Oh gosh! I just got another tank!

[Benmstar]

K, so I guess that I have been talking to everyone about my new fish tank cause I was super excited to start back into the hobby.

So I had some friends over for wine and food tonight and my friend brought me a 20 gallon fish tank! Complete with heater and filter and led light system. (The day night thing) Yippee

Just started a guppy tank. (don't need fancy just fun)

Completely open to ideas! What should I do with it?

 

[tamtam]

oh you are so lucky. I wish my friends gave me fish tanks. lol.

My 20 gal tall has 5 lambchop rasbora, 5 neons, 1 dwarf sunset gourami and 4 platy(3 mickey mouse and 1 wagtail). It's a very nice mix, I wanted a variety in color and looks and it really meets mt wants.

Do you know if it's tall or long? Either way you really have a lot of options for this tank. Is there a certain look or feeling you want?

 

[Benmstar]

I really have no idea it was so unexpected he travels a lot and tried to have it in his place and when I asked him how he cycled when he was unsuccessful he asked what I was talking about lol.

So this is pretty open.

Oh and btw it is long not tall

 

[azmodan]

Honey or sparkling gourami are great community fish for a tank of that size!

 

[Benmstar]

Honey or sparkling gourami are great community fish for a tank of that size!

What do I put with them?

 

[azmodan]

Other smaller non-aggressive fish. I'd definitely look into a nice school of non-nipping tetras such as cardinals, embers, rummy nose (what I currently have in my 20 gal high with 2 honey gourami), emperor and so forth. Also, maybe a nice bottom dwelling fish like corydoras?

 

[azmodan]

I also think a tank of dwarf puffers would be fun! You could prob do 3-4 in a 20 gal long and although you'd have to keep it a species-only tank those little guys have a ton of personality and are really fun to watch!

edit: Here's a video of dwarf puffers and honey gourami.

I definitely don't recommend housing them in the same tank but the vid quality is nice enough to really get a good idea of what they look like.

 

[Bearchumjs]

I want friends like yours.

If I had a 20 gallon... I'd probably do a school of rummy nosed tetras, some red cherry shrimp, some nerite snails, Malaysian trumpet snails, an Anubias forest, some taller sword plants and a cool piece of driftwood or rock cave with some java moss or something on the top of it. I'd use black sand for the substrate. And have a black background. That tank looks awesome in my mind. LOL!

 

[Benmstar]

I want friends like yours.

If I had a 20 gallon... I'd probably do a school of rummy nosed tetras, some red cherry shrimp, some nerite snails, Malaysian trumpet snails, an Anubias forest, some taller sword plants and a cool piece of driftwood or rock cave with some java moss or something on the top of it. I'd use black sand for the substrate. And have a black background. That tank looks awesome in my mind. LOL!

That sounds my speed I thought about a planted tank and then worrying about the rest however I know I want snails I think they are so cool!
However if I already have the good led lighting why not go planted? Like heavily planted just not to the point of needing co2 that is more than I want to deal with I have read up on it and it is a little more than I want to deal with. Lol

 

[Bearchumjs]

That sounds my speed I thought about a planted tank and then worrying about the rest however I know I want snails I think they are so cool!
However if I already have the good led lighting why not go planted? Like heavily planted just not to the point of needing co2 that is more than I want to deal with I have read up on it and it is a little more than I want to deal with. Lol

I hear ya about the co2. I have water wisteria, crypt, lemon Bacopa, argentine swords, Anubias, hornwort and some micro sword in my 55 gal. No co2. Anubias is a low light plant and is supposedly slow growing. I usually see a new leaf once a week. Hornwort floats so I have it floating over my Anubias to sort of shade them. The water wisteria grows tall and quick. My lemon Bacopa is doing pretty good. I think my crypt and micro sword would probably like a little co2 but they are doing good. Just not growing much. My swords grow well. I use API root tabs for my planted plants. Anubias is tied to a piece of rock and a piece of driftwood so their roots are not under the soil (pool filter sand cause I'm cheap but it looks good!) I dose API leaf zone once a week for the Anubias and hornwort. Here's a FTS.

