Newb With A 20 Gallon Tank!

[CaysE]

Hi all! My name's Casey and I was given a 20 gallon tank already set up with 4 fish. A little background: I had no idea how to take care of it for quite a while, and ended up killing a catfish and two angelfish, and had a big algae problem on my hands. Lately I have grown a keen interest in getting the tank to a respectable level and have been doing a lot of research as of the past few weeks, so consider me a newb with just enough info to be dangerous. The tank is kept heated to ~77-78F, has a nice raised light fixture over it with a clear lid, a bubble wand (more like a long narrow brick) at the back of the tank, and a standard 2-stage filter that hangs on the back. It is hooked up to a day/night timer that keeps the lights on for 11 hours.

Right now, all that's in it is a ~6inch clown loach. He's an awesome fish, but I've been doing some reading and it seems that the tank will eventually be too small for him. I'd rather not get a bigger tank, so I want to ask two things, as I have no idea where to start. First, I like the way the tank is layed out for now; I added natural driftwood and some fake plants (which the clown loves hiding in) and a background that went well with the setup. The only problem is I want to change the old flaking plastic-coated pebbles with a darker, natural substrate (Estes Amazon Rainforest or whatever it's called, or anything someone would suggest). Is it possible to change the substrate with a fish in the tank?

Also, I need something that will control the algae population. I've been doing ~30% water changes once a week and cleaned the sides of the tank, but the corners are still green and one of the driftwood pieces looks like a grassy field. I tried some algae fix chemical which helped turn any black algae into green algae, basically. Now it doesn't seem to do much, so I'm ditching that idea. The old pebbles on the floor are also turning green.

And I guess the biggest question is what should I stock in this tank? I love the clown loach and the angels were cool, but they're all too big for a 20 gallon I've read.

Anyway, sorry for the long post, I hope it's in the right spot on the forums. Here are a couple pics! You can see the green on the glue in the corners and on the small driftwood piece on the back left corner.

 

[vancouver]

The lighting looks pretty powerful, that's probably what's causing the algae... might want to cut down on lighting per day.. maybe down to 7 hours.

As for the clown loach, they prefer to be in groups, and of course a larger tank.

 

[max11180]

If algae is that prolific, there must be something that it is feeding of, i suggest you check your nitrate level, and phosphate level, nitrates should be as low as you can get.. anything less that 40ppm is 'ok' for most fish, but 20ppm or less is ideal really. Plants or algae will use any that is available. Phosphates again should be as low as possible, but if they are high, you have to find out how comes.. the usual answer to this is overfeeding. both of these are easily overcome by water changes.. so monitor both of these levels, and adjust your water changes as required. As vancouver stated them lights are pretty serious, generally you don't want lights on for more than 10 hours a day, but looking at that rig 7-8 would probably be better (also the reason your loach will love hiding in the plants.. would you like being out in the desert with no shades or cap?).
Another suggestion, why not try using real plants? they have the useful trait of 'eating' the exact same stuff that algae does, so if the plants use the nit's 1st, they algae can't use them to grow. Plants also have the added benefit of oxygenating the water a little, through photosynthesis.

Anyways, quite a nice tank really i think your loach would prefer smaller stones tho, they love to dig and forrage. On that subject.. i wouldn't recommend changing substrate whilst the tank is occupied, specially a loach, it will put the fear of god through it. IMO, you should place him a bucket, but them cover the bucket so it is dark, and keep it warm, then set too! Don't throw your old stones away tho.. dig them out and place them in another bucket whilst you put the new (throughly washed) stones in.. then get a pair of tights or similar, and put the old stones in them, and places the tights/stones on the new gravel, so the bacteria will migrate to the new stones (don't forget to put the loach back!). You should only need it in there for a few days, then the bacteria should be sufficiently established on the new stones.

 

[CaysE]

OK, I'll set the lights to stay on less, no problem there. And I certainly wouldn't mind being out in the desert sun if it was 78 degrees all day.

I definitely want to have real plants in there! It just seems daunting. That light I have is definitely a serious one, though I can probably get a smaller bulb for it. I believe it's a salt-water light because it has an actinic in it, I just never turn it on. Perhaps a smaller full-spectrum light and a small plant light would be ideal? I could stock up on floating plants to filter the light too, I suppose. I'm wide open to suggestions. Also, would I still need the bubble wand with plants in the tank? Maybe only turn it on at night?

The clown likes moving the pebbles around every now and then, but they do seem fairly large for him. The substrate I want to get is smaller, but still a bit rocky. As much as I'd like to keep him, I don't think I will be for much longer, as I want to give him to someone with a bigger home. I don't think being by himself has affected him much aside from being occassionally bored.

 

[robjack]

As has been said, one of the best things you could do to help stop your algae growing is to get some real plants. If you stick in lots of fast-growing stem plants, such as Water Wysteria, Cabomba, or Hornwort; then these will out-compete the algae for nutrients etc, and therefore the algae will suffer.

Read this for a bit more info. It's mostly written towards the planted aquarium, but theres still bits that are relevant to your situation.

Tanks looking good at the moment, though

Rob.

 

[rami]

I would agree with the poster above me. Far from being daunting as you put it, getting real plants will help with the algea problem. Also, why don't you look into some snail anad an algea eater. In my 20g I use a butterfly pleco, they stay nice and small so you don't have to worry about it outgrowing your tank, like you have to with most plecos and catfish.