[Padres1234]

So this is what I have:
- Pressurized CO2 system with a 50m GLA atomic diffuser
- 125gph Aqueon quiet flow filter
- 50 watt aqueon submersible heater
- 20" planted+ 24/7 LED light.
- Some kind of power head.

My question is how hard is it gonna be to upgrade to a 20g long with these pieces of equipment. Is there anything significant that you can think of that I will need or will need to replace?

I will be buying two new bags of ecocomplete substrate with maybe some soft sand to cover it. Do you guys think this setup would be adequate for a 20g long? If not what should I replace?

Thanks!

 

[Diana]

50 watt heater is small. The large surface area of a 20 long can lose a lot of heat. If the room is warm that might be OK but you won't be able to warm the tank more than a few degrees.
Filter is too small, I run Aquaclear 50 on 20 gallon tanks. You could get a second filter same size and run both, but I would keep the little filter with the little tank for use as hospital or quarantine tank. ( same with the heater)

 

[youthcom]

The sand would eventually work it's way beneath the larger eco-complete. Try some black blasting sand in place of the eco-complete. Googling comes up with mostly one from a farm supplie stores out in far suburbs, but in a big city I was able to find this equivalent https://www.menards.com/main/buildi...black-blast-blasting-sand/p-1444445322601.htm I use one bag in a 40 gallon breeder & plants are doing fine & the cories love sifting through it versus the eco-complete.

 

[Padres1234]

The sand would eventually work it's way beneath the larger eco-complete. Try some black blasting sand in place of the eco-complete. Googling comes up with mostly one from a farm supplie stores out in far suburbs, but in a big city I was able to find this equivalent https://www.menards.com/main/buildi...black-blast-blasting-sand/p-1444445322601.htm I use one bag in a 40 gallon breeder & plants are doing fine & the cories love sifting through it versus the eco-complete.

Is blasting sand ok to grow plants in? I thought you need the nutrients of ecocomplete?

 

[ichy]

Yep 50 watt heater to small and the 20" light will be 10" too short to span the entire length of the tank.

 

[Padres1234]

Yep 50 watt heater to small and the 20" light will be 10" too short to span the entire length of the tank.

I guess I'll go a 100 watt heater then.

But the light will disperse if I raise it above the tank? That should still be enough light I would assume.

 

[roadmaster]

I guess I'll go a 100 watt heater then.

But the light will disperse if I raise it above the tank? That should still be enough light I would assume.

Yes on raising the light.
Start light period at six hour's total for the day, for first few week's.
Eco -complete alone,will not be enough nutrient's despite our wishes, and or what the bag say's.
Greenleaf aquarium.com or Aquariumfertilizer.com for dry fertilizer's Nitrogen,pottasium,phosphate (NPK)
CSM+B for trace mineral's or Flourish comprehensive.
Then your all set.
Would google .."EI dosing for 20 gal tank" for how much to add ,how often.
My two cent's.

 

[Zoidburg]

Is blasting sand ok to grow plants in? I thought you need the nutrients of ecocomplete?

With fertilizers added to tank, blasting sand works just fine as many others have found out.

I just upgraded from a 10g to a 20g H a week ago Monday and am using black media blasting sand. Had a bunch of crypts I got from someone else that all melted, shoved those into the tank along with other plants. The crypts are growing back great!

 

[Padres1234]

Yes on raising the light.
Start light period at six hour's total for the day, for first few week's.
Eco -complete alone,will not be enough nutrient's despite our wishes, and or what the bag say's.
Greenleaf aquarium.com or Aquariumfertilizer.com for dry fertilizer's Nitrogen,pottasium,phosphate (NPK)
CSM+B for trace mineral's or Flourish comprehensive.
Then your all set.
Would google .."EI dosing for 20 gal tank" for how much to add ,how often.
My two cent's.

Do you think the 20" planted+ 24/7 mode suspended above a 20g long will be enough light for glosso and dwarf hairgrass?

I'm fine with the EI dosing and have that routine down but thank you for the information .

With fertilizers added to tank, blasting sand works just fine as many others have found out.

I just upgraded from a 10g to a 20g H a week ago Monday and am using black media blasting sand. Had a bunch of crypts I got from someone else that all melted, shoved those into the tank along with other plants. The crypts are growing back great!

Does hairgrass or glosso grow well in fine substrate? I see black diamond has fine and like medium grains. Is there a consensus on which works better?

I was thinking of getting the fine blasting sand and when combined with EI dosing, the tank should have enough ferts to be successful.

 

[Zoidburg]

I don't have any of those plants but if it helps any.... here's a thread with photos of other users who use the black diamond media blasting sand with plants.


http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/1...d-tanks-lets-see-them-blasting-away-here.html



I purchased the 20/40 myself.

 

[sevendust111]

I basically did the same thing about a year ago. Upgraded 10 to 20L. Here is my setup...

2 Aquaclear 30s
Sicce nano powerhead
100 Watt Aqueon Pro Heater
Gla Pro 1 with Atomic diffusor
Finnex 30" Planted Plus 24/7 (set to MAX)

I don't think raising the 20" will be enough for medium light. Definitely not high light, maybe low-medium. I would try to sell the 20" and buy the 30".

 

[Padres1234]

I basically did the same thing about a year ago. Upgraded 10 to 20L. Here is my setup...

2 Aquaclear 30s
Sicce nano powerhead
100 Watt Aqueon Pro Heater
Gla Pro 1 with Atomic diffusor
Finnex 30" Planted Plus 24/7 (set to MAX)

I don't think raising the 20" will be enough for medium light. Definitely not high light, maybe low-medium. I would try to sell the 20" and buy the 30".

How is the GLA atomic diffuser working for you?

I just got mine yesterday and am having major trouble with it.

I have the aquatek mini CO2 regulator and the 50mm diffuser. I have triple checked the connections of the tubing that are connecting to everything. I have sprayed with soapy water but no bubbles show up near the connections.

The diffuser works if I REALLY crank up the valve to what seems like 100 bps then if I turn it down it will work (sort of). If I don't do this first the bubbles will never come out.

When I turn the bps down it is barely coming out. I am having a lot of difficulty troubleshooting this. Ideas?

Bump:

I don't have any of those plants but if it helps any.... here's a thread with photos of other users who use the black diamond media blasting sand with plants.


http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/1...d-tanks-lets-see-them-blasting-away-here.html



I purchased the 20/40 myself.

Thank you That actually helps a lot!

 

[sevendust111]

What is the working pressure set to? It needs to be over 30psi for a atomic diffuser to have enough pressure. I have my pro set to 34psi, no issues. I run just shy of 3bps.

 

[Padres1234]

What is the working pressure set to? It needs to be over 30psi for a atomic diffuser to have enough pressure. I have my pro set to 34psi, no issues. I run just shy of 3bps.

It is set to 50 working psi.

 

[sevendust111]

That is what I thought. They are preset to 50psi. That is plenty. They can take a while to get going, say 10 to 20 minutes. Have you waited?

 

[Padres1234]

That is what I thought. They are preset to 50psi. That is plenty. They can take a while to get going, say 10 to 20 minutes. Have you waited?

No, never thought of that. I can give that a shot

 

[Padres1234]

No, never thought of that. I can give that a shot

So I waited 45 min with the bubble count at about 1 bps with no mist coming out of the atomizer

 

[bobfig]

well i had a 20gallon long and it did fine with a 50w eheim jager, only needed to raise the tank 5-8ºf in the winter if needed. filter may be a little small but as long as you lightly stock the tank it can be fine till you get a new or second one. the light will be too short for anything and will say my finnex planted + was just a little to much light for mine as i got algae build up pretty fast. also was keeping some of my stem plants only grow up half way because it was enough light down low.