my 20 gallon long

[thing fish]

hey there...new to the site but have some past experience keeping fish. i recently got back into the hobby and started a 20 gallon long. i bought a feeder gold fish and have been running the tank for the past 3 weeks. today, i managed to get a bag of bacteria squeezed from a sponge filter of an established tank. i added it to my tank and am hoping that this will get the tank cycled, finally.

i am running two filters, an ac 20 and an ac 30. plenty of filtration. the substrate is a mix of gravel and eco complete. i am currently using a stock hood light and am waiting for my new LED light fixture to arrive in the mail...once i get it i am hoping to have some live plants.

while waiting for my bacteria colony to to take hold, i want to consider ideas for stocking. initially, i had hoped to keep just a breeding pair of nannacara anomola. however, i am having difficulty finding any.

sooo, i am curious to hear about suggestions for a species of dwarf cichlid appropriate for a 20 gallon long. am happy to keep this a species tank and want to have a species that will be easy to breed. the store i was at today had apistos and kribs, as well as rams.

anyway, i am looking for stocking ideas...both for fish and plants.

this is the light fixture i am waiting for:

Amazon.com : Current USA Satellite Freshwater LED Plus Light for Aquarium, 24 to 36-Inch : Pet Supplies

here is a short video clip of the tank as it looks now:

http://vid568.photobucket.com/albums/ss130/gelauck/20%20gallon%20long/MOV07300_zpse7944f3f.mp4

 

[azmodan]

Another good dwarf cichlid option is the checkboard cichlid (Dicrossus filamentosa). They are not extremely easy to breed though, so of you're wanting something a bit easier one of my personal favs is apistogramma borellii. Any krib, apisto or ram would work too though.

 

[thing fish]

i like those suggestions, thank you!

i should add that my tap water's ph is 8.4 but the tank's ph is 7.4

not sure if the drop in ph is due to the drift wood or just occurs naturally.

 

[thing fish]

tank update.

it is now cycled. i picked up some new lighting:

Amazon.com : Current USA Satellite Freshwater LED Plus Light for Aquarium, 24 to 36-Inch : Pet Supplies

yesterday, i added some live plants and removed the fake ones. gonna test my numbers tonight to make sure i didnt cause a spike of any sort by removing decor.

i added some anubias, some micros sword, and some java moss. i will likely be looking to add a couple of dwarf cichlids in the next week or two.

 

[thing fish]

checked my lfs's website and they are expecting a new shipment in a week. sooo, if anyone has any comments/suggestions on what i could stock my 20 gallon long with, i would appreciate it. i am only buying one pair of fish, at least for now. not all of these fish may be feasible for my tank...but i am researching and just trying to figure out what will work.

here is what the lfs has coming next week:


25) sm Lamp. caudopunctatus red fin $17. ea.
20) sm Lamprologus helianthus yellow Congo $14. ea.
25) sm Lamprologus leleupi orange $14. ea.
20) sm Lamprologus "minutus" Zambian brevis (shell dweller) $14. ea.
25) sm-md Lamprologus ocellatus gold $20. ea.

50) sm Aulonocara sp. rubin red (Euro bred) $20. ea.
30) sm-md Chilotilapia rhoadesii ~2" Nice! BIG! $13. ea.

20) sm-md Apistogramma baenschi NEW $40/pair
20) sm-md Apistogramma borelli yellow good size!! $30/pair
20) sm-md Apistogramma cacatuoides double red $36/pair
20) sm-md Apistogramma cacatuoides orange BIG! $36/pair
20) sm Apistogramma hongsoli red $45/pair

 

[azmodan]

I'd do the borellii or cacatuoides, both are reasonably hardy.

