# Wet pet in a 20H stocking



## gryffin (Feb 11, 2008)

I would like to obtain single cichlid to keep in my 20H tank as a wet pet. I've read through a lot of old posts and it seems like a good option would be a single Rainbow Cichlid. If I go this route, would a small school of cherry barbs (5, to be exact) be good dither fish in this situation? In addition, I would add either 4 otos or (but not both!) a small ancistrus to finish out the stocking. I already have cherries, otos, and ancistrus so the Rainbow would be the only new purchase.

I've never kept cichlids, so any advice on whether this sounds good, or an alternate stocking would be great. Other fish I have that I could consider keeping with the cichlid are female bettas, panda cories, honey gourami or a couple of rainbows- I just figured the cherries were the best choice for co-inhabitants. Or, I could consider a different cichlid entirely.

So- all advice/suggestions are appreciated.

Thanks!


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## Zack2112 (Jul 11, 2008)

I hate to burst your bubble but I think a 20H is just to small for almost any "wet pet" Rainbows can still reach the 6" mark and would be very cramped in a 20. I have made the newbie mistake of starting with a 20H and buying a fish too large for it. My first fish I got was a single clown knife a few inches long. A few months later he could hardly turn around and was sold. However, I have never kept rainbows, hopefully someone that has will chime in. But right now I think you should rethink the "wet pet" idea or think about getting a larger tank. :? 
My vote is larger tank :thumb:

Hopefully someone else can give you some better advice.


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## maddyfish (Jul 23, 2004)

A single Male convict might do alright as a wet pet


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## CiChLiD LoVeR128 (Mar 22, 2006)

I agree that a bigger tank would be better but as maddyfish has suggested a Male Convict would be ok. Also I think a Rainbow would be good as well! But I think a Male Convict would have more personality and would be a better wet pet. With the Rainbow you could keep Cherry barbs easily. You could also keep Swordtails, Platies, and Mollies as well with the Rainbow. With the Male Convict it will be harder to find dither/target fish. Danio's would probably be the only option that would last with a Convict.

It would be better if you had a 20 gal L. :thumb:


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## Chris2500DK (Feb 15, 2006)

I'd rather keep a female con, more colourful and it won't get quite so big.


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## Voodoo Chilli (Jun 29, 2004)

I think a single rainbow would be fine in your tank.


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## heylady (Oct 14, 2004)

I think a single rainbow would be fine too and they are just as good "wet pet" as a convict. ((Better looking too! :wink: )) On the plus side you can keep just about any *fast* dither with them. I would not suggest gourami's or even bettas as they just don't have the speed necessary to avoid the rainbow if need be. Snails are an option with these guys too but shrimp will probably be killed. 
I have 2 males in a divided 29g with a small group of danios. On occasion the males will chase the danios but they are unable to catch them. (The divider is eggcrate so the danios can go through but the rainbows can't.)


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## Vincent (May 7, 2004)

My rainbow cichlids are fairly shy and the ones I have would not make a good wet pet.

I think a single male sajica might work well because the ones I have are more outgoing.


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## CiChLiD LoVeR128 (Mar 22, 2006)

I noticed that also that Rainbows are very shy and not as out going.

I have also noticed that Sajica and those of the Archo or Crypto are more personable and out going! :thumb:


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## Zack2112 (Jul 11, 2008)

There ya go, I was wrong. Im glad some people that have kept them before chimed in. Sounds like you will be ok. :thumb: Good luck! I am sure you will enjoy it!


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## rmcder (Jul 9, 2005)

I have a rainbow that is one of the most outgoing fish I own, however it is also a very active swimmer, so although it would fit ok in a 20H, I don't think it would be happy there. 
A single convict (or hrp) would probably do ok in a 20H, but that's pushing things a little, imo.


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## heylady (Oct 14, 2004)

My rainbows are active fish too but they use all of the water column not just the bottom. Just my 2Â¢ but I still think a single fish would be fine in a 20H.
I also wanted to post a pic...this is an older pic and not so good but you get the idea...


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## bernie comeau (Feb 19, 2007)

heylady said:


> I would not suggest gourami's or even bettas as they just don't have the speed necessary to avoid the rainbow if need be.


HeyLady wouldn't recomend them, but I certainly would. Kept gouramis with rainbows before, no problems. In fact gouramis have done well in very rough tanks that rainbows would NOT do well at all and danios wouldn't last more then a few days, if that.
Here's a pic from 30 years back:









Note the male blue gourami amongst female mayan, 2 male JD, male mozambique and female gold morph mozambique. Very ROUGH company compared to a rainbow! Had gouramis do well for well over 5 years in tanks with breeding cichlids, MANY times.

Had disagreement with many on this forum over "dithers". So a year ago I tried my own experiment in a 15 gal. with a young breeding pair of cons ( actually thought my old chrome framed tank was a 10 gal. to begin with  ) ---- to make a long story short the only thing to survive ( and thrive) was a male paradise fish , a female blue gourami and a pleco. 2 gouramis and 2 survived -----danios, swordtails,serpae tetras, TB's all in quantities of over three all got killed. Any fish can be called a "dither" and then it becomes an expendable fish. But a tankmate ( and that is what a dither really is) should be able to thrive and LAST.

Now a danio probably has a good chance to survive and thrive with a rainbow ( as aposed to a breeding pair of cons) and certainly is an option with a rainbow. But I would be very curious what others REAL experience with mixing gouramis with rainbows are rather then theories about being able to run way?


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## heylady (Oct 14, 2004)

While I certainly don't discount the experiences of Bernie, I have to put in my 2Â¢ anyway :wink:

I started out with 3 rainbows in my 29g. By the 2nd day two of the fish had claimed half the tank and the third fish was regulated to the upper corner. I took the most subordinate fish out and put him into my 30g that had a half grown angel, a female betta and a couple of glo-fish in it. I did this because I had read here and other places that rainbows weren't terribly aggressive with other fish. This was not the right thing to do. It tore up the angel pretty bad and killed the female betta. I ended up giving that rainbow away.
Now I have the two male rainbows in the divided tank. They both tolerate the danios although one rainbow is much more mellow than the other. This can easily been seen because generally speaking the danios stay on one side more than the other. 
I have never tried a gourami in with these guys. I would say that since the female betta was killed there would be a good chance that these guys would kill a gourami also. 
Oh, and I want my dithers to live too. I like all my fish and I would rather see them being active and happy rather than miserable and picked on.

I should put a disclaimer here too: for some reason I tend to pick out aggressive fish. I don't know why but I do. Other people may not have the same experiences with the same type of fish, etc....


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