Is it worth planting a 20 gal?

[Umberle]

I'm finally going to be responsible and move my two crowded platties out of the 2 gal they are in and I've settled on a 20 gal as my next reasonable step since well....I'm in grad school.

After doing some research it seems platties tend to be happier in planted tanks but ze plants all seem to get fairly large. so ...is it worth planting a 20 gal or should I wait until I go up the next step?

 

[hisc1ay]

You could plant it. It would probably look cool. You'd just have to thin it out every so often. Any sized tank you get you'd have to thin out eventually.

But really, everyone likes to get a bigger tank.

-j

 

[oscarbreeder]

This is just my opinion but I think planted tanks look good no matter what size they are.

I have seen some REALLY beautiful planted 10-20 gallon tanks.

 

[gheitman]

I have planted tanks as small as 5 gallons and they really do look better and the fish are healthier in my opinion. If you want some plants that are low maintenance, don't get too big and grow well under low light I would suggest some Dwarf Sags or Java Fern.

 

[rubysoho]

someone just posted about a 20 gallon they planted, and it is a simple low light. Check it out, I think it looks great.

http://www.aquariumadvice.com/viewtopic.php?t=36200&highlight=

 

[Umberle]

oohers...that is really pretty 8O I've never been really wild about the plastic decor just not really hip to planting tanks... I just read a neat article in the Aquarium USA annual about attaching cork to the back of the tank and stapling the java fern to the cork....sounded like an interesting effect.

 

[BASSNMAN]

Smaller tanks are great for a first planted tank. Good lighting is not that expensive and they respond well to DIY co2. Go for it!

 

[Lance M.]

10-20 gal. plants tanks are really cool if you do them right. And just to let you know the black apple snail that you have will probably eat the plants.

 

[Umberle]

yeah I figured I'd leave the snail in the 2 gal to keep it cycled as a hospital tank since I'm just going to have platties and tetras. That's the plan anyway.

 

[rubysoho]

will the snail be enough for the QT tank, and with all the meds that will eventully be used in the tank, will that be safe for the snail?

 

[Umberle]

should be, I think. To keep it cycled I mean. They produce poo just like anything else the bacteria colony will just be much smaller. But I don't think I'm likely to have more than one or two sick fish at a time.

The nifty thing about apple snails is they do fine in a bowl of water for limited amounts of time as long as the ammonia levels are low so when I have to use it as a hospitol I'd move him out. I can pull the water from the main tank. When I had problems cycling the tank I ended up having to medicate sick fish (yeah I know better now, in terms of cycling a tank I mean) and that's what I did and actually he seemed to flourish on it. Or alternately I can put him in the main tank and take a risk on the plants... My suspision, however, is that once the plants are well enough established Paco isn't going to be able to do much harm before I can spot it and grab him. For a while at least that 2 gal is going to be a QT while I add 3 more female platies, 1 male platie, 3 neon/cardnal tetras So it'll stay cycled one fishie at a time.