New, confused and starting to stock a 20g long

I'm also new, but have a similar set-up that's been running for 2 months now: 20g long with 1 dwarf gourami, 8 zebra danios, 8 julii cories, 1 mystery snail and an ever-increasing # of baby snails. Just based on what I've seen, I would say....

6 danios I think are a good #. I meant to do 6, but ended up at 8 and at feeding time they go *crazy*.
Do 1 gourami instead of 2 -- my solo male spent the first 2 weeks trying to rip up his own reflection
I would think 1 DG, 6 danios, 6 smaller cories, and 6 neons would be fine...

Also, you mention ammo and nitrAtes, but I assume your nitrItes are also 0...?

Happy fish-ering!

Ah, ok then. If you were at Ammo=0, Ites=0, and then did a water change you should still be at 0 and 0...? Do you have any animals in the tank already? Have you been cycling by dosing with pure ammonia / fish food / shrimp / etc.?

If you can provide some details on how you've been cycling, then I think the resident experts will be able to take a look and comment. I can tell you that I did a fish-in cycling on my 20g with 5 danios. I did daily testing and water changes to keep the Ammo and Ite levels below 0.5 and didn't see any visible stress on the fish.

It seems strange to me that your nitrite levels would RISE after a WC, but if you've had your ammonia and nitrite peaks and find those levels consistently drop then I think you would be ready for fish. Good luck!

I've had my 20 Long setup for a year now, great starting tank due to the surface area on the gravel (can support more fish than a 20 tall).

Just make sure you've got both types of bacteria: the type that does ammonia -> nitrIte, and the type that does nitrIte -> nitrAte.

But for stocking ideas, make sure you put some thought into it. I didn't at first and I totally regretted it. I would suggest picking one or a pair of center piece fish, and then choose one type of schooling fish (get about 8 of them), maybe some African Dwarf Frogs (1-3 for variety, although they won't eat flake food so you'll need to buy bloodworms/brine shrimp), and then pick some neat bottom dwellers. A juvenile bushy nose pleco would be cool (although sometimes they can be boring), or some pigmy corydoras (best in groups of 6 or more). Also, if you plan on getting a larger tank eventually, have a friend with a big tank, or otherwise have a way of re-homing fish, I would suggest some baby Yoyo or Clown loaches (3 minimum). They will outgrow your tank, but they have the BEST personalities.

Also remember, you can have your LFS special order any fish you want. You might consider a pair of German Rams (as long as they aren't a male/male pair) as your center piece; or their hardier cousin: the Bolivian Ram.

I'm confused with all of the test results.

Whats...
Ammonia
Nitrite
Nitrate

at now?

Noyesy said:

I had no time to go to the LFS on Saturday when the levels were at 0 and 0 so I followed the advice to do a water change on Sunday, treated the water for chlorine and chloramine and added more cycle and now I'm at 0 ammonia and .3 nitrites.

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This sounds like you did the water change and THEN added the dechlorinator. Is that the sequence you did it in? If so, you would have killed off much of your bacteria with the chlorine. The correct sequence would be to add the declorinator to the pail of water, then pour it into the tank.

If you have 0.3 nitrites, you may not be quite finished your cycle. If it is 0.3 nitrates, you're laughing. There should be nitrates showing by the end of the cycle.

Aptos said:

Also, if you plan on getting a larger tank eventually, have a friend with a big tank, or otherwise have a way of re-homing fish, I would suggest some baby Yoyo or Clown loaches (3 minimum). They will outgrow your tank, but they have the BEST personalities.

Click to expand...

:jaw: OMG NO!!!!

A 20g is WAY too small for either of those loaches. A 55g absolute bare minimum for yo yos. Clowns could be started off in a 75 if you are planning on upgrading to a 200g or so. But ABSOLUTELY NOT in a 20g.

Fish put out some sort of growth retarding hormone into the water so if the space is too small they will stop or slow their growth. But this is not without consequence. The body stops growing. The internal organs keep growing. The organs get packed in tighter and tighter until something stops functioning and the fish dies a cruel death. Or it might get it's upgrade and simply have it's health compromised and its lifespan shortened.

So if you love your loaches, save up for your 200g tank!