black hills tj

Ordering equipment to setup my 20g tank

I already have the 20g tank with a hood and 20w light fixture over it.

Here's what I'm ordering from big al

Aquaclear 50 HOB power filter-18.99
100 watt Visi-therm Stealth heater-17.99


When it comes to substrate...how many pounds of gravel do you think i'll need? 25 lbs? less than that? I'd like to go with a solid black substrate, and then add live plants from my dad tank and some driftwood.

Thanks for the advice, and for decor I'm going to move some anacharis and hornwort out of my dad's tank. I'll also be making a few caves out of rocks and silicone.

Fish...I'm thinking either panda or albino cories. I was looking at getting 3 cories. A school of cherry barbs. I'm thinking 5 or 6. 3 oto's. And as centerpiece fish maybe a pair of powder blue dwarf gouramis?

Thanks,

Mike


edit-as i sit here and think about centerpiece fish..what about a pair of rams?

gmann21193

i personally would go with a pair of German Blue Rams. They are my favorite cichlid lol. I think 1 less oto and 1 more cory would be cooler, but thats my opinion. I think Sterbai ( is that how you say it?) cories are very cool looking. If you ever get any plants that are in the substrate, you might want to think about putting plant substrate like flourite substrate in first for live plants, and a layer of your black gravel on top. Might look cool.

- Gordie

black hills tj

since i'm just using the lame lighting, i'll probably only add low light plants(hornwort, anacharis, java fern). This way I'm not too concerned about plant specific substrate. My dad has a UGF and plain gravel in his tank, and I have more light demanding plants like different grasses and riccia in my dad's 29g tank

I was thinking panda cories because they will look really neat on the black gravel. Also...i'm thinking 3-5 cories, and i've heard oto's should be kept in groups of 3 or bigger...any confirmation of this?

gmann21193

I once saw a happy school of 20 Peppered corys in a 75 Gallon. They were cool. lol. anyways, I dont know much about otos, sorry.

black hills tj

any idea regarding the amount of substrate that I will need?

bbfeckawitts

Most people recommend 1 lb of gravel for every 1 gallon. So with 20 lbs I think you would be fine. If that is not enough (or you like a deeper gravel bed), you could add a little more. Also, as a general rule of thumb, one inch of ADULT SIZE fish for every gallon. Do you have a test kit? Most here use and recommend the Master freshwater API test kit:

http://www.petsmart.com/global/produ...N=2030068&Ne=2

Do you know about cycling? Read here as it is a must for sucessful fishkeeping:
www.fishlore.com/NitrogenCycle.htm

Just wanted to cover all the bases here. Good luck.
Brianna

genie

One thing to keep in mind:
CORIES AND RAMS ARE VERY SENSITIVE TO WATER CONDITIONS!!!!! You really need to make sure the tank is COMPLETELY CYCLED before adding either of these fish or they will die!!!!!! (I speak from sad experience)
Other than that-- good luck!

mojoman101

i would like to set up a 20 gal and have live plants and a shoal of cardinal tetras.