CA for a 20 gallon

[Andy16]

are there any central american cichlids that would work in a 20 gallon. Like a pair of a single fish would be all that i would want. I want to try something new with my tank. Something besides african cichlids. Any south american cichlids would be fine too. Im not really to sure anbout these tpyes since ive only whown interest in shell dwellers and mbuna.

[GEV83]

You could try some german blue rams or bolivian rams. They dont get big and would make a nice couple but dont mix them to many mutt fish out there.

[ChilDawg]

CAs for a 20 gallon? Neetroplus nematopus (Neets) or Cons would be among the few choices for a 20 gallon.

[Andy16]

what do the neets look lile? and im not really looking for dwarf cichlids. I just want to try something new with my tank so im asking around. The cons are cool but im kinda looking for something else. The more aggresive species really fascinate me but i couldnt find anything that could go in my tank.

[ChilDawg]

Unfortunately, you are looking at the wrong family if you don't want to put the family dwarves in your tank...Cichlids are, on the whole, pretty darn large (comparatively speaking), and you'd be hard-pressed to find a non-dwarf (by cichlid terms) for your 20 gallon. I would suggest Googling Neets, or, even better, buying Stratton's "The Guide to Owning Central American Cichlids" and/or Conkel's "A Complete Authoritative Guide to Cichlids of North and Central America." Those will give you a good start, but I seriously doubt that they will give you any non-dwarves for a 20 gallon--that's even a little too small for a Firemouth, as I found out earlier this year, much to my dismay.

[ryan]

i've used a 20 long for salvini breeding for almost a year now, but when they aren't breeding their in the big tank. i would suggest rams, kribs, dwarf's (not my favorites...). There are a lot of fish you could grow out in there, such as cons, or neets, but eventually they will be cramped. especially if they're breeding.

ryan

[Andy16]

I was pretty sure that my tank was to small. I am only expecting to keep one fish in it. But i sitll think it might be too small.

[ChilDawg]

If it makes you feel any better, I am a certifiable cichlidiot, but I've never owned one because I don't have a large enough tank quite yet. My 20 high is the largest available to me, but I wouldn't chance anything but dwarves or a short-term growing-out of an Oscar. Hang in there, Andy!

[ScottoMacD]

Here are possible CA's that you could get away with a non-breeding pair in a 20 gallon. (20 gallon long right??) with the normal max size and good to average avaliablity.

- herichthys centrarchus (4.5")
- herichthys sajica (3") Personal favorite. Great fish.
- herichthys spilurus (4") had these also. Nice fish.
- herotilapia multispinosa (4") rainbow cichlid
- herichthys meeki (pushing 6") firemouth
- neetroplus nematopus (pushing 6") previously mentioned neets. Could get tight if the get above 6 inches though.

The only thing that comes to mind as being a problem is that most CA's are quite large fish. At least the ones that are more avaliable to the hobbiest. Most won't fit one into a 20 let alone a pair.

The fish I have listed are all commonly found in local LFS' and are quite nice looking fish. They also all would work in your 20 gallon. The 6 inchers could get tight but you could slove that problem by getting yourself the smaller females of the species.

Hope this helps.

[Andy16]

lol chil that sounds like me a month before christmas:D (even though i asked for a 50 gallon tank:rolleyes: ) Thanks for the nist list scott. Im going to do a search on these fish right now. I cant get them anyways cuz my grades suck. Lots a time to do my reseach:D

[Andy16]

Are CA and SA cichlids pretty muvh the same or are they different? Because i would go for SA if there are different choices.

[ChilDawg]

They are quite different: most SAs love acidic water, and most CAs love basic water. Go over to the species profiles here and see what you can find that lives in each place! :D

[ScottoMacD]

One big advantge to SA's over Ca's for the smaller tank owners is that there are allot more SA's that will go into a tank that size as opposed to CA's. Most CA's are big fish.

The water conditions are allot more forgiving with CA and SA cichlids. They can live happilly together in a tank.

The sight variation difference in water types is not big enough to cause the fish any harm or discomfort.

[Andy16]

Thanks, ill look into SA cichlids. Arent discus and acaras SA? Could i get away with one or two discus or no?

[Harry Tolen]

Discus would absolutely not work in the tank you are describing. I would suggest that you look at Aequidens curviceps and/or Aequidens dorsigerus as very attractive and practical alternatives.

[ChilDawg]

Concur. Discus are not good when kept solitarily or only in a pair (one becomes dominant over the other) and your 20 gal probably doesn't allow for the smaller of those two options.

[Andy16]

aequidens are acaras right? because u saw an emarald acara and that was the second thing i was going ot ask. I really didnt think the discus would work but i was just making sure.

[Harry Tolen]

The two species I mentioned are in the acara family. Well, given the number of species that get reclassified at one point or another, they might NOW be in a different family, but at least they USED to be acaras. In any case you can find a lot of information about them under the names I gave.

