My 20g has a new owner, so RIP journal

[Karackle]

Thanks Demonbreedr! You won't think it looks so good when you see the new pictures, it looks like there's no plants left! But thank you!

Here's the list you requested

Current Fauna:
5 Zebra Danios
5-6 Neon Tetras
2-3 Glolight tetras
2 F endlers
1 F Betta
1 clown Pleco
3 amano shrimp
3 otos

most of the fish in this tank are getting old so i've been slowly losing the tetras and the zebras.

Current Flora:
Crypt spiralis
Crypt wendtii 'red' (or maybe bronze....maybe both)
Guppy Grass
Sunset hygro struggling to hold on (had white, live roots though when rearranging so I left it in)
Anubias nana
A large anubias (forget what kind)
Taiwan (or peacock or xmas) moss
Java moss stragglers here and there

[demonbreedr16]

You'll have to post the pictures...I'll decide from there!!

When I rearrange my tanks, my mom is like "Where are the plants?!". LOL

Your Sunset Hygro might make a come back.

In my 5.5 it held on for dear life in November. Then in Febuary, It started growing, NOW, It's almost at the top of that tank asking for a prune...

You ditched the Wisteria? It was growing soo well!!

Your fish list looks good....But, I have one suggestion. Blue Tetras!!

They are BEAUTIFUL, but I haven't had them in my tank yet...

[organic sideburns]

i agree blue tetras are amazing little fish. cant wait to see the pics

how long have u had those fish? i have 4 lemon tetras that have been in my tank since day 1, they have to be over 5 years old by now and im kind waiting for them to pass on so i can try out some diff. fish! i like them, but a tad bored of tetras. hehe

[Karackle]

Ok here's a couple updated tank shots, they're not very good, but they give you the idea especially about how sparse it is Enjoy!

Full Tank Shots:




And a couple of the inhabitants

Betta girl with her perfect tail (it's kind of dark and she's hiding and she's full from her dinner of live baby brine shrimp )


And one of my huge amanos doing his thing


DemonBreedr - That's what I'm hoping happens to my sunset hygro! I had some in my 30 that took forever to acclimate and didn't grow much at first, then grew slowly, then exploded with growth! So here's hopin'! Also, the wisteria....yes it was growing well in all of my tanks and then I don't know what I did but I lost it all...in the 20g I moved it to the dark left corner and it didn't like it, I probably could have saved it by moving it over but the crypt spiralis was growing so well along 3/4 of the back of the tank that I didn't want to move it. BUT Wisteria is exactly what I want to put in the now empty center of the tank As for Blue Tetras, they sound pretty, I've never seen them, I'll have to look them up! I'm not sure this tank needs more fish right now, but I do want to move the endlers and zebrafish out of it, they're not colorful enough for that tank, so maybe i'll look into the blue tetras

Organic sideburns - i'll certainly have to check out these blue tetras then! I've had most of the tetras going on 4 years, and they were already quite large when I got them, some of them look quite healthy and spunky so I expect they'll be in there a while longer, i'm kind of ready for new fish too, but i guess i'll have to wait

enjoy!

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[demonbreedr16]

Personally, I would leave those fish in and let them live out their lives....You move your fish around a lot...but I did when I setup a 20gH that ended up turning into a disaster.

I hope everything turns out good for you!

[Karackle]

DemonBreedr - Well I definitely plan to leave the tetras in there, they've never lived anywhere else. The zebras will likely stay too as I don't have anywhere else for them. I tried them in the 30 for a while so they had more swimming room, but they were too rambunctious for the other fish so they had to come back to the 20, I'm not sure why I said I was thinking of moving them...I know i have nowhere else to put them at the moment But the Endlers are getting moved to my Guppy/Endler Breeding tank now that they are mature, so that's the only reason they're going. So aside from trying the Zebras in the other tank, I really don't move my fish around all that much, I'm not sure why you had that impression, but no worries! And when I do move fish, even though the water parameters should be approximately the same, I treat them like totally new additions and drip-acclimate which I think has helped me avoid disasters thus far. But thanks for the input and I appreciate the concern for the well-being of the fish, they are my top concern The plants are pretty and they seem to make the fish happy so I like them, but I got into tanks for the fish.

