My 20 Gallon Planted Community Tank

[Zippy]

Congrats, your new tank is coming along. I liked your old one too. BTW what happened to it that you decided to break it down?

Another question: Do your neons and glowlights school together?

[choylifutsoccer]

Thanks! I really liked my old tank..sigh.. The honest truth is that I neglected the water changes and algae took over the tank FAST. This is why I always emphasize water changes on this forum. I decided to just start over after that experience.

Surprisingly, the glowlight tetras and neon tetras do school together quite a lot.

[choylifutsoccer]

Hello everyone. Time for an update!
My Myriophyllum isn't doing that well..I may have to get CO2 or fertilizer soon. All other plants are doing ok. I am start to see small amounts of algae on the windows...sigh. Might have to do more water changes. Also, I found a baby snail...I hate my life right now..lol

Here is how my tank looks now. I don't like how the Myriophyllum tilts toward the right...why can't it grow straight up???


The driftwood with Crystalwort attached.


Say hi to my tetras!


Say hi to my Oto!

[jrodriguez]

very awsome setup you got there.i have a 20 gallon community tank housed with livebearers and gold barbs. i will postpics soon on my own thread

[choylifutsoccer]

Sweet! Can't wait to see your tank!
I'm actually planning on some swordtails for my tank. I used to want gold barbs, but now I want some danios.

[jrodriguez]

Ok ... Look in my profile And look for my barb tank picture . I'm not sure if it shows the swordtails in there.

[choylifutsoccer]

My tank is currently infested with all sorts of algae. Sigh..Phosphate levels are over 5.0. I'm gonna need a lot of water changes to fix it...

[Sweet Tee]

Good luck with it! It sounds like you're unhappy with finding the snails...they may help clean some of that algae for you! I have one ramshorn as of right now and just discovered a few teeny MTS last week. It's amazing how they just seem to "appear." It's cool having them around, but I'm sure once they overpopulate I won't be singing their praises LOL.

[choylifutsoccer]

A little update!
So I just started my CO2 system again last night. It's starting to produce a small amount of bubbles. Hopefully, it will help my plants outcompete the algae! I'm planning to get my Otocinclus on Thursday and also a Clown Loach or Yoyo Loach to help get rid of my snails.

[choylifutsoccer]

So I've lowered my phosphates to about 1.0ppm. My DIY CO2 system is also up. And the algae is still growing strong! Woot? Sigh... Time to try something new!

Anyways, I bought a clown loach last Tuesday to start taking care of my snail problems. I've also switched to part time feeding of pellets, since they'll leave less residual waste. I will do a thorough cleaning next week and hopefully, my algae will start to disappear.

Currently, I am overdosing Excel. Hope it works!

[Assassynation]

I'm thinking about getting a 20gal quarantine tank for the 155gal I'll be getting this weekend while I set the 155gal up with plants and what ever.

[choylifutsoccer]

I'm thinking about getting a 20gal quarantine tank for the 155gal I'll be getting this weekend while I set the 155gal up with plants and what ever.

Cool! Always a good idea to set up a quarantine tank. I should too, but I have no intention of adding any more fish as of now, since my algae is really taking over. I just can't get rid of the high phosphate levels in my tank! I may have to use chemicals soon if it gets way too out of control. I even replaced the bulb to a lower powered one in hopes that it'll give less light for the algae to use!

More updates at a later time.

[Assassynation]

Originally Posted by choylifutsoccer

Cool! Always a good idea to set up a quarantine tank. I should too, but I have no intention of adding any more fish as of now, since my algae is really taking over. I just can't get rid of the high phosphate levels in my tank! I may have to use chemicals soon if it gets way too out of control. I even replaced the bulb to a lower powered one in hopes that it'll give less light for the algae to use!

More updates at a later time.

Hope it gets better soon. I'm getting a 30gal tank tomorrow that I found on craigslist for $20. Sweet deal

[choylifutsoccer]

I'm back folks! With a bolder tank than ever before!
So this school semester really kicked my butt. I've been neglecting my aquarium. =( There was this huge ammonia spike that killed off my clown loach, a glowlight tetra, and both of my Otocinclus. My tank also had green glass. Not a very pretty site
But anyway, right when winter break started, I cleaned up the tank and did a new layout. I even bought more fish yesterday!
Check out the pictures of the new layout! The substrate bed consists of sand on the left side, and my old gravel mixed w/ Flourite on the right side.

Plants are "mermaid" (that's what the shop owner called it), Cabomba, Pellia on the driftwoods, dwarf hairgrass, and another grass that I forgot the name of. There's also Anubia nanas on the right side of the driftwood.


An angled view.


The Corydoras playground!


Another angle. I didn't put in the Anubias nana yet at this point.


I also bought 5 gold neon tetras, 5 zebra danios, and a clown loach yesterday. So total, I have 4 glowlight tetras, 1 neon tetra, 5 gold neon tetras, 5 zebra danios, and a clown loach. I'm also gonna get 5 panda Corydoras sometime soon. So exciting!

[Chino]

Tank looks really good. I like how you put in a sand patch. I was thinking of doing that in my next tank, almost like a beach.

[aroberts100@hotmail.com]

hey man this tank looks wonderful. I am considering buying a 20g tank when i get more money this summer. well summer is only in a month for me cuz college rocks! but currently i have a sand substrate with a bedrock type layout. a gourami, a few mollies, rainbow shark, a cory catfish and its going great. anyway i was wondering did u make your light custom or purchase it? and if so how did u build it?

[aquaticsnerd]

Looks good.

[saltydad]

I have a tank with lots of tetras, rainbowfish, corys and ottos, along with 1 clown pleco. You mentioned putting in shrimp. Can they survive in that population?

BTW< love how the new setup looks.