If my 75 Gallon Tank is a bustling city of fish then my 20 gallon tank is a quiet hamlet with friends and neighbors who all know each other. 20 gallons, 3 feet long, with over 60 gallons of filtration, heavy planting, and a low stock this tank was built to be as free of maintenance as possible. It is easily my favorite tank, scape wise, and has a very pretty collection of fish, all peaceful small fish. Here's the tank stats:
Tank&Equipment:
Tank: 20 Gallons, Long. Comes with wooden stand and a new hood/light (the old one met a bad end in my 40 gallon).
Filters: 2 Small, compact, dead silent HOB Canister filters each rated at 20 gallons and 1 small, compact, internal filter with a waterfall. Small is relative, it's almost too large for the tank.
Lighting: Single strip T8 florescent light.
Other Equipment: 1 Korilla Nano, 1 Air Pump, 2 heaters.
Decor:
Driftwood: A few longer, thinner pieces (around 2-3 feet long) and a few smaller pieces.
Rocks: Mostly white rocks that match the substrate. Very pretty
Substrate: Moon-light Sand + a bit of gunk from filters/food/poop that worked it's way deep into the sand bed. About 1in deep at deepest.
Stock:
Fish: 5 Black Neon Tetras, 1-4 corys (can never find more then 1), 2 ottos, and 1 truly breathtaking Sparkling Gouramis.
Inverts: a decent number of pest snails, 1-2 nerita snails, and an ubermassive pest snail (as large as a netira) named "Big Bett", 1 remaining ghost shrimp.
Plants: 1 Hygrophila, Hygo Agnus, Duckweed, Java Moss, Anubas Nana
Picture:
What I love most about this tank is that besides a monthly water change (I know, bad me, blah blah blah) and food every 1-3 days the tank is entirely self-sustained. I have NEVER needed to clean the glass of algae, never needed to suck up excess food, only ever needed to clean the filters once ever 6 months. The tank's perms remain stable and well within the acceptable range for all perms tested (the big 4). The snails, ottos, and cory(s) all take care of excess food, the plants keep nitrate/nitrite down at a little under preferred levels, and the fish all look amazing in the tank. The neons can vanish into the plant mass in the center and you'll never spot them, the grouamis gives me a death scare at least once a month when I can't find it for weeks at a time then it's there again, the ottos are adorable and the cory(s) is hard to find unless it feels like meeting me. All in all, my favorite tank of my 3 currently running tanks.
Tank&Equipment:
Tank: 20 Gallons, Long. Comes with wooden stand and a new hood/light (the old one met a bad end in my 40 gallon).
Filters: 2 Small, compact, dead silent HOB Canister filters each rated at 20 gallons and 1 small, compact, internal filter with a waterfall. Small is relative, it's almost too large for the tank.
Lighting: Single strip T8 florescent light.
Other Equipment: 1 Korilla Nano, 1 Air Pump, 2 heaters.
Decor:
Driftwood: A few longer, thinner pieces (around 2-3 feet long) and a few smaller pieces.
Rocks: Mostly white rocks that match the substrate. Very pretty
Substrate: Moon-light Sand + a bit of gunk from filters/food/poop that worked it's way deep into the sand bed. About 1in deep at deepest.
Stock:
Fish: 5 Black Neon Tetras, 1-4 corys (can never find more then 1), 2 ottos, and 1 truly breathtaking Sparkling Gouramis.
Inverts: a decent number of pest snails, 1-2 nerita snails, and an ubermassive pest snail (as large as a netira) named "Big Bett", 1 remaining ghost shrimp.
Plants: 1 Hygrophila, Hygo Agnus, Duckweed, Java Moss, Anubas Nana
Picture:
What I love most about this tank is that besides a monthly water change (I know, bad me, blah blah blah) and food every 1-3 days the tank is entirely self-sustained. I have NEVER needed to clean the glass of algae, never needed to suck up excess food, only ever needed to clean the filters once ever 6 months. The tank's perms remain stable and well within the acceptable range for all perms tested (the big 4). The snails, ottos, and cory(s) all take care of excess food, the plants keep nitrate/nitrite down at a little under preferred levels, and the fish all look amazing in the tank. The neons can vanish into the plant mass in the center and you'll never spot them, the grouamis gives me a death scare at least once a month when I can't find it for weeks at a time then it's there again, the ottos are adorable and the cory(s) is hard to find unless it feels like meeting me. All in all, my favorite tank of my 3 currently running tanks.