[sewingalot]

Looking good, Kara. I am gone for two days and you completely rearrange just to get my attention. Boy, do I feel loved. I like the trim. For the dark corner, have you thought about a crypt or java fern?

[Karackle]

Heehee I did it just for you, you were jonesing for pictures

For the dark corner Crypt Spiralis didn't do well, but some other large form of crypt might do well. Wendtii didn't do great and wasn't tall enough, I've never had good luck with Java Ferns but maybe I should get a large one and try again For now I'll see how the guppy grass does though I think.

[sewingalot]

You do like me, don't you? I have had better luck with windelov java ferns in dark spaces. I am not great with crypts in water, so I understand that. Wow. That guppy grass has taken off.

[Karackle]

I do like you. It's true!

Is a windelov Java the long skinny-leaved java that you send me? Or is that probably a narrow or needle-leaf? I'll have to look up Windelov. Though once I move, I'll set this tank up the "normal" way with the HOB actually on the back so the light spans the whole tank, which will be nice. I might even put the old strip light from the 30 on here to add a few more watts of light. I'd probably just do a "noon burst" kind of thing, but maybe i'd get a few more things to grow in it then. I'll also start with a real planted tank substrate I think which should also help.

You should see the guppy grass now, It's basically the only thing growing in the tank anymore other than the anubias and some moss on the DW. The fish are happy though, so that's all I'm worried about ATM. Once I move, I'll try to make it pretty again

[sewingalot]

Windelov has fingers on the end. That's the best way I can describe it. I think I sent you needle leaf, but I can't remember. My brain was left at work today. If you ever want to try Turface as a substrate, let me know and I will send you a bunch. I have 150 pounds of it, lol.

[Karackle]

Hahaha I actually know EXACTLY which one you mean now! Fingers is a good description!

I just looked them up (i got distracted and never got around to that yesterday) and I think you are right, looks like needle-leaf as the leaves are pretty narrow

Wow, 150lbs is a LOT! What is it? I'm not familiar with that substrate, I may take you up on that when I set the 5 back up and renovate the 20. That won't be for a while yet though. It is so weird not having my 5 set up because it was on my desk facing the doorway in my room so that was the first thing I saw when I walked in. I hate it not being there! sigh...i am excited to move though, so I have to look at that positive side of it, along with the excitement of when I redo it

[n00b]

Are you still on your 15w light? Sorry I'm at work so I can't read through all of the posts.

I have a 20g high myself, and was just wondering if my 15w light would be able to support some plants.

[Karackle]

n00b- yeah, i am still using the 15w light, it works, but recently I've had trouble getting plants to grow as well in this tank as they did about a year ago. I probably need to replace the bulb or something, but plants do still grow. If I want this tank to consistantly look beautiful though, I probably need to upgrade the lighting just slightly.

I'm not a high-light kind of gal, but this tank's light might be just a little too low for consistently good growth.

That said, it could be something else in the tank because I have less than 1wpg fluorescent in my 30g too and I get a lot of amazing growth in that tank. Though that one is not as deep which could have a lot to do with it.

If you are just looking for a few plants though, I'd say yes, you could grow Anubias easily, probably java fern (i never have luck with it for some bizzare reason, but I am sure it would be fine for anyone else), Crypt wendtii would probably do you well, and possibly some of the other crypts.

[Karackle]

well friends, this tank had a good run in my hands, but I recently moved and had to make some choices on tanks to bring. I ended up giving this tank to my friend instead of shutting it down and selling it, I know it's in good hands with him. He only lives about 5 mins from my old place so he transported the whole setup and has it up and running.

Keep your eye open for updates on my 30g, and for some new journals from me, on my boyfriend's 60g and once we settle into the new place (we're at a temporary interim location so we've only got the 2 tanks running ATM) i'll be starting up the 10 and probably the 5 again