20 Gallon low tech project with teh PICTURES

[aclockworkorange]

This is my 20 gallon long that I started about a month ago.

The species, from left to right, are:
- 1 Echinodorus bleheri (Amazon Sword) compacta
- Many Cryptocoryne walkeri
- Many Java Ferns
- Hairgrass (not dwarf, anyone know species?)
- Christmas Tree Moss
- Dwarf Baby Tears
- 1 Anubias nana

The tank is currently stocked with:
- 7 Green Tiger Barbs
- 3 Polka Dot Loaches
- 1 Red Tailed Black Shark

The equipment is as follows:
- Aquaclear 50 (sponge, double bio)
- Coralife 38 watt T5 30" fixture

No CO2, dosed with flourish excel tabs under gravel, and occasional ferts in the water.

Story:

This was my 20 gallon tank from my tiny apartment in CA. I moved up to Portland, and gave all my fish away before the move as I did not want to subject them to the stress. This is my first tank with any live plants in it.
The wood is left over from some other projects, this is in no way a well planned out design, kind of just thrown together as my lfs gets new plants every other week or so.

The crypts are growing VERY well, the sword is doing merely ok, and everything else is still getting established. The loaches and rtbs leave the plants alone mostly, for now. They OBVIOUSLY enjoy them! Swimming around and playing dead of the leaves.

I would be happy to hear any comments and answer any questions.

 

[Sab_Fan]

nice start . . . the hairgrass looks like it got a haricut recently (?)

I had no luck with dwarf baby tears in a low-tech set-up . . . they look great, but from everything I've read (and my own bad experience), they seem to require a) more light and b) CO2 supplementation

the crypts, java ferns, anubias and the swords should all manage much better

 

[JakeH]

Sweet tank! I have a few 20gLongs & they're my favorite for planting...the perfect shape/size for a low-cost planted tank. I'm also a die-hard loacher & had your exact same light, so here are my experiences with that setup:
1) Your PolkaDot loaches WILL punch holes in your broadleaf plants & dig in your moss. Not as bad as clown loaches, though. Usually they punch the holes just when your plants are looking their best (tastiest), but you can minimize that behavior by feeding them cucumber & zucchini slices or peas or lettuce, any fish-safe green veggie... They wont eat algae sheets from the LFS, so you have to go with real veggies or else your swords, crypts & vals WILL suffer.

2) PolkaDot loaches (Botia Kobutai) are prone to velvet infections, so keep a close eye on them. They carry it from their collection spot the same way Clown loaches are always carrying Ick.

3) My Sword plants never grew under that light--no idea why, but they grow huge with all my other fixtures/tanks.

Come check out the Loach section sometime soon. GOOD LUCK!

 

[smithj427]

Looks quite nice! Post some more pics when it fills in really good. Hopefully you'll fair bettter with low tech baby tears than I did.

 

[aclockworkorange]

I actually got the hairgrass only yesterday, and it was about twice as tall as my tank! So yes, definitely a haircut.
I'm hoping the dwarf baby tears do ok, they were kept without co2 at the lfs and were doing fine, so maybe I will get lucky.

nice start . . . the hairgrass looks like it got a haricut recently (?)

I had no luck with dwarf baby tears in a low-tech set-up . . . they look great, but from everything I've read (and my own bad experience), they seem to require a) more light and b) CO2 supplementation

the crypts, java ferns, anubias and the swords should all manage much better

 

[aclockworkorange]

Sweet tank! I have a few 20gLongs & they're my favorite for planting...the perfect shape/size for a low-cost planted tank. I'm also a die-hard loacher & had your exact same light, so here are my experiences with that setup:
1) Your PolkaDot loaches WILL punch holes in your broadleaf plants & dig in your moss. Not as bad as clown loaches, though. Usually they punch the holes just when your plants are looking their best (tastiest), but you can minimize that behavior by feeding them cucumber & zucchini slices or peas or lettuce, any fish-safe green veggie... They wont eat algae sheets from the LFS, so you have to go with real veggies or else your swords, crypts & vals WILL suffer.

2) PolkaDot loaches (Botia Kobutai) are prone to velvet infections, so keep a close eye on them. They carry it from their collection spot the same way Clown loaches are always carrying Ick.

3) My Sword plants never grew under that light--no idea why, but they grow huge with all my other fixtures/tanks.

Come check out the Loach section sometime soon. GOOD LUCK!

Thanks!!

1) Yeah, I noticed they completely ignore my algae wafers, although the rtbs seems to eat them. There is usually a cucumber in my fridge, so I will give that a try.
2) I wasn't aware of that, thanks for the heads up!
3) Yes, it definitely wasn't growing at first. All the "middle" leaves died, I took it out, trimmed the roots down, trimmed off all the dead leaves, and replanted it with a flourish tab directly underneath. It hasn't had a leaf die since then, but doesn't seem much bigger either.

 

[JK47]

Looks great so far J! If you can figure out how to make swords flourish in our local water I might hit you up for help with my 125g. It is all low tech/anubias currently. I cant keep anything that is planted in the substrate with my geos. only plants that can get tied to DW survive in my tanks.

 

[WyldFya]

I'd recommend moving the hair grass. It is becoming the focus point in your tank. This is causing the far edges to be missed. Also, your plants are mostly tall growers, with little in the way of shorter plants. I'd recommend pulling some of the crypts, and using shorter foreground and midground plants. Otherwise, good start!

 

[aclockworkorange]

I'd recommend moving the hair grass. It is becoming the focus point in your tank. This is causing the far edges to be missed. Also, your plants are mostly tall growers, with little in the way of shorter plants. I'd recommend pulling some of the crypts, and using shorter foreground and midground plants. Otherwise, good start!

The tank is on a counter and viewed from both sides, so the setupd is such that it can be viewed from both sides (or at least it's supposed to be).

 

[ringoyam]

nice tank its looking good