The 20g Long Progress

Figured this was the best place for this topic. I wanted to keep a log, so to speak of progress or changes. Its still the early phases and I'm still trying to figure things out but at the moment I'm content with it.

I use a Tidal 35 HoB with a Fluval Planted light, Co2, and a small powerhead to help push the Co2 around, its buffered a bit because I don't want that much flow in my tank.
I've used my LFS version of aquasoil

As of right now there is no livestock in the tank.
There is:
Jungle Val
Ludwigia palustris (I think)
Dwarf baby tears
utricularia graminifolia
hygrophila pinnatifida
hygrophila salicifolia (Hygro Blue)
Christmas moss (going for a moss wall heheh)
Broad-Leaf Pogostemon stellatus
And some kind of dwarf pennywort

I dont have plans to add any more plants except maybe more of the same.

Photos are from thr dry scape 5/16
And then I get it up on 5/18
5/19
5/20
5/21

Hope you guys enjoy the progress. I always like watching tanks grow.

The tank looks great! Do you have any stocking ideas yet?

Looking good so far!

Fish384 said:

The tank looks great! Do you have any stocking ideas yet?

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Not 100% set yet but im thinking to do a big school of celestial pearl danios/rasboras. With maybe some corydoras.

You might enter your tank in our July Tank of the Month contest which will be for 17 to 30 gallon tanks.

Today's pic. I know the pump is unsightly... lol but being the smallest pump I could find, it was still way too strong for ylmy tank so I wrapped it in filter foam and put a partial buffer over the front of it and now my plants aren't looking about ready to take flight. Hopefully as the plants fill in it won't be such an eye sore.

I did trip the ludwigi and replanted the tops so it looks more full. The jungle Val looks like it's up in the air. There's some.good bits but a lot of the longer leaves are melting. Soooo we'll see.

Coming along nicely. On the intended fish, can you post your water parameters? These are especially GH and pH of the source water. This is not a large tank, so small fish will look better and provide more entertainment value, so to speak. But such fish are often wild caught and the parameters matter.

Corydoras were mentioned, and this may be problematic. They must have sand, they filter feed, and it is less of a bacterial problem for them than larger grains of gravel. Bacteria in gravel is the primary cause of barbel erosion. From the photos it looks like a gravel substrate, and possibly a plant one? "Aquasoil" was mentioned. These are dangerous for cories too.

Byron said:

Coming along nicely. On the intended fish, can you post your water parameters? These are especially GH and pH of the source water. This is not a large tank, so small fish will look better and provide more entertainment value, so to speak. But such fish are often wild caught and the parameters matter.

Corydoras were mentioned, and this may be problematic. They must have sand, they filter feed, and it is less of a bacterial problem for them than larger grains of gravel. Bacteria in gravel is the primary cause of barbel erosion. From the photos it looks like a gravel substrate, and possibly a plant one? "Aquasoil" was mentioned. These are dangerous for cories too.

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I dont have my gh and kh test kit yet so no idea.

Why would aquasoil (its not the actualy aquasoil brand, it is LIKE aquasoil, but iy was what my lfs had and i dont remeber the name of it) be a problem for Cory's? The soil is small, smooth, and round and its not heavy like gravel. Id label it almost as light as sand in terms of how it acts when disturbed and how it feels in the hand. Its not a rough substrate. And even then, I will have carpeting plants that I hope will cover the substrate.

I should also note this soil is very fine and indented to be acceptable for shrimp tanks

Sovereignty said:

I dont have my gh and kh test kit yet so no idea.

Why would aquasoil (its not the actualy aquasoil brand, it is LIKE aquasoil, but iy was what my lfs had and i dont remeber the name of it) be a problem for Cory's? The soil is small, smooth, and round and its not heavy like gravel. Id label it almost as light as sand in terms of how it acts when disturbed and how it feels in the hand. Its not a rough substrate. And even then, I will have carpeting plants that I hope will cover the substrate.

I should also note this soil is very fine and indented to be acceptable for shrimp tanks

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On the parameters, if you are on municipal water, check their website. The GH, Alkalinity and pH may be stated. Or take a sample to a reliable store, but make sure you get the actual number and their unit of measurement. Once you know the source water parameters, you may not need testing for GH/KH (Alkalinity) again. A pH test (liquid) is a good investment though.

