Glofish in my 20gL

[kurtismjohnson]

So I was wanting to add about six glofish (since I hear thats the minimum) to my 20 gallon long tank. They look so small at the store, so i figured id be fine. Then I saw they can grow up to 3 inches. Is that accurate?

Below is what I already have in my tank. Ill also attach a pic so you can see what it looks like. If I am ok with the glofish, would it be ok to also add a cool looking Gourami or something like that? I just dont want to overcrowd the tank, so i figured id ask the experts before i made any moves!

 

[bassbonediva]

Glofish are just glorified zebra danios. They don't get more than 2" in length.

First thing I would do is up your school of black skirt tetras to at least 6. Then you can add at least 6 (probably even 8) glofish. You could do a gourami as well, just make sure it's a dwarf or honey gourami, NOT regular-sized gourami (opaline, three spot, etc). You'd even have room to add some cories for the bottom if you'd like (smaller species like pandas, albinos, etc).

 

[aakaakaak]

Paige, you hog all the good advice.

With a darf gourami you could only add one. With honeys (Pygmie gourami) you could have a pair or more. Pygmies are supposed to be non-aggressive towards each other. (I haven't personally seen it in action though.)

 

[kurtismjohnson]

So I could really add that many fish in my tank? You sure there's room with everything else? I would love to add 3 more black skirts, 6-8 glofish and a dwarf gourami. Maybe even a Cory too. I just thought that would be too much!

 

[aakaakaak]

I would check to make sure on aqadvisor to get a general idea. (remember, aqadvisor is not perfect.) I would think adding the extra skirts, glofish AND dwarf gourami would be a little much. I think Paige meant one or the other.

Edit: Okay, I plugged in the numbers and aqadvisor says you could put it all in your tank if you were running two 20 gallon whisper filters and run 40% weekly water changes. I'm not sure if I completely trust aqadvisor sometimes.

 

[kurtismjohnson]

I did too.. heres what i got...

http://www.aqadvisor.com/AquStockIm...200909300061:,1:200909300134:,1:200909300155:

I am currently running an aqua-tech 20-40 and an aqua tech 5-15. the 5-15 was just to keep the bacteria in the new tank and i was going to remove it. however, if i need it for my fish, i have no problem keeping it. i may hold off on the gourami and the cory for a little bit and see how the rest do. my wife really wants the glofish. and of course, theyre the most expensive since you have to buy 6 of them! ha. but they do look cool!

 

[littletankbigworld]

For the future, never judge fish by how small they look at the store. Plecos look to be only an inch at the store, but they grow to over two feet long. Fish grow very quickly in the proper environment and it's always a great idea to research, research, research and/or post on this forum.

 

[kurtismjohnson]

Yea i understand that. I guess i meant that I thought the glofish would stay about 1 inch. Then I read otherwise. So what do you think LittleTank? Do you think id be ok with that many fish? I just want to get a few more opinions.... not that the others arent good enough, but i just want to be sure.

I may cut the black skirts down to 5 since that is supposed to be their minimum. Maybe that would help a little.

 

[riseabovethesun]

I think you could get away with that many fish as long as the filtration is good, hiding is good, and water changes are kept up with.

And it is crazy how big some fish get, I have Cardinal Tetras and Rummy Nosed Tetras that I've seen in the store so teeny and cute and mine are all at least 2", maybe a few are 1.5" now.

 

[kurtismjohnson]

Cool. My filtration is pretty good. Aqua Tech 20-40 and an Aqua Tech 5-15. Im fine with changing water weekly. Bassbonediva says id be ok do do all of that and add even 2 or 3 more Cories. Aqadvisor agrees. (although, im not sure how accurate that is. it would definitely max me out though.) That would mean:

- 6 Glofish
- 5 Black Skirt Tetras
- 2 to 4 Cories
- 3 Platys (2 are still babies)
- 1 Dwarf Gourami
- 1 Snail

having that would make me happy. I just want to be sure. It will be a little while before I get the glofish anyways. maybe I could go ahead and add another Cory or two and see how they do.

 

[riseabovethesun]

What kind of cories? Not that it matters for stocking, I'm just curious lol.

I'm one of the members on here that is all about over-stocking, it isn't intentional it's that whole multiple fish syndrome, really incurable. :/ But definitely not heavily over-stocked, just mildly and the over-stocking ends up coming from my invertebrates not so much the fish.

I think AqAd is great for advising you in the right direction and to just give you a heads up, then coming here and getting a bit of feedback then piling all of your feedback and making your own decision is perfect. Unless...you make it completely against all the advice it may end up bad.. But being a hair over stocked, I don't think will horridly damage your tank...

 

[kurtismjohnson]

I have an albino cory now. if i got more, i would get the smallest available. we really had are mind set on the glofish. that was supposed to be a priority, but not we barely have room. whoops! i think we are going to get the glofish and maybe 1 more cory unless anyone strongly advises against it. the single cory seems ok now. i dont know who is in charge of figuring out whether cories are sad when theyre alone. im not saying theyre wrong, but mine is happily eating invisible things off of my rocks and decorations. he seems to be thrilled as of now!

 

[riseabovethesun]

I think just the general perspective of fish and that they group together for specific survival reasons is where that comes from. Although it is absolutely fun to watch cories play tag and swim around with one another. I have four of the "fake" Julii cories, love them.

I like the albino ones also, my favorite are probably the panda and my LFS has some (but for $7/a piece yikes!) that I'd love. I hear they can be more sensitive than the others, but they are some of the smaller cories. Fish fish fish!

 

[aakaakaak]

If you still have your 10 gal you're upgrading from (I think that was you.) you can use it as a breeder/hospital tank. If you have a mixed gender set of platys you can almost be guaranteed plenty of babies (once they grow up of course). You've still got a few months before you'll need to see that in action though.