My first 20 gallon freshwater!

[SassyMiss]

I'm in Christmas mode for stocking my 55 gal ( prob in 2-4 weeks ). Hopefully the other 5 shrimp are still alive and just hiding. What's the parameters?

Ooh, I can't wait to hear about it. What do you have now? Do you plan a species only tank, or a community?

 

[FishCr8zy]

Well, yes. Everyone knows sponges live in grapefruit under the sea.

Patrick is sort of my favorite.

Lol. They sure do. And squirrels can survive underwater with the squirrel swim suit. And everyone knows starfish can talk.

 

[FishCr8zy]

Ooh, I can't wait to hear about it. What do you have now? Do you plan a species only tank, or a community?

I'm planning a heavily planted community tank. Tank is new and cycling. I just can't wait till the day I burst into the lfs and just start picking out fish.

 

[SassyMiss]

I'm in Christmas mode for stocking my 55 gal ( prob in 2-4 weeks ). Hopefully the other 5 shrimp are still alive and just hiding. What's the parameters?

I only tested for nitrates tonight. They held steady at 10. Will probably do another water change tomorrow. I think I might get a large moss ball as well. Maybe this weekend. Along with my cories!

 

[SassyMiss]

I'm planning a heavily planted community tank. Tank is new and cycling. I just can't wait till the day I burst into the lfs and just start picking out fish.

When did you start the cycling?? I envy you just starting to plan your stocking!! When I got the 20, I thought it was huge at the time, but now, I'm plotting on when and where to get a bigger tank.

 

[FishCr8zy]

I only tested for nitrates tonight. They held steady at 10. Will probably do another water change tomorrow. I think I might get a large moss ball as well. Maybe this weekend. Along with my cories!

I love marimo moss balls. They are really "cute" and round! Not many plants are actually round naturally. Can't wait till you get the cories and other stuff. Shrimp also love moss balls to hang onto and to eat on.

 

[SassyMiss]

Lol. They sure do. And squirrels can survive underwater with the squirrel swim suit. And everyone knows starfish can talk.

What I'd like to know is, if we can send robot laboratories to Mars, why oh why can't we genetically modify a starfish to be freshwater??

 

[FishCr8zy]

When did you start the cycling?? I envy you just starting to plan your stocking!! When I got the 20, I thought it was huge at the time, but now, I'm plotting on when and where to get a bigger tank.

Started cycling today. Hopefully will be done quick. I have a bunch more planning to do though. Lol. Lights, heaters, plants, and pick the best of the best fish from my "definitely get" list.

 

[FishCr8zy]

What I'd like to know is, if we can send robot laboratories to Mars, why oh why can't we genetically modify a starfish to be freshwater??

That would be so awesome!! You can like get this machine that converts fw fish into SW fish and SW fish into fw fish. I can't imagine a starfish chowing down on top if a freshwater plants or something.

 

[SassyMiss]

Well, so much for the fasting. One of the glowlight became dinner. Yeech. I just fed them some flakes.

But I counted six shrimp, so there might just be a few more survivors!

 

[Fishperson]

Thanks so much for the good wishes! Yes, it's a 20H, with flourite and black sand over it as a substrate. I had 6 guppies, but they died off one by one, except for one lyre tailed guppy. I have 9 glowlight tetras, the 2 red wag piggy platys , 1 rubber nose pleco. I did have 6 green cory cats, but they were too big for my tank and needed a lower temp than the rest of my stock. So I traded them in, and got credit towards 6 salt and pepper cories. Which I can't wait to get this weekend! Oh, and I have 5 (out of 10) ghost shrimp.

I might get one more bigger shrimp or maybe some red cherry shrimp. One day!

What stock do you have? Is it planted?

Sorry for writing a book, can you tell I'm an excited newbie!

I have-
7 bloodfin tetras
6 rummynose tetras
1 bolivian ram

My tank is unplanted because it is my first and I didn't want to get into plants. But my parents won't let me get another tank even though we have a 10 gallon and a 30 gallon lying around in the attic. I expected them to let me have more, but apparently I can't. I would do a heavily planted asian biotype with 8 celestial pearl danios, 1 flame dwarf gourami, and some shrimp and snails in a 10 gallon, but I am not allowed to.

What filtration do you have on your tank? Your bioload seems way higher than mine!

