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6K views 50 replies 7 participants last post by  Fishboydanny1 
#1 ·
hello. i was originally using the thread platies in mini-bow 5 to discuss what fish i should have in a 20 gallon, but that thread suddenly stopped receiving attention, my guess is because the only person posting on the thread towards the end was eaglesfan3711, who went on a trip to des moines for the holidays. so i'm hoping a new thread will receive more attention. any how, this is my list of fish to have in the tank:
2 kribensis cichlids
6 zebra danios-one starfire,one sunburst, one green, one gold, 1 longfin, 1 leopard.
3 platies-one male to 2 females, one blue, one red, 1 yellow.
4 harquilen rasboras
2 balloon mollies
2 bronze cories
1 oto

currently the filtration is a whisper 20. what i wanted to do but never got an answer for was if i could get 2 peacock gudgeons if i just had 3 rasboras. what plants should i have? should i have more filtration? anything else i should consider?
 
#2 ·
in my personal opinion, the red should be male, and the others female, but thats just personal preference..... as for your selection, what you have is fine, but i don't know anything about the peacock gudgeons, and 2 is usually a bad number for most fish anyways...... i could be wrong.....
 
#3 ·
Yep I was gone, now I'm back. I've gotta get busy, so many new posts!...lol

I have seen grudeons before but the ones that I saw were only about an inch long. However, they were in a tank peacefully with a lot of platies. I know they are community, but I don't know how they behave. As for filtration, I always go external carbon filters, but that is just a personal preference. Mine I think is aqua clear.
 
#4 ·
ok. The heater is an all glass 100 watt. The thermometer is one of those external ones. Still , what plants should i have ? Eagle, if u say i'm better off with an aquaclear, how loud will it be? Still, what plants should i have ?
 
#5 ·
Aquaclear , whispers I used both of them it just a personal choice. Pet you keep asking what palnts should you have. Do the research and see what you like. As stated in the other post, You have a 20gal tank with a most likly a standard light fixture that comes with them. that means you have an 18 watts light which mean you have less than 1 wpg. Research low light plants or beef up your lighting to get 3 to 4 WPG and than you will be able to get more exoctic plants, but than you will be geting into some form of additional CO2. Also, with plants at any light level you will need to get to know ferts for the them.
 
#6 ·
i was originally using the thread platies in mini-bow 5 to discuss what fish i should have in a 20 gallon
Don't ever use that word!....I look at it and all I see is Discus and I start to drool! LOL

As far as plants, look at some pictures that people post and if you like a particular plant we can get you the name. ;) I personally like a few red and green background plants and mid/foreground ones:

Alternanthera reineckii
Alternanthera reineckii - Google Image Search
Heteranthera zosterifolia
Heteranthera zosterifolia - Google Image Search
Foreground: Glossostigma elatinoides
Glossostigma elatinoides - Google Image Search
The last one requires pretty high light or it will grow more vertical than horizontal. ;)
 
#7 ·
whats are ferts? this is my first time keeping live plants so i don't know much about them. i wanted Java moss or fern but the LFS did'nt have any. instead, i got water sprite and something else (i think moneywart). dj, u say to have 3-4 watts per gallon-so i'm guessing a 50 watt will do well. o and how do i get CO2 into the water? thanks dmaaaaax for the plant pics. i like the red one-whats its common name?
 
#8 ·
Ferts are fertilizer. There are macro nutrients like iron, potassium, nitrate, and phosphate, and micro like boron, maganese,...etc. This can be found in liquid or solid. A lot of people just use something like Seachem's Flurorish and trace and root tabs if you don't have a soil substrate. Check out their site for exact ingredients. Tetra also makes one called Floral Pride.

For plants, I have learned to stay away from common names. Too many of them have similar names but look nothing alike.
 
#9 ·
ok i did some research with the link u gave me an one website said its commmon name is magenta water hedge. the substrate is riverstone and we are adding pea gravel tonight. what is the best type of fert, and still how do i get CO2 into the water? also at the LFS i got a full aquarium test kit. i will do my tests and post them later tonight.
 
#10 ·
The test results r:
ph-7.4
ammonia-0.25 ppm
nitrite-0ppm
nitrate-0ppm

the ammonia reading shows that the tank has started cycling, and the opening part of the hood broke, so i need a whole know hood! O and the 2nd plant is an amazon sword. I'm definetly keeping my eye out 4 java moss and magenta water hedge.
 
#11 ·
With your lighting, and unless you upgrade them as said above you won't be able to grow
the plants that DMAAAAAX suggested. Those are high light plants that require high light, co2 and a pretty strict dosing of ferts.

With the lighting you have I would stick to mosses, anubia and java ferns. They will be pretty slow growing under your lighting but will survive. The only ferts that would be needed is what the fish provide.
 
#12 ·
thanks susan but i don't know what to do with the amazon and the water sprite. O and can i cycle the tank quicker if i get the 3 platies or 3 of the 6 danios? And dmaaaaax don't u have a pair of peacock gudgeons? Can u give a description of their behavior and diet?
 
#13 · (Edited)
#14 ·
thanks dmaaaaax. I guess i will return the plants to the lfs. We went to petsmart today 2 look 4 decor and i noticed a nice blue platy female. I hope they will have her the next time i go. Do u think icanhave the peacock gudgeons?
 
#15 ·
we went out 2 this specialty store called "aquarium adventure" today. i got nutrafin cycle, java moss, and the 3 platies. i also joined the aquarium adventure club, allowing me 25% off every fish from now on. a funny thing about the place was that they used a large red-tailed catfish as their natural garbage can 4 dead fish. the platies r a red wagtail, blue mickey mouse, and a so-called "sailfin sunburst". this one has a yellow-orange head, yellow front half of body, and a red-orange back half of body, each separated by an almost clean cut. it has no sailfin. i think it might actually be a marigold variatus, because it does have a more slender, longer body shape. all 3 r female, and i believe the blue one is pregnant, since it is pretty round and has a dark blue spot between the 2 bottom fins. i fed them small amount after a while and all 3 ate. all 3 at one point nibbled on a plant. yellow attacked the amazon sword and took a nibble at the moss, the blue one attacked the water sprite, and red took a small nibble at the moss. one question-does the moss need 2 be planted?
 
#16 ·
it will attach to something at some point, or you can strap it to something (driftwood, a rock, weight it to the gravel) until it attaches itself. it seems a lot like algea, in the fact that it doesnt have roots, but attaches itself to things.
 
#17 ·
The Java Moss is very versatile in that,in addition to accepting a very broad spectrum of water and light parameters, it will attach to nearly anything you place it near. If you have a piece of driftwood, you can just staple it right on. For gravel, just place a few pieces on top of the moss to hold it in place until it anchors itself.
In regards to ferts, I have a 100 gallon tank with one Red Texas Cichlid that feeds a 4' square aquaponic grow box. I get 2 gallons of salad greens per week from this with no ferts. The fish waste is enough to feed the bacteria that feed the plants.
With co2 supplement, remember that all things are relative. More co2 = the need for more ferts and light.
 
#18 ·
right now the moss is nestled next 2 the heater. i did some research and i believe that my sunburst is a marigold variatus. i will get a pic soon. the platies r okay, so i'm thinking about getting the cories and the oto as soon as possible.
 
#20 ·
the moss is not moving. I think i'd like 2 get a male platy over a second balloon molly. I'll try doing research on hi-fin, green, and plumetail. If the female is pregnant, what should i do with the young? Will they hide in the moss?
 
#21 ·
yes, they will hide in the moss, but if you have a power filter, put an aquarium sponge (not the filter cotton, blocks the flow of water), and even then, the mom and other platies might eat them.... to save the most of them, set up a breeding trap (plastic) or seperate breeding tank for her and the babies. I prefer a seperate tank...
 
#22 ·
o no! all 3 platies have flashed at least once! please tell me its stress, not a disease. the ammonia has not moved from 0.25. i have been dosing the tank with nutrafin cycle, but i think the fish r eating the bacteria before they reach the gravel, because it releases these tiny white specs that the fish have a feast on. my dad has an old 2.5 gal that i could use as a fry tank/hospital tank. to get the tank cycled quicker, i guess i could get gravel from his 15 gal feeder guppy refugium, and maybe get a sponge filter to run in his 45 gal for 2 days and use it for the hospital tank. "moonshine", as we named the blue platy, has been confirmed to be pregnant.
 
#25 ·
the only water conditioners i've used r the cycle and tetra aquasafe. i don't have any hoses for a water change. what am i suppost 2 use?
 
#26 ·
You can use a milk jug,bowl ,cup....anything that holds water to take water out of your tank and replace it . If you have chloramine in your water (most municiple water supplies do) the Tetra Aquasafe will 'neutralize' the chlorine and chloramine. This means that it will remove the chlorine from the chloramine leaving the ammonia!!!
 
#27 ·
never mind! i'm getting the hose in a couple of minutes. please tell me what the best brand is. i've heard that python is good...i'll try to get that...
 
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