My newest addition..20G Long! :-D

[daileene]

So I am going to get another 20G long for myself. Yayyy! I found this very good deal in Craigslist. It comes with everything plus a stand and live sand and etc. for $35.00. I am on my way of getting it right now at the seller's house. I am so excited. I am selling my 4.4G flatback hex though so I will still have 6 tanks. And that's it!

I will post a picture of it when it is ready. This will be planted of course and I will have to think of another list of stock for this baby. Yooohooo! I can't get over myself. Hehe.

Okay I will update later when I get back home.

 

[Gboy66]

Cool! Keep us updated! Will this be planted with some nice driftwood and tetras?

 

[daileene]

yes, definitely planted. I have some extra driftwood in my other 20G long that I could put in here. I think yes, tetra will be good. what kind of tetra though? i have flame tetras in my 10Gs.

 

[Gboy66]

yes, definitely planted. I have some extra driftwood in my other 20G long that I could put in here. I think yes, tetra will be good. what kind of tetra though? i have flame tetras in my 10Gs.

Hmm, embers or rasboras would look fantastic in a planted tank with driftwood

 

[daileene]

i used to have them too. cool!

 

[daileene]

It's been 3 months and I have broken my promise of updating once I got home with this tank.

Well, I did get the tank. With a lot of extras. It comes with the hood (but I was disappointed with the lighting because the lighting fits a 10G not a 20G and they had covered the strip lighting and put 2 blue LED lights one in each end so the lighting will not be good for any planted tank. I took the cover of the strip light and it is all rusted so that is all junk--unless somebody here can reuse it, I will be glad to give it away), filter is a penn plax cascade power filter (which I doubt was working right), no heater, live sand in a bag, big stone (see picture--it is actually cool looking), temperature, plastic plants, aquarium salt, API conditioner, brand new API ammonia, Nitrate, and Nitrite Liquid Test, Nutrafin pH something, magfloat, and extra sponges for the filter.

Well, eventhough I will need a new heater and lighting and possibly a new filter for this baby, I thought it could work for the price she was asking for. I wasn't able to bring the stand because it didn't fit our car. I know it was a mistake not to take it, but I found a place in my bedroom where I can see my new 20G, well, not too new now since it has been 3 months.

So I just ordered a heater, lighting, and a filter for this tank. I got them on sale in The Pet/Fish Place with free shipping. I don't have anything on it right now, except the stone that came with it and I transferred my son's greek structure in there for now. I have an extra heater that really didn't do too much for the tank since the wattage is not for a 20G but it works for now. I had the filter running too since I got it, so I am pretty sure that this baby is all cycled up. No plants yet, no residents either. My pictures here are so boring for now.

For anybody who wanted a hood for a 20G long, and a lighting strip that fits 10G, I am giving them away. I will sell the LED light if someone is interested.

Okay, couple pictures only. Not too cool but here it is:

 

[daileene]

Okay, so I finally got all the goodies in here for my planted tank to be going steady.

I got the Coralife T5 18W 6700K full spectrum light again for this tank since thatpetplace had it on sale for $20+ which was a deal and I got an additional Whisper 30 Power Filter - Up to 30 gallons in addition to the penn plax cascade. I also got a Marineland Visi-Therm Deluxe Submersible Heater 100W in here.

Then I got some plants from my friend McLumpy and bought some from fishdud, chrisinator, tulip5555 and maxwellag. One of the most outstanding sellers of plants in AA.

I have been dosing Flourish and CO2 Liquid booster every PWC and leaf zone and CO2 in midweek. So far, I am seeing some growth. I do have a lot of pond snail in it but not too much to worry about. No residents yet. But soon, I will be stocking this baby. I am very confused yet on what I want. Everytime I have a plan, it always end up not being the case.

On my future venture, I am going to try the DIY CO2. Hopefully it will work for me.

Here's some pictures.

 

[daileene]

those picture by the way are like a week or so old. I am going to take more in a bit.

 

[Coursair]

What plants did you get ? You might as well make a list. I tend to forget what I have if I don't.

How deep is the sand ?? Do you have any MTS to aerate it ?

Remember to slope it higher in back, to shallower in front.

Mine is 2" in front to about 3" at the back of the tank.

