# 20 Gallon Build



## Tailfin (Oct 17, 2010)

Alright, so I want to do a build with my twenty gallon tropical tank. 
I already have a small Albino Pictus catfish, a Synodontis lace cat, and a common pleco. The fish I want to add are as follows:
3 to 5 bala sharks
2 dwarf gouramis
5 to 6 mollies or plattys
and maybe just a bluegill and no other fish.

I also am getting a 5 gallon. it has been suggested i make it a QT tank

But I also want it to be a fiddler crab tank filled half way w/ plants and rocks leading to the surface with a couple of rosy red minnows swimming around or a ghost shrimp raising tank for a fish snack


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## phys (Feb 4, 2011)

Hi,
sounds like you have a good start. be sure to watch the gouramis, they can butt heads every once in awhile and one can become quite a bully. Bala sharks can get fairly large so you may not have enough tank down the road for them.


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## automatic-hydromatic (Oct 18, 2010)

a common Pleco is going to be too large for a 20 gallon. Go with a Bristlenose Pleco


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## phys (Feb 4, 2011)

true about the pleco... if you're looking for cleaning, go with some shrimp, snails and something like a reticulated loach or a clown loach.. they dont get much more than 4 inches. The shrimp depend on the type but can be 1 inch to 2 inches..


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## jrman83 (Jul 9, 2010)

Clown loaches can get to 12".


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## Tailfin (Oct 17, 2010)

I know that the pleco will get too large for a twenty gallon, but when ever I get the chance I will down size to two otos, and the shrimp would not be a good idea since I have a what seems like always hungy pictus searching the tank, he is only about the size of a tetra but he is one tough little bugger.

I would also like your input on the 5 gallon idea of making it into a ghost shrimp/crab/rosy red minnow tank, ......... OR a White Cloud Minnow, Ghost Shrimp and Crab Tank. But I would Also like to make it a Quarantine tank. 


INPUT IS NEEDED


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## automatic-hydromatic (Oct 18, 2010)

yeah the pictus will devour the shrimp in no time


a 5 gallon would be a good shrimp raising tank. you could probably put 10-15 of them in there and have no issues. but there's not much you could put in such a small tank


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## snail (Aug 6, 2010)

Is that a bluegill as in a sunfish? They easily get to 7 inches (some times over 16) and are aggressive. I have a pumpkinseed sunfish in a 30 gallon on his own, and will be putting him in a 90gallon when he grows. I think 20 gallons is too small.

I looked up bala shark and here: Bala Shark Care it says 125 gallon minimum tank size for adults...eeek.

Have you thought about Red cherry shrimp? They are brightly colored and easy to breed.


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## Tailfin (Oct 17, 2010)

Thx for all the input everybody! I also have some other alternatives for the tanks.
I could for the twenty, i could get some african cichlids, or maybe even some tiger barbs, something that would add color to the natural look of the tank.
for the five I have decided on this. 10 ghost shrimp, 5 fiddler crabs, and 5 zebra danios.

if you have any questions, comments, or concerns, ALL INPUT APPRECIATED


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## snail (Aug 6, 2010)

I think it's still too small for african cichlids but the tiger barbs would be good.


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## fishman81 (Jan 12, 2011)

I'm no expert yet, but that's way too many fish for even a 50 gallon tank in the long run. In the short run i think a lot of fish may die due to amonia and/or nitritite spikes.


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## phys (Feb 4, 2011)

you could check out some rams.. i have a blue ram which doesnt get too big and is quite colorful. they're suppposed to be hard to keep alive, but, i dont know where they're gettin that from.. lol Its doing quite well in my tank.


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## mec102778 (Feb 17, 2011)

I'd say go with the African Cichlids, they are numerous in color variations and are quite fun to watch. Everything I've read on them says to over stock to cut back on agression so ramp up your filtering and you should be fine, or be ready to up your filter when you start seeing your amonia go up.


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## Chillwill007 (Aug 20, 2010)

Tailfin said:


> Thx for all the input everybody! I also have some other alternatives for the tanks.
> I could for the twenty, i could get some african cichlids, or maybe even some tiger barbs, something that would add color to the natural look of the tank.
> for the five I have decided on this. 10 ghost shrimp, 5 fiddler crabs, and 5 zebra danios.
> 
> if you have any questions, comments, or concerns, ALL INPUT APPRECIATED


Ya that's way too much for a 5g. 1st off that's too small to have crabs with any fish I think. And danios get about 2" so going by the 1"per gallon rule you can only put 2 in a 5g. I have a 5 gallon and when ever I had 3 guppys 1 would die. Danios are a lil hardier so 3 of them might work with shrimp but would defiantly not put in the crabs. 

Dont mean to sound mean or nothing, just my 2 cents.


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## snail (Aug 6, 2010)

+1 Really Danios need good swimming space also, a 20 gallon or 15 long is better for them.

A 5 gallon is perfect for 1 male betta. Other fish often do better in at least 10 gallons because the conditions are more stable but fish that might be okay would include Micro Rasboras, Endlers, Celestial Pearl Danios, Sparkling Gourami or Dwarf Goruami. Some of those fish might mix with shrimp but I think Chillwill is right that if you want crabs you'd be better with a crab only setup in that size tank.


