My 20G Planted Tank

[callisto9]

Your lights don't look bright enough to grow anything other than low light plants. I don't know what you have other than looking at your pics, though. Having said that, if you go with very bright lights you'll need co2. I just put a 20 watt LED daylight waterproof floodlight that I found from eBay on my 20 gallon planted tank and it seems to be ideal for my setup. Only cost me about $25 shipped. I put it right inside my hood. Only time will tell how well it will perform.

From all I can tell, I only have low-light plants. I *am* going to look at lighting fixtures this weekend at the LFS.

I have my first unintended inhabitant - a snail! Just saw him tonight after a water change.

Thanks for your help Coral.

 

[ianeberle]

What if a fish jumps out? Does that happen, ever?

I can't wait to get the rams. So excited. I don't think they develop their color until later, but with pink and blue in there, they will look neat. If they breed, I'll offer up some for sale/free.

I have had a rainbow shark jump out as well as a Dalmatian molly. It's really sad to come home and see your fish laying on the floor all hardened... After this I started buying full hoods for my tanks. Even the glass hoods that are flat will work, as long as it covers the whole thing.

Obviously, fish with minimum fin power like angelfish, bettas, and guppies will have a harder time jumping out because they will really have to work. However, more powerful fish like sharks, plecos, and loaches that have streamlined bodies can jump out of the water really easily. It doesn't happen all the time, but it's always possible.

You probably don't have crabs or crayfish in a planted tank, but these guys like to climb out and explore your house if you have any kind of opening for them to get out of.

 

[Botanica]

I have had a rainbow shark jump out as well as a Dalmatian molly. It's really sad to come home and see your fish laying on the floor all hardened... After this I started buying full hoods for my tanks. Even the glass hoods that are flat will work, as long as it covers the whole thing.

Obviously, fish with minimum fin power like angelfish, bettas, and guppies will have a harder time jumping out because they will really have to work. However, more powerful fish like sharks, plecos, and loaches that have streamlined bodies can jump out of the water really easily. It doesn't happen all the time, but it's always possible.

You probably don't have crabs or crayfish in a planted tank, but these guys like to climb out and explore your house if you have any kind of opening for them to get out of.

I had a big pearl gourami jump out of a quarantine tank once out of a small opening that the hood didn't cover. I was standing right next to the tank so I got him right back in and he shot right back up and out! After putting him back into the tank for the third time...I put my hand over the opening to keep him in the tank while we found something to cover the hole with. Well...he shot back up full throttle and slammed into my hand...fell back to the gravel dead. :-(. Didn't move again. Really sad...I guess the trip home from the fish store was just too stressful. The other fish we got that day were all good...so I dunno why he freaked out.

I've also...on a different occasion...came downstairs in the morning to find a gold gourami missing from her tank. She wasn't a small fish...so she had to be somewhere! Well...I found her on the floor dry as a bone but breathing!! She must have been on the floor half the night...with the cat on the loose! She went back into the tank and after a ten minute rest...she was swimming all around again! All my tanks have glass tops now...lol.

 

[ianeberle]

What you said with your gourmani happened to my molly as well. I said he jumped out and then I put him back in since he jumped out of a holding tank that was on my desk. I put him back in and he jumped again. Put him back in and placed my history textbook on top and he slammed into the book and fell. It was really sad to see, but I guess in the grand scheme of things he could've either died from impact or suffocation, so I think he did not suffer.

Fish normally jump because of stress or bad water, but sometimes it's completely random.

 

[callisto9]

Yeah, see, that's what I'm afraid of. My yellow guppy jumped out once while we had the top off. After flopping to the windowsill and then the floor, we got him back in. Still alive to this day. LOL

I'm going to look at lighting this weekend. Wish me luck. If I don't find anything at the LFS, this is one I'm considering:
Fluorescent Aquarium Lighting: Marineland Fluorescent Aquarium Hoods
But it doesn't look like it covers the whole top.

I also like this one:
Amazon.com: Incandescent Recessed Full Aquarium Hood, 24" Black: Pet Supplies

I finally got my manzanita yesterday. Tied a few anubias to it and put it in. Now I have cloudy water. Oh well. More waiting...

Botanica - that's one lucky fish! Wow. I can't believe it survived!

 

[CorallineAlgae]

The incandescent hood would be fine if used with some CFLs. I grew plants for years with that hood on the same size tank before experimenting with other lights. With some modification you could even use your LEDs with the new hood if you wanted, though you could always save it for another tank.

 

[Botanica]

Yeah, see, that's what I'm afraid of. My yellow guppy jumped out once while we had the top off. After flopping to the windowsill and then the floor, we got him back in. Still alive to this day. LOL

I'm going to look at lighting this weekend. Wish me luck. If I don't find anything at the LFS, this is one I'm considering:
Fluorescent Aquarium Lighting: Marineland Fluorescent Aquarium Hoods
But it doesn't look like it covers the whole top.

