# 20 gallon 2 spare



## MikeG (Nov 20, 2004)

Hey, sorry to post this question inthis forum but i always seem to get the best answers in this forum. i have a 20 gallon long tank laying around and i wanted to put an agressive fish that can eat live food in it. i already have p's in another tank so i dont really want more p's. i was thinking some exo's, puffer's or convicts. does anyone know if my tank is big enough for these particular fish? if so how many of each type of fish would fit (not all of them i will pick either or this will be a species tank) does anyone have any other suggestions besides what i listed. how about a flower horn? please help i want to buy some fish soon 
thanx i appreciate it

bye


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## redbellyman21 (Jun 27, 2004)

I gotta a wolfish in a 30, but they grow fast. You are probally looking for a ghost! Unless u plan on upgrading with the fish. I mean if you think about it oscars eat n e thing, but they grow so do jacks conv reddevil u name it. But a wolfish is my favorite aggresive fish under ps. They have a huge mouth! watch the video in my signature good luck choosing


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## elTwitcho (Jun 22, 2004)

I think the only thing you could put in there would be mosquito fish or puffers really, and puffers shouldn't eat too many feeders as it's known to cause problems with them because of the fatty tissue. They'll go to town on snails however


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## MikeG (Nov 20, 2004)

no i dont want to upgrade with the fish. i want to keep it in the 20. no one thinks exo's will work? do convicts get too big for the tank?
i like puffers but im kind of scared by the whole brackish water thing. is it hard to maintain?


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## elTwitcho (Jun 22, 2004)

From what I've heard brackish isn't very hard to maintain, you just need a tool to measure specific gravity (salt content) which should cost about 20 bucks, and you do water changes like on a regular tank, but adding marine salt to the water to maintain salinity levels.

I think the tank doesn't really afford exodons alot of room to swim since they're fast swimmers and like to dart around. I think only two feet of space is a bit tight, even though the fish are tiny.

Convicts will be fine in that tank, but they aren't the kind of fish that will rip apart a feeder or anything like that. Males are aggressive as hell, it's just that the fish aren't exactly predatory


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## Lyle (Jan 29, 2003)

African Leaf Fish


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## MikeG (Nov 20, 2004)

do i need a special type of filter for brackish water? 
and i heard with puffers u have to feed them shell fish or else they will grow a over large beak, so i assume snails are a good remedy for this problem but then that causes another problem, snail infestation, wil the puffers be able to kill off an infestation or will it likely spread and get out of controll?


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## elTwitcho (Jun 22, 2004)

Puffers will eat snails faster than snails can reproduce in your tank, in all honesty you'll be needing to add snails as I doubt they'll be able to set up much of a population.

It's pretty common for their beaks to get oiverlarge, one thing people do is put the puffer in a dish with 1 part clove oil to something like 20 parts water until the puffer is anesthetized and unconscious then clip the excess beak with cuticle cutters. Doesn't seem too tricky but it's something to think about that I forgot to mention.

Regular filters work fine with brackish water


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## MikeG (Nov 20, 2004)

thanx elTwitcho ur ALOT of help. i dont think i want to deal with the hassles of cutting their beak, i think i might get convicts or try exo's out and see what happens
thanx alot for the help everyone


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## piranhatom (Nov 22, 2004)

dont get convicts ive had them before and there horrible ,if your looking for somthing to eat feeders you will be very disapounted they wont be able too. they are very aggresive but can realy do anything


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## MikeG (Nov 20, 2004)

it doesnt HAVE to eat feeders but it would be nice to see one get bitched around and then fed to my p's if the cons cant finish it. 
how are they horrible though? im curious as to what you mean by that. does anyone know of any other kind of chiclid i can put in a 20?


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## MR.FREEZ (Jan 26, 2004)

how bout six or so tiger barbs and a few danios with some corys for the bottom


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## RhomZilla (Feb 12, 2003)

Honestly, I cant think of any true aggressive fish that can never stay in a 20 gal forever. You can, however, start off as babies but you'll still need to upgrade no matter what.


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## cmsCheerFish (Dec 17, 2004)

few tigers and silverdollars?


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## MikeG (Nov 20, 2004)

i was told today at big als that i can keep 3 exodons for life in a 20... is this true? i am aware that if i get less than 6 they will pick on eachother, that is not an issue to me. the only thing that concerns me is over-crowding do you think 3 exo's in a 20 is too much fish in to little space? never mind them being fast swimmers or any other factors. pound for pound can 3 exo's stay in a 20 for life based on the gallon per inch


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## MR.FREEZ (Jan 26, 2004)

MikeG said:


> i was told today at big als that i can keep 3 exodons for life in a 20... is this true? i am aware that if i get less than 6 they will pick on eachother, that is not an issue to me. the only thing that concerns me is over-crowding do you think 3 exo's in a 20 is too much fish in to little space? never mind them being fast swimmers or any other factors. pound for pound can 3 exo's stay in a 20 for life based on the gallon per inch
> [snapback]865979[/snapback]​


i think you really should keep them as just one fish or six or more and a 20 sounds

too small for that


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## Phtstrat (Sep 15, 2004)

You might be better off using the 20 gallon as a grow out tank for small aggro fish, since not many will be able to fit in there.

You could always try a really small serra if you are desperate and willing to upgrade in the near future.


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