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Researching fish for 20 gallon planted tank

3K views 24 replies 8 participants last post by  RugburnTanks 
#1 ·
Hey guys, I'm working on setting up a heavily planted 20 gallon. The filtration will be a Fluval 206. I plan on doing a DIY Citric Acid CO2, if I can find a solenoid that will work for it without needing a power adapter. I am looking into fish that are different in way of looks and personality. I have been looking into rainbows but have yet to decide there. I'd like to avoid Tetras and Cichlids as I have a 55 tetra tank and an 85 Cichlid tank.

I'm looking for something that will add some movement and "life" to the tank besides the plants.

I'd like something with some color that would stand out against the greens of the plants that I could keep in a small group 5-7.

I'd also like to do a Biotope. If you have any ideas, please let me know and I'll mull over the possiblilities.
 
#3 ·
Pseudomugil rainbows and Threadfin rainbows are very unique looking and phenomenal fin displaying.
Ricefish are cool too and they breed on their own.
Dwarf Neon Rainbows (M. Praecox) might work.

All of those species love heavily planted tanks.

CPDs are cool too, but are kind of what I consider "more commonly kept".

With the Pseudomugil, ricefish or CPD options you could still manage to keep a colony of shrimp going (yes, tiny ones will be eaten, but the colony still should grow well in a planted tank)
 
#4 ·
Awesome. Thanks guys. I've thought about all of the fish mentioned above and I think I may go with a school of mccolochi rainbows. If I spelled that correctly. I wouldn't mind drab in the tank where the plants are the main focus. I've also been thinking glass catfish or something like that.
 
#12 ·
Is that a 20 gallon long or high? I think both still might be a bit small for MacCulloch's rainbowfish (Melanotaenia Maccullochi). I know they are smaller rainbows, but those types are usually pretty active and prefer lot of swimming room. But I guess it is doable, just not the ideal size.
 
#13 ·
Agree. I keep forktail rainbows, which are smaller & moved 2 pairs from a 55 to a 20L & ended up feeling sorry that I'd taken away some of their swimming room & moved them back to the 55. They definitely seem more comfortable in the larger tank. You might want to choose different fish that are not so active.
 
#17 ·
80% is ok. By overstocked, I mean having too many fish for the size of tank you have. You have a 20 high. In that size tank, since it's taller then it is long, the most you can keep is a good 12-15 small fish or 1 fish that is let's say 4 inches and the others small like and inch. Now the smaller fish that amount will be about 8. You need to have enough room for oxygen, swimming, growing and so the fish have their areas they can retreat to. The longer the tank and more gallons, the more fish you can keep. The taller the tank and less length, the less fish you can keep. You also have to take into consideration the decorations inside the tank. They take up space also. Real plants will help oxygenate the tank as well as provide place for them to swim around and seek shelter in.
 
#23 ·
If you are planning on leaving the eggs/fry in the same tank as the adults, they are vulnerable to being eaten by the adults/parents as well.

I haven't tried it, but I've heard shrimps and some snails are beneficial to eggs as they keep them clean (so they won't grow fungus) and won't eat the fertilized eggs.
I have tried using pond/bladder snails with fish eggs and they did do just that, keeping them clean and not eating them, but I haven't tried the shrimps or other snails (ramshorn should be good), but others have said they work (though I have some doubts on ghost shrimp and possibly amanos as well)

So if you are keeping the eggs/fry with the parents/adults they are at risk of predation and are forced to try and avoid the adults to survive until they grow to a safe size not to be eaten.

Forktails are a little larger than other Pseudomugils so there mouths are a fair bit bigger.
I've heard P. Gertrudae have a larger amount of eggs, but smaller in size, so they fry are smaller. and I've heard P. Paskai have fewer eggs, but are larger in size and so the fry are larger (I might of heard they take longer to hatch and/or the fry grow faster though).
 
#25 ·
OK. the most fry you will get if your lucky is about 5-10. Even in heaving planted tanks I would worry about the fry eating. They are tiny with tiny mouths. You will have to have enough tiny organisms floating around or muster up a green water culture. Just letting you know
 
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