# 20G Long Tank Build



## Consigliere (Jun 11, 2009)

Things are moving right along on my new 20G tank. For full details in all the build steps see the full journal at http://canaquaticgardens.wordpress.com. After sorting out the lighting fiasco with the DIY light fixture the algae situation seems to have stabilized. The brown hair algae wasn't getting out of control and maybe even was receding a bit. Of course, the crpyts are melting to various degrees but I have learned not to sweat this, they will come back. I've also added some didiplis diandra to the background and moved a couple things around. I had to take the didiplis out of the 70G because it was getting overrun. I think I will still add some Pogostemon Stellata once I get around to trimming my 10G. Here's the tank as it stands right now:










My original plan was to have this as another plant/shrimp only tank but I got a nice big gift certificate to the LFS and I couldn't resist getting some fish. In the tank right now are 12 cardinal tetras, 3 otoclinus affins and 12 ghost shrimp. I lost one oto on the first night but in my experience that is to be expected with otos. I absolutely love the cardinals in there. They really stand out against the sand and green of the plants.


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## bluekrissyspikes (Apr 16, 2009)

lookin really good there!! i love your wood. is that from your lfs or outdoors?


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## Consigliere (Jun 11, 2009)

Actually the wood was ordered from a forum member on Aquatic Plant Central who deals manzanita wood all over the US. The stuff in the 20G tank is just the scraps from the shipment I ordered from him. Here's a link to the stuff I have sitting in my basement right now waiting for my big tank. Some of the pieces are over 3ft tall.

http://canaquaticgardens.wordpress.com/2009/08/03/shout-out-to-jake-for-amazing-manzanita-wood/


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## bluekrissyspikes (Apr 16, 2009)

that's a nice box of wood.


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## Consigliere (Jun 11, 2009)

A nice shot of the a couple of the cardinal tetras in this tank:










Had one croak today. Was stuck on the bottom, upside down and still alive but only able to swim upside down. Also, had lost his red colour around the tail area. All others appear to be OK. Any thoughts?


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## Consigliere (Jun 11, 2009)

Here's an updated shot with a bit better exposure settings. Will have to try playing with the white balance a bit.


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## Consigliere (Jun 11, 2009)

*Update Sept 9*

I've added the long awaited pogostemon stellata from the 10G into this tank to the middle right side. The brownish algae on the substrate that is closest to the light seems to still be spreading, although at a different rate to the setup with the 500W spotlight. I've reduced the light on this tank from about 9hr to 7hrs. Might have to go a bit lower depending on how things go. I realized one of my DIY CO2 canisters was leaking at the cap of the yeast container and wasn't delivering anything to the tank so that has been replaced. Hopefully this is the resolution to my algae problem.










There is also a new crypt on the back pane towards the left side. Not sure what species it is though. Anyone have any suggestions? I'm having trouble getting the exposure on the camera right so that the top of the stems don't look super bright white and the tank doesn't look to dark. I think this may be underexposed. Anyone else solved this problem?


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## Consigliere (Jun 11, 2009)

I feel like this tank is starting to settle in now. The brown diatoms are starting to recede slowly. The stems are growing like weeds already and the hairgrass has filled in pretty well. The marciliea drummondi is filling in the left corner now too. The HC has been growing a bit of late as well, but more up than out so far. I have been a bit negligent with he DIY CO2 upkeep so upping the CO2 will probably help out. I'm posting a couple angles of the tank here for some slightly different perspectives.


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## Consigliere (Jun 11, 2009)

I haven't touched this tank in any way since the last update (except for pulling rogue riccia strands transfered over to this tank from the didplis diandra). The stems are growing really well and the hairgrass has really thickened up and is sending out plenty of healthy runners. The blyxa japonica has done quite well too and the marcilea drummondi is ready to be culled back a bit. Here's the tank as of Sept 29:




























There has bee some growth of cladophora algae in the last few days, mainly around the front center of the tank. I think the water circulation in this tank is a bit too low. I'm probably going to add a 2nd HOB filter to this in the next few weeks. The diatom algae has continued to recede and hopefully the otos will have it all eaten shortly.

When I first started this tank I was expecting a lot of crypt melt. I have only had a couple plants lose a leaf or two since the startup and all of them seem to be growing now. I'm wondering if the key to minimizing crypt loss is keeping the water parameters the same. Almost all of them came from the 70G tank and water from the 70G tank was used to start this up. The substrate was all new but neutral pool filter sand. CO2 was fairly high, like the 70G, with 2x 2L pop bottles of DIY CO2. This might be an interesting experiment to try and duplicate if I ever move some crypts around again.


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