I also like this one:
Amazon.com: Incandescent Recessed Full Aquarium Hood, 24" Black: Pet Supplies

I finally got my manzanita yesterday. Tied a few anubias to it and put it in. Now I have cloudy water. Oh well. More waiting...

Botanica - that's one lucky fish! Wow. I can't believe it survived!

She was lucky the cat was 17 years old and not quite the hunter he was back in the day!...lol. I'm sure her labyrinth lung came in handy too.

 

[callisto9]

Well, today, after one day of the manzanita being in the tank (I didn't do anything to it - just put it in):

Plants are still melting and there's all kinds of...stuff in the water now.

I swear, this isn't worth the hassle.

 

[callisto9]

My three baby mystery snails from hcourts. They are about marble-sized now and so cute! Two ramshorns in the back, too.

 

[callisto9]

My plants are continuing to die/melt. Almost every single one of them.

The crypts have put out a few leaves after dissolving completely.

I got this fixture today and have added it:
Aqueon » Fluorescent Deluxe Full Hoods | Products

Here's hoping it helps. My plants look like absolute crap. I have added a handful of snails (ramshorns and one Apple Snail) to hopefully get some of the tank in order. It really looks like doodie.

Despite boiling the manzanita, it's still putting off the white fuzzy stuff, but far less so.

 

[CorallineAlgae]

Did you remember to do a large water change to pull out those dissolving leaves? Very important not to let em foul up the tank and filter.

 

[callisto9]

Did you remember to do a large water change to pull out those dissolving leaves? Very important not to let em foul up the tank and filter.

Yep, I've been getting rid of as much gunk as I can. I'm going to have to pull entire plants though - it's getting bad. My anachris is toast. Spots on my anubias. Val is disintegrating. Water wisteria is melting...

 

[CorallineAlgae]

Even your anubias! I kept more than 20 of them in a bucket for three months with just a airstone and a hanging work light. What's your pH, ammonia and nitrite looking like?

 

[callisto9]

Even your anubias! I kept more than 20 of them in a bucket for three months with just a airstone and a hanging work light. What's your pH, ammonia and nitrite looking like?

Amm - 0ppm
NtrIte - .50ppm
NtrAte - 10ppm
pH: 8.0

I'm stumped. I have root tabs in, too, but I broke them up and added like 1/3 of a tab around some of the plants. I bet I only have three total tabs in there.

It's gotta be the lighting, right?

 

[CorallineAlgae]

Amm - 0ppm
NtrIte - .50ppm
NtrAte - 10ppm
pH: 8.0

I'm stumped. I have root tabs in, too, but I broke them up and added like 1/3 of a tab around some of the plants. I bet I only have three total tabs in there.

It's gotta be the lighting, right?

I used to break them up too but I stopped. Read some warnings about it on another forum. I don't know if it was good advice it not but I use em whole now just in case. I also started making my own with Osmocote Plus in addition to the Seachem ones. I'm not saying that it could cause your plants to melt, they do that for lots if reasons. Most root tabs are time release and cutting them supposedly affects that.

 

[callisto9]

I used to break them up too but I stopped. Read some warnings about it on another forum. I don't know if it was good advice it not but I use em whole now just in case. I also started making my own with Osmocote Plus in addition to the Seachem ones. I'm not saying that it could cause your plants to melt, they do that for lots if reasons. Most root tabs are time release and cutting them supposedly affects that.

Hmmm. I wonder why breaking them up would be a problem. I can see something being time release if it was in a capsule of coating of some sort.

Thanks for the tip though. I'll research further.

I took out nearly all the plants today, pruned and picked, cleaned and put everything healthy back in. Did a water change, too. It looks much better.

At least the snails are doing well.

 

[callisto9]

Well, I feel like I'm getting somewhere. I found this today:

Tips for a Successful Planted Aquarium | Aquarium Fish Forum

This better helps me understand lighting and what I might need for my plants. I might need one more light fixture. I'll see how this week goes.

Here we are as of today:

 

[Rivercats]

I like your tank alot, especially the way you have the branch hanging down like you'd see many times in nature. Nice job!

 

[Aquatic_Adam]

Well, I feel like I'm getting somewhere. I found this today:

Tips for a Successful Planted Aquarium | Aquarium Fish Forum

This better helps me understand lighting and what I might need for my plants. I might need one more light fixture. I'll see how this week goes.

Here we are as of today:

Don't know if anyone has said this yet, but getting some Flame Moss on that branch would be awesome. Even regular Java Moss would look tremendous. You have a great start and I look forward to what you do with this!

 

[CorallineAlgae]

Your tanks coming together more and more. Where'd you get that amazing piece of wood?! None of the shops within an hour around me sell it. The stones, blue background, plants and wood make a strikingly natural scene.