What to do for twenty gallon?

There are several options for a 20g. Obviously this will be smaller fish, and there are so many "nano" type fish these days. These will usually be wild caught, so attention to the water parameters is important. And that means we need to know your tap water GH (general hardness) and pH. It is easier selecting fish that will be fine in your water than going the water adjustment route.

Byron.

Ok, when I have enough money I'll check my water stuff

Lillianfish said:

Ok, when I have enough money I'll check my water stuff

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No need to waste money for a test for GH, you can get that from the water folks, probably on their website. Shoudl know the pH too. Though a pH test kit is well worth having, as a change in pH can signal trouble. But if you find the numbers let us know, or post the link if you can't fathom them.

What's there website called?

Byron means your local water company.

One big Oscar, school of tetras and 10 minnows is good ..Nah I'm just kidding!!!, Dont even bother to mix those up kind of fish up together

Don't mind me i like to joke around once in awhile..


Your local fish store should give you free water testings .bring at least 5 or 6 samples of the water to the store

KPainter said:

Byron means your local water company.

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True. If you are on public water, whoever suplies it is where you look. This will usually be the city or town authority.

I just noticed you are in Oregon. If you are west of the mountains, you will almost certainly have soft water. Those of us in SW BC where I am down through Western Washington and Oregon are blessed with soft water. But check it out, then we can proceed.

You also have one of the best fish stores anywhere right there in Portland, called The Wet Spot. They carry many of the fish we will be considering.

Byron.

Yeah we're west of the mountains. I loooooove the wet spot, i actually sell some of my fish there when my local petsptore can't buy from me. So yeah, I guess i've got soft water

Lillianfish said:

Yeah we're west of the mountains. I loooooove the wet spot, i actually sell some of my fish there when my local petsptore can't buy from me. So yeah, I guess i've got soft water

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Then you have numerous options for a 20-21g tank of smallish fish.

You could do a geographic tank, say a SE Asian pond/stream with one of the dwarf species of rasbora (in Boraras genus), one or more of the small gourami (Chocolate, Licorice, pygmy, eyespot...), with crypts, floating Water Sprite for plants. Or an Amazonian pool with pencilfish, dwarf cory species, pygmy chain sword, floating pennywort pants. Or a Killifish setup with Central African killies [none in our profiles yet, but some members do have these].

Or you could do a theme tank, say a forest lagoon, with some of the aforementioned small fish but not paying attention to geography when it comes to fish and plants, just water/environment similarities.

The possibilities are endless. And The Wet Spot has almost all of these fish in stock, when they are in season. Being wild caught, most of these fish are seasonal according to the collection times in their respective countries.

Byron.

I might do killifish or gouramis, I like both of those

How many killifish could I keep in one twenty gallon?

Are they all seasonal?

Killifish covers a wide range of different fish. Some are very short-lived, less than 12 months, but most will last longer in an aquarium, perhaps 2-3 years or so. Depends upon species.

Are there any other types of fish I could keep in there that'll live a lot longer? I was looking at the gourami types you mentioned, but I don't like there shape really as much as the ones that grow big, so they're a no. I like fish that live longer, I wouldn't want a fish that only lives two three years (except bettas). So..any other types?

Lillianfish said:

Are there any other types of fish I could keep in there that'll live a lot longer? I was looking at the gourami types you mentioned, but I don't like there shape really as much as the ones that grow big, so they're a no. I like fish that live longer, I wouldn't want a fish that only lives two three years (except bettas). So..any other types?

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A lot of the fish that suit the conditions we have been discussing are short-lived. Smaller fish tend to have shorter lifespans.

After I last posted, I checked the Wet Spot's website out of interest; I have never seen so many species listed for a store. There are half a dozen (or maybe more) killies which I would never see around here, and the list of characins is remarkable. You might want to browse around the store for some ideas. Just be careful of impulse buying; write down the names [use the scientific names, I see they use them in their list] of what you like, and then go home to research them and build the community.

Byron.

Oopsy, well I thought that what you said about the mountains meant if we lived west of the mountains we would have soft water, then I reread your comment and realized what you meant, and I just asked my mom. We have hard water, so...any new fish that can be kept in hard water?

You need the numbers as "hard water" means different things to different folks.

It will be in ppm (parts per million) or GH (General Hardness) and KH (Carbonic Hardness or alkalinity).

Jeff.

Agree, contact your water supply people, their website likely will have this. Otherwise we are just guessing. As indeed I was in my implying that east of the mountains is hard water, but I believe others have indicated that--but your water supply will know this.

We don't have a water supplier, we have well water