# 20 gallon stocking help!



## DUHK (Aug 6, 2009)

I have a 20 Gallon High and I was wondering if this stocking list would be okay:

-5 Threadfin Rainbowfish
-5 Gertrude Rainbowfish
-5 Signifer Rainbowfish
-5 Furcata Rainbowfish

Will that be okay? Or should I lower the number of fish down?

Thanks!


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## psusaxman2000 (Dec 22, 2009)

You may want to lower the numbers a little on each of the fish. I'm not familiar with all of those species of rainbows, but the typical logic is 1 inch of fish per gallon of water. You need to consider how large that can become at adult age (so they have room to grow into the tank) and how much space you have.

Now you say that you have a 20 gallon tank, but until you get all your gravel, plants and landscaping in, you may only get 15 or 16 gallons of water in there. Plus based on the amount of space that you have in the tank you need to allow for plant growth as well. 

I would say that 3 of each would be the max that I would go (if you planned on keeping all 4 types).

Kenny


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## ddavila06 (Jan 31, 2009)

DUHK said:


> I have a 20 Gallon High and I was wondering if this stocking list would be okay:
> 
> -5 Threadfin Rainbowfish
> -5 Gertrude Rainbowfish
> ...


too many fish!! defenitly take the threadfins out and maybe even take one more group out as well. hope it works!!


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## Six (May 29, 2006)

I LOVE your fish list! I am a big fan of rainbowfish myself!  

I agree on lowering your numbers a bit. Most people/places say 1" per gallon of water and you are pretty much following that since most of these guys are about 1". 

However, all these fish inhabit the same part of the tank and will cause quite a bit of stress on each other. You'll likely end up with some nice signifers (probably the most aggressive of the group) and the others will looks stressed and thus ugly. The threadfins may not be able to compete with the other more aggressive feeders. 

So, OK, my suggestion is to get a nice group of one of those species. Then get a bottom dweller of some sort (I'm betting you'll like peacock gundeons or pygmy cories), maybe an algae eater (3 otocinclus would be good), and a group of small schooling fish like rasbora species. 

That's just my suggestion! Good luck!


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## DUHK (Aug 6, 2009)

How about just 2 species of rainbows. Threadfin and Gertrudae?  I think they are the most peaceful and look best. How does that sound? I want to get about 5 cory julii so how many of each rainbow do you think I should get?

Also, I know the males of these species are the ones that look the best. But if I were to get all males, with no females, how do you think they would do and look?


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## Six (May 29, 2006)

I would only do one r'bow species with mixed sexes. That will give you the best behavior and color. 

If you mix threadfins with a more aggressive species, even another rainbow, they may not do very well. They aren't exactly the most outgoing fish. 

GL.


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## Mud Pie Mama (Jul 30, 2006)

Six said:


> I would only do one r'bow species with mixed sexes. That will give you the best behavior and color.
> 
> If you mix threadfins with a more aggressive species, even another rainbow, they may not do very well. They aren't exactly the most outgoing fish.
> 
> GL.


x2!

Believe what Six has to say; it is excellent advice. I tried to keep the Threadfin rainbows 2 other times in mixed tanks and lost them - not all at once, but one by one over several months. But I'm willing to learn and decided to give them another try. Now I have a group of 14 in a dedicated tank and they are doing well. They do not hide in the sides and corners. Their colors are amazing, and very beautiful to see them flaring. It is wonderful to see the difference. No one competes with them at feeding time. And when I reach to open the glass top for feeding they all come charging to see me.

PS. It is a 20H. I do have a few Ottos and Amanos for clean-up; along w/ 3 Peacock Gudgeons to give the bottom level some activity! :tea:
(However, I am working on moving some fish around and placing them into a 20g long, just to give them more room to race about and flare at each other.)


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