Mike's 20L Project

[MarineEdge]

Hey all! Some of you were following along in my thread in the Gen. category of the forum. To those of you who didnt read it, I ended up getting soooo lucky and acquired a 20L from my LFS for a jawdropping price of $15!!!! Now thats the final price for the hood, light fixture, tank, and a filter ( which im having some issues with atm, but i wont complain lol). You could say i was giggly as a schoolgirl. Anyways. Longterm plans for this tank are to raise several broods of GBR's. Thanks for reading! any feedback is appreciated!

Tank Specs

Tank Size: 20L
Lighting: 2 CFLs (picking up shortly, not sure on wattage yet)
Substrate: Black Diamond Blasting Sand
CO2: None as of yet
Hardscape: Nice piece of driftwood

Plants and Fish

As of right now i have no plants or fish in the tank, but there will be GBR's and possibly some type of cory. Plants are still up for speculation.

[Hilde]

Originally Posted by MarineEdge

Tank Specs
Tank Size: 20L
Lighting: 2 CFLs (picking up shortly, not sure on wattage yet)
Substrate: Black Diamond Blasting Sand
CO2: None as of yet

The CFLs rated daylight would be the best.

If for plants you get moss, ferns and crypts you won't need Co2. Crypts need rich substrate thus API root tabs would help them to adjust.

[MarineEdge]

i have stringy moss in, also christmas moss. I have a java fern, plus some other odds and and plants. i have api root tabs in the substrate as well. Need to post a couple plictures lol

[MarineEdge]

also to edit, i have a small $13 co2 kit im trying out. seems to be working good. Tore down my 5g and i used it in there and the plant growth exploded.

[@marko@]

CO2 is the number one thing you can do to improve your tank. the number 2 thing is a good filtration system...
its hard to direct flow with an AC, and that means you cant control the distribution of the CO2. the last time i set up a 20L i needed a cansiter AND and additional powerhead to make sure i got good movement.

[MarineEdge]

yea im thinking about picking up a powerhead soon. The filter that came with it was HOB but it was pretty shot. Made horrible grinding noises. So i just used one of my old sponge filters untill i can get better stuff

[@marko@]

i used the ehiem ecco 2334 on my 20L and loved it. you can hook up an inline diffuser which, IME, is the best CO2 injection method, and a hydor inline heater. that way you have 2 pieces of equipment no longer taking up room in your tank.
whatever you choose though, be sure to keep the sponge in it til the bacteria colonize the new media.

[MarineEdge]

deffinetly. that sponge is from my 5g, which has been up and running for half a year, which i decided to tear down to make more room. so i think the cycle will be kickstarted. ill look into that equipment you mentioned. Im a little bit on a budget, poor college student lol, but i want to get the best i can afford

[MarineEdge]

so after putting in all my used media and plants and rocks from my 5g, my tank is fully cycled and i added fish from my other tank. Currently have 1 guppy fry, 2 albino corys, 4 peppered corys (finally laid eggs in my 10, so excited ) 2 kuhli loaches (which i never see -_-) my dragonscale betta, and a male female pair of GBR's. My betta thinks hes one of the GBR's. He just roams the tank with them all day. I was worried he was going to be a bully, as when he was in his own little 1.5g he bullied anything i put in. But he seems to have really mellowed out. Hoping my GBR's decide to pair and mate Pics to come soon!

[Hilde]

Originally Posted by MarineEdge

Currently have 1 guppy fry, 2 albino corys, 4 peppered corys
2 kuhli loaches, dragonscale betta, and a pair of GBR's. Hoping my GBR's decide to pair and mate .

Betta have attitude. Some gentle. Thus I once had a betta in a 20G long with guppies. I swam on the bottom. Betta replaced with due to death ate all of the guppies.

You may have some problems when the GBR's lay eggs.

[MarineEdge]

if they lay eggs haha. the male seems kinda standoffish to the rest of the tank. i hope hes not sick. ill proibably pick up a couple more and resell the ones that dont pair.

[MarineEdge]

Been a while since i updated this, lots has happened since. First, plants EXPLODED in growth. Im constantly trimming and propagating. The male GBR did end up dying, he was sick. Finally found another yesterday after a couple months searching. The cherries have started a nice colony (after i thought they died off, not seeing any for a month lol). The new male GBR is chasing the female around trying to court her, but so far shes not having any lol. I hope she changes her mind, too few males in my area for her to be picky. Also two Clown Plecos were added and they are doing awesome. Pretty little fish. And final addition is only temporary, a small bullhead catfish that im holding for my friend for a few more weeks. That and too many snails and i think that sums up this update lol. pics will come tomorrow hopefully, works been keepin me away from this site for too long!

[MarineEdge]

Oh, got rid of the betta, he was just too aggressive :/