There are two issues with the aquasoil, whatever brand. First, it is not sand and cories must have sand. They filter feed, this is in their genetics. It is also much less of a bacterial problem than larger gravel/soil things. Second, all of these planted substrate substances have bacterial issus that affect substrate level fish that are continually rooting in the substrate--or trying to. Cories should never be housed over any of these.

Shrimp are not th same thing, though most shrimp=keepers do suggest sand.

Byron said:

On the parameters, if you are on municipal water, check their website. The GH, Alkalinity and pH may be stated. Or take a sample to a reliable store, but make sure you get the actual number and their unit of measurement. Once you know the source water parameters, you may not need testing for GH/KH (Alkalinity) again. A pH test (liquid) is a good investment though.

There are two issues with the aquasoil, whatever brand. First, it is not sand and cories must have sand. They filter feed, this is in their genetics. It is also much less of a bacterial problem than larger gravel/soil things. Second, all of these planted substrate substances have bacterial issus that affect substrate level fish that are continually rooting in the substrate--or trying to. Cories should never be housed over any of these.

Shrimp are not th same thing, though most shrimp=keepers do suggest sand.

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So what kind of bottom dwelling fish could I keep with aquasoil then?

Sovereignty said:

So what kind of bottom dwelling fish could I keep with aquasoil then?

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This is a good question. Given the tank size, most loaches are out, and in any case I would be concerned they would have similar problems bacteria-wise. I have not discussed this with a loach authority, so not sure. I have had discussions with Ian Fuller concerning cories so that is clear. But the tank size lets out most loaches anyway.

Some of the "stand alone" and small loricariids could work. Rineloricaria parva is the small species of whiptail, attaining 4-5 (maybe) inches but so slender you hardly notice it. The sometimes seen "Red Lizard" form which is closely related to this species is another.

In looking at the photos the plants concern me a bit. They are recently added, but do you know the data for the light? Spectrum (the Kelvin rating or CRI) especially.

Byron said:

This is a good question. Given the tank size, most loaches are out, and in any case I would be concerned they would have similar problems bacteria-wise. I have not discussed this with a loach authority, so not sure. I have had discussions with Ian Fuller concerning cories so that is clear. But the tank size lets out most loaches anyway.

Some of the "stand alone" and small loricariids could work. Rineloricaria parva is the small species of whiptail, attaining 4-5 (maybe) inches but so slender you hardly notice it. The sometimes seen "Red Lizard" form which is closely related to this species is another.

In looking at the photos the plants concern me a bit. They are recently added, but do you know the data for the light? Spectrum (the Kelvin rating or CRI) especially.

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I'm not sure what data your looking for for the light, its a fluval 3.0 planted. I dont have any meters to test it with and from my understanding the units are exspensive as well? But I found this article that goes over the PAR of it that they tested. Not sure if that's what you're seeking.

The light is labeled as a full spectrum led at 6500k.

What about the plants are concerning you?

Sovereignty said:

I'm not sure what data your looking for for the light, its a fluval 3.0 planted. I dont have any meters to test it with and from my understanding the units are exspensive as well? But I found this article that goes over the PAR of it that they tested. Not sure if that's what you're seeking.

The light is labeled as a full spectrum led at 6500k.

What about the plants are concerning you?

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The 6500K which is the Kelvin rating is what I was looking for, that is bang on. Good to go.

The plants look a little rough, but that is normal with new plants. As they adjust to the environment (parameters, light, nutrients) they will (or should) send out fresh strong growth. Poor spectrum light however can thwart this. OK here.

Byron said:

The 6500K which is the Kelvin rating is what I was looking for, that is bang on. Good to go.

The plants look a little rough, but that is normal with new plants. As they adjust to the environment (parameters, light, nutrients) they will (or should) send out fresh strong growth. Poor spectrum light however can thwart this. OK here.

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Oooh ok. Yeah I hope they'll get better. Doesn't help that there's some substrate... soot... on them too from when I was sifting around trying to get the carpeting plants in hahah. The ludwigi and hygro has New growth on em, the pennywort looks good too, the Val is the only one I'm hesitant on. Lookouts of melting leaves, but there are also some shorter, green healthy ones so idk

Another day. Looks like I got algae. Uhg. XD what's the best way to deal with this? Water change? I'm assuming it's either lights or too many nutrients in the water that the plants can't keep up with? I am getting tons of new growth on my pennywort. And my dwarf baby tears are getting longer by the day hahaha.