Help Me Stock My 20 Gallon

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Primetime

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Nov 12, 2005
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Help Me Stock My 20 Gallon Tank

Well Im trading in my Goldfish and starting fresh. I have a male betta in a 2 gallon for now. On Wednesday when I trade in my Goldies, I'll have a 20 gallon with:

-Male Betta (the one in my 2 gallon)
-4 ottos
-real plant
-gravel
-driftwood
-airpump with a bubble disk
-filter
-heater

What else can I add in here?
I like colourful fish, and I would LOVE to get clown loaches but I dont think I can cause of the size of my tank.

Thanks a lot, I'll post pics when I have it all set-up :D
 
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Clown loaches aren't the best idea, like you said, the tank is too small for them. BUT I would go to your LFS where you get your fish and see what kind of loaches they do have and come home and research them. There are some really neat loaches that might work in your tank. Maybe someone can recommend some specifics?!??

Is your betta aggressive at all? He will probably be a big factor in deciding what fish you can get. Some are perfect community fish, some go after anything with fins :eek: :)!!!
 
Holly9937 said:
Clown loaches aren't the best idea, like you said, the tank is too small for them. BUT I would go to your LFS where you get your fish and see what kind of loaches they do have and come home and research them. There are some really neat loaches that might work in your tank. Maybe someone can recommend some specifics?!??

Is your betta aggressive at all? He will probably be a big factor in deciding what fish you can get. Some are perfect community fish, some go after anything with fins :eek: :)!!!
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lol well i dont know if hes agressive. hes very young, telling by his size, and hes scared at this point by any sudden movements. If he gets scared he swims to his little hiding place. BTW I just got him on Saturday. Any idea what other fish I can get in a 20 gallon? I am gonna consider every suggestion.
 
sounds like he is pretty docile, which is good, it will give you some more options!! How about a school of 8 or so tetras (non-nippy ones ;) ), like neons, cardinals, rummynose, etc. They're pretty colorful too
 
Holly9937 said:
sounds like he is pretty docile, which is good, it will give you some more options!! How about a school of 8 or so tetras (non-nippy ones ;) ), like neons, cardinals, rummynose, etc. They're pretty colorful too
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yeah I might just end up gettin tetras.. But, when my mom went Big Al's, she just LOVED the saltwater fish a lot. I know I cant keep saltwater fish with bettas, but are there any freshwater ones that resemble saltwater fish? (like colourwise; mostly yellowish purple, and shape wise)? Also are angelfish capible of living with bettas?

What do I have to do when I have all of the fish ready to be put in the tank? Do I just mix them with the betta, or is there a quarintine period where i keep the betta in a bowl close to his soon to be tank?
 
Primetime,

Do you know how to cycle a tank? Having done it (am a newbie myself) with fish in the tank, I wouldn't recomment it to anyone - very stressful to you and stressful and unhealthy for your poor fishies. If you know how to cycle the tank and are planning to do so before putting the fishies in, then no worries, otherwise, please do some research on cycling first to save yourself some worries. There's a thread on this group about cycling and another about Bio-Spira, which I think you'll want to read.

As for colorful fish - not sure what can go in with the betta, but very few freshwater fish are as colorful (in the same way) as marine fish. You might check out the galleries on these sites:

http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/categ.cfm?pCatId=830
http://www.aquahobby.com/e_gallery.php
http://aquariacentral.com/species/fresh.shtml

...and then, of course, a google search.

Check back here with betta compatibility questions.

FWIW,

Liz
 
ParadoxLiz said:
Primetime,

Do you know how to cycle a tank? Having done it (am a newbie myself) with fish in the tank, I wouldn't recomment it to anyone - very stressful to you and stressful and unhealthy for your poor fishies. If you know how to cycle the tank and are planning to do so before putting the fishies in, then no worries, otherwise, please do some research on cycling first to save yourself some worries. There's a thread on this group about cycling and another about Bio-Spira, which I think you'll want to read.

As for colorful fish - not sure what can go in with the betta, but very few freshwater fish are as colorful (in the same way) as marine fish. You might check out the galleries on these sites:

http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/categ.cfm?pCatId=830
http://www.aquahobby.com/e_gallery.php
http://aquariacentral.com/species/fresh.shtml

...and then, of course, a google search.

Check back here with betta compatibility questions.

FWIW,

Liz
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Wow great links Liz.. The most useful thing I found from all those links was this
http://www.liveaquaria.com/general/fwcompatibility_chart.cfm
^USEFUL FOR ALL BETTA OWNERS^

Now that I have that info, what do you guys think would be the best types of fish from this list in a 20 Gallon setup, with a Betta?

Fish Compatible with Betta

Cory Cats
Danios/Minnows
Guppies
Hatchets
Loaches
Mollies
Platies
Plecos
Rasboras
Suckermouth Catfish
Swardtails
Tetras

It should be a lot easier to stock this tank now! Thanks Liz :D
 
What about rainbow fish......I think the boesemani rainbows stay small enough for a 20 and they can be very colorful ! I saw some at PetCo today and if I had a tank for them I would have bought them on the spot !

LiveAquaria has them listed in thier "freshwater" fish section, with info on their needs and care...

Here's a link.....

http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/prod_Display.cfm?pCatId=1053
 
Emg said:
What about rainbow fish......I think the boesemani rainbows stay small enough for a 20 and they can be very colorful ! I saw some at PetCo today and if I had a tank for them I would have bought them on the spot !

LiveAquaria has them listed in thier "freshwater" fish section, with info on their needs and care...

Here's a link.....

http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/prod_Display.cfm?pCatId=1053
Click to expand...
Wow fantastic! Im most probably getting those :D
 
I tried to read over all posts so i hope i didnt skip over something and now repeat what has already been said.

Concerning your first post incl. the equipment:
I dont think you really need the airstone. With live plants (you will have more than 1 right???) its better not to have one because it drives the CO2 out of the water.
One "negative" sideffect i found with them is that they agitate the surface a lot (which is not a bad thing) BUT it doesnt allow my betta to build a bubblenest. Now i dont know if its important for him if he can or cannot... but after all bettas seem to be quite interested in and observant of their enviroment and it seems to be important to him to build one - after all its HUGE most of the time.

My betta also likes the tall huge leafed plant i have in the back - he rests on the leaves at night. I read somewhere they like that because then they dont have to swim so far up in between breathing air and going back to rest.

Well i hope you'll be able to figure out what your gonna put in the tank. Let us see a pic when its done.
 
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