Help with coordinating fish in tank?

[purplecat]

I have a 20 gallon tank. I'd like to put one dwarf gourami, 6 cardinal tetras, a bristlenose catfish, and either 5 blue velvet shrimp or a nerite snail (I'd like both the shrimp and snail but I don't want overcrowd my tank). My question is whether all these types will get along together (whether that many fish might overcrowd the tank as well) and also whether the dwarf gourami might eat the shrimp or tetras?

Extra help: I want to do a planted tank. Could I get any suggestions on plants for my tank with these fish in mind?

 

[chenning]

The gourami is going to cause issues and will gladly dine on the shrimp. You could go with the snail and a small school of tetras, rasboras, or small barbs.

I'd suggest losing the gourami, getting 10 shrimp,snail, 2 additional cardinal tetras, 4 & 3 4 normal and 3 albino cherry barbs. It will make everything pop.

 

[purplecat]

Thank you! Any chance I could replace the gourami with a beta fish? Will the beta clash with any others at all?

 

[FreshyFresh]

I wouldn't say that a gourami is automatically going to cause aggression issues. Too many factors play into that to say it's a definite. Is the chance greater with this type of fish? I would say so. They will eat shrimp that fit in their mouths.

 

[OrionGirl]

Bettas will happily dine on shrimp as well. In a heavily planted tank, there will be some survival, but it would be a long term plan--start the tank with the plants, tetras, snails, then add BN, then add shrimp, then once you have a large, established colony, add the gouramie. And do so knowing that it will eat shrimp--but the adults should be safe, and there will be survival of shrimplets if the tank is planted heavily and includes mosses that they can hide in.

 

[fishorama]

Almost any fish can & will eat shrimp that can fit in their mouths. With you list it will only be small baby shrimp...unless they pick at the adults antennae, legs etc. Hiding places like plants (real preferred or fake) +/or wood & rocks can help.

BN plecos are fairly big for a 20g & would likely outeat a nerite snail, so pick only 1 BN or 2 snails.

My order of additions is similar to OrionGirl's...unless you already have some of those fish...do you? If your tank has no animals I might start with shrimp to get them established (but I haven't kept blue velvets). Cardinal tetras are most often juveniles so they could be first. If tetras are very small, a betta or gourami may pick on or even kill them, so either big fish should be last as OrionGirl said.

Easy plants low light include java ferns, java moss, anubias. None of those are planted in the substrate but rather attached to wood or rocks. What kind of lighting is on your tank? Plants can go in at any time but those are all slow growers.

 

[OrionGirl]

As a point--for ALL algae grazers, you will need to supplement with algae wafers or a good gel food. They will starve otherwise.