CA for a 20 gallon

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.
 
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.
 
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.
 
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...
 
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
 
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.
 
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.
 
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....
 
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.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
AquariaCentral.com
Top Bottom