I have an occupied 20G tank but hate it

[Azimuth]

I have a 20G-H tank with a fluval 204 filter. stock lighting which is inadequate. (no plants either)

The current inhabitants are a large population (over 40) of fancy guppies (which are inbred several generations)
and 2 pleco's roughly 6 inches each.

I would love to get rid of the guppies so any advice on this would be great.
(I can't bring myself to flush them)

I would love to have a planted tank with a school of something (tetras)

Being that I like a plant filled tank I am guessing I need to get rid of the Pleco's which I have had for many years. Or is this not the case?

In order to combat the lighting deficiency I have my eye on a Nova Extreme HO Light Fixture - 2 x 24W - T5 - Freshwater - 24 in.

I plan to make my own substrate using pool filter sand and laterite

I'm sure I have overlooked a lot and would love to hear about my oversights.
What are your thoughts?

 

[SpeedEuphoria]

plecos are normally fine for planted tanks(depending on type) but 2 6" ones is prob too big of fish for a 20H tank.

 

[rich311k]

If the plecos are commons they will get much to big. They wont harm plants except uprooting if they get excited swimming around.

That fixture will allow a nice variety of plants.

 

[JohnPaul]

Sounds like a decent plan. I agree that the plecos are too large for that size tank--and a well-balanced, planted tank with healthy plants probably won't have enough algae to justify needing any plecos.

As for getting rid of the guppies, you could check with your local fish stores to see if they will take them off your hands (for free). Another possibility is your local aquarium club/tropical fish club. Last option would be something like Craig's List.

48W of light over a 20-tall is borderline low/medium light. Normally tall tanks are not the most ideal since it's harder to get light down to the substrate in a taller tank. Before you go investing a lot of money and so forth into your current tank, you might consider whether you have the space to get a larger (or at least, longer & shorter) tank. It also gives you a few more options for fish--being as how fish swim side to side, a 20 Long (for example) gives you more effective "swimming space" than a 20 Tall.

Either way, the sand will work fine as a substrate. If you want the "sand" look, the only thing that would be better (from a plant perspective) would be to use a planted tank sand substrate like Seachem's Flourite Black Sand (a medium black color) or Onyx Sand (a medium/dark grey color). These are, unfortunately, significantly more expensive than pool filter sand. (At my LFS, Seachem substrates run about $25 for a 15-pound bag. For a 20 tall, you might be able to get away with one bag; anything longer, you would need two.) If you stick with the cheaper option, at some point you'll probably want to pick up some root feeder fertilizer tabs to stick in the sand to help with getting nutrients to your plants' roots. A small layer of laterite on the bottom will help with iron, which is a good start but laterite alone doesn't provide everything the roots need. With any sand substrate, you want to be sure the sand gets "mixed up" from time to time to prevent anaerobic pockets from forming at the bottom; you can either do that by hand, or else by getting some Malaysian Trumpet Snails (MTS) in your tank, which are harmless to plants, good algae eaters, and like to burrow in the sand during the day so they are constantly keeping your sand overturned. Basically, MTS are your friends if you have a planted tank.

Also, when it comes time to get plants, usually pet stores are not a good option as their plants are often in not-so-great conditions and are almost always really expensive. Check with your local aquarium club, often people with planted tanks do regular trimmings and are willing to sell those for cheap (or even give them away for free)...just recently I was setting up some new tanks and someone in our local club gave me a massive bag of trimmings for free...if I had bought a similar amount of stuff at a store, it probably would have been $150 or more in plants. If you don't have a local aquarium club, then check the buy/sell/trade forums at places like Aquarium Advice or Aquatic Plant Central; even when you factor in shipping, you can usually get plants for way less than what pet stores will charge you.

 

[Azimuth]

Great, thanks for all the info.
I would love to get a new tank, but if that were to happen I would want a 55BR. this would also require me to get a new filter as the fluval 204 is rated at 40G

I might look around CL for a 40G if I can pick one up dirt cheap then no loss.

