20L Tank Setup

[JayK1320]

There is no way you can keep any cichlid in a 20L setup. Literally the only thing that could go in there are maybe like 5 guppies or a betta. Badis is too big. Crawfish is WAAAY too big, as is the pleco. You could maybe have a snail in there.

For all the imperial system people, 20L is 5.28344 gallons.

Yeah sorry for the confusion for imperial folks...20L is 20 gallon long tank. Not 20 liters.

 

[JayK1320]

I am pretty sure he meant a 20 long, not a 20 liter. Both are written 20 l so it’s not hard to see why someone could mistake the two if not given dimensions or pictures.
I’m assuming you have not heard of dwarf crayfish? Those type of crayfish could live in a 5 gallon.
Unless I’m mistaken the scarlet badis gets to 1 inch?
There are actually a decent number of nano fish that can live in a 5 gallon, some of them just are not that common.
One last thing, the dimensions of a 20 long are 30 inches long, 12 inches high, and 12 inches wide.

Yeah you nailed it. 20 long

Went with that for the extra width as most fish I am interested in do not need the height.

Also yes, the badis are very small, so I am thinking I can keep a few of them. I am also considering some rams, as I guess they only get up to 3" - 4".

 

[JayK1320]

Yeah, see what your water is like. If you've got hard water with a high pH, the rams or apistogramma may not be the best move, they prefer softer more acidic water. And vice versa with the tanganyikans. But, I think your ideas are realistic as far as size goes. A trio of apistogramma and a school of south American tetras like black neons, etc. would check all of your boxes and make a nice display.
Shell dwellers are awesome as well. Would be different than the setup you describe, but can be very fun in their own way.
Welcome back!

So I had my water tested, I am still working to get up to speed on what these all mean, but here were the results:

PH 7.5
Alkaline 90
Hardness 30-35

This was of course from Pet Smart, so who knows how accurate they really are. I did get a test kit from Amazon and hope to have that this week for more detailed testing.

I believe these will be good conditions for the apistogramma though.

 

[Gourami Swami]

Here is a pretty good intro to chemistry https://users.cs.duke.edu/~narten/faq/chemistry.html

If the gh is in ppm that would be soft which apisto's will like. 7.5 should be fine for them. I'd wait to get your own test though, half the time the Petco/smart employees have no idea what they are doing.