Is that a Sword in the middle ?
Make sure it's not planted too deep. Where the leaves join should be above the sand. ( can't tell from pic)

 

[daileene]

Plants in here (so far):

rotala
italian val
water wisteria
anacharis
spiralis crypts and other kinds of crypts (i don't know them all..small bunches)
hornwort
anubias nana
sword (yes, it is not planted too deep)

This is the first time I have used sand so I didn't have MTS to aerate it. I didn't made it higher in the back either, all is somewhat the same level. I think it is like 2". Will it not be good to level it? Or is it a rule of thumb to have it higher in the back?

 

[daileene]

Here's the picture this afternoon:

Here is what the hood look like with the coralife on top. I didn't have to use the legs of the light.

The two filter side by side:

Anacharis and rotala:

hornwort:

italian val and the anubias nana in the stone:

 

[daileene]

Crypts with small rotalas in the back of the stone:

the sword that needs to be trimmed:

crypts and water wisteria coming along:

 

[Aquatic_Adam]

Plants in here (so far):

This is the first time I have used sand so I didn't have MTS to aerate it. I didn't made it higher in the back either, all is somewhat the same level. I think it is like 2". Will it not be good to level it? Or is it a rule of thumb to have it higher in the back?

I usually have mine leveled off like you do. It can get difficult to keep sand from leveling itself out anyways. 2" is a standard min level of substrate for plants. What kind of sand are you using? And try to get some MTS in there eventually. Sand that isn't aerated can produce anaerobic bubbles that will be bad for everything you put in there. But those take time to build up so it's not crazy rush.

 

[daileene]

I usually have mine leveled off like you do. It can get difficult to keep sand from leveling itself out anyways. 2" is a standard min level of substrate for plants. What kind of sand are you using? And try to get some MTS in there eventually. Sand that isn't aerated can produce anaerobic bubbles that will be bad for everything you put in there. But those take time to build up so it's not crazy rush.

oh thank you predfan for that confirmation. yes, I will get MTS eventually. how many should I get? if i will get assassin snail for the pond snails, will they bother the MTS?

 

[daileene]

I actually do not know exactly what kind of sand this is. when I bought it off craigslist, the lady said that this was a live sand, don't really know what that means...but when I got the plants, I put some root tabs in there to help the root feeder plants grow.

 

[Aquatic_Adam]

oh thank you predfan for that confirmation. yes, I will get MTS eventually. how many should I get? if i will get assassin snail for the pond snails, will they bother the MTS?

Well, in most cases having like 3 MTS means that eventually you'll have like 3000. Which is fine really. I'm not sure on the assassin snails. I know they eat other snails eggs. But MTS are live bearing, so...hopefully someone else can give better info on that.

 

[Aquatic_Adam]

I actually do not know exactly what kind of sand this is. when I bought it off craigslist, the lady said that this was a live sand, don't really know what that means...but when I got the plants, I put some root tabs in there to help the root feeder plants grow.

Hmmmmm generally live sand is something used so saltwater aquariums...I have it isn't something like crushed corals...that can mess up a freshwater tanks parameters

 

[daileene]

well i don't really see any crushed corals...aside from the sand, it has those pebbles with it and that is all there is to it, really. so i don't know if that lady didn't know what she was talking about. she had the tank for a freshwater, not saltwater.

 

[Coursair]

Live Sand is Saltwater. Keep testing your water. That would be a disaster if it was Live Sand.

I had a customer use Live Sand for Freshwater, it was bad.

Don't worry if your Crypts melt at first. That's normal.

Is your Anubias planted In the sand ?? Make sure Rhizome is not covered
I tie my Anubias to wood.

Have fun.

 

[daileene]

Live Sand is Saltwater. Keep testing your water. That would be a disaster if it was Live Sand.

I had a customer use Live Sand for Freshwater, it was bad.

Don't worry if your Crypts melt at first. That's normal.

Is your Anubias planted In the sand ?? Make sure Rhizome is not covered
I tie my Anubias to wood.

Have fun.

How would I checked or know if it is a live sand? what test should I use? Ammonia is 0. Do I have to check pH? or something else?

oh the one that melted was the hornwort. i put the co2 on top of it and the leaves fall off almost instantly.

the anubias is attached to the big rock right now.

thanks for the live sand info.