I had a Saltwater for 5 years and never did a water change. UNTIL I bought an octopus and it ate every fish in the tank then died a week later. Found out later a pigmy octopus only lives 4 months.
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fish tanks-freshwater
- Thread starter chucklenut
- Start date
Tetras don't mess with bettas. I've had several bettas in tetra community tanks and they do very well. They aren't quick enough to bother the Tetras, and don't seem to be threatened by them, either.
how about guppies? i figure them and tetras are about the same as far as aggression goes
ive had many bettas in community tanks, it really depends on the temperament of your particular betta if its going to do well in a community tank. they have temperaments like dogs, some are nice and some are mean lol. just dont add anything that looks similar to a betta fish and you should be fine, like a gourami or some larger tetras. avoid anything with large fins also. the betta needs to be the tank boss.
guppies are hit and miss if they survive from a store. they are so inbred and over bred that they have really weak tolerance to infections/water parameter changes. my advice is buy a bunch from a non-chain pet store and pray enough survive to keep a colony going. they die off randomly sometimes. if you want a guppie tank, just have guppies/algea eaters and plenty of places for the fry to hide to keep the colony going. plus a bunch of guppies in a tank are super fun and very interactive with you as a school. they will eat their own fry if not fed enough, or if they feel like it lol.
Danios....i HATE them. they are little hellions. one of the few fish i would never buy again. i fed my GFs danios from her tank to my golden wonder killifish i had at one time...one managed to survive and be fast enough to live in the tank. he then killed off ALL my cherry barbs....and would pick and eventually killed my large dumbo betta (loved him). i told her before she got them she would hate them, but she didnt listen (big surprise lol)
i prefer a gourami over a betta for a center piece fish though in sub 55g tanks. i have a baby blue gourami currently in my 20 long and love him, hes only about 3 inches now. hopefully ill have my 40 breeder by the time hes full grown at around 6 inches. (i want either a 40 breeder or 75g for my main tank lol.). i prefer a larger footprint on a tank then height, imo fish like more side to side swimming area then up and down lol.
ill have to get a new pic since i just rearranged my tank (i have a bad habit of that lol). but in my 20 long i currently have 7 emperor tetras (HIGHLY reccomend, amazing looking fish. they also have a purple and black variety that look amazing. i need 3 more females though to get the male/female ratio better, alot of chasing going on), 5 albino cory cats, 1 blue gourami, 2 black khuli loaches (need a few more of these lol), and a bumblebee catfish. i want some dwarf banjo cats also, but the GF said i cant get any more fish that hide all the time haha.
guppies are hit and miss if they survive from a store. they are so inbred and over bred that they have really weak tolerance to infections/water parameter changes. my advice is buy a bunch from a non-chain pet store and pray enough survive to keep a colony going. they die off randomly sometimes. if you want a guppie tank, just have guppies/algea eaters and plenty of places for the fry to hide to keep the colony going. plus a bunch of guppies in a tank are super fun and very interactive with you as a school. they will eat their own fry if not fed enough, or if they feel like it lol.
Danios....i HATE them. they are little hellions. one of the few fish i would never buy again. i fed my GFs danios from her tank to my golden wonder killifish i had at one time...one managed to survive and be fast enough to live in the tank. he then killed off ALL my cherry barbs....and would pick and eventually killed my large dumbo betta (loved him). i told her before she got them she would hate them, but she didnt listen (big surprise lol)
i prefer a gourami over a betta for a center piece fish though in sub 55g tanks. i have a baby blue gourami currently in my 20 long and love him, hes only about 3 inches now. hopefully ill have my 40 breeder by the time hes full grown at around 6 inches. (i want either a 40 breeder or 75g for my main tank lol.). i prefer a larger footprint on a tank then height, imo fish like more side to side swimming area then up and down lol.
ill have to get a new pic since i just rearranged my tank (i have a bad habit of that lol). but in my 20 long i currently have 7 emperor tetras (HIGHLY reccomend, amazing looking fish. they also have a purple and black variety that look amazing. i need 3 more females though to get the male/female ratio better, alot of chasing going on), 5 albino cory cats, 1 blue gourami, 2 black khuli loaches (need a few more of these lol), and a bumblebee catfish. i want some dwarf banjo cats also, but the GF said i cant get any more fish that hide all the time haha.
is it possible to have more than one gourami in the tank? maybe i should get a pair
I had better luck keeping a pair of Dwarf Gouramis in my tank, but it was a 55 gallon so they could find a quiet place to hang out.
Some gouramis can get up to 6 inches so a pair might be too much for your 20 gallon.
i would just do one for long term. specially if your only 20 gallons. the snakeskin or honey gouramis are amazing looking. be on the safe side lol. the dwarf ones are cool, but in my experience they are bullies and pick on tank mates. although my GF had a dwarf flame one that seemed fine in her guppy tank before it passed. most dwarf species (some are natural though) are specifically bred for that trait, and can cause health issues, i think thats why hers died. everything tested fine and nothing visible on it, just randomly died one night. you will notice alot of your deaths will happen at night, no clue why. just wake up one morning and look in and bamn, a fish died
i dont claim to know much about anything though lol. i would recommend a trip to a few places i frequent and have had almost zero issues with any fish i bought from them.
1st one is Southern Aquatics https://www.localfishstoreroswellga.com/ i LOVE this store. very well organized and planned out. very knowledgeable people there also. (please someone buy the zebra plecos they have...im to poor and they taunt me whenever i go there lol)
2nd is premier aquatics https://premieraquatics.net/ great store with great people. they have a koi pond out front that is awesome. little bit cramped in there and small parking lot, but worth it.
3rd is optimum aquarium http://www.optimumaquarium.com/ i have never bought fish here, and most of the staff is very knowledgeable (if technical question they arent afraid to ask another employee for help, which is nice). i have never bought fish from here, but the livestock always look great.
oh, and the key to setting up a new tank and it keeping fish alive is PATIENCE!!!! set the tank up and run it for at least a month with no fish in it. i know the bacteria additive says you can add fish immediately but dont. wait like a week or 2 then buy the cheapest few fish you wouldnt mind keeping in the tank (Neon tetras, or any small tetras you like are excellent for this. and 6 of them is pretty cheap) and see if they survive till the month mark. they are mainly in there to help with the biological element of the tank and to get your filter growing good bacteria on it. once you hit that month mark then slowly add fish you like. dont dump in like 20 fish at a time lol. gotta go slow at first for that filter to be able to handle the bio load of the fish or the water is gonna cloud up and possibly start losing fish.
and heres my 20 gallon long in its current setup lol. my plan for it (dont tell my GF lol) once i get a bigger tank, is to plumb this one is for a nano hillstream tank (pulls water from one side and puts it out on the other side to create a "current" in the tank) for hillstream loaches, gobies and im still debating on the swimming fish lol.
You need a bigger tank.
The 20 can be used for quarentine.
I had a 55 and wanted a 225.
The 20 can be used for quarentine.
I had a 55 and wanted a 225.
Careful with the shrimp. I had ghost shrimp and then I added the colorful ones later which was a bad idea. One or the other but not both. The ghosts will help with cleaning the gravel but if they ever get a taste of blood, ie kill and eat one of your fish, they'll never stop doing it. I purposely didn't feed for a few days to make them clean the tank better but they turned on my fish instead.
That's a good water change frequency and amount while the tank is starting up.
You should be able to keep everybody alive.
