New from Vancouver 20g need suggestions

[Phyrex]

Hi all.

I'm just about to set up my 20g (24"l 12"w 16"h) for my 13 month old (and for myself). My dad always had fish when I was growing up, I figured it's time to give it a try myself.

I'm not sure what what I want to put in the tank yet but I'm sure I want to make it a planted tank.

I like the following fish so any suggestions what would fit in the 20g would be greatly appreciated:
apisto cacatuoides
blue rams
kribs
discus

I realized I might have to start off with guppies and platies to get a hang of things but I will probably convert to cichlids pretty soon after I get things sorted out. What's a good number of guppies/platies to start of with? Do I need to run a fishless cycle or are the guppies/platies strong enough to go in right away?

[beN]

welcome to the tank phyrex!!

[AWW]

Welcome!

On your list of wanted fish, rams and kribs look doable, apistos and discus are expensive and hard to take care of, not to mention discus should be in a 50 gallon minimum.

As for guppys and platies, you can probably start with 5 of each

[neven]

just so you know, guppies in vancouver can rather be disappointing. Better to start with danios and peppered corydora's. Impossible to kill that combo i find, lol. Platies though can be a rather dirty fish compared to its size.

I would start with 5 danios, screw fishless cycling imo. then in 3 weeks get 5 peppered corydora (or similar corydora).Now for plants, its much easier to cycle a tank with plants in it, i just recommend change the water 30% every 3 days for 2-3 weeks. Save your money on the test kits.

Make sure you get atleast 2 inches of substrate for a planted tank, if you like a lower substrate in the front, angle it up towards the back, just try to never drop below an inch and a half in the foreground. it sucks adding more substrate later.

Now your lighting may be an issue for plants, if your hood holds incandescent lights, then its a bit easy, put twister CFLs in there, two 12-15W bulbs would suffice 6500k daylight bulbs. If its not then let us know what lights you have.

Start with java ferns, anubias, and perhaps something like wisteria. Stay away from plants that melt from excel dosing unless you know for a fact you are going for co2 rather than a liquid substitute. If you are not doing either, than stick to those 3 plants for now as they grow in anything

[fan4guppy]

Welcome to our Forum Phyrex. I am rather new myself.

Depending upon your water conditions there are several fish that you could keep in your aquarium. I would have to agree with some that think guppies in Vancouver (for most parts of Canada) can be disappointing depending upon the criteria of what the guppy is and the amount paid.

Although there are many great looking guppies out there and I do happen to know some breeders in Canada besides myself that raise pure bred strains.

I am thinking that this tank is going to be a community tank for yourself so I would stay away from Discus and the apistogramma species as it takes larger tanks for Discus and Apistogramma tends to like very acidic water.

I agree that Danios would be the best fish for you to cycle your aquarium with or maybe even feeder white cloud mountain fish.

I would almost treat it like a quarantine tank for the first 6-8 weeks to make sure no external or internal parasites affect your tank while it is cycling.

[neven]

i almost forgot:

Adjusting hardness in your aquarium

a must read in vancouver area. makes cycling a lot easier

[Phyrex]

Thanks all. I'm probably converting to blue rams or kribs after cycling. Is there any fish that works well with these guys when they have fry (cardinal tetra)? Also should I still add corydora after the cycle if I'm getting rams or kribs as they all hang around the bottom? Which of the two is easier; fish wise and water wise? Sorry I know lots of newbie questions.

RE the lighting, it's a tetra 20 gallon aquarium kit so I'm not sure what that one comes with.

[fan4guppy]

Thanks all. I'm probably converting to blue rams or kribs after cycling. Is there any fish that works well with these guys when they have fry (cardinal tetra)? Also should I still add corydora after the cycle if I'm getting rams or kribs as they all hang around the bottom? Which of the two is easier; fish wise and water wise? Sorry I know lots of newbie questions.

RE the lighting, it's a tetra 20 gallon aquarium kit so I'm not sure what that one comes with.

With Cichlids they all have different temperments and with Corydorus hanging around the bottom if the Cichlids (Rams and Kribs) get a little agressive the catfish may be affected. Especially if the Cichlids are breeding.

The kribensis I found a little easier than the Rams but it also depends upon the water parametres.

I would think that Neons would be easier in the aquarium than Cardinal Tetras too again it depends upon water parametres.

[budahrox]

Welcome aboard!!
Cheers!!

[Phyrex]

I think i'm going to go with 5 juvie blue rams and let them pair up and remove the remaining 3 to keep the pair. I'll probably add 9 zebra danios (from cycling) or 9 neon or black neon tetras for dithers. Are the 9 dithers too much or is that okay in a 20g? Should I keep schooling fish in a even or odd number?

What substrate do german rams like the best?