My first 20 gallon freshwater!

[SassyMiss]

Bought ten ghost shrimp and a bunch of Xmas moss today. Attached part of the moss to the driftwood and put the rest on the tank bottom.

 

[FishCr8zy]

Bought ten ghost shrimp and a bunch of Xmas moss today. Attached part of the moss to the driftwood and put the rest on the tank bottom.

Cool! Hope the shrimp survive and breed.
I love Xmas moss. Can you post a pic of the tank? I would love to see it.

 

[SassyMiss]

I will post as soon as I can. Still rescaping. Lol.

 

[SassyMiss]

Y'know, I realized I made a Freudian slip with the title of this thread..."My first 20 gallon..." of course I realize now I want another tank. Or possibly two others. The good thing is, my husband is getting into it! He's onboard with getting another, bigger tank! How lucky am I, huh??

 

[SassyMiss]

Well, I made a big decision. As much as I loved the cories, they were crowded and were only going to get bigger. So I traded them in for salt and pepper cories, which only get about an inch and a half big. I'll get the salt and peppers next week, six of them.

 

[FishCr8zy]

Well, I made a big decision. As much as I loved the cories, they were crowded and were only going to get bigger. So I traded them in for salt and pepper cories, which only get about an inch and a half big. I'll get the salt and peppers next week, six of them.

What kind of cories did you have? They usually don't get too big. I love salt and pepper corries too. My favorite is either panda, bronze, or skunk.

 

[FishCr8zy]

Y'know, I realized I made a Freudian slip with the title of this thread..."My first 20 gallon..." of course I realize now I want another tank. Or possibly two others. The good thing is, my husband is getting into it! He's onboard with getting another, bigger tank! How lucky am I, huh??

Sweet. How big of a tank do you think you are gonna get? That is a good sign that you enjoy fish keeping. Every person who lives fish keeping has a "sickness" called multi-tank syndrome ( made up ). Lol

 

[SassyMiss]

What kind of cories did you have? They usually don't get too big. I love salt and pepper corries too. My favorite is either panda, bronze, or skunk.

I had green corydoras. They also needed the water to be colder than the other fish, and the tank was on the edge of normal for everyone else.

After a while I noticed they didn't school anymore. It seemed they just didn't have enough room to hang together.

The green cories get up to three inches. The salt and pepper will stay less than two inches. It makes a difference if I want a big enough school (6) and also so I could get a bigger school of tetras. Which I picked up three more for a total of nine.

The pleco is out more now as well.


. The tank.

The pleco.

A close up of the tetras.

. The Christmas moss.



And the two plump red wag platys!

 

[FishCr8zy]

I had green corydoras. They also needed the water to be colder than the other fish, and the tank was on the edge of normal for everyone else.

After a while I noticed they didn't school anymore. It seemed they just didn't have enough room to hang together.

The green cories get up to three inches. The salt and pepper will stay less than two inches. It makes a difference if I want a big enough school (6) and also so I could get a bigger school of tetras. Which I picked up three more for a total of nine.

The pleco is out more now as well.

. The tank.

The pleco.

A close up of the tetras.

. The Christmas moss.

And the two plump red wag platys!

Looks great. Green corydoras do need colder climates but all my lfs don't sell them so I have never got them. Are the platys pregnant? When are you getting the s+p corries?

 

[SassyMiss]

Looks great. Green corydoras do need colder climates but all my lfs don't sell them so I have never got them. Are the platys pregnant? When are you getting the s+p corries?

Thanks! The moss was darker when I got it but it got yellow a bit. Hoping it will acclimate and turn green again.

Lol! No, the platys are just little pigs. They scope out food anywhere. That's part of the reason I wanted some shrimp so they could scoop up leftovers instead of the platys.

 

[SassyMiss]

Looks great. Green corydoras do need colder climates but all my lfs don't sell them so I have never got them. Are the platys pregnant? When are you getting the s+p corries?

I'll probably get the s&p cories next weekend.

 

[SassyMiss]

Ammonia .25. Small spike.
Nitrite 0
Nitrate 30
Temp 74
PH is 7.4
I did a 20% pwc tonight.

 

[FishCr8zy]

I'll probably get the s&p cories next weekend.

You said you traded them for the s+p cories. Did you ship them to the guy and he shipped it to you?

 

[FishCr8zy]

Ammonia .25. Small spike.
Nitrite 0
Nitrate 30
Temp 74
PH is 7.4
I did a 20% pwc tonight.

Hopefully the nitrate really starts plummeting soon. The ammonia stayed the same so that's good. And if I observed correctly, you got new lights for the tank?

 

[FishCr8zy]

Thanks! The moss was darker when I got it but it got yellow a bit. Hoping it will acclimate and turn green again.

Lol! No, the platys are just little pigs. They scope out food anywhere. That's part of the reason I wanted some shrimp so they could scoop up leftovers instead of the platys.

Moss usually takes around a week are so to get used to the water. Then they just start spreading rapidly. Lol, hogging platys. Are the shrimp ok? Any get eaten?

 

[SassyMiss]

No, I didn't get new lights, but the water has been so clear, it probably looks like new. I think its the purigen.

I traded them in to my lfs; I checked to make sure they took trades and they gave me credit towards new fish. They will get a new shipment of s&p cities on Tuesday, but I want to wait a few days to get them to make sure they aren't sick.

I can hardly wait though. My tank bottom looks so bare!

3 shrimp bit the big one, but I think it was the nitrates? Or maybe the small ammonia spike? Hopefully the water change last night helped.

 

[SassyMiss]

Another dead pink shrimp...hmmm. but lots of molting. I counted three molts so far.

 

[FishCr8zy]

Another dead pink shrimp...hmmm. but lots of molting. I counted three molts so far.

Maybe you should wait till the nitrates are all gone before adding more shrimp. I think the nitrates are affecting them. But molts are a good sign of growth. ?

 

[FishCr8zy]

No, I didn't get new lights, but the water has been so clear, it probably looks like new. I think its the purigen.

I traded them in to my lfs; I checked to make sure they took trades and they gave me credit towards new fish. They will get a new shipment of s&p cities on Tuesday, but I want to wait a few days to get them to make sure they aren't sick.

I can hardly wait though. My tank bottom looks so bare!

3 shrimp bit the big one, but I think it was the nitrates? Or maybe the small ammonia spike? Hopefully the water change last night helped.

Wow. The water must have gotten a lot clearer then. . I'm ordering my canister filter for my 55 gal today. Can't wait till it arrives and I can start cycling.
What do you mean "bit the big one"?

 

[SassyMiss]

Bit the big one - died. He looked like a teeny cocktail shrimp, poor thing. But I have some rather large shrimp still alive and well.