fish for an unplanted 20g w

[mulrian]

hey,

i need advice on how to stock my tank. i've had a bit of experience with keeping fish, nothing too complicated though. i've got my 20g up and running again (artificial plants) and i'm looking in what to keep this time.

i want to do at least one school, and no livebearers. (my previous experience deals a lot with mollies and guppies)
at first i was thinking ~10 zebra danios, ~10 neon tetras, ~4 corys. but after reading around here, i'm not sure the tetras are a good option as they're weaker these days and i guess they tend to not school if they're comfortable. and the danios aren't exactly too exciting/exotic.

so now i'm thinking it might be more fun to have 1 school of about 12 -- something that'll consistantly show schooling behavior...fairly active...colorful is always good
a dwarf gourami or betta, and the corys

so any suggestions on a type of schooler? 20g enough for 12 plus the others? would a gourami or a betta get along better, and is that enough space for either? is 4 corys too many, and will be left alone by the others?
and would the usual amount of aquarium salt be fine for these residents?

thanks =D

 

[Lotus]

Welcome to the tank!

You might want to look into rasboras. I have had a couple of different types, and they form a very tight school, and are fun to watch (more fun than tetras, IMO). You could put a dwarf gourami in there with them. Those, plus the cories will definitely make the stocking limit.

Most aquarists don't add any salt to freshwater tanks these days, unless it's for curing ich. I would avoid adding salt.

 

[FishGeek]

I agree with Lotus. The only other suggestion I have is Tiger Barbs. They get about 4 inches and school rather well from what I have heard and read and they have color. As far a a gourami in the tank with them, I think that it would be fine if you got all young fish cause by the time they get older they would be use to each others company. Another "single fish" you could look into are Gold and Blue Rams. I have a Gold Ram and he is great. Tons of color too!

 

[Stillwaters]

how about rummy nose tetras? They tend to stay in tight formation. NO SALT
should be added. 12 rummy nose, 1 betta, & 4 cories, that would be the total
amount. Live plants would be a bonus, java fern grows in low light & blends well with plastic plants.

 

[revfred]

A school of Cardinal Tetras is very attractive. They live long and get to be about 2inches. They are quite a bit more hardy than Neons.

 

[mulrian]

thanks for the suggestions....i've got a clearer picture of what i'll go with...
i'd really like to go with a betta now
and sticking with the few cories
and dang, rummynose do look pretty neat...but right now i'm hovering more on the rasbora side--probably harlequins. we'll see though, their "turn" isn't for a bit, and it'll depend on the availability

i think i also will go ahead and try out a java fern. should i wait until every fish is settled in or can i add it somewhere in the middle of adding the fish?
also...my college budget only provided high quality, classy, colored wal-mart pebbles. will a plant grow in that?

 

[Kuroshio]

java fern? you will be attaching it to something, are you thinking of attaching it to the gravel? Your fern will indeed survive in the gravel, but I think that they prefer the hot pink gravel as opposed to the yellow or fluorescent green. you just need to make sure that the water has the right nutrients for it, and of course enough food (poo or bottled it doesn't matter)
good luck

 

[Kuroshio]

Mulrian-

(don't take me TOO seriously)

 

[Lotus]

lol.

Java ferns prefer to be attached to a rock or ornament instead of planted in the gravel. You can just gently attach it with a rubber band or some cotton thread (just make sure to trim the ends of the thread off so fish don't get caught on it.

 

[mulrian]

lol

there was a little voice in the back of my head goin "this is an underwater plant...it doesn't need to suck nutrients out of soil when they're in the water completely surrounding it" when i posted that...but naturally, i paid it no heed

 

[FroggyFox]

I'd second the rasbora suggestion...they're my favorite little fish, great coloring and very fun to watch. I think I would get them last (after your other fish are settled in) and definitely after your tank is cycled (if it isn't already) as they can be susceptible to columnaris if they're not in a stable tank. They also look really great in a planted tank (even if they're fake plants )

 

[mulrian]

i'm setting this tank up in my college town, which is 1.75hrs away from where i'm staying to work. (luckily my twin bro is living at the location with the tank, so i'm just corresponding with him on what needs to be done, and we're just taking our time with it)
anyway, i made it out there this weekend and while there we added the betta. he's been in for almost a day and a half. I think the current is a bit rough for him. we have a whisper hob filter which has an adjustable flow level, so we turned it to the lowest. there's also a long bubble wand in the tank which is on the chopping block. i have an older air pump i could switch in which is loud, but can be set at a lower air rate -- however, i don't think it would be enough. so, if i just remove the wand, i know the betta doesn't need it, but will there still be enough air for the cories and rasboras once they're added?
also, i know it's early, but this betta seems rather reclusive. i'm assuming he's been kept in a jar his entire life up til now. when he was released, he explored the whole tank (i thought his swimming seemed a little choppy), then he discovered a decoration my other roomy had to have which is an oriental building that has a hollow/cave interior. the betta pretty much stayed under there all day. (when i turned out the lights that night, i checked a few minutes later and sure enough he had come out in the darkness...)
i think today he's been out a little at the base of the plants around this decoration, so i guess it's his territory---but is it usual for them to choose the bottom of the tank?

 

[CAPSLOCK]

I just added a female betta to my 37 gallon, and she picked out a little territory off in a bottom corner and stayed there for a day or so. She still seems to frequent the bottom mostly, where there is more cover.

Is your tank a 20 long or tall? 20 long should have enough oxygen in the water, 20 high may give you problems. You could leave the air pump off, and see how the rasboras do... if they seem to be gasping near the surface, you'd need to put the air stone back in. If you put the pump on a washcloth or something, it'll stay quieter. The betta will also get better at swimming in the current eventually. They kind of get weak in those little cups, because they aren't using their swimming muscles enough, but they'll get stronger once they can stretch a bit.

 

[mulrian]

time for an update i think...with pictures!

the first 4 harlequin rasboras were added today, so there's now 1 betta, 4 cories, and 4 rasboras

all seem to be doing fine...
I don't know if i mentioned this anywhere, but i'm doing this with my brother, and right now it's mostly him as i'm 2 hours away until classes start again. but anyway, i've been having him take pictures to send me =D and, i can't believe he didn't notice this (and he can't either now), but i saw what might be a bubble nest at the surface in a corner where there's next to no flow. it's in one of the pictures here:
http://www.public.iastate.edu/~cryan/aquariumspictures20g.htm
anyway, my brother did a water change after that pic was taken and he says whatever was in that corner is gone now.
can anyone tell what it may be? if it is a bubble nest, would it stress the betta out to have it destroyed?

 

[revfred]

Just re-read some of the posts ... noticed you wanted tight schooling. Then rasboras are the fish for you.

 

[Lotus]

Yes, that looks like a bubble nest in the corner of the shot with the bag floating. Bettas will make them when they're happy... so you must be doing a good job with him! Don't worry about destroying it when you do a water change, he'll probably do another one, and they don't get upset about it.