However, I should note that they are much smaller than the rest of the species, and that is what you would need for a tank as small as a 20 gallon. Not as small as dwarf cichlids, but much smaller than the average acara.

[ChilDawg]

Anything still in Aequidens is a "true acara." However, all cichlids are member of the same family, no matter what generic name they have.

I believe, though, that each of those two is a member of the genus Laetacara, the so-called "Smiling Acaras."

[Andy16]

Thanks for all of the help;)

Someone on another site said i could keep a jack dempsey. A far as i know these are really aggresive and get pretty big. And i also thought that it was like 50 gallons min for these fish. Just making sure:)

[ScottoMacD]

I have a small adult female in a 33 gallon. That would be the smallest tank I would keep a JD in. Even that is tight. But she is small for an adult JD.

Some SA's that would go nicely in the 20 gallon are
Just about any of the Apistogramma genus. They are peaceful colorful cichlids. They are very hardy for little fish and are quite undemanding.

Others like Cleithracara maronii. Keyhole cichlid. Nice peaceful fish.
The microgeophagus genus. Rams are great small tank fish.

[Andy16]

tnaks again, what would you say would be the closest FW to SW that would work in my tank? I know i have some pretty odd questions. But ciclids are secondary freshwater anyways so the most likely to fit in this catagory are cichlids. I would make my tank a nano if my mom would let me.:D For now im a SW keeper wannabe.

[Harry Tolen]

ChilDawg: as I was typing the word "family" I said to myself: "Self, you know that cichlids are a family; what you are really talking about are genera." But then I dozed off, and when I woke up the post had already been made. Oh, well.

[ChilDawg]

I apologize for correcting you on that then, but feel free to nail me if I make the mistake!

[Harry Tolen]

CD: no, no. Absolutely no apology necessary. To paraphrase the PM of Canada, "da facts is da facts is da facts." I just thought it was funny that I had an interior monologue on the subject, and then you caught exactly the same point. I guess I should just start listening to those little voices inside my head...

[ChilDawg]

Andy16, I think that you're starting to move toward smaller puffers if you're looking for closest FW fish to SW ones..and that, if you're moving toward BW fish, you may want to ask the BW people about that one...

Harry, hopefully I'm not the voice in your head...if I am, we really need to have a talk (well, other than the interior monologues which we apparently had been having!) :D

[Andy16]

Ive already have had bad experiences with puffers and in brackish i cant get like any fish. They are to big or i just dont like them. I think ill try a JD and see how it works. my lfs takes back a lot of fish so i dont have to worry about it.

[Harry Tolen]

Andy16: aargh. A JD will ABSOLUTELY not work in a 20 gallon tank, except perhaps for a short period of time if you buy a juvenile. After all of the careful advice you got here, you decided on this because "someone on another board" said this would be OK? That person is, um, incorrect (and that is the nicest thing I can think of to say about them). Face it: if you ask 100 people the same question, at least one will give you a completely idiotic answer. Do not make your decision on the basis of this bad advice.

I don't want to be too harsh here, but I have 42 years of fishkeeping experience and for the last 12 years have maintained a minimum of 15 tanks simultaneously and that recommendation is ridiculous. I do have experience with JD's, too: I raised a juvenile (given to me by a friend) in a 65 gallon tank until he was large enough to throw into the 400 with the "big boys" (he's still in there, although far from the dominant fish), but if you try and keep one in a 20g you are going to get a stunted fish with an impaired immune system and a shortened lifespan.

The small Aequidens (er, ChilDawg, I mean Laetacara) that I recommended for your tank, on the other hand, would be pefect. As would a number of other species that might not meet your CA/SA criteria such as Anomalochromis thomasi and some of the Pelvicachromis complex. But a JD WILL NOT WORK. If you are determined to do that, you might as well get a Red Devil or a Jag, as they will do equally well/poorly in the space you have available.

[TigerCrane]

I'm not THAT experienced with fish keeping, but even I know that JD's are way too large for a 20 gallon. By the way is it a 20 gallon or 20 gallon long? It may not seem like it but theres actually quite a big difference....

[ChilDawg]

TC, I think that it was said that it's a 20 long, which is vastly different from a 20 high, but there is really no difference in this case--neither will work for a JD. Even a Firemouth would barely fit in a 20 long (same footprint as a 29, I believe) and lots of filtration would be a must. JDs get bigger.

[TigerCrane]

Hey chili, I must have missed the part where a 20 long was mentioned. Oh, and I know a JD is way to big for a 20 long also, I was just curious what he had to work with...thanks though.:D

[ChilDawg]

Hmm...actually, it wasn't mentioned on this thread. (THEY ALL BLENDED TOGETHER-TIME FOR A DRINK!!!) Seriously, sorry, and I should probably refer you to another thread and actually read the details of this one next time.

[TigerCrane]

Heh dont be so hard on yourself, its really not a big deal. I've done the same thing on other forums....hehe.