 

[thing fish]

hey, thanks for your advice...i think i am going to go with the cacatuoides. they are really beautiful. have you kept them? i will do some more research before i make the purchase, but i do love how they look. i think a breeding pair would give me lots of hours of viewing.

here is a new video clip of my tank as it sits now. i still need to put up a background, likely black. just planted it yesterday. ive sortve grown fond of my little gold fish that helped me cycle, but i do not have a tank suited for him. he is going to be real happy with pond life very soon.

http://vid568.photobucket.com/albums/ss130/gelauck/20%20gallon%20long/MOV07322_zps10b3ccad.mp4

 

[azmodan]

Good choice! They are also harem breeders so a trio (1m 2f) could work, but a pair is fine. I'm a big fan of beckford pencilfish with apistos -- it's a pretty common pairing with apisto breeders so check them out of you can find them. Your tank looks very nice so far. Maybe some taller growing plants or floating plants in the future as well? Need any suggestions? Good idea on letting the goldfish have a bigger home, it'll be its happiest in a pond.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[thing fish]

thanks for the suggestions....i do like the look of the pencil fish, but when i read up on them it said they preferred acidic water and my ph is 7.4

will they adjust to that? i am not even sure if my lfs has them but will keep an eye out for them.

also, feel free to suggest some more plants. im not sure if the store will sell me a male and 2 females, as i think he sells them by the pair. he would likely charge me the price of a pair for an additional female.

 

[azmodan]

7.4 would be perfectly fine -- practically all fish would adapt to that without any problems. Some taller plants that would likely work with your lighting include hygrophila augustifolia, hygrophila corymbosa, jungle val, corkscrew val, crypt balansae, and bacopa caroliniana. Tons of other mid ground options out there too assuming you're adding ferts and at least a carbon supplement (such as Excel). I'm heading to work now but I'll add more suggestions in a bit!

 

[thing fish]

thanks again for your advice; you have been very helpful. when i bought these plants, i asked the guy at the store if i would need any excel or root tabs/etc. and he said i probably wouldnt. so i had been planning to just leave it all alone...however, if you think i need to add anything i will. i dont really have experience with planted tanks.

i had asked him for low/med light requirement plants. i noticed on the microsword's tag though it said 'high'....so i am wondering how those will do in my setup. i like the idea of a low-growing plant spreading out on the tank floor.

also, i am leaving the lights on for about 6 hours a day. i need to get a timer because as it is, there's only 6 hours or so between when i get home from work and my head hits the pillow. hopefully 6 is enough

 

[azmodan]

My experience with microswords in lowtech set ups is that they won't really spread much but they won't die either. Dwarf sag or pygmy chain sword might be a better option for you, just note that they sometimes will grow a little taller than some might like. Other foreground plants you could look into are crypt parva, hydrocotyle tripartita, and marsilea minuta. Ranalisma rostrata might work but you may need a heavy Excel/glut dosage. You could also look into mosses such as Christmas, peacock, flame, Taiwan, etc.

All plants will benefit from ferts and a carbon supplement. If you want to keep it simple in the beginning there are commercial fertilizers for aquatic plants sold cheaply on places like Amazon. One common pairing is Seachem Flourish Comprehensive with API Leaf Zone. Any sort of heavy root feeding plant (such as crypts or swords) will benefit from root tabs place into the substrate. These are also commonly available online or at your LFS, or you can make your own (very easy, just do a forum search for "DIY root tab"). Carbon supplements are commonly found in the form of Seachem Flourish Excel, but you can also just buy the generic form (glutaraldehyde) commonly sold on places like Amazon or eBay under Metricide 14. There are lots of threads with this information in AA's Planted Tank subforum but please don't hesitate to start a new thread with any questions in that forum too, or just ask here! Sorry if it seems like a lot of information but it's more simple than I'm making it sound. You can also just keep very low maintenance plants like java fern, anubias, mosses, etc and not worry too much about this other stuff, but where's the fun in that?

thanks again for your advice; you have been very helpful. when i bought these plants, i asked the guy at the store if i would need any excel or root tabs/etc. and he said i probably wouldnt. so i had been planning to just leave it all alone...however, if you think i need to add anything i will. i dont really have experience with planted tanks.

i had asked him for low/med light requirement plants. i noticed on the microsword's tag though it said 'high'....so i am wondering how those will do in my setup. i like the idea of a low-growing plant spreading out on the tank floor.

also, i am leaving the lights on for about 6 hours a day. i need to get a timer because as it is, there's only 6 hours or so between when i get home from work and my head hits the pillow. hopefully 6 is enough