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## Tailfin (Oct 17, 2010)

For the 5 How about this
3 white cloud minnows
5 ghost shrimp
2 fiddler crabs
?


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## Chillwill007 (Aug 20, 2010)

I think its still a gamble with crabs n fish especially with that small of a tank. The crab will kill the fish when it sleeps. Besides with those crabs I believe you would have to make a spot above water level which will take up more of the water volume which in turn will make it less them 5g. I would just keep it with danios and shrimp. Or you could do a couple otto's and a dwarf puffer. You'll just have to plant it.


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## Tailfin (Oct 17, 2010)

I really like the idea of the otos and puffer, i had never really thought of that. my walmart is the only place i can get puffers from, so i will have to check it out. and would the puffer eat ghost shrimp, if not i will keep a few also


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## Chillwill007 (Aug 20, 2010)

Walmart usually only sell green spotted puffers which are brackish water and need atleast 30g. You need to make sure type getting dwarf puffers aka pea puffers. They only get s maximum of about 1" but are messy eaters. its a 50/50 chance with shrimp and pea puffers. Get lots of java moss and java ferns that dont need anything special for light. and put the shrimp in 1st so they can get there hiding spots be for you get your puffers and they will have a good chance. Also dont worry about the snails from the plants cause puffers eat them. Might be good to get plants and wait a few weeks so they have some time to breed b4 the puffers get there. I wouldnt do no more then 2 puffs as they get nippy when crowded. And then add the ottos last as they need more stable water to survive. With puffs you'll need to do 50% water changes every week. You can do it once a week or two 25% in a week.


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## Tailfin (Oct 17, 2010)

*5 gal build*

Alright I have some ideas for a 5 gallon build, tropical of course.

aquarium sand as substrate
2 java ferns
1 clump of java moss
heres the fish question
Can I put about 4 ghost shrimp
1 dwarf gourami
3 white cloud minnows

OK so I dont believe in the 1 in of fish per gal rule
I believe that if you have a 10 gal tank you can have 10 in on top 10 in middle and 10 on bottom depending on decor


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## phys (Feb 4, 2011)

those should be ok. just watch out to make sure theres not fighting. There really is no "top, bottom, middle" fish.. they all go where ever. some are more prone for certain regions though, such as plecos. Putting 30 fish into a 10 gallon is not wise. Not only will you have no room, your bio-load will be immense and you'll more than likely have a huge die off. There is only so much an environment can sustain.


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## snail (Aug 6, 2010)

The one inch per gallon rule helps to work out the bioload your tank can take, it does not take into account the personality of the fish and their need for space, often when you take this into account you actually need to give them more space. Large or messy fish also need much more than one gallon per inch of water. When people say that the one inch per gallon rule is rubbish this is usually what they are referring to. Of course with peaceful small sized fish, excellent filtration and frequent water changes you can push that limit but I don't think anyone (except maybe the LFS) is going to recommend 3inches per gallon in a 5 gallon tank, your just setting yourself up for disaster.


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## Tailfin (Oct 17, 2010)

Thanks for your in put snail I totally understand you, and phys, i was not saying that I would put 30 fish in a 10 gallon tank, Maybe I should explain my self better.
The 1 inch of fish per gallon rule is very underestimated by rookies and experts alike,I believe that what fish you can put where depends on many things, not just gallon size, but in terms of filtration also. I believe that if you had a filtration ranking of 50 gph in a 5 gallon tank, you could do amazingly wonderful things with that tank setup. I hope that now you understand what I was saying.
Also I have decided to turn my 5 gallon into a pond biotope. I was thinking 3 or 4 mosquito fish, a small cray and some other native fish that stay small, any info is appreciateed


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## snail (Aug 6, 2010)

Tailfin said:


> I believe that if you had a filtration ranking of 50 gph in a 5 gallon tank, you could do amazingly wonderful things with that tank setup.


 It might just make a whirlpool biotope lol . I see what you are getting at. 5 gallons is still 5 gallons though, small tanks can go bad quickly because there is not much water to dilute the problem. 



> Also I have decided to turn my 5 gallon into a pond biotope. I was thinking 3 or 4 mosquito fish, a small cray and some other native fish that stay small, any info is appreciateed


The cray would get the fish for sure, unless thats what you have in mind. How about a giant water bug, it would eat fish as well mind you but they are quite interesting things.

Personally even with good filtration I wouldn't do more than about 5 small fish without the cray or anything else, perhaps some small snails and shrimp.


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## mec102778 (Feb 17, 2011)

Slightly over stocked tank isn't usually an issue just need to be sure you monitor and feed them an appropriate ammount to help reduce the bio load.

With that said my 10 gallon guppy tank is crazy stocked due to rampant rabbit like breeding. But they are all happy and have some very nice looking guppies.


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## Tailfin (Oct 17, 2010)

I was talking about a .5 inch or slightly larger cray some pond snails mosquito fish and a couple ghost shrimp maybe a ditch killi or two. All these I can get from my ditch sometimes except for the killis and ghost shrimp


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## snail (Aug 6, 2010)

That sounds like it could work, of course the crayfish will grow, so it will either eat the fish or you can re-home him.


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## Tailfin (Oct 17, 2010)

Good point snail, i could rehome him back into the ditch, or put him in an 18 gallon tub


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