My goal really is a planted tank and if the 20h won't cut it, then I don't want to waste time and effort.
the 20H is about 16" deep, with substrate it is only about 13" deep, Is this dimension not suitable only because the available space to provide lighting?

I believe the Plecos are common variety, they are about 4 years old, I am curious as to what I should do with them, what size tank do they require at 6"?

 

[JohnPaul]

My goal really is a planted tank and if the 20h won't cut it, then I don't want to waste time and effort.
the 20H is about 16" deep, with substrate it is only about 13" deep, Is this dimension not suitable only because the available space to provide lighting?

Just to be clear, I didn't want to give the impression that it wouldn't work! You could no doubt have a very nice planted tank in the 20h. It was more by way of comparison, all other things being equal, a 20 long is *easier* to get up to higher light levels than a 20 high is. That's all. The "watts-per-gallon" rule is based on standard sized tanks; "long" tanks typically allow you to do a little bit more than the WPG rule would indicate; "tall" tanks typically allow you to do a little less than the WPG rule would indicate. Depth to the substrate is more important if you are looking to grow very low-growing, carpet-type plants than it is if you are growing mostly taller-growing stem plants, taller crypts & vals, and so forth. But you shouldn't have any problems in that tank growing anything that is classified as a "low light" plant, and you likely will be able to grow (reasonably well) at least some plants that fall into the "medium light" category (especially if they are taller-growing things that can get their leaves up close to the water's surface).

I believe the Plecos are common variety, they are about 4 years old, I am curious as to what I should do with them, what size tank do they require at 6"?

Never had anything that large but personally I wouldn't put a 6" fish in anything less than a 55 gallon myself. Not saying it couldn't work in a smaller tank, but it's just not an area I have any experience in.

 

[Azimuth]

I actually got to measure one of my Pleco's last night. it was--- i kid you not--- 8"
SO... having seen rumours of the fish size/tank size formula being 1gallon per linear inch (is this correct?)
2x ~8" pleco's plus misc small tetras I wish to have will not require a super large tank.
55-75G perhaps?

 

[Alaris]

Actually I would only put one 8" pleco in at least a 75g. It's going to keep growing. They can get up to 2 feet. Plus once you get that big, you can't use the inch/gallon rule.

Here are the exceptions to the inch/gallon rule:
The eventual ADULT size of the fish, the eventual ADULT aggression of the fish, and the messiness of the fish. Your pleco is large and is only going to get bigger. Also as a large fish, it's going to be messier than a handful of tetras.

 

[FishEggs]

You should be just fine with that light fixture and able to grow low to medium light plants. you would have to use root tabs in the substrate for the root feeding plants like the crypts. you could try to sell the guppies as feeders since they are inbred. if you like plecos i would see about trading them in for a dwarf type like the bristle nose maybe. the two you have are really already too big for the tank. my tank is 40 gal and 20 inches deep with only 78 t6ho watts over it and i grow medium low light plants. i also use a diy yeast co2 generator to help them grow.

 

[Azimuth]

The Plecos grew up together and it's a shame to split them up. they even get along really well.
I may have to find someone to adopt them both... or go for that 825 gallon tank I saw on CL

 

[FishEggs]

i would go for the 825 gallon tank. the bigger the better right? lol

 

[Azimuth]

LOL Well if anyone knows a way to present this argument to my Girlfriend as to why we need to spend $4k on an 825G tank, I'm all ears.

 

[FishEggs]

it's a good test to see how much she really loves you. buy the tank and if she doesn't leave you she's a keeper. lol

or you can charge admission to see the tank after it's stocked and be like a neighborhood aquarium. if you build it they will come. lol

 

[Alaris]

it's a good test to see how much she really loves you. buy the tank and if she doesn't leave you she's a keeper. lol

That's terrible! I'm sure she won't leave him because she loves him and then she'll resent him for taking advantage of that fact.

to you Matt.

 

[Azimuth]

LMAO. sounds like a plan