[elegysanft]

I have a 20 long and while I have a decent amount of fish in it, they are small and blend in with my plants so it looks empty most of the time.

Id like to add a centerpiece fish (or another school but I think that would be pushing it bioload wise) but Im not sure how it would act with my other fish
Im looking for something peaceful and not timid.
Props if it has a horizontal stripe too since all of my other fish have them hah


Current Stocklist:
16 Marginatus pencilfish
5 Sparkling gourami
8 pygmy cories
4 otocinclus
2 asassin snails

I intended the sparklers to be the centerpiece fish but they are very shy. I do like them a lot though and would like to keep them. I imagine that would rule out other gourami/bettas though since you generally cant mix labyrinth fish.


any suggestions would be appreciated
Ive attached a picture of my tank, its been set up for a little under a year
my camera is awful, the shame D:

 

[Betta132]

Hmm... Let me think...
What about a nice male swordtail? Just one?
You could add more pygmies and maybe make them a bit more active.
Ooh, perhaps a twig catfish. They're almost 8" long, but they're so skinny and have so much tail they're more like a 4" fish. They aren't active, but one would probably perch on that branch there.
Maybe a checkerboard chichlid... Very safe around other fish, peaceful, and pretty active. They do prefer groups, but I think a single one would be good.
You have a very pretty tank!

 

[elegysanft]

Hmm... Let me think...
What about a nice male swordtail? Just one?
You could add more pygmies and maybe make them a bit more active.
Ooh, perhaps a twig catfish. They're almost 8" long, but they're so skinny and have so much tail they're more like a 4" fish. They aren't active, but one would probably perch on that branch there.
Maybe a checkerboard chichlid... Very safe around other fish, peaceful, and pretty active. They do prefer groups, but I think a single one would be good.
You have a very pretty tank!

Ive already done swordtails and twig catfish so I dont think ill do those. Ill look at checkerboard cichlids though. I havent had them before.


Thank you! :icon_smil

 

[CAPSLOK]

What about a cherry barb?

 

[elegysanft]

What about a cherry barb?

I actually have 6 cherry barbs in there right now that I'll be transferring over into my other tank :tongue:

Lovely fish but not for this tank. Id like to have a single larger fish.
Though if i could squeeze in another school i think i would want lemon tetras

 

[Doug C]

centerpiece fish

Dwarf ciclids !!!! There are a number of them to choose from put a pair of Apistos or German rams if you have softer water. If you have harder water look at laetacaras or flag cichlids or even the hardier apistos like the cacatouides or borrelli.

 

[Bloomer]

You're going to want community fish I suppose, not sure territorial ones would be comfortable. If you can find them, so called tea pot or dwarf platies are very colorful and get about half the size of normal ones. I have a red wag in a livebearer eye candy tank with a bunch of endlers, guppies and picta/guppy crosses and they all do great. He's very easy to see, but doesn't overpower the others. They're really just runts that if bred right, make more runts. There's an AB seller with them now.

One of the things about small fish is seeing them at all in a planted tank, especially one with lots of small leaved plants. Playing with lighting, creating some small shadows and bright areas with spots, for example will make smaller fish more visible as they move from dark to light. When my cardinal tetras actually stay together, they form a beautiful red and blue patch, but mostly they're just fairly close together and the effect isn't really there.

 

[Chris Noto]

Dwarf ciclids !!!! There are a number of them to choose from put a pair of Apistos or German rams if you have softer water. If you have harder water look at laetacaras or flag cichlids or even the hardier apistos like the cacatouides or borrelli.

I second this motion! I have a 20 Long, and, right now, have two Ramirezi in it, along with a couple of corys and a small school of Neon Tetras. The Rams are not all that shy, and the way they maintain a pecking order (without any physical damage to one another) leads to plenty of visibility and entertainment.

 

[kim]

New fish

How about the densoni barb? Very peaceful and don't eat plants. They are active with a horizontal stripe. They do get kinda big at about six inches but they are beautiful and peaceful.

 

[elegysanft]

Thanks for all the suggestions!


I ended up buying a blue steel apisto