Back in the game 20 long

I recently set up a new 20 long. Well, sort of new. This is the first time I would say that I am setting it up exactly how I want it.
I ran a 33 long for years. It was a beautiful tank, and super enjoyable. Unfortunately, due to both personal issues, burnout and lack of space in our living room, I ultimately ended up tearing down the entire setup.

I did, however, opt to "downgrade" in terms of sizes to a 20 long. I say "downgrade" because normally, back in my pre-burnout days, I would have never considered doing a tank this small, let alone smaller than a 48 inch tank. But, here we are. I had considered setting up a 40 breeder, but I don't feel like dealing with a tank this size. 20 long works pretty good with what I want to achieve, while still having a somewhat decent footprint.

So far, I've got:
Aqueon 20 long
Aquaclear 50 filter
Finnex Stingray LED fixture
50 pounds of HTH pool filter sand

For plants, so far, I have a bunch of Crypt Balansae. My goal, at least for now, is to have a setup that is super easy, with minimal maintenance where I can. In the past, there are several species of plants I've had really good success with; Rotala Indica, Crypt Wendtii and Crypt Balansae.
I am planning on attempting a Crypt only tank. This way, there will be nothing to trim. I'd like to do a sort of "island" scape with hardscape, and tons of crypts flowing around everywhere.

So far, a work in progress and I'm digging it. Still a bit cloudy.



My view from across the room in my chair.



I also really like this HTH pool filter sand. I was quite impressed by how clean it was and how nice it looks.

It's so nice knowing there are so many options with this hobby. You really can scale it as large or small, and simple or difficult as you want and still get the same amount of joy out of it.

I always liked the looks and footprint of a 20 long. Same as a standard 29 gallon, just shorter.

Have thought about what you'll stock it with?

I always liked the looks and footprint of a 20 long. Same as a standard 29 gallon, just shorter.

Have thought about what you'll stock it with?

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I like long, short tanks due to the increased ability to light the tank easily and being able to get your hands minimally wet. Also, they are much more enjoyable IMO for schooling fish, watching them zoom back and forth.

I am thinking like my previous tank that I had setup for so long, White Cloud Mountain Minnows and Cherry Shrimp. I ran my 33 long for years like this and it was awesome. The White Clouds I had never bothered the Cherry shrimp and they multiplied like crazy.

I became very fond of Long Finned White Clouds. They are/were pretty hard to find. Happens to be a decent group listed on Aquabid now. If I had my tanks set up like I used to I would have already bought theses guys. AquaBid.com - Item # fwcyprinids1777152656 - 12+1 ADULT Longfin White Cloud TR - Ends: Sat Apr 25 2026 - 04:30:56 PM CDT

I became very fond of Long Finned White Clouds. They are/were pretty hard to find. Happens to be a decent group listed on Aquabid now. If I had my tanks set up like I used to I would have already bought theses guys.

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Wow I didn't know there was a long finned version of white cloud mountain minnow! Those are beautiful. I used to have a few of the short finned type. Very hardy fish.

You need some of this to scatter around/scratch into top layer of HTH pool filter sand to give it a less homogeneous/curated look, more natural looking. It’s little details like this that take an aquarium from nice looking to exceptional.

Amazon.com

I became very fond of Long Finned White Clouds. They are/were pretty hard to find. Happens to be a decent group listed on Aquabid now. If I had my tanks set up like I used to I would have already bought theses guys.

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I can get them for 2.00 at my LFS pretty easily. They had tons last time I went there.
They are my favorite fish. I particularly love the gold variety.
I've also had luck ordering them online from AquaHuna.com

It's been awhile, but I finally did something with this tank.
I sorted out and planted the crypts and added a piece of driftwood. The only issue is, unfortunately, the way I have it positioned, the driftwood sticks out above the water and I can't put my glass lid on.

I do like where this is going so far, though. I've done a similar kind of scape in the past and liked the simplicity of it. I have one pot of Anubias that I bought that I'm not entirely sure what to do with yet. I may try to attach it to some larger rocks eventually. Other then that, the goal is to do all crypts in this tank.

I'm not entirely sure where I am at in my cycle, but I've had tons of diatoms algae. I am now sort of whenever the cycling is complete and water quality up to par, thinking of rolling this tank as a zen, Cherry shrimp tank. I think that might be a good look and feel for my busy life style, but I'm not ruling out possibly getting some more White Clouds again.



So far, I think it's okay. I wish I had a better piece of driftwood, but I don't feel like paying an arm and a leg for one nor searching for another piece at the moment. I got this one at Petsmart.



This is a similar scape I did in my old tank, which I quite liked. Man, I sure miss this tank.

Looking good.

Thank you! Honestly, not so much anymore. This tank turned into a complete, disgusting mess.
I recently tore it down, removed the pool filter sand, added caribsea sunset gold, moved the plants around, and added another piece of driftwood. I also added an Aquaclear 30 filter, because to be honest, there isn't a enough flow from one Aquaclear 50.

I'm thinking at this point of keeping this tank simple and only doing a few plant species. Since I've had such luck in the past with it, I'd like to potentially dive in with Rotala Indica on the left side where it's bare. Or, I might just go with two species in this tank and just do Crypt Balansae all the way around and some Crypt Wendtii in the front. Not sure yet. I like the idea of not having to trim/prune anything.

It's still a work in progress, but I think it's much better this way. I don't know why I haven't learned my lesson, but every time I've used a white or more lighter cream colored sand, it always looks awful eventually. I've never had this problem with sunset gold sand. I mean, don't get me wrong, sunset gold does it dirty. However, it doesn't show every single thing like white-ish substrate does.






Some of the White Clouds