Quote:
Originally Posted by LGA
My suggestion would actually be to get a 45+ starter kit and get African cichlids. I used to breed them, they come in a variety of colours (I especially love the Lake Malawi cichlids), the water in Calgary is fantastic for them, not sure if it's still the same but Calgary water used to have a pH of around 8.0, which makes the water a little hard for quite a few species of fish.
The Lake Malawi cichlids also have a ton of very interesting habits, things like digging out nests in the substrate, their breeding habits, and just their living habits (Lake Malawi has a ton of caves and other rocky structures). Personally they are my favourite types of fish.
If you are set on a 20 Gallon tank I'd suggest getting a bunch of community fish, personally I like to pick a spot in the world and build a tank towards that environment so that you can cater the tank to the needs of the fish. You've gotta be careful though, as I said earlier Calgary water is a bit hard, so you're going to want to get a pH buffer to lower that pH to around 7.
If you've got any specific questions just go ahead and ask.
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African Cichlids are awesome, and Calgary water is well-suited to them. I have about 25 in a 75 gallon tank. Very colorful, and generally peaceful. How they mate and rear fry is interesting.
We have a great store in Calgary - Gold's Aquariums on 17th Ave SE - specializing in Cichlids.
They generally recommend you get two females for every male of a species (to reduce harrassment of the females). Try to get groups of six (4 F and 2 M) - males will "color-up" better when they have a rival. Cichlids do not need plants - just lots of rocks. In fact, they will destroy plants. They can be expensive, but they do live for a long time.
http://www.cichlids.ca/
http://www.cichlid-forum.com/index.php
Re: cycling your tank - very important before you add fish - some fish stores will give you a scoop of sludge to get your biological filter started. I'm skeptical that Cycle does anything - I've seen some research that indicates it really does not help.
An aquarium can be a a lot of work - you really should change the water every week (20-25%), and this takes me about one hour. The filter needs to be maintained every three months.
Don't feed fish very much. They only need a couple of pinches every morning and evening. One day a week they should not be fed anything.
You might add a pleco (catfish) to eat algae off the glass.
Rule of thumb - one inch of fish per gallon. ex. 25 X 3" fish is enough for a 75 gallon tank. You could add a bit more if you do frequent water changes. Make sure the surface is sufficiently agitated to allow for oxygen exchange.