# Beginners 20 g planted tank



## fly4awhiteguy (Dec 27, 2011)

This tank has been up and running for 2 months, it is my 1st tank and I have gone through much trial and error so far. I noticed all my plants (except crypts) were starting to wither and turn brown, so i added a co2 system, upgraded the filtration system and light. I also added flourite during a teardown 3 days ago. Now im just waiting, and hoping the plants will start to flourish with the new setup. 

Plants: crypts
crypt parva
torta val
java moss
1 unknown ( i will add a pic soon, hopefully someone can identify it)
hygro rosanervig (added today)
floating water lettuce

Livestock
1 fire and ice gourami
2 hi fin sunset platys
2 male/2 female guppies
3 rasboras
6 bloodfin tetras
10 cardinal tetras
3 clown loaches
2 chinese algea eaters


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## fly4awhiteguy (Dec 27, 2011)

additional picks at: http://s1133.photobucket.com/albums/m594/fly4awhiteguy1/


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## Zebrapl3co (Mar 29, 2006)

For the plants, that all depends on what kind of light you have. Fert (florish + others) and CO2 is secondary to a good light source. Well ... not really, you need all 3 ingredients to make your plants grow. But light seems to be the common missing factor in most beginner setup.
I wouldn't count on your plants blooming though. They will survive, but if you want them to bloom, you have to change your substrate to a proper substrate specifically for plants. Ie., flourite, eco-complete or ADA amazon.
Another alternative is to spike the substrate with pellets, but will never be as good as using the proper substrate. Also, it does get messy if you have clown loach who digs.
Speaking of fish, your tank is too small for clown loaches and gourami. You can probably keep them for 6 more months and after that, they will need a bigger tank. Keeping them longer than that will stunt them and they will simply waste away and die. So you still get to enjoy them for 6 more months, after that, it's a good idea to look for a bigger tank for them or sell it back to the store.
Aside from that, it looks like you're off to a good start. Do look over some of our stickies at the beginner section of the forum. It'll help you avoid some of the pit falls or mistakes down the road.
Good luck and have fun.

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## fly4awhiteguy (Dec 27, 2011)

Thanks for the response, i just put about 3" of flourite under my gravel the other day, as for lighting- i did have a plant light in th old 14watt fixture that came with the tank, but it wasnt strong enough, and due to some budget restraints (christmas) i had to find a cheap alternative.. So off to home depot i went.... I did find a relatively inexpensive fixter and am now running 2 x 32 watt plant bulbs. I was also looking the past few days at larger tanks, 1st in store, and then in the buy and sell forum here- this 20 g is just a chance to get a feel for the hobby and learn how to run and maintain a tank, i am now starting to price out a 60 g setup.


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## fly4awhiteguy (Dec 27, 2011)

2nd week after teardown, the vals are getting their colour back, and the hygros are doing well now, starting to show new ( pink) growth- now i know why they call it sunset hygro. I took out the larger rock with java moss to allow the plants more room to strech out. Overall the fish seem much happier now that all the plastic scenery is gone, however i had to cut the CO2 to almost nil because the ph was starting to rise.


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## fly4awhiteguy (Dec 27, 2011)

I have a quick question, hopefully someone knows where i am going wrong.. I have tried to upload full tank shots taken from my digital camera, from my tab, and from my cell phone, yet when i try to upload them, the pictures are all wayyy too big of a file- like 2.5mb big. The only way i can post a pic is to crop 3/4 of it out.. Does anyone know if i can convert or compress them somehow?


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## fly4awhiteguy (Dec 27, 2011)

I did a teardown on the weekend, so i could switch to fluval stratum and replace a few plants i didnt like with some new ones, after a slight (sarcasm) problem with blackis brown water i decided to put some old substrate on top of the stratum. This was the end result... Also i should mention that i added a new t5, and c02 injection


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## fly4awhiteguy (Dec 27, 2011)

I have to post in 2 pics the file is too large for full tank


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## fly4awhiteguy (Dec 27, 2011)

I went out and got a new pleco today and a few oto's, but im thinking of ditching the floating lettuce.. It seems like i have to weed through it and throw some out every other day just so that it doesn't block the light from all the plants on the bottom.


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## sketchillus (Jan 4, 2012)

looks good!

i just redid my tank too got my self a proper co2 system. Threw out alot of plants. Do you have something planted for a carpet?


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## fly4awhiteguy (Dec 27, 2011)

I had hc cuba, but it wasnt doing so well... I think because the floating lettuce blocked out too much light, so i pulled it out.. Now i just have a little patch of crypt parva.


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