New 20 gal. long ?

pistolpete3521

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Mar 16, 2008
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Indian Trail, NC
I'm considerering getting a 20g long todayafter figuring out what happened to my spastic platys. My 10 gallon is fine and I think all of my major broblems have been ironed out thus far.

On to the reason I posted this... If I get a 20 gal long, I am probably going to do a fishless cycle andplant it afterwards, is this ideal? also I was wondering some feedback for stocking and wanted suggestions. I don't like platy's, guppies, or goldfish so anything besides that you think would be comfortable I'd like to hear. ALSO, I am very particular about the visual array and considered getting a few loaches, some mid-level swimming fish (gourmis maybe ?) and possibly some top swimming fish, is this "doable" with a long or should I get a reg. ?

Thanks
 
If you plant it and seed the biological filter with some media from your 10g, no need for a fishless cycle. You could lightly stock it right away. I don't have too much experience with loaches, but I think most of them will need a tank larger then 20g. You could get a small school of Corydoras catfish in there for the bottom though, perhaps one or two gourami. Tetras are always nice midlevel fish, I prefer the larger ones, but you could get a small school of neons or cardinals.
 
What do you mean by "media" just some gunk with bacteria in it ? and what do you suggest for larger tetras with two gourami's and if i were to go larger, what is a good size for angels ?

Thanks
 
I can't rememebr what they are called, they were in my LFS and had a orange or piunkish tint to them ... ?
 
What do you mean by "media" just some gunk with bacteria in it ? and what do you suggest for larger tetras with two gourami's and if i were to go larger, what is a good size for angels ?

Thanks

Yep, gunk. Whenever you change your filter cartridge, save the dirty one and stick it in the new filter. I cut old filter media up, dumped out all the carbon, and stuffed as much as I could into my new filter - works great. Make sure it stays wet, though, or all the good stuff will die.

Red-eye tetras are fairly large (2-3 inches, I think), and not bad looking. We've got a school in our big tank at home.
 
This is so exiting !!! yea I may do that just leave it in water and dump the charcoal right ? and, would a golden loach prove too big? I looked it up and it said they can grow 9-10 inches. Do I need to buy a large tank than a 20g long ?
 
Yep, pretty much. As long as it's wet and decently airated. It'd really be best if you just do the cartridge change and seeding at the same time - all in one go - so you don't have to worry about keeping it stored and whatnot.
I don't really know anything about loaches, so someone else can probably give a better answer - but I'd say if they get that big, you'd probably have to get a larger tank pretty soon. No idea about the substrate.

And yes, fish are exciting :D
 
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