine while they're young and small, but I honestly think they'll get too big when they're adults to house that many in a 20H tank If it were a 20L, it would be a different story.

Here is the page for the peppered variety: http://www.planetcatfish.com/catelog...species_id=271

And here is the page for the pygmies:
http://www.planetcatfish.com/catelog...species_id=283

jerilovesfrogs

i do like the site planetcatfish.....i've learned a lot there. yeah i think it said 1-3inches. which i guess if they did reach the max of 3, 5-6 would be too many. i might stick with 4. i'd really like to get a group, as i think they do better. i'm not completely sure what the pygmy ones look like...i'll check them out. thanks

Rhan

I agree, a group is certainly better, as they are a schooling fish. Mine is around 3-4 years old, and I really don't know what to do with him. I bought him a peppered friend about 6 months ago, who he completely ignored. The poor new guy ended up getting sick though

Those links I provided will show you where I got my info

I also love the look of panda cories, which are another smaller variety. but they were so difficult to get a hold of in my area, not to mention expensive. Plus I heard many negative things about how well they ship they're sensitive little guys, apparantly.

jerilovesfrogs

i went in to the best fish store, that i know of, in my area, which deals in nothing but aquatics. so FINALLY i got a guy who would actually help me, and really knew something. the other guys were clueless and a couple had never heard of peppered corys! what?! well in the end, they didn't even have them anyway....only a few different kinds. but i have heard pandas are sensitive, i don't think i will get those. the ones i will get, i foget their scientific name. if they don't have "normal" everyday sounding names i can't remember!

jr177

is it a green cory

Rhan

Wow, they've never heard of peppered cories? Peppered ones are in every shop near me in Aus. They're pretty popular, as are the albino and bronze cories. I don't know if there is another common name for the peppereds.

You've made me curious now, I wonder what they'll look like! I hope you share photos when everything is set and bought

jerilovesfrogs

i remembered now, they have something that looks like a peppered, sort of, which is an agassizi cory. i guess if they don't have the peps, what can i do? but i guess the agassizi would be ok.

rae64

You can keep two male honeys together. They are super-peacful, and the exception to the "only one gourami" rule. The 2 males will not fight, I do believe, and will be happy together.

jerilovesfrogs

well, i'm not sure exactly...you say one thing, and on the previous page of this thread someone else says the opposite. i'm not saying saying who is right, and who is wrong b/c i just don't know i talked with a guy at a good LFS today, and he said 1 or 3 males would be better than 2. i'm still nervous and don't want to be a risk taker....so perhaps i'll have one. do you have them?

hooedc

I know when it comes to the cherry barbs if u are trying to breed them in ur fish tank yes u will need to go along the lines of 1 male to 2 females due to if there are more males then females the males will try and compete for the females, or u can put all males in there with out a problem. Most people tend to do that more often to do the colorfulness of the males, since the females are that a real dull red to brownish color. But as far as u hearing that cherry barbs are agressive. I havent had any problems. But like I said before if ur going to keep CB's they need to be from 5 to 6 of them to school due to the fact if the arent in a school is when the whole agression thing comes into play. But of course I have talked to people that has had 3 and they never had a problem with theirs but I have talked to people that say theirs were agressive. Also yes tiger barbs tend to be more agressive with fish smaller then them so I wouldnt really have them in there if ur going for small fish.