Starting a Freshwater 20/30 Gallon Tank

[FreshyFresh]

Seasick- I'd decide exactly on what dimension/size tank you want first. A 20g long or 20g high? 30's aren't a typical off the shelf tank, but 29's are. They're basically a tall 20 long.

In regards to doubling-up on filtration, anything ~30g and under is pretty easy. I'd do a hang-on-back and a sponge bubbler, or a small canister and bubbler.

Then you have to consider planted or not.. lighting, stands... Good times.

 

[Seasick Squid]

Thank you everyone so far for all of the input! I just have one additional question, but first I must mention a few things. If I end up committing to this and setting up a fish tank I will be using a 29 gallon tank or a cheap 30 gallon tank if I can find one. I will be using a long 29 most likely like Freshy mentioned. I will try to double up on the filtration like I mentioned and I will be cycling the tank without fish to spare the suffering of a few unlucky individuals. My big question is about how many fish I could actually keep in a 29 gallon tank. As I mentioned before I would like 5-6 corydoras catfishes (not set on the type but probably not the smaller, pygmy types) and about 9-12 neon tetras. Do you guys think this would be way too big of a bioload for the tank or could I easily keep this many fish? I really don't want to end up overstocking and would prefer to understock by a wide margin if possible.

 

[Vincenia]

I have more fish then that in a 20 gallon and thats under stocked. You could do a larger school of cories and a nice centerpiece fish like a Pearl Gourami or a pair of them. And you can do more neons about 15-18 has they have a small bioload. But you want to add fish slowly over time and not all at once.

 

[Seasick Squid]

That's awesome to hear Vincenia, I'm really excited to start cycling a tank yet I have to okay it with a few people before I can start any work on setting this tank up. I really just can't wait to establish a happy little community of awesome fish. Thanks for the help!

 

[ROYWS3]

Seasick- I'd decide exactly on what dimension/size tank you want first. A 20g long or 20g high? 30's aren't a typical off the shelf tank, but 29's are. They're basically a tall 20 long.

I beg to differ Freshy. 30 gal tanks are most certainly an "off the shelf" tank. 36"x12" is a great footprint for a starter tank.

To the OP, the recommendations you are getting about upping your school of neons are certainly valid. Small fish like that look much better in bigger schools. 5-7 fish in a 30g would certainly be "lost". They get separated, they don't see each other and then they end up hiding. Larger schools are much more visible so if an individual fish gets separated, there's a much greater chance it will see it's mates and rejoin the school.

I had a 30g at one point that was heavily planted, it had 25 cardinals, a few cories and a few otto's and a pair of kribs - with no issues whatsoever. While I'm not recommending that you do this from the start as you are a newbie, with proper knowledge and understanding that will come in time, you can progress to that point.

A heavily planted tank can always hold a bigger bioload that a non planted tank. Planted tanks are great, but again, they require a lot of knowledge and understanding that you can certainly get from visiting forums like this one (among others)

Best of luck in your endeavors,
Roy