20 gallon project

[GuppyGal85]

Several years ago, a friend dumped a 10 gallon tank on me full of feeder guppies. I researched as fast as I could and saved the tank (ammonia levels were insane), and fell in love with it. I added some plants and got some blue pearl shrimp (which came with some kind of moss and some pesky snails), and then added a few otos and clown loaches (I know, I shouldn't have, but they helped in keeping the guppy and snail population down). I loved that tank. I had to give it to an aquarium junkie friend when I moved.

This past weekend, I found a 20 gallon tank at a garage sale with a few accessories for $25. This is going to be my new project and I want to do the research and prepare BEFORE getting it set up. It needs a filter, a heater, and a new hood & light. I want it to be a planted, tropical community tank. I've fallen for guppies, so I will definitely have them. I will need fish who will help keep the population down. Since I want plants, I'll probably have algea (at least I hope I do), so I want some otos as well.

My requests for advice are on:
1) Type of lighting for a planted tank
2) When should I do the planting? After cycling before adding fish? How gradually? Any specific order (foreground, mid, background)?
3) Any suggestions on other kinds of fish to add. My last tank pretty well kept itself clean with the combination of fish and snails I had. I liked that. Since I want a planted tank, I want to use substrate and have a ground cover, so vacuuming isn't desirable. I like different types of fish (guppies + otos + shrimp, etc), but i need an idea for something that hangs out in the mid-level waters. I also like the khuli loaches, but I don't know anyone who has had them. Any comments on that?

Hope I didn't overwhelm everyone. Any discussion is greatly appreciated.

 

[librarygirl]

1. Lighting will depend on what plants you want to keep. If you want a carpet of something, most carpeting plants need high-light. WIth higher light you'll likely need some sort of CO2 and fertilizers. There are a few lower-mid light carpeting plants like Marsilea minuta, Staurogyne repens, or Brazilian micro-sword. They probably won't grow terribly fast though so if you want a carpet right off you'd have to buy a lot.
2. You can plant anytime.
3. No fish will eat fish waste which will accumulate and can deteriorate the tank water pretty fast potentially causing disease. Even in a carpeted aquarium, waste will accumulate on top, so a light siphoning with water changes is still desirable, IMO.
4. If you like guppies but don't want babies, you could always get all males.

You could do something like:
2-3 male guppies
3 Otos
5 Khuli loaches (they prefer to be in groups)
a group of 6 schooling fish like neon tetra.

The Khulis will take up a lot of your tank space and bioload so there wouldn't be room for much else.

Here's a general guide if you haven't seen it yet: Guide to Starting a Freshwater Aquarium - Aquarium Advice

 

[GuppyGal85]

Okay I'll pass on the khulis.

I had a gravel vacuum with my last tank, and I couldn't get it to do anything. I followed the directions of doing the pumping motion in the water and it would start pulling water, but stop very shortly after. The tank I have now came with a larger vacuum. Maybe that'll make a difference. I was just afraid that if I used the vacuum with ground cover, it would disturb it.

It seems like everyone has tetras. Maybe I'll just stick with guppies, otos and shrimp. I really liked my blue pearl shrimp. The only problem I had was that they would yank up my anachris and pull them into the little house and feast lol.

I plan on having high light and a CO2 set up (going to attempt a DIY). Does the light level effect the fish? Or will they be okay with plenty of places to get out of the light and regulating the amount of time the light is on?

 

[GuppyGal85]

Oh! And the tank I have now (used) doesn't look like it's been cleaned since the last time it was used. I read vinegar is good, so I'll give that a try. It also came with one of those long airstones you put horizontally in the bottom back of the tank (also looks quite dirty), is there anything special I should do when cleaning this? Or will a soak in vinegar water be okay?

Thank you for your input thus far.

 

[Teakwood]

Oh! And the tank I have now (used) doesn't look like it's been cleaned since the last time it was used. I read vinegar is good, so I'll give that a try. It also came with one of those long airstones you put horizontally in the bottom back of the tank (also looks quite dirty), is there anything special I should do when cleaning this? Or will a soak in vinegar water be okay?

Thank you for your input thus far.

I'm not a pro on air stones but I wouldn't soak in vinegar, maybe just run under water and use a brush of some sort, Just in case. Or if you do rinse it like crazy and turn it on in a regular bucket of water before putting it in a tank to make sure all the vinegar is gone.

 

[GuppyGal85]

Okay thank you.

 

[librarygirl]

Guppies, shrimp and Ottos sound like a good plan for a 10 gal. I hate those stupid siphons, I could never get mine to work either. Get one with a manual pump, like this, much easier. For the air stone, since they are so cheap you could just get a new one.

Also do you know about cycling? You might want to give this a read: Guide to Starting a Freshwater Aquarium - Aquarium Advice

The lights should be ok with the fish/shrimp as long as they have shady areas to hide in.

 

[GuppyGal85]

The tank I have now is a 20 gallon. I didn't know there were Gravel vacuums with pumps, I'll have to check into those.
I am familiar with cycling and already have my API test kit ready to go, although I don't have tank ready yet.

Thank you all for all of the help.

 

[GuppyGal85]

Oh and I'm going to do a fishless cycle this time. I was forced into a fish-in cycle last time and stressed constantly about the welfare of the fish so I swore I'd always do fishless in the future.

 

[librarygirl]

Oh, sorry! Not sure why I thought it was a 10. You'd have more room for fish aside from the guppies, otos and shrimp then. You could do a group of 6-8 schooling fish like neon tetra. If you have sand or rounded (not sharp) gravel, you could do a group of 4 small corys like panda, dwarf or pygmy or a small pleco like a bristlenose.

 

[GuppyGal85]

I'd like a group of schooling fish, but I'm trying to think of something other than tetras. Corys are cute, I'll read up on them. Thanks!

 

[GuppyGal85]

What about ADFs? I've read up on them, but I always like to hear from people who've had them.

 

[TOMatt]

If you're having trouble using a gravel vacuum, try watching this:
It made sense to me (if a little long-whinded at the start), and following this i have no issues with mine.

How to use a Gravel Vacuum without having to suck the tube! - YouTube


As for stock, i'm REALLY happy with my first 20g tank: 6 Dwarf Spotted Danios, 4 Peppered Cory Cats, 1 Dwarf Gourami, and 2 female Red Platies. Has larger fish with colour, speedy Danios, and fun Corys. Top, middle, and bottom-level coverage.

I also just added a Java Fern and Wisteria. No idea how they'll grow at this point...

I looked into ADFs, but it seems the consensus is that they're tough to feed due to having really poor eyesight.

 

[GuppyGal85]

I'll try it again, but I have a feeling I'll go for the vacuum with the pump lol. Everything costs so much it's probably gonna be a while before I can start getting set up. The holiday season always drains the extra cash flow lol.