Newcomer: 20 Gal Fresh-, cold-water tank

[albirdy]

Jw, did use any sort of water treatment for ur water like prime or cycle, because those feeder fish doing that could because of cholarmines in ur water. That happened to me with my first fish tank about 5 years ago, never used water treatment for my tap water.

I used Start Right. It says it dechlorinates and takes away chloramines.
I think it's because I have no air filter, and the fish was stuck in a jar (formerly inside my tank) for a few hours. I don't know, just a thought.

 

[albirdy]

I have 2 feeder gold fish. Should I get more? 10 seems a bit much for my tank, and I don't want to bring a disease into the tank.

Awesome, I will purchase the water filter tomorrow (price 35$)

Plants: Is there such thing as TOO much plants in my aquarium? I've been looking at some youtube videos of aquariums, and they seem to have a BUTTLOAD of plants. I wonder if too many can be a bad thing.

Changing the water will not restart the cycle, only if you change the filter media. Your feeder fish was probably suffering from ammonia poisoning, so changing the water actually helped. Is it a feeder goldfish or a feeder guppy, or something else?

Any filter rated for a 20 gallon tank should be ok, but ideally you want a filter that turns the entire tank over 10 times an hour, so a 200 GPH (gallon per hour) filter would be best. A hang on back filter is probably the easiest/cheapest option for a 20 gallon tank.

As for plants I would recommend Water Wisteria it will help with the filtering duties slightly more than other plants and is fairly hardy. Or duckweed if you're feeling adventurous, but that can take over your tank very easily, so it's probably best not to. If you want a good hardy plant you can't go wrong with some java fern, they do well in any setting and are very very hardy.

For more advanced set-ups you could inject CO2, it can be made from mixing yeast, sugar, and water in an airtight 2 liter coke bottle with some airline tubing running out from it into the tank, or can use a store bought CO2 injector, however those are expensive. For a basic semi-planted tank that's not needed. Generally for plants you want 2-3 watts per gallon, but for java fern and water wisteria you can get away with around 1.

 

[beno]

Don't get 10 feeders, 2 will excrete plenty of ammonia. The only way you could have too many plants in your aquarium is if your fish weren't excreting enough waste for the plants to keep up. But this is if over 50% of the aquarium is planted. This can easily be fixed by adding a very small dose of Potassium Nitrate to raise your nitrates up. But you should ONLY do that if your aquarium is well established, you have a crap load of plants, and your ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate are at 0 for over a week. Even then you only want to add enough to raise your nitrates to 5-10. So in basically for an aquarium just starting out, there's almost no way you could have to many plants.

Didn't mean to turn a simple question into such a long winded reply. The short answer is for your aquarium right now, no way.

 

[Stormfire]

Start small and wait a few days after you set up the tank to get the actual fish that you are going to keep. Stick the 2 goldfish, it would be plenty enough for cycling. And don't get 10 bala sharks. Even one or two would be enough to outgrow your tank in no time. Also, balas are tropical fish. So are tetras. If you are going to keep a coldwater setup, your best bet is to get a few goldfish.

 

[albirdy]

Start small and wait a few days after you set up the tank to get the actual fish that you are going to keep. Stick the 2 goldfish, it would be plenty enough for cycling. And don't get 10 bala sharks. Even one or two would be enough to outgrow your tank in no time. Also, balas are tropical fish. So are tetras. If you are going to keep a coldwater setup, your best bet is to get a few goldfish.

Yeah, I did some research, and I think I'm going to go with several (4-6?) blood-fin tetras. They say they're alright to have without a water heater.

They say these swim in the mid-high level of the aquarium. Any low-dwelling fish, or sucker fish you guys recommend (that wouldn't eat my ghost shrimp)?

Also, is there a quiet water filter that you guys recommend?

 

[albirdy]

Thanks Beno, again. I really appreciate your advice. Tell me about your current tank, plans, and/or how you started

Is the set up/design of the actually aquarium habitat of any importance?
I understand vaguely, but not quite thoroughly.

Don't get 10 feeders, 2 will excrete plenty of ammonia. The only way you could have too many plants in your aquarium is if your fish weren't excreting enough waste for the plants to keep up. But this is if over 50% of the aquarium is planted. This can easily be fixed by adding a very small dose of Potassium Nitrate to raise your nitrates up. But you should ONLY do that if your aquarium is well established, you have a crap load of plants, and your ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate are at 0 for over a week. Even then you only want to add enough to raise your nitrates to 5-10. So in basically for an aquarium just starting out, there's almost no way you could have to many plants.

Didn't mean to turn a simple question into such a long winded reply. The short answer is for your aquarium right now, no way.

 

[tyl089]

look into vals, it's what i got in the 20 I'm caring for right now, and it grows really quick, and sends out runners to cover more ground.

 

[albirdy]

substrate: black eco-complete with fertilizer
plants: anubias barteri, java moss, brazilian pennyworth, pearl weed, hair grass
light: 4 wpg
power filter: aqua clean 50 (200)

How does this sound?
Anything I am missing?

 

[albirdy]

Do I need a cover for my fish tank?

 

[beno]

Yeah, I did some research, and I think I'm going to go with several (4-6?) blood-fin tetras. They say they're alright to have without a water heater.

They say these swim in the mid-high level of the aquarium. Any low-dwelling fish, or sucker fish you guys recommend (that wouldn't eat my ghost shrimp)?

Also, is there a quiet water filter that you guys recommend?

Maybe a Siamese Algae Eater? I'm not sure, I would do some research first. Any hang on back filter will be quiet if you keep your aquarium topped up. There are some Whisper Quiet Filters that go in your aquarium, but they take up more space than a hang on back would.

Thanks Beno, again. I really appreciate your advice. Tell me about your current tank, plans, and/or how you started

Is the set up/design of the actually aquarium habitat of any importance?
I understand vaguely, but not quite thoroughly.

My current tanks are a 10 and 20 gallon planted. And within the next few weeks I'll be setting up my 55 gallon planted. My DREAM tank is a 10,0000 gallon tank full of Pacu, and Aros, however that's not happening anytime soon. More realistically 100-300 gallon, however that won't be happening for a year or two.


You could set up a tank with hot pink gravel and a bunch of sunken pirate ships and your fish could be healthy. But most people like to try and replicate the fish's natural environment so they act more normal.

substrate: black eco-complete with fertilizer
plants: anubias barteri, java moss, brazilian pennyworth, pearl weed, hair grass
light: 4 wpg
power filter: aqua clean 50 (200)

How does this sound?
Anything I am missing?

That's a great setup! The plants should help reduce stress on your fish during the cycle too as they help do some of the filtering duties.

Do I need a cover for my fish tank?

You don't really need a hood if you have fish that don't jump. But it's better just in case. It doesn't need to be anything fancy, just a piece of plastic or glass that can cover the tank. You could even use some saran wrap if you wanted.