My 20 gallon build thread

[Etunes]

Honestly, i would consider saving for a new filter. I personally dont like the in tank filters and i dont have a ton of experience for them but i would just simply do what the directions say, Besides, HOB saves room.

 

[mommytron]

i would, but this one is working fine so far. i have plenty of other things to save up for, lol. i'll replace this one if it breaks or if it doesn't seem to be doing the trick. there is only like 2 inches behind the tank so right now i wouldn't even have room for an HOB. when i upgrade to one i will have to do like an 80% PWC and pull the stand forward (well, have my husband do it anyway )

 

[Crepe]

Really? Anacharis is a native plant down here in Texas well not really native but it got here naturally. so I guess it just depends... weird. This is what I found in my book all low light plants: Giant bacopa (bacopa caroliniana), Water Hedge (didiplis diandra), Cryptocorene Wendtii, African water fern (bolbitis Heudelotii), onion plant (crinium thaianum) and Apongenton Spp.

All of these are subdued-moderate light plants and grow about 10" high.

 

[mommytron]

Thank you Crepe, i'll look into those.

i replanted the wendtii up front, and forgot to mention we got 5 snails with our plants. i know normally people try to get rid of them but my husband was SO excited to find them! he's just glad to have something moving around in the tank, even though they are freakin tiny! i was wondering if they are MTS?? i thought they'd be pond snails but they look like MTS, the only thing that makes me think they're not is how tiny they are. the first three pics are the tank after i moved the wendtii (sorry about TV reflection, daughter was watching Monsters, Inc. lol) and the last pic is the snail next to my index finger for comparison.

 

[Crepe]

Those are definately baby mts. They are about the size of grain of sand just born and then get bigger.

 

[mommytron]

nice! i wanted to get some mts eventually anyway. i hope they survive! there's not really any algae for them to eat yet.... anything i can do to make sure they survive??

 

[Crepe]

Blanched zuchini or any soft leafy green should feed them. If you're cycling with fish food they will eat that.

 

[mommytron]

i'm not any more but there is definitely some fish food still floating around in there, and all up in the PFS. so i think they'll prolly be fine. maybe i'll add a tiny bit more in a few days just to make sure. thanks!

 

[mommytron]

what about Vallisneria spiralis for a background plant? anyone have experience with these in low light??

 

[Crepe]

what about Vallisneria spiralis for a background plant? anyone have experience with these in low light??

I have! Haha Yes it will definitely grow in low light. But it won't put out as many runners as it would in high light. Here's my Vallisneria Tortifolia it's grown in very high light. I haven't fertilized with iron in awhile so it looks a bit yellow *sigh, won't have time to get any til Saturday:

 

[BigJim]

I was going to suggest anacharis as a tall plant. It's easy to grow in low-light. I'd like to know where you saw that it's illegal. Vals are supposed to work well in low-light tanks.

 

[mommytron]

http://www.anr.state.vt.us/dec//waterq/lakes/docs/ans/lp_ansprohibitedlist.pdf

they had this posted at the LFS as well.

 

[Crepe]

Everything you've just listed except the salvinia which is highly invasive is legal in texas.

 

[mommytron]

Interesting. well.... texas is a long way from VT, totally different worlds.

 

[BigJim]

Vermont is supposed to be a little bit of a tree-hugging state. Anacharis is legal in Illinois, or else I know of a lot of stores breaking the law.

 

[mommytron]

..........................................so the heck what? what is that supposed to mean? is it bad to be environmentally conscious??

 

[mommytron]

well?

you don't want to be dissing VT directly to a native vermonter! bad news buddy! lol

 

[BigJim]

No offense intended. Tree-hugging is only bad when people take it to major extremes. I'm an outdoorsman and I fully appreciate the environment. It majorly pisses me off when I find trash lying around because people are too stupid to care. Banning those plants seems a little ridiculous to me, but you have legislate to the lowest common denominator, which in this case is people who dump organisms into environments they shouldn't be in. I feel the same way about the snakehead ban. Most species won't survive in northern climates, but some idiot had to go and dump Northern snakeheads into Lake Michigan and some Cook county forest preserve lakes. They're Siberian and will survive the winter. As a result, all snakeheads are banned. Once again, no offense, either to Vermont or environmentally responsible people.

 

[mommytron]

No worries. Thank you.
OMG trash on the ground bothers the HECK out of me. i've seen people throw entire bags of mcdonald's out their car window while driving. it's DISGUSTING

 

[CA_BroncoFan]

No worries. Thank you.
OMG trash on the ground bothers the HECK out of me. i've seen people throw entire bags of mcdonald's out their car window while driving. it's DISGUSTING

Find it and throw it back