Planting a 20 gallon long?

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Ulan

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Sep 22, 2006
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For several reasons, I have to stick with a relatively small tank as my follow-up to my initial setup. Specifically, this will be a 20 gallon long tank, which is only 12 inches high.

Is it possible to have some decent success with live plants in that type of tank? I guess I'd have to pick some smaller plants for that setup? I don't want to go overboard with lighting, and pressurized CO2 is off limits. Is this tank very work-intensive because of its small size?
 
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It all depends on the plant and setup, with only 12" high i would say it's actually eaiser to plant than most.

If you want a low light low maintainence setup, get a driftwood as centerpiece, java ferns in the background, anubias around and on(lower parts) of the driftwood, get a few types of moss (xmas/taiwen most popular) and tie them to the driftwood and a thin layer on foreground. That's it you got yourself a nice planted tank :)

No co2/nutrient dosing required, a single strip of CF lighting is more than enough. Put some cherry red shrimps / nerite snails in there for natural algae control. then add a school of 12 neon or harq. rasboras or 12x of any of the small schooling fish.

Now if you want to go high tech, that will require more work. With only 12" high, this amano style is probably the only realistic option:

tank5.jpg
 
Basicaly your 10 long is similar to my 10 gallon on longer, you can grow alot of stuff in there, but you may have to trim tall stem plants more often.
 
justintoxicated said:
what lighting will you be using? How Long is your tank?
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It's 30" long.
justintoxicated said:
I beleive I have the 24 inch one on my 20 tall the 20 Long will get ALOT more intensity with less watts per gallon do to it's short height. 2 watts per gallon of CF light is probably all you need, but I'm sure you will end up with more :P
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I know that 30" is a bit problematic, because it doesn't fit a standard lamp size. Did anyone try this solution, or is it not enough with its 36W T-5 lighting?
justintoxicated said:
Basicaly your 10 long is similar to my 10 gallon on longer, you can grow alot of stuff in there, but you may have to trim tall stem plants more often.
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Are there any plants to avoid, in addition to those that carry an obvious "giant" in their name?
 
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gagaliya said:
It all depends on the plant and setup, with only 12" high i would say it's actually eaiser to plant than most.
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At least I won't have difficulties with reaching the ground ;). The substrate will take some more space away, though.
gagaliya said:
If you want a low light low maintainence setup, get a driftwood as centerpiece, java ferns in the background, anubias around and on(lower parts) of the driftwood, get a few types of moss (xmas/taiwen most popular) and tie them to the driftwood and a thin layer on foreground. That's it you got yourself a nice planted tank :)
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That's probably cost-efficient and pleasant at the same time. I think I will go with some driftwood and a few local river stones.
gagaliya said:
... add a school of 12 neon or harq. rasboras or 12x of any of the small schooling fish.
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I thought of a few pristella or glowlight tetras, perhaps some otos later on. I'm not sure about cories - they might stretch the capacity or disturb the plants (not sure about the latter point).
gagaliya said:
Now if you want to go high tech, that will require more work. With only 12" high, this amano style is probably the only realistic option
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That's a cool looking tank, but I want the fish to feel a bit safer.
 
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