My 20 gallon build thread

[CA_BroncoFan]

Looking really good, I think you have a nice tank there! I would let the tank and fish do their job as far as bacteria and cycling. Cardnials are pretty tough as far as tetras are concerned and you've done a great job handleing your cycle so I would continue to test to see where your at but I wouldn't adjust much if it isn't in emergency levels as it will all start to balance out. Welcome to the world of having fish!! Don't over feed them though. Haha

 

[logansmomma1228]

thanks Lacey and Wayne!!! i agree about our fish lol. i really love the cardinals, i can't wait until they get a little bigger and fill the tank a little more. in a week or two we will be adding some cories (hopefully panda cories) can't wait


EDIT: ugh! i did it again, the hubby never signed out LOL this is mommytron

lol i was wondering what was going on here, I was like is this in the right thread?

 

[mommytron]

LOL i may not let him log in on the computer anymore make him only use AA on his phone.....unless he can learn how to SIGN OUT lol

we were going to do a PWC today but nitrites are 0.5ppm .... i think i may wait until tomorrow because the fish seem really happy and healthy, and i want to do as little PWCs as possible right now, we've already done 2 since we got them. they are looking great though, exploring the whole tank. they still stay pretty close to the bottom so we definitely need some taller plants and/or some floating plants. we will probably bring some home on saturday

thanks for all the nice comments, everyone. i'm very proud of our little tank it was worth the wait and frustration

 

[mommytron]

ammonia and nitrites have been at 0 for two days now the fish are doing great. they explore all over the tank until someone comes over, then they all zip together into a school and swim away. they'll come back out if it's me or my husband, but when they see our daughter they keep themselves hidden. i'm loving our tank so much! only problem is our anubias and java fern, they aren't looking so hot i don't know if it's because we don't have enough light or they need more nutrients. i'd like to put the second fixture back on but i feel like it was stressing out the fish. i think we are going to get some taller or floating plants for more cover, then add the second fixture again. we are also going to get some Flourish (hopefully today). the anubias already sprouted a new leaf so i'm not too worried. but the java ferns are lookin pretty rough

 

[mommytron]

so we're adding a pitbull pleco (Parotocinclus jumbo) tomorrow. and no, it's not really a jumbo pleco, it actually only gets to be about 3 inches. we wanted to get 2 or 3 because we read they like to be in groups, but they only have one left so maybe in a week or two they will get more in and we'll get him a buddy can't wait till the hubby gets home from work tomorrow with our new little addition!

 

[taylorodw]

Hooray, update us with a picture when you get him!

 

[mommytron]

here he is!!! our new pitbull pleco

also started a thread in new acquisitions about him

 

[mommytron]

we caught our pitbull pleco hanging upside down on our anubias!!! he is so freakin cool, he hangs out on the plants all the time now. i didn't think he would do that, i had only heard of otos doing that, but i suppose he's pretty cloely related to otos so it makes sense

anyway, everything is going good in the tank. we are ordering some plants through severum mama and HN1 next week, they should be here by friday, i'm very excited. we will be getting nice tall vals for the background.

we are thinking about adding more fish to this tank (after getting 2 more pitbulls, to make a total of 3 pitbull plecos and 11 cardinal tetras.) we really like celestial pearl danios, and were thinking about adding 5 or 6 of them. do you think this would make the tank overstocked? it just seems like it needs a little more activity, it's seeming a bit empty right now

 

[Aquarium1]

he's so cool!!!!!

 

[mommytron]

thank you! i love him

 

[mommytron]

our new plants!!!! here is a link to pics of the tank now. enjoy!!!
Picasa Web Albums - Rachel - 20 gallon tal...

P.S. a big thanks to severum mama and HN1 for the gorgeous vals! thanks guys!!

 

[Aquarium1]

Already said this, but I thought I'd say it again, since its still true lol, very nice tank , wonderful aquascaping as well!

 

[Lowryder]

Very nice tank!

 

[mommytron]

thank you! i am so in love with it. i'm so surprised i was able to accomplish it with what little experience i have. i'm just hoping it stays this way!

 

[mommytron]

a sad day

so I was just feeding the fish before putting my daughter to bed, and when they came over for their flakes, I only counted 9. sure enough, after looking around, I discovered 2 of them floating up in the watersprite our first casualties. i tested the water this morning and all was fine. I'm thinking it was a fluke, since the others appear to be happy and healthy. we will definitely be looking into another school of tetras or rasboras for this tank now as we do not want to try and replace the cardinals.

 

[mommytron]

is there anything I should be looking for or worrying about? I'm starting to feel very nervous about these 2 random deaths.

also, I'm looking for fish that will look good in this tank and occupy the top level of the tank. the top half is currently totally unoccupied

 

[Aquarium1]

Not sure how they'd do stocking wise, but hatchetfish stay in the top area of the tank, although they jump pretty often, so make sure your lid is on good and there aren't any big gaps.

 

[krap101]

Some killifish live up there, along with danios, rainbowfish, gouramis?

I was about to say something about the two cardinals and decided not to, but since you did... One death after being established in a tank with nothing new (like no new fish or filters/heaters etc) is rare, but two might mean something's wrong. I think you should be fine, but if there is a third death, I'd start doing water changes and trying to find out what is wrong, because three is kind of statistically ridiculous in a "healthy" tank

 

[mommytron]

couple updates

we got some great pictures of Calais, the pitbull pleco, (pronounced cah-LAY-us), and also have some new additions. we picked up 6 black neon tetras, who seemed to instantly get a long with the cardinals. they look great, and tend to occupy a slightly higher portion of the tank than the cardinals, which is what i wanted. the vals are not doing so hot, so after a talk with HN1, severum mama, and a couple others, i've decided to stop dosing with excel since it is probably the reason the red jungle vals are melting away. we plan to start some DIY CO2 in the next couple weeks, so hopefully they will be able to bounce back. the italian vals on the other hand have started growing much faster since pruning all of the dead plant off. they are sending out runners all over the place.

and the good stuff... pics!

the black neons

 

[Crepe]

Nice looking plants and pleco!