# 20 gal community makeover



## twoheadedfish (May 10, 2008)

My plans to get an early, ten a.m. start on this were superseded by my plans to drink on a patio last night. alas i didn't get a good start on this till about 4 p.m.

I had some real issues with the first tank. it's messy looking, the substrate's ugly, there's no sense to the layout...i just find it very unpleasant looking. i hate that pink rock that looks like a piece of bacon.

Right now i'm just letting the mulm settle. then i'm going to add my black substrate and malasian ironwood etc etc.

you can also see my highly sophisticated tank map. we'll see how close I actually get to my plan once everything's done with.


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## Tabatha (Dec 29, 2007)

Can't wait to see where this goes!


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## KnaveTO (May 13, 2007)

Was at Menagerie today as I needed to work on a few things (such as getting the sand dust out of my tanks) thus had to buy a new Eheim HOB filter... anyway back on topic they have some Pygmy Chain Swords at Menagerie in stock right now, as an FYI


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## Calmer (Mar 9, 2008)

twoheadedfish, this is the second part of the Replacing Substrate thread, right?
Stay tuned the substrate switch is getting nearer


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## twoheadedfish (May 10, 2008)

KnaveTO said:


> Was at Menagerie today as I needed to work on a few things (such as getting the sand dust out of my tanks) thus had to buy a new Eheim HOB filter... anyway back on topic they have some Pygmy Chain Swords at Menagerie in stock right now, as an FYI


that's funny, i actually picked some up today.


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## twoheadedfish (May 10, 2008)

Calmer said:


> twoheadedfish, this is the second part of the Replacing Substrate thread, right?
> Stay tuned the substrate switch is getting nearer


yup, that's right.

i should have snapped more photos. basically, i followed the advice provided to me in the first thread. i drained most my water, removed decor/plants and fish, scooped out the substrate leaving the mulm, then added the new stuff. it looks pretty good i think.


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## twoheadedfish (May 10, 2008)

here it is. it's a little busier on the right side of the tank than i'd like, and the bacoppa isn't showing the way i imagined it. thankfully it'll quickly outgrow the stuff infront of it.










































just for comparison's sake, here's the old layout again:


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## ameekplec. (May 1, 2008)

Spread the pygmy chain sword out a little. When it's all clumped up, it won't spread out runners as much as if it were to have more space to grow into between each plant.

It'll be useful if you get some fine tweezers for planting individual plants Makes the whole process about a billion times easier. Also works great for stem plants too.


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## ameekplec. (May 1, 2008)

KnaveTO said:


> Was at Menagerie today as I needed to work on a few things (such as getting the sand dust out of my tanks) thus had to buy a new Eheim HOB filter...


Off topic also, but were you there about 2:45 - 3 pm? Wearing black? There was a guy there talking about Rydyk, which reminded me of you.

twoheadedfish, I'd move the net breeder away from on top of the val in the corner, or move the val out. It's not going to get enough light. Also, the val in front of the wood, I'd put with the others at the back. I personally like groups of plants, but vals, I believe achieve their best effect when planted all together. Since they are so tall, one or two plants alone looks awkward, but a whole group looks very nice with the deep green and strong lines it creates.


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## Calmer (Mar 9, 2008)

Overall a very nice improvement over what you had before. You have done very well.  What are you using to add carbon to the tank? DIY co2 or excel?


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## Tabatha (Dec 29, 2007)

Switching the substrate made a huge difference, IMO! It (obviously) looks more natural. ​


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## twoheadedfish (May 10, 2008)

ameekplec. said:


> Spread the pygmy chain sword out a little. When it's all clumped up, it won't spread out runners as much as if it were to have more space to grow into between each plant.


I was having trouble getting it to spread before, that explains it. thanks for the advice. i was thinking about moving the val toward the back as well. i'm not too worried about lighting as the net breeder and it's contents will be moved shortly.


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## twoheadedfish (May 10, 2008)

Calmer said:


> Overall a very nice improvement over what you had before. You have done very well.  What are you using to add carbon to the tank? DIY co2 or excel?


thanks. i like it much more as well.

i've actually never added any kind of carbon and my ferns/vals/baccopa/swords/crypts have been growing like crazy. it's only the pygmy sword chain i've had trouble with. we'll see. with only 2w/g i may not need to add CO2


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## twoheadedfish (May 10, 2008)

i think you were right about the val, ameekplec. i moved it and i do like the way it looks now. i've also tried to spread out the chain sword.









moving the val has drawn more attention to the sunset hygro beside the ironwood. originally i had it placed just infront of the ironwood but i decided to move it behind it. i'm still not sure which way i prefer it.

and, wow, i only noticed now that the background fell off my tank


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## KnaveTO (May 13, 2007)

ameekplec. said:


> Off topic also, but were you there about 2:45 - 3 pm? Wearing black? There was a guy there talking about Rydyk, which reminded me of you.
> 
> twoheadedfish, I'd move the net breeder away from on top of the val in the corner, or move the val out. It's not going to get enough light. Also, the val in front of the wood, I'd put with the others at the back. I personally like groups of plants, but vals, I believe achieve their best effect when planted all together. Since they are so tall, one or two plants alone looks awkward, but a whole group looks very nice with the deep green and strong lines it creates.


Yep that was me... LOL


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## Calmer (Mar 9, 2008)

The plants look great now. After a while under the lights the leaves orientate themselves flat to the angle of the light direction. Before it looks like a messy bed. 
How do the fish seem to you? In all the photos they appear to be happy in their new surroundings.
That haze from the earlier pictures is gone from what I see in todays picture.
Gettin' better all the time.


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## twoheadedfish (May 10, 2008)

Thanks, I think so too.

The fish seem pretty darned good. very active and feeding. a few of my new corydoras trilineatus are pretty shy, but they'll come out of their shells. 

the livebearers are going at it like they usually do  and the two khuli loaches i have left over from the great loach exodus are more active then ever.


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## ameekplec. (May 1, 2008)

Looks good! I personally like the wood in front. By keeping it in front you make the plant a splash of color without competing for focus from the wood.
The chain sword look great now too. And give them a few weeks and they'll be all over the place. I took them out because they grew too well! I replaced them with dwarf subulta, which I find grows much much slower. BTW, 2wpg will be fine for the chain sword. Once you disturb the growing tips of the plants, they just take a bit to start spreading again.

Starting to look great!!


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## Ciddian (Mar 15, 2006)

Looking great!!


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## twoheadedfish (May 10, 2008)

Tabatha said:


> Switching the substrate made a huge difference, IMO! It (obviously) looks more natural. ​


doesn't it though? ugh, turqoise blue. i mean, really, what was i thinking? i think of all the improvements i've made to the tank, the substrate is by far the most (asthetically) powerful.

So far no dead fish either. seems like the switch wasn't too stressful.


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