 

[SassyMiss]

I have-
7 bloodfin tetras
6 rummynose tetras
1 bolivian ram

My tank is unplanted because it is my first and I didn't want to get into plants. But my parents won't let me get another tank even though we have a 10 gallon and a 30 gallon lying around in the attic. I expected them to let me have more, but apparently I can't. I would do a heavily planted asian biotype with 8 celestial pearl danios, 1 flame dwarf gourami, and some shrimp and snails in a 10 gallon, but I am not allowed to.

What filtration do you have on your tank? Your bioload seems way higher than mine!

I have the Whisper 20 that came with the tank, and then I bought a fluval 50 for a total of 70. I went to AqAdvisor - Intelligent Freshwater Tropical Fish Aquarium Stocking Calculator and Aquarium Tank/Filter Advisor, used their stocking calculator, and started messing around with stocking ideas. It was fun just to do hypothetical stocking choices.

I went with planted because I liked the look of the plants and the idea of oxygenated water along with the plants using the nitrates.

I can understand you not wanting to worry about plants. But you can start small. What you might do is get a small or medium moss ball. They are easy to have and they don't grow too fast, and they help with nitrates. Water sprite does too. In the betta tank, I have an amazon sword which just grew like gangbusters and I didn't do anything to it except have the light on all day. I just stuck the plant in the gravel. The moss ball doesn't need to be planted in the gravel, you just turn it once a week so it grows on all sides and doesn't turn brown on the bottom. Plants help with the bioload too.

It seems to me that you could put a few shrimp and snails in your tank, but you might check with either the stocking calculator to make sure.

How long have you had your tank?

 

[FishCr8zy]

A moss ball actually only grows around 4 mm a year! Very very slow growing. Nothing can speed it up. Not even co2 or ferts.

 

[FishCr8zy]

I have-
7 bloodfin tetras
6 rummynose tetras
1 bolivian ram

My tank is unplanted because it is my first and I didn't want to get into plants. But my parents won't let me get another tank even though we have a 10 gallon and a 30 gallon lying around in the attic. I expected them to let me have more, but apparently I can't. I would do a heavily planted asian biotype with 8 celestial pearl danios, 1 flame dwarf gourami, and some shrimp and snails in a 10 gallon, but I am not allowed to.

What filtration do you have on your tank? Your bioload seems way higher than mine!

You have tanks lying around and yet your parents won't allow you to put them to use? Maybe beg them to allow you to start them up for your b-day or Christmas.

 

[FishCr8zy]

Well, so much for the fasting. One of the glowlight became dinner. Yeech. I just fed them some flakes.

But I counted six shrimp, so there might just be a few more survivors!

Who in the world is eating/killing all those fish and shrimp?! Did you see it's remains or one is missing?

 

[Fishperson]

You have tanks lying around and yet your parents won't allow you to put them to use? Maybe beg them to allow you to start them up for your b-day or Christmas.

Yeah, thats basically how it is. My mom says they take up too much space. I will just keep begging.

 

[SassyMiss]

Who in the world is eating/killing all those fish and shrimp?! Did you see it's remains or one is missing?

I dunno. I think it's the platys, though. I base this solely on the fact that they are very round in the belly. It could be the other tetras, but I don't think so.

 

[SassyMiss]

I dunno. I think it's the platys, though. I base this solely on the fact that they are very round in the belly. It could be the other tetras, but I don't think so.

Oh, I forgot, yes, I saw the remains. The fins were gone, nibbled off, and his belly was bitten. He was floating in the water sprite. A platy was nearby, but I couldn't say that it was definitively eating the tetra at that point.

 

[SassyMiss]

Yeah, thats basically how it is. My mom says they take up too much space. I will just keep begging.

Hmmm, as a mom, I can kind of relate. Sorry!!

But, do you have a place to put the tanks in your room, or would they be around the house? Maybe if you came up with an out of the way place for them, and/or made room for them in your room, your parents might budge? I don't know how your room is set up, but maybe she just doesn't them in the house where they might be either tipped over or nudged.

Or maybe just set up the 10 gallon (without water or fish) but find a good place for it, and let her visualize how the tank fits in around the house.

Not trying to tell you what to do, but I know what would work on me!

 

[SassyMiss]

Grrr. My lfs doesn't have the cories in yet. I'm going to be looking around. Anyone ever order any online, and if so, do you have any recommendations as far as a supplier goes?