Hey! This is my first post and first question:How many tropical fish can I have for a 20 gallon tank?
How many tropical fish can I have?
- Thread starter goooddoone
- Start date
One
actually it depends on what you like, one active 8" predator is about max, but 30 small tetras, 12 ghost shrimp, 6 dwarf hatchetfish, and 12 black diamond pygmy cory catfish would all do nicely together in a 20G tank.
Give us an idea of the kind of fish you would like to keep.
actually it depends on what you like, one active 8" predator is about max, but 30 small tetras, 12 ghost shrimp, 6 dwarf hatchetfish, and 12 black diamond pygmy cory catfish would all do nicely together in a 20G tank.
Give us an idea of the kind of fish you would like to keep.
Youd have to give me more info but it is an inch of fish per gallon of water and you have to keep in mind there growth rate. Tell me what kind of tropical fish you are thinking of and then i can give you a general idea.
The general rule of thumb is 1 inch of fish per gallon of water. Remember to use the future adult size of your fish when computing the total inches of fish you can have. This rule is pretty silly if you think about it though. Do you think a 20 inch fish would be comfortable in a 20 gallon tank? A better rule would be 1 inch of fish per 2 or 3 gallons of water. Avoid the temptation to overcrowd your tank. If you do overcrowd the tank you will need to perform maintenancemore often. More fish care here!
ufiiish;1095422; said:
That is not the rule for fishkeeping AT ALL! You should NEVER go by that rule. The rule only applies really if the fish you are keepin does not get over 1 inch. So there for 20 fish smaller than 1 inch will be ok but not in the greatest home. I say get a Few Platies like 4 and a group of 4 corydoras sterbai. That will be a nice setup. Remember do water changes 25% at least a week, but you can really do 50% twice a week for optimum water quality. Cycle your tank before any fish are put in using a fishless cycle. If you got questions on how to setup and completely know what to do when keeping fish private message me and I will gladly help you out.
The old "inch per gallon" rule has it's place for fish under 4" in length but even when it was popular it was never a hard and fast rule for ALL fish. It was just a quick and easy estimate taking into account two factors...the average tank size and the average fish size.
A far more importiant question to be asking yourself is what kinds of fish can I keep in a 20 gallon...will it be for life or until I set up a larger aquarium?
then go from there.
A far more importiant question to be asking yourself is what kinds of fish can I keep in a 20 gallon...will it be for life or until I set up a larger aquarium?
then go from there.
Cross127;1095478; said:
i agree. this is not a good method for stocking a tank. otherwise i would just put my 18" gar in a 20 gallon w/ two 1" goldfish to finish it off.
one of the most important thing is to keep in mind the max size of each fish you purchase. personaly i think a small shoal tetra would be cool and maybe a cory cat or two.
You really want to figure out what type of tank are you going for first, then you can determine the fish numbers based on max size and temperment of each fish.