 

[Bearchumjs]

That's from about a month ago. I will get an updated photo.

 

[Bearchumjs]

I just took this one. The water wisteria on the left is already back up to the waterline. The swords on the right have filled in a little more. Hornwort has grown, and the Anubias (all the way on the right) are doing good. So yeah- you don't have to have co2. Just make sure you research cause I think some plants might need it. I'm not sure though. I tried to get easy, low maintenance plants.

 

[Benmstar]

I just took this one. The water wisteria on the left is already back up to the waterline. The swords on the right have filled in a little more. Hornwort has grown, and the Anubias (all the way on the right) are doing good. So yeah- you don't have to have co2. Just make sure you research cause I think some plants might need it. I'm not sure though. I tried to get easy, low maintenance plants.

That looks amazing that is what I am going to go for! I like those plants!

Also co2 is a little too much effort for me! Lol!
Especially if it can look like that without it!

No what to put in it!
I swear I could just about have a snail tank and be excited! I love the random creatures in a tank!

For sure going to have snails and shrimp!

 

[Bearchumjs]

That looks amazing that is what I am going to go for! I like those plants!

Also co2 is a little too much effort for me! Lol!
Especially if it can look like that without it!

No what to put in it!
I swear I could just about have a snail tank and be excited! I love the random creatures in a tank!

For sure going to have snails and shrimp!

I looked into co2 but decided against it. It seemed like too much thought and more money than I wanted to spend.

I say go for it. Snails and shrimp are cool. Not all aquatic tanks have to have fish!

 

[Bearchumjs]

I was thinking- if you are definitely going to do a planted tank you could start a thread in the planted tank section. They know a lot of stuff whether you use co2 or not. They'd be a lot of help if you have more questions.

If you end up getting those nerite snails just make sure your tank is cycled. And I drip acclimated my snails. YouTube has good videos about how to do it. It's really easy. And you will probably need algae tabs to supplement their feeding since your tanks are new.

 

[tamtam]

I would double check on the lighting for your tank. My marineland 20 gal came with an LED set up. The night and day one and it's not strong enough to grow most plants. It can probably sustain low light plants but I wouldn't expect a lot of growth. I'm personally going to try water sprite as a trial run and then some hornwort. I've read a lot about water sprite and it seems to do very well in low light, many complain it grows to fast when kept in medium light. lol.

For stock you seriously have so many options!

If I had another 20 gallon I would do a nice pair of dwarf gourami, there are so many color variations you could choose from, a nice school of tetras like rummy nose or pristella a few platy and some corys. Though if doing shrimp and snails I'd prob rethink corys.

 

[Benmstar]

I would double check on the lighting for your tank. My marineland 20 gal came with an LED set up. The night and day one and it's not strong enough to grow most plants. It can probably sustain low light plants but I wouldn't expect a lot of growth. I'm personally going to try water sprite as a trial run and then some hornwort. I've read a lot about water sprite and it seems to do very well in low light, many complain it grows to fast when kept in medium light. lol.

For stock you seriously have so many options!

If I had another 20 gallon I would do a nice pair of dwarf gourami, there are so many color variations you could choose from, a nice school of tetras like rummy nose or pristella a few platy and some corys. Though if doing shrimp and snails I'd prob rethink corys.

The lighting is probably not the best I knew I would have to get low light plants. But there are some fun options with that stipulation.

 

[tamtam]

The lighting is probably not the best I knew I would have to get low light plants. But there are some fun options with that stipulation.

very much so. I haven't started planting my tank yet, just researching and preparing but I'm very excited. I've got healthy algae growth from sunlight so I'm curious who/if this will impact the plants. My biggest obstacle is being familiar with the plants enough to recognize them on my own as they don't label them at my local pet store. They mostly toss them in a tank and that's that. Sometimes someone will know them but it's hit or miss. lol.