New 20 gallon freshwater aquarium - any fish suggestions?

[Aquaticfrog32]

Awww! But they are so pretty! They have little silver tips!!! Oh well..... I'd rather not have them than have unhappy ( or dead ) fish...............!

 

[Gabler]

I'd recommend the loaches. They have a lot of personality and shouldn't bother the betta. If you put a few live plants in the tank, even just a few java ferns, it will give the loaches a place to hide and help to keep the tank clean. I'm not sure why some people seemed to think the kuhli loaches wouldn't thrive in a 20 gallon tank. They're just the right size for it. They're long-bodied, so they impose a low bioload for their length, and they prefer rooting around in the substrate to swimming in open water, so the small tank is fine so long as you have enough biological filtration.

 

[Aquaticfrog32]

Exactly! My pet store says the same thing you did about kuhli's tank size. And yes yesterday I bought 2 amazon sword plants and 1 java fern.

 

[Kannan Fodder]

How big are the amazon swords? They can get huge! Yes, this too is based on personal experience.

 

[Aquaticfrog32]

Just itty-bitty young plants, leaves are about 6 inches tall.

 

[Tifftastic]

Keep in mind swords have a habit of melting and then coming back. So if all the leaves fall off it, don't dig it up and throw it away. Give it a little while and it will come back. I've never had luck with them with stock lighting, but others seem to have no problems.

 

[rufioman]

+1. Smaller kukhliis would do perfect in a 20g long. I have 6 of the bland grey kuhliis I got from my lfs years ago in my 40g breeder, which is basically the floor plan of a 20L. They need more length than anything, as they will build homes under rocks, roots, and caves where they will spend most of their time (when they aren't flying around the tank, being adorable). They use the length to swim along the bottom and find refuse and food. Mine only spend time in front of the tank for the most part, where my foreground plants are. They don't need a tall tank, so again, they'd be a fine addition.

There are many different kinds of Kulie loaches. IMO, 4-5 Kulies (Pangio kuhlii) would be fine in a 20L. The thick bodied Kulies would not be a good idea.
Also not all tetras will go with Bettas and guppys. Which tetras are you thinking of?

20L you would want the smaller kuhlii loaches. They do not have a large bioload, and will have plenty of room to worm around. Get some anubias plants with lots of leaves and big roots, and they will play in them all day. Mine even take naps in the anubias broad leaf roots/leaves during the day. Also....bettas are 50/50 with most schoolers. I had a super passive betta, Rosy, and she ignored everyone but my gourami, and even they didn't really ever go at each other (except to flare during feeding, lol). Bigger tetras would work, but being a 20L you are quite limited.

cheers!

 

[Aquaticfrog32]

Are silver tips considered medium in size among tetras? And my betta is not very aggressive. Once and a while she pokes at my molly, Inky, but never actually hurts her. ( and vice versa ) Is this considered normal behaviour among bettas?

 

[rufioman]

Silver tips are on the smaller side (small>med>large), but definitely hardy fish. A betta would have a tough time with several of them, for sure. Your betta is doing nothing wrong when nipping at the molly, just showing who's boss, etc.

"Silvertip tetra are freshwater tetra fish native to blackwater rivers in Brazil. Silvertip tetras are slightly more aggressive than other comparable smaller tetras, observed occasionally to nip other similarly sized tetras." -some bio something or other on wikipedia.

 

[Aquaticfrog32]

Thanks for all this info.Now I know that silver tip tetras are not the best choice. But, oh well. There are lots of pretty fish out there. I also want to know what snails I could put in my tank.


Thanks again!