20g Long In The Process

I bought a 20 gallon long this past weekend for a great deal, it looks practically brand new with a glass canopy. I have a rough idea of what I want to stock, and I do like to stock on the heavy side to put it nicely lol. I guess we're going to see where this goes.

Rough Stock:
6-Furcata Rainbows
6-Clown Killies
10-Marble Hatchets
2-Honey Gouramis
1-Apisto BorellI (maybe)

I kind of wanted to do a dirted tank with either a fine grain rock substrate or pool filter sand cap, just something that won't compact over time. I've learned my lesson with play sand... my Crypt. lucens don't like the play sand but all my other root plants seem to do okay. I have some Ohko stone and driftwood for hardscape, I have no yet thought about what kind of plants I want in this tank though. I practically have all the beginner-friendly types in my other tanks. It's all going to depend on the following points.

Now I have to weigh my options with a lighting unit, filtration, and heater.

I want moderate lighting, which will be very easy to do in a 20 gallon long, but I find it daunting that I may have to balance out strong lighting with CO2. I'm not sure if I want to do a DIY system or liquid dosing (maybe with an auto-dosing unit?) if I must go that route. Can anyone offer input on the differences?

As for filtration, I'm still deciding if I want a simple sponge filter, a simple HOB, or a light canister.ead: Visually, the canister would probably be best, but that would also be a first for me as well.

I currently have another thread going about heaters. I'm a little afraid of eheims now after my last one went on the fritz and melted the plastic bracket on one of the suction cup clips... although miraculously did not cause harm to the fish. When I went to go buy new ones, I couldn't help but see the declining quality comments in the reviews.

 

Sounds like a good plan formulating! I have moderately strong lighting on a 33g and I add 20ml liquid co2 once a week(half the recommenced dosage) and my plants are doing great. Take in mind they are all easy level plants.
And go with the canister imo.

 

Sounds like a good plan formulating! I have moderately strong lighting on a 33g and I add 20ml liquid co2 once a week(half the recommenced dosage) and my plants are doing great. Take in mind they are all easy level plants.
And go with the canister imo.

The co2 is mostly to balance out and prevent algae bloom due to the strong lighting. Id estimate a distance between light at least 10" with the substrate in mind, so strong PAR levels are highly likely with a decent lighting unit. My main 55 has moderate lighting and I dose liquid carbon, and it has balanced out quite nicely. I may look into an auto dosing unit though. We will see.

Speaking of 33g... someone is selling a 30 breeder in my Facebook group for a good price. I was definitely interested, but idk, I still have to work on this 20 gallon lol.

 

I personally recommend a canister. I use a Eheim 2213 for my 20 gallon long. However, the intake will probably be a bit long, especially if you're using substrate. Then it will have to be cut. I used to periodically dump fine sand out of my mine, because the intake would suck in the fine grains, particularly when disturbed. Now my tank is bare bottom, and I love it.

 

I personally recommend a canister. I use a Eheim 2213 for my 20 gallon long. However, the intake will probably be a bit long, especially if you're using substrate. Then it will have to be cut. I used to periodically dump fine sand out of my mine, because the intake would suck in the fine grains, particularly when disturbed. Now my tank is bