new 20g tall

[tiger terror]

I bought this 20g tall kit as a home for my breeding pair of convicts..treated the water with Prime&gonna use Stability to start the bio-filter..also my convicts have laid eggs so the temp 10g will be the fry tank..


tank w/sand & dw attached to a piece of slate to hold it upright..



filled with water&will add a few hardy plants in the coming days..using an 18in floramax florescent bulb for some low light plants that will be added..

 

[adadkins1]

Looking good. I always despised trying to plant my 20 tall because by the time the light gets to the bottom it is very weak. Should be fine since you are going with low light plants though.

 

[tiger terror]

Looking at anubias&maybe some jungle val..any suggestions on low light hardy plants would be appreciated...

 

[adadkins1]

Anubias, Cryptocoryne, Java Moss, Java Fern, Hornwort (floats), Anacharis, Dwarf Sag, and others.

What wattage and kelvin rating will you be running over this tank when you plant it? Depending on whether it is medium or low you could get more or less types of plants (respectively).

 

[tiger terror]

Anubias, Cryptocoryne, Java Moss, Java Fern, Hornwort (floats), Anacharis, Dwarf Sag, and others.

What wattage and kelvin rating will you be running over this tank when you plant it? Depending on whether it is medium or low you could get more or less types of plants (respectively).

Will be keeping it basic,the bulb I'm using is a t8 floramax florescent so I'm guessing low light stuff..also have Eco -Complete capped with a thin layer of sand..I have to keep in mind that the plants have to be hardy enough to withstand my breeding pair of convicts..

 

[tiger terror]

Updated pic of the 20g tall,ordering new t5 lighting on Monday..plants are :2 swords,1 crip,1 anubias,4 baby java ferns,java moss&x-mas moss..the left side or tank will be some lace rock for the breeding pair of convicts.

 

[adadkins1]

Oh, is that a T5HO or T5NO? If it is a T5HO (depending on wattage) you may be able to grow medium lighting. It looks like you have some great plants already. It will look good once you get it finished.

 

[tiger terror]

Oh, is that a T5HO or T5NO? If it is a T5HO (depending on wattage) you may be able to grow medium lighting. It looks like you have some great plants already. It will look good once you get it finished.

Actually neither,ordering my t5's on Monday..can I get by wihout the HO's with the plants I have now?

 

[tiger terror]

I've decided,goin with t5 HO 2 BULB LIGHT 6500 kh 48 watt..should be plenty right?

 

[adadkins1]

That should be a good fixture. I hope you mean the bulbs are 24W and not 48W. Two 48W T5 HO would be algae city in a 20g. You should be good as far as having enough light for your plants. Don't worry about having to wait on the fixture, your plants should be perfectly fine until it arrives. I am not very educated in the T5 HO department, so hopefully you won't have so much light that ferts and CO2 is an issue. You might look into getting some Seachem Root Tabs for the Swords. They are heavy root feeders, and enjoy the nutrients that the tabs make available.

 

[tiger terror]

That should be a good fixture. I hope you mean the bulbs are 24W and not 48W. Two 48W T5 HO would be algae city in a 20g. You should be good as far as having enough light for your plants. Don't worry about having to wait on the fixture, your plants should be perfectly fine until it arrives. I am not very educated in the T5 HO department, so hopefully you won't have so much light that ferts and CO2 is an issue. You might look into getting some Seachem Root Tabs for the Swords. They are heavy root feeders, and enjoy the nutrients that the tabs make available.

Yeah total wattage 48-24 per bulb..also using eco-complete substrate,seachem root tabs,flourish 2 times a week& flourish excel 3 times a week.

 

[adadkins1]

Oh, then that is a superb fixture for your set up.

If only I had T5 HO lights!

 

[jetajockey]

Dual t5ho on a 20h could easily put you into high light or even too much light, so if you run into algae issues straight off I'd fall back to that and act accordingly.

I'd also look into co2 injection and a more aggressive dosing routine.

 

[adadkins1]

^^^^^

Just goes to show I don't know anything about T5 HO fixtures!

 

[jetajockey]

When in doubt, check hoppy's PAR chart.

There's also so much variance between fixture brands and setups that its hard to give definite answers.

 

[tiger terror]

I have a nutrifin co2 setup,very basic but is for a 20g setup..I might give that a shot..&what is hoppys par chart?

 

[adadkins1]

PAR vs Distance, T5, T12, PC - New Chart

 

[tiger terror]

So 5 days in on the cycle,test results at as followsh 8.4 - ammo .50- nitrite .50- nitrate 20 ppm. Been using Seachem Stability,Seachem Prime...started off with treated tap water adding 10 ml of stability&then daily doses of 5 ml..every other day I add just a very small pinch of cobalt fish flakes for the bb to feed on..I've added plants on the 3rd day..my previous cycles on other tanks have been fish in,however wanted to be humane from this point on...looking for your experiences in doing such a cycle,kinda in the dark on this on..

 

[adadkins1]

It sounds like you are doing pretty good. Tell you the truth, I've never done a full fishless cycle. I started one, but it stalled so I went ahead and did a PWC then add fish. I don't worry anymore because if you can seed a tank very well and add lots of live plants, you generally won't have a very long cycle, and ammonia/nirite levels won't get nearly as high. Kudos to you for doing it fishless!

 

[tiger terror]

It sounds like you are doing pretty good. Tell you the truth, I've never done a full fishless cycle. I started one, but it stalled so I went ahead and did a PWC then add fish. I don't worry anymore because if you can seed a tank very well and add lots of live plants, you generally won't have a very long cycle, and ammonia/nirite levels won't get nearly as high. Kudos to you for doing it fishless!

Thanks for the feed back..will do a pwc if the ammo,nitrite&nitrates get to high..