Hey guys, i want to get back in the hobby soon, and probably will get a 20 long. What would you stock it with? I could either go for a few bigger fish or maybe a school of small cichlids. Not looking for any community tetras or small fish like that though
20 gallon long stocking ideas?
- Thread starter ngav3
- Start date
You can build yourself a sturdy stand cheap from 2x4s if you are handy. Otherwise I would go to a flea market and try to get a small end-table. Ikea might be worth checking out too.
As far as the stocking, a 20 gallon isn't really going to work for large fish in the long run. If you wanted cichlids, you could do a single mid-sized (5" max) fish like a convict cichlid, but it would have to be alone in that size tank as they are very aggressive. African cichlids (probably what you were thinking about when you said a school) won't work in this size tank, because they need to be kept in large numbers to distribute their aggression, and the 20 gallons of water won't support a large number of them. Aggressive fish in small tanks = lots of headaches, dead fish, and unhappy owner.
There are plenty of cool small fish you could keep however. Dwarf puffers are entertaining to watch, they like to hunt snails. You could have like 5 or 6 in there.
Another idea would be a leopard ctenopoma. Cool looking predatory fish which stay around 5".
As far as the stocking, a 20 gallon isn't really going to work for large fish in the long run. If you wanted cichlids, you could do a single mid-sized (5" max) fish like a convict cichlid, but it would have to be alone in that size tank as they are very aggressive. African cichlids (probably what you were thinking about when you said a school) won't work in this size tank, because they need to be kept in large numbers to distribute their aggression, and the 20 gallons of water won't support a large number of them. Aggressive fish in small tanks = lots of headaches, dead fish, and unhappy owner.
There are plenty of cool small fish you could keep however. Dwarf puffers are entertaining to watch, they like to hunt snails. You could have like 5 or 6 in there.
Another idea would be a leopard ctenopoma. Cool looking predatory fish which stay around 5".
Shell dwellers are really cool little fish and would actually work fine in your tank size, but in my experience can be a pain to keep the pH as high as they like it. I lost a colony earlier this year due to pH fluctuation.
Like Tlindsey said, if you want to do a riverine scape, rams or apistogramma would work in this tank size. A pair or maybe even a trio (1m 2f)
Kribensis would be another idea and could work well in this tank.
If you have soft water, apistos or rams would work great. An Apisto harem would be neat with some plants. It wouldn’t take a huge light to grow plants in a 20 long.
I know you don't like small community fish but check out Odessa barbs the males color can rival salt water fish plus unlike cichlids that might sit in a corner these guys will be all over the tank