# 20 gallon long planted tank beginner's journey



## dmrg3 (Mar 13, 2014)

Hello everyone,
I started breeding guppy and etc few years ago, but never tried fully planted tank. I think there are many beginners like me and I hope I can give some helps by demonstrating my journey and mistakes.

Since I am a beginner, I started with small tank like 10 gallon. But I realized it is too small. Many beginners including myself are dreaming bushy forest tank from youtube or the tank in Big Al haha. Well, so my project focused on bushy forest!

For about day 30, I fought with hair algae. I reduced the light time and everything, but I think shrimps are the best choice. Also I realized co2 is the must. I thought it can be covered with fish co2. But seemed like not possible. After one day I started co2, I could see bubbles coming out from the plants. I got two diffusers from ebay. They are less than $5 each. I think DIY co2 and ebay products are enough for medium planted tank.

Lastly, I think sponge filter and internal filter are not for planted tank. I am not talking about power of filteration, but simply they take space. Since, I have tight budget, I am using Aquaclear. Obviously external filter is better. But begineers, go for Aquaclear. You will not regret. I bought and used many HOB filters, but ... Aquaclear is the best. 

Anyway, I can see bubbles and they are growing fast. It started with 2cm stems but now, pretty big. And I can see growth is speeding up. I think I can make bushy in another month.

I will keep update how my journey is going. Please understand I am a beginner, so let me know if you have any advice or question.
Go beginners!!!! We can do it!!!!


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## Atom (Sep 17, 2014)

Very nice so far 

It's something I'd like to do in the future as well because I'm still a beginner at this time. Can I ask what kind of substrate you used? Active/inert?


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## dmrg3 (Mar 13, 2014)

*Substrate*

Hello. Substrate was one of my concerns. Obviously soil from ADA or something like that would be the best. But I don't like the concept, using for certain time and throw away. I wanted something can be used indefinitely. So I chose inert sand/gravel substrate.

I tried many substrates (another beginner mistakes haha). First, I used very fine sand gravel, something like tahitian moon sand from CaribSea. They are good but... it is mess. It is really hard to clean. Guess same as using soil.

So I tried Torpedo beach from CaribSea. It was nice to plant root plants. But problem is,,, since it is white, it turns green sometimes because of algae.

Then I tried small gravels like ADA Congo Sand SS and Peace River from CaribSea. I mixed two of them and they are just perfect color and no problem to plant.

I am keeping plants with fish, so I think plants getting enough nutrients. Also I think nutrients can be added with liquid fertilizer. I haven't tried though. As I pull up some plants, they have really long bushy root, so I think they like the gravel as well.

Hope it answers your question


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## Atom (Sep 17, 2014)

Thanks for adding your experiences 

I was thinking about going with sand as well, but if it's too messy then it's not worth the trouble. 

That's a good point about lighter coloured gravel D: it might turn green due to algae I never considered that.

So if you're just using inert gravel, are you dosing with any ferts or putting anything under the substrate to keep the plants alive? Or just the CO2 system?


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## jimmyjam (Nov 6, 2007)

i love the 20 long size.. .looks great so far bud. keep us updated


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## dmrg3 (Mar 13, 2014)

20 gallon long update

Change the plants layout a little
I got rotala and ludwigia brevipes. 
Also added small driftwood. 

I am still waiting for diffuser but they are growing nicely with airstone co2 

It is time for trimming few plants. 
I am selling those plants and other plants from other tanks. They are just so much. So let me know. Also let me know if you have any comment or question. 

Thank you for reading


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