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Hey Everyone,
Recently I have fallen in love with peacock gudgeons and I am starting to think about having them as the main, possibly only, species in the 20 gallon long I am currently building up. Since I am still in the build stage I have the luxury of adjusting the hardscape to suit the gudgeons from the ground up. I was originally planning to go a different direction and purchased two pieces of rock that I liked from a local fish store that was labeled as Japanese mountain stone. I am now thinking this rock is seryiu stone and it does indeed fizz if I put vinegar on it which I understand is common for seryiu. Since my water is already on the harder side, I am thinking I might want to see if I can exchange the stone I have for something else and wanted some advice from the experts since I have zero aquascaping skills (my last tank was a collecteritis jungle).
From what I've read, peacock gudgeons like lots of places to lurk, hide, and breed so I was thinking of getting a bunch of the roundish smooth river stone and building a pile with lots of nooks and crannies and then incorporating driftwood of some sort as well. For flora, I was originally planning to focus on rooted, epiphytic plants, and moss primarily but I'm sure some stems will find their way in there somewhere. If I did go with the stacked rock pile I was thinking it would be a great place to have the epiphytes and then having the moss wrapped around the driftwood. Background and middle ground I was thinking mainly crypts, smaller swords, and likely some form of lily for a pop of color. For the foreground, I really want to try dwarf hair grass since I didn't have enough light for it in the past. Since 20 longs don't have much depth from front to back in my head I am thinking the hardscape would kind of flow from a back corner both forward and laterally, but I'm not sure how I would make that happen.
Before I fell in love with the gudgeons I was planning to have plants growing emergent out of the top of the tank. However, the gudgeons are supposed to be jumpers so probably not the best option. I am considering converting it but leaving a small inch or so strip open in the back where taller emergent plants could grow, especially since I have a bunch of light spill they could utilize.
Please let me know your thoughts and any suggestions or comments, I need all the help I can get with aquascaping! Tank details are below.
Tank: 20 gallon long with 10-gallon sump
Light: 36" Finnex Ray2 DS suspended above the tank (lots of light spill but it's what I had)
CO2: Pressurized using a TBD diy reactor
Substrate: Not finalized but likely potting soil capped with sand (black diamond or pool filter?)
Water Parameters:
10-11 dGH
7-8 dKH
pH 7.6~7.8
Various Pictures:
The rocks that failed fizz test. Sad since I find them very attractive and they were very expensive (at least I thought so)
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Recently I have fallen in love with peacock gudgeons and I am starting to think about having them as the main, possibly only, species in the 20 gallon long I am currently building up. Since I am still in the build stage I have the luxury of adjusting the hardscape to suit the gudgeons from the ground up. I was originally planning to go a different direction and purchased two pieces of rock that I liked from a local fish store that was labeled as Japanese mountain stone. I am now thinking this rock is seryiu stone and it does indeed fizz if I put vinegar on it which I understand is common for seryiu. Since my water is already on the harder side, I am thinking I might want to see if I can exchange the stone I have for something else and wanted some advice from the experts since I have zero aquascaping skills (my last tank was a collecteritis jungle).
From what I've read, peacock gudgeons like lots of places to lurk, hide, and breed so I was thinking of getting a bunch of the roundish smooth river stone and building a pile with lots of nooks and crannies and then incorporating driftwood of some sort as well. For flora, I was originally planning to focus on rooted, epiphytic plants, and moss primarily but I'm sure some stems will find their way in there somewhere. If I did go with the stacked rock pile I was thinking it would be a great place to have the epiphytes and then having the moss wrapped around the driftwood. Background and middle ground I was thinking mainly crypts, smaller swords, and likely some form of lily for a pop of color. For the foreground, I really want to try dwarf hair grass since I didn't have enough light for it in the past. Since 20 longs don't have much depth from front to back in my head I am thinking the hardscape would kind of flow from a back corner both forward and laterally, but I'm not sure how I would make that happen.
Before I fell in love with the gudgeons I was planning to have plants growing emergent out of the top of the tank. However, the gudgeons are supposed to be jumpers so probably not the best option. I am considering converting it but leaving a small inch or so strip open in the back where taller emergent plants could grow, especially since I have a bunch of light spill they could utilize.
Please let me know your thoughts and any suggestions or comments, I need all the help I can get with aquascaping! Tank details are below.
Tank: 20 gallon long with 10-gallon sump
Light: 36" Finnex Ray2 DS suspended above the tank (lots of light spill but it's what I had)
CO2: Pressurized using a TBD diy reactor
Substrate: Not finalized but likely potting soil capped with sand (black diamond or pool filter?)
Water Parameters:
10-11 dGH
7-8 dKH
pH 7.6~7.8
Various Pictures:
The rocks that failed fizz test. Sad since I find them very attractive and they were very expensive (at least I thought so)
