Stocking a new 20-gallon tank

[C. King]

That set up you described at the store sounds lovely! But if you are going to invest time and money on a tank, go ahead and buy a good test kit- the kind with test tubes, not strips- that tests for ammonia, Ph, nitrates &nitrites. You will be glad you did, and so will the fish. As for plants, amazon sword is pretty tough. You may want to use a special plant substrate instead of gravel, but if you already have gravel, they make great little plant food tablets that go under the roots. Plants, like fish, have their own individual requirements of light and water parameters, so I recommend getting a good plant book and reading up on each variety to find some that will match your water parameters. Bring it with you to the store and look up every plant before buying, because the petshops often carry plants that are misrepresented as aquarium plants, but really are not. This sounds like alot of work, and I guess it is, but after having plastic plants for years, I started a planted aquarium a year ago, and I have never regretted it, and the fish are happier, too- so it was/is worth the extra effort. I would get the plants in and settled before adding the fish.

[ashleymd]

Here is the tank set up. We decided against live plants right now. Adding some fish next weekend.

[C. King]

Very pretty! I really like that gravel. And the plants are so realistic...so different than years ago, when they were super fake looking plastic!

[Trout]

Egeria Nanas are super fool proof. I just put it in my tank and it took off without any special anything. I'm going to have to prune it soon. It's doubled in size since I got it about a week and a half ago. Another name for it is Narrow-leaf Anacharis.

[Dilligaf_1]

Tank looks great ashley! I see the clear tube in there...planning on adding an elephant nose or knife to your stocking list? They love hiding in those cause they feel secure, but they don't seem to realize we can still see them.

[ashleymd]

Originally Posted by C. King Very pretty! I really like that gravel. And the plants are so realistic...so different than years ago, when they were super fake looking plastic!

Thank you. The plants are all silk plants. I love the realistic look to them. If my goldfish didn't uproot everything they would have silk plants too. Lol. The colors with the silk are much better than the cheapo plastic plants.

Originally Posted by Trout Egeria Nanas are super fool proof. I just put it in my tank and it took off without any special anything. I'm going to have to prune it soon. It's doubled in size since I got it about a week and a half ago. Another name for it is Narrow-leaf Anacharis.

Thank you for the suggestion- we will check them out when we get ready to do live plants.

Originally Posted by Dilligaf_1 Tank looks great ashley! I see the clear tube in there...planning on adding an elephant nose or knife to your stocking list? They love hiding in those cause they feel secure, but they don't seem to realize we can still see them.

Nope, no knife fish or Elephant nose (although we fell in love with the elephant noses at our LFS) I tossed it in there to see if any body uses it. I'm planning on getting another ground cover silk plant to put over it. If they don't use it- I'll take it out.

[ashleymd]

The tank is on hold for a little bit pending the results of my insurance claim. I hit black ice and pretty sure I totaled my car out. I know fish aren't expensive but still. Cross your fingers it's fixable. :-/

[C. King]

What rotten luck! Hope no one was hurt.

[ashleymd]

Woohoo!!! It's not totaled- insurance will cover the damage. Fish tank is back on. We are planning on going Sunday to get some fish. I'll post pics. We are so excited.

[Trout]

w00t. That sounds wunnerful

[ashleymd]

So we got 6 Glo-light Tetras and 6 Cardinal Tetras today. I had to con them to come out with food. I'm starting the "training" process. All our fish have now learned to associate two light taps on the tank means food. We feed in the same spot and tap every time. Maybe it's just by chance that it works but I'd like to think they are "trained".


The tank setup (the fish are in there somewhere):



The crew:





Our stocking plans changed a little now that we have 6 of each fish. We are thinking of not getting either the Furcata Rainbows or the Galaxy Rasboras. Still not sure. As it stood we already had our stock plan slightly high, but we don't want to completely overcrowd just to get all the fish we want. Nobody wins - unless I can convince the boyfriend to let me get another tank. Lol.

[emc7]

The answer to all fish problems is another tank. For QT, for Hospital, for spawning, for fry raising, for incompatible fish, for growing fish, for fish you can't resist.

Understocking a new tank is far safer than overstocking one. Wait and see how things go with the fish you have. But long-term, (wait 3 months with no dead fish), I would add a single or pair of dwarf cidhlids. Something like Apistogramma borelli and call it done.

Do try a few "low-light" plants. Don't spend a lot of money. But try an elodea or java fern. They can help water quality and, if they grow and multiply, they will be cheaper than plastic in the long-term.

[C. King]

I love cardinal tetras! Mine have grown much much bigger than when I bought them, and their colors get even more intense with age. ( Be sure to wait a week or two before adding more fish, to avoid over taxing the good bacteria)

[ashleymd]

Originally Posted by C. King I love cardinal tetras! Mine have grown much much bigger than when I bought them, and their colors get even more intense with age. ( Be sure to wait a week or two before adding more fish, to avoid over taxing the good bacteria)

I have a personal waiting period of 30 days in between adds. That gives me time to do a partial water change and rearrange to break up an territories that have been established.

[C. King]

good idea. Some people (usually newbies) get so excited, they add a full tank of fish in just a few days. Then, they are on the forum wondering about sick fish! I never know if a person has much fish experience, so I tend to state the obvious.