suggestions for my 20 gallon

zzyzx85

zzyzx85

the casual hobbyist
Dec 3, 2007
1,008
0
36
OC, CA
yup, another rescaping thread.

This is how my tank looks like now: http://www.aquariacentral.com/forums/showpost.php?p=1562320&postcount=37

Currently dosing trace (Flourish) 3x a week and will be going EI as soon as I get my macros (N and K). 1.4wpg with T5 normals. Slow growth from pretty much everything. 20 gallon tall, btw.

Any suggestions on 'scaping? That piece of driftwood is as deep as the tank is so I can't really move it around much. It's either this side or the other side. But it doesn't look too bad how it is now, right?

Like what my gallery post said, I'm thinking of getting the Current USA 2x24W T5HO lights on legs. Would I be okay with DIY CO2 + Excel? I have vals so I know I'll need to be careful with how much Excel I dose.

Also need some suggestions on some plants. Will low light plants still be okay or will the lights be too intense? I was thinking of filling it in with some plants from MG. My substrate is a bit thinner than I'd like so I think I might have to mix in another plant substrate since I have no clue what mine is right now.

Also, I need a centerpiece fish. a) betta, b) dwarf gourami, c) pearl gourami, or d) another shoal of tetras? I need something with some color. I fear I may have too much current for a betta so I'm having doubts about a betta.

Sorry for the long a$$ post but I want to give as much info as possible.
 
If you up the lighting to T5 HO, you will need good a Carbon source and more ferts. But atm I wouldnt be dosing Flourish 3x a week, its not needed for your plant load or lighting levels, maybe once per week would be enough. But low light plants will grow nicely at 2.4wpg, with ferts and co2, plus will help grow in faster and out compete algae as well.

For your centerpiece I would go with the Dwarf Gourami, a Pearl is a little to crapped in a 20. And more tetras would be nice, but how many do you have now?
 
I really like that piece of driftwood. It looks like its smack-dab in the middle of tank right now. I would move it so its 2/3rds of the way to one side or the other.

If you stay with 1.5 watts per gallon, low light plants will be fine. If you bump it up, I wouldn't have low light plants. I just moved my low light plants from my high light tank, into a low light tank and they are doing much better. If you start mixing low and high light plants you will battle algae. I would just give your plants a chance to grow and fill in a little more. I think it will look nice.

I agree with Riiz on the gouramis. I think a dwarf would be nice or maybe a honey. In your other post it looks like you have a cory in there. Do you still have that? How many? You might want to increase that school before another school of tetras.
 
I wanted to up lighting past 2.0wpg because I wanted something for the foreground, but most foreground plants need more light since they are at the bottom of the tank. I have pygmy chain swords that are alive but aren't going anywhere.

Also, suggestion on floaters? I used to have hornwort but that ended up in a terrible mess. I have a few pieces of anacharis that's starting to regrow.
 
I'd bunch up the anacharis nearer each other & move the sag toward the front of it so there's a repeat element.

Can't help on lighting, I'm a low lighter all the way.
 
Yeah, I really don't want to spend $60 on a set of lights.

I see what you mean. I think I'll move the wood left, group the rotalas (anacharis are the ones stuck to the filter intake) together, move the val (not sag) up so it's in front of the rotalas, trim the bacopa down and spread them out a bit, and maybe move the pygmy chain swords forward more to give the vals room.

I'll do it tomorrow and take some pictures of it.

Tetras are gonna freak out again. It's kind of sad to see them swimming frantically around when I'm working in there. "AHHH...it's the Hand!!!"
 
zzyzx85 said:
Tetras are gonna freak out again. It's kind of sad to see them swimming frantically around when I'm working in there. "AHHH...it's the Hand!!!"
Click to expand...

haha...at least they don't bite! I discovered my killifish have teeth the hard way!
 
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