# beginner with questions 50 v 20 and others



## fishygurl (Oct 3, 2005)

Hi im pretty new to the hobby of fish keeping 
fist of all what are the advanteges of a 50 gallon tank compared to a 20 gallon tank?

Also what active fish would you reccomend keeping in each?? :help:


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## Georgia Peach (Sep 23, 2005)

well first off, a bigger tank is easier to keep clean to me - you also have a wider selection of fish to choose from - there are alot of fish that need to be kept in schools and they require a bit of room to roam.


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## fishygurl (Oct 3, 2005)

and what fish do you reccomend for a beginner 50 gallon community


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## Lydia (Feb 6, 2005)

Angelfish!! Well maybe not. That's what I would put in there, lol but I don't know how easy they are to take care of. But you should get the bigger tank. You can do much more with it! I would put 2-3 schools of middle and top swimming fish (about 8 fish each), some kuhli loaches, some otos, and some angelfish or dwarf cichlids. The dwarf cichlids would probably not be good fish to start out with though. Angelfish seem pretty easy to take care of, but I'm not sure. I've kept one before without any trouble.


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## Guest (Oct 3, 2005)

the bigger tank's water will also be more stable. and there are very few fish you can put in a 20. definitely go for the bigger tank! 
as for fish, id put in bigger oddball fish but since you want a community...

how bout some nice tetras for color, maybe a couple dwarf gouramis, cory cats for bottom dwellers, and maybe some sort of fancy pleco. if you want really active fish, danios would be good too.


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## fishygurl (Oct 3, 2005)

I though of one thing for a 50 gallon

8 cherry barbs

8 cardinals

8 lemon tetras

2 angelfish

4 bronze cories 

4 otos

1 male dwarf gourmai

i dont think this is overstocking but im not sure


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## Jonno (May 22, 2005)

the angels might start to pick on some of fish in there!


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## Guest (Oct 3, 2005)

the angels will msot likely eat the tetras


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## Lara (Sep 4, 2005)

Hi Fishgurl,

The only advantage of a 20gallon is it's smaller lol! Go the 50 or even bigger I reckon  

Suitable fish will depend on what kind of tank you want to have: visually (eg planted, rocks etc)? Will it be tropical or coldwater? How much care and maintenance are you willing to put in? What kind of fish do you like (eg, small schooling, large solitary etc)? 

Different fish require different habitats. For example, if you want to keep gourami's they require a heavily planted tank with floating plants, if you want to keep discus you will need to put a lot of effort into maintaining specific water parameters and meeting dietary requirements, other cichlid family members also have their own unique requirements etc etc. If you have absolutely no idea what I'm talking that's OK, we are here to help :wink: Please answer the above questions and we can give you specific advice on suitable fish or whatever else you want to know.

Regards,
Lara


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## fishygurl (Oct 3, 2005)

I was planning to have a planted tank with rocks, but not tooo heavily planted kinda medium lol. I was planning to do water changes once a week.. But it doesnt really matter as i have lots of time on my hands. I like schooling fish and community fish that prefer to only have 1 or two specimens per tank so i would really like to get some of each. I want to have fish that are pretty active awell.


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## Lara (Sep 4, 2005)

Cherry barbs and lemon tetra's (best to bump up to nine) are cool. I would bypass the cardinals unless you are going to plant heavily, some will disagree but i don't consider these a beginner's fish, they require acidic (pH 6), soft water for best health and colouration and need lots of plants to provide security. Angelfish are a bit controversial, I think if you add them very young with all the other fish that they (and the other fish) will do fine. They _are_ territorial and they will eat fish they can fit into their mouths as adults (they get to 15cm) so tetra's will become food if they are added later. This tends not to happen if they grow up together but a lot of it comes down to the individual, I wouldn't rule them out. Your corie (would bump numbers up to 5+) and Oto (would bump up numbers up to 5+) selection is good. Dwarf gourami's should be kept in male/female pairs and need a heavily planted tank with floating plants for security, I would probably bypass them for now. You could add a school of Raspora's, there are a few varieties and they stay small and will do well with your other selections.

A way to work out if you have overstocked is to make sure you have allowed 1L per cm of fish 12cm and under, and 2L per cm of fish 12cm and over. This means that for every angelfish you want to allow 30L and 45L for a school of 9 lemon tetra's. Note: 1L = 0.3 gallons. I also believe that schooling fish will always look better and act in a more interesting manner if kept in a larger school and would recommend this even if it means keeping one or two large schools rather than a few individuals here and there, this however is my opinion of course.


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## fishfreaks (Jan 19, 2005)

You can also have boesami rainbowfish


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## Lara (Sep 4, 2005)

Check out the sticky in the general forum here for other vital stocking considerations


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## cucci67 (Aug 3, 2005)

If you have the space and money, no doubt, get the 50 gallon. You can get a 5 at walmart for $150, $75 extra for the stand. I got mine from petsmart, $160, and used my dresser for a stand.


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## goodie (Sep 2, 2005)

Test your tap water to see what your working with (soft/acidic or hard/alkaline) then pick your fish accordingly. That way you won't have to buffer your water to meet the needs of your fish. This makes maintenance(h2o changes) much easier. Oh yeah, go with the larger tank. It gives you more options and is more stable, as long as you can controll yourself when you come across those neat little additions at the lfs that you would love to have too!! :lol: That one is a tough one for me, but then again its hard not buying any more tanks!!


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## osteoporoosi (Jan 27, 2005)

50 gal, no question about it 
You could perhaps put 15-20 tiger barbs, 1 bushynose pleco and 6 yo-yo loaches to get a really energetic group of fish.
Or if you like peaceful fish, try 10-12 paleatus corys(only with fine sand as subtrate), and 7-10 beatufil neon rainbows. These fish prefer cooler water, 22-24 celcius.


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## Damon (Jan 18, 2005)

fishygurl said:


> I though of one thing for a 50 gallon
> 
> 8 cherry barbs
> 
> ...


Its not overstocked, but remember more types of fish isn't always a good thing. This is where many run into trouble. Increasing your school size will not only allow the fish to feel safer and thus more active and colorful, but will prevent aggression and limit compatibility problems.
I personally would rid my self of the cherry barbs in favor of more cardinals (like 20). I would also have 10 lemon tetras and add 4 cories. I would also leave the gourami out at first.


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