question about mixing fish...

[tikeyas_mom]

I just set up my 20Gallon tank a couple days ago (I added two of my black/white skirt tetras (whome I have had for 3 years already)), I was curious to know what other types of fish I can house safely with my two tetras...

[Flatcoatluver]

I have one black skirt tetra, they are such cute little fishies! With him I have guppys, dwarf sunset platys, mixed fruit tetras, and a couple other species of tetras. :) Sorry I was no help.

[IRescue452]

Is your tank cycled already?
You should add a few more of the same tetras to make a school. Most small tropicals will do alright. Barbs, rasboras, platies, swordtails, rainbowfish. You might also consider a small bottom level fish like a bristlenose pleco or a small group of loaches or cories.
Mixed fruit tetras are dipped in chemicals to get the colors. The process is very painful and the colors fade away with time. Don't give stores money for doing that.

[Chilli]

I agree with IRescue, from my own experiance, most tetras seem to do really well in schools. =]
Right now my Black Skirt tetra is in my "rescue" tank(they are fish from a guy who was going to dump them if I hadn't taken them) and the little fish is perfectly fine with a few hatchetfish, barbs, and a guppy.
HERE (http://www.timstropicals.com/Inventory/TetraLarge/index.asp) is a site that shows pictures of many other species of tetras. Also, you can look at other fish through the links displayed on the left. Lifebearers, Danios, & Rasbora would all be good section to look at.
Good luck! =D

[Flatcoatluver]

Mixed fruit tetras are dipped in chemicals to get the colors. The process is very painful and the colors fade away with time. Don't give stores money for doing that.
Are all of them dyed?
Walmart had some dyed yellow, purple, and blue. But petsmart had none of them died of what I know of, mine is white, but when the light comes on there is a pinkish tinge.

[tikeyas_mom]

yeah i would never buy a dyed white skirt i think that is soo cruel.... mine are regular colors, white and white /black... yes the tank was cycled for 24 hours before we added my fish.. (we moved so they were lviing at my moms for a while)... I love guppies (a friend of mine breeds them) they would do alright with my Full grown tetras?? They have been knows to peck at other fishies...

[IRescue452]

flatcoatlover, that sounds like either a bad dying job or that they are already faded

[borzoimom]

I just set up my 20Gallon tank a couple days ago (I added two of my black/white skirt tetras (whome I have had for 3 years already)), I was curious to know what other types of fish I can house safely with my two tetras...
Those are set at a 7.2 ph level. Basically other schooling fish, swords, danios, and Also Angels as long as you DO NOT add tigers. They are aggressive. You can also put a betta in there if the betta has a castle to " protect.

[Flatcoatluver]

flatcoatlover, that sounds like either a bad dying job or that they are already faded
Oh really? Wow I never even knew that, well I won't buy one of thease fish again. I wish they would tell you before they buy it.

[SunsetRose]

The fish already mentioned would work well with the tetras. Just watch angelfish and bettas though as they can be aggressive. I had a betta in my tank and he would kill any fish that were about an inch, inch and a half long and he injured my striped zebra fish pretty badly.

Check out mollies. I really enjoyed having mollies because they were very active fish that would actually interact with me. They always got excited when they saw me come in the room and they would follow my finger if I slid it across the glass. They are live bearers though, so be careful about what sex they are. Males will fight and if you have a male with females, you will probably end up with babies. If you aren't prepared and have the female in a breeder, then the babies will just get eaten by the other fish (which is completely fine as long as you don't mind it).

Striped zebra fish were cool, platys, glass fish....

[IRescue452]

Mollies and angelfish get too big for a 20 gallon tank

[SunsetRose]

Mollies only get like 3 inches long.....How is that too big for a 20 gallon?

[Freedom]

I guess some of it depends on what you enjoy watching.

Tetras are community fish, and they do well if there are 5 or more.

I have kept one male betta in a community tank with tetras. The first 4 bettas I had were fine. The fifth one got returned next day; he was attacking EVERYONE!!! I haven't had much lick with bettas, as you can tell, they live about 8 months in my tank.

My tank is 19 litres. I love seeing lots of fish, so I stick with the little ones. LOTS of them! I have 16 tetras, 3 different types. They swim together and then in separate schools. I really enjoy that.

I had great success with plecos when I lived in my apartment; my tank ALWAY'S had algae, ha ha. Here in my house, plecos don't eat unless I feed them, so I don't have any. I also had great success with angels in my apartment; but here they don't last long.

I bought a house less than a mile from my apartment, same city so the water is the same. It has to be the difference in the light and maybe in the heat.

I like the pristella tetras. I have NO luck with neon tetras, they seldom last 2 weeks for me. Go figure, supposedly the easiest fish to keep, ha ha.

[borzoimom]

Mollies and angelfish get too big for a 20 gallon tank
Angel fish are like gold fish as far as growth- the larger the tank, the bigger they get. IN a 20 ga tank I have never had a angel bigger than 3 inches.
The rule of thumb in fish is one inch per gallon of water. If you want many fish- get small types or schoolers.

[IRescue452]

Nobody uses 1 inch per gallon anymore, we calculate bioload per square inch of tank space along with individual species space needs. I'm surprised you find a 3" angelfish to be acceptable. How about a stunted borzoi who has suffered malnutrition and poor living conditions. Stunted fish rarely live as long as they should because their internal organs suffer in the process. Ideally, an angelfish will live past 15 years if properly kept. A goldfish certainly won't live long stunted, and they don't grow to the size of their container, that's a myth.
Mollies get up to and exceed 6 inches when they are raised properly. They grow slow though and usually die long before their potential lifespan.

[SunsetRose]

Mollies get up to and exceed 6 inches when they are raised properly. They grow slow though and usually die long before their potential lifespan.

Do you have any sources?

I just got through searching and everything I looked at said 2 to 4 depending on species.

[Genny]

Hey, congratulations on your tank! I've had tetras before, but all of them seem aggressive with my other fish, so I don't have any anymore. I use to have one of the 'dyed' fish ( I didn't know it was painful for them!) she was purple and I named her Violet. She was really mean to my little guppy named' Skipper' so I had to separate them. I thought alomost all tetras were aggressive, cause I've had lots of kinds and they weren't ever too good with my other fish!

[IRescue452]

My sources are seeing adult mollies, in homes, in stores, at aquarium society meetings. Swordtails are the livebearers who get 2-4 inches.

[IRescue452]

My sources are seeing adult mollies, in homes, in stores, at aquarium society meetings. Swordtails are the livebearers who get 2-4 inches. Most websites don't have accurate information, especially if they are selling fish. There's more profit in giving low size estimates.

[SunsetRose]

Well my mother has kept mollies and had the fish for over 10 years (the same fish) in a 50 gallon community tank. They never got over 4 inches so as far as I'm concerned, you can keep a few in a 20 gallon without an issue.

[tikeyas_mom]

I am too affraid to add any livebearers (considering they breed to know end lol).. and i would hate for my babies to get stuck up in the filter like nemo ;)... I went to the store yesterday and bought four neons, they seem to be holding their own so far... the one white skirt tetra that i have seems to chase them once in a while, but they are good escapers... I think they just need to figure out their own territory, I also picked up a really neat colored pleco.... Today I wanted to buy a few more fish to add, so i picked up three white clouds (they are pink and red)... and two head tail light tetra i believe... they have not been added to the tank yet (they are sitting in the bag getting used to the water), I'll post pics later :)