My 20g Planted Tank

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bevoholic

bevoholic

Aquarium Advice Freak
Joined
Dec 6, 2012
Messages
343
Location
Round Rock, TX
After getting my 5.5 gallon for my Betta and my 2.5 gallon for shrimp, MTS (multiple tank syndrome) hit me hard, so I decided to add a 20 gallon to my mix.

I went out and bought a 20 gallon high tank and began acquiring all the equipment needed. I've added an AquaClear 50 filter, a 100W Eheim Heater, 40lbs of Eco-Complete, and my lighting is a Finnex Ray 2 24".

71090-albums11047-picture47723.jpg


Here's my Mopani Driftwood I got from Amazon.

71090-albums11047-picture48819.jpg


I just got in all my plants today, and got everything planted.

71090-albums11047-picture48817.jpg


I have an Amazon Sword, Anacharis, Anubias Nana, Banana Plant, Java Fern, Ludwigia Peruensis, Moneywort, Water Sprite, and Wisteria. I have a Pygmy Chain Sword coming over from my 2.5 gallon, but I haven't added it yet. The sword is hiding behind the Ludwigia.

I have pressurized co2, I will be dosing dry ferts, and I have root tabs.

I'm planning on stocking:

6 Cardinal Tetras
5 Panda Cory
3 Fire Red or Blue Guppies (1 male and 2 female) Haven't decided on color yet.
1 Bolivian Ram
1 Bristlenose Pleco

I would appreciate any other advice as well. Hope you guys like it!
 
Andrew McFadden said:
It's coming along nice. I think it needs some more tall plants in the back and medium ones in front of those.
Click to expand...

It has 4 tall plants back there. They just aren't tall yet lol.

I'm also planning on adding some flame moss to the left side of the driftwood and either HC or DHG in front of it.
 
My flame moss arrived today pretty much dead...I guess I'll have to wait a bit longer to post that pic.
 
bevoholic said:
My flame moss arrived today pretty much dead...I guess I'll have to wait a bit longer to post that pic.
Click to expand...

It often recovers at least in part. I just paid 15 bucks for a few scrap looking pieces of Christmas moss for a couple of trees I'm making. Good moss ushers to find.

Great looking tank by the way! I find sloping the sand very pleasing. Sorta adds dimension. It's worth trying out if you like the look of it. That's some crazy nice wood. First rate setup.
 
CorallineAlgae said:
It often recovers at least in part. I just paid 15 bucks for a few scrap looking pieces of Christmas moss for a couple of trees I'm making. Good moss ushers to find.

Great looking tank by the way! I find sloping the sand very pleasing. Sorta adds dimension. It's worth trying out if you like the look of it. That's some crazy nice wood. First rate setup.
Click to expand...

Thanks! I love the wood too. I was a bit weary buying it online, but I think it's an awesome piece. I thought about sloping the substrate, but then decided against it because of the size of the wood. I didn't want to block off the little swimming holes underneath it.

The moss thing was actually USPS fault, but the person I bought it from is actually sending me some more, which is great.
 
bevoholic said:
After getting my 5.5 gallon for my Betta and my 2.5 gallon for shrimp, MTS (multiple tank syndrome) hit me hard, so I decided to add a 20 gallon to my mix.

I went out and bought a 20 gallon high tank and began acquiring all the equipment needed. I've added an AquaClear 50 filter, a 100W Eheim Heater, 40lbs of Eco-Complete, and my lighting is a Finnex Ray 2 24".

Here's my Mopani Driftwood I got from Amazon.

I just got in all my plants today, and got everything planted.

I have an Amazon Sword, Anacharis, Anubias Nana, Banana Plant, Java Fern, Ludwigia Peruensis, Moneywort, Water Sprite, and Wisteria. I have a Pygmy Chain Sword coming over from my 2.5 gallon, but I haven't added it yet. The sword is hiding behind the Ludwigia.

I have pressurized co2, I will be dosing dry ferts, and I have root tabs.

I'm planning on stocking:

6 Cardinal Tetras
5 Panda Cory
3 Fire Red or Blue Guppies (1 male and 2 female) Haven't decided on color yet.
1 Bolivian Ram
1 Bristlenose Pleco

I would appreciate any other advice as well. Hope you guys like it!
Click to expand...

Very nice I LOVE that driftwood! I can just see a scarlet badis poking out from the bottome lol
 
Wow nice setup... Great choice in lighting.. Love my Finnex so far. As for the flame moss arriving dead, sorry to hear that. Where did it ship from and was it shipped with a heat pack?

As for the Mopani DW, did you boil it? I have a large piece that i soaked and it wouldn't still leaching tannins.
Lastly, i agree with CorallineAlgae that slopes would add some dimension to your scape. But so far so good... Following along :)
 
Brian_Nano12g said:
Wow nice setup... Great choice in lighting.. Love my Finnex so far. As for the flame moss arriving dead, sorry to hear that. Where did it ship from and was it shipped with a heat pack?

As for the Mopani DW, did you boil it? I have a large piece that i soaked and it wouldn't still leaching tannins.
Lastly, i agree with CorallineAlgae that slopes would add some dimension to your scape. But so far so good... Following along :)
Click to expand...

Brian, I soaked my DW for almost 2 weeks in hot water in a plastic tub. First week, I pretty much changed out the water every hour. Before I put it in, it was still turning the water slightly brown, but it would take almost a full day. I think it will stay away with water changes.

As for the moss, it was shipped on Monday and should have arrived on Wednesday, but USPS lost it for a few days and I didn't receive it until Saturday.

How would you suggest adding slopes? Especially with the DW taking up the majority of the space.
 
Hmmm, you're right.. That is a rather large piece of DW for that tank. Perhaps try turning the DW diagonally a bit. Maybe add a channel underneath that little cave to emphasize it more, like bridging over the slope(s)? If it would work, burying the DW a bit on one side (perhaps back side if turned diagonally a bit) in the side of a slope? This is a tough one, especially not seeing it in person to visualize the space fully. OR... Just leave it as is if you like it.. It's your tank after all that you'll be seeing daily :)
 
Brian has a great idea. Making the sand bed shallower under the center of the wood would make a cool cave. You can have it deeper in the back for the large plants with big root systems and shallower towards the front for the smaller plants. The sides can be deeper than the middle, too. It would be almost like the sand would cradle the wood a little. But even if you didn't change the sand much it's still a great looking tank.

Oh, I use Purigen in my filter instead of carbon to take out the tannins from the wood. It works amazingly and can be used for years before it needs to be replaced. It's really economical. Doesn't remove ferts either.
 
You guys both had good ideas. I might just try that. I'm not too worried about the tannins either, so I'll just see how dark it gets.
 
Well, it's been in there for a more than a day now and still no change in color. It's either so light I can't see it yet, or most of the tannins are gone. Hopefully it will stay that way. It's getting close to finishing it's cycle, so hopefully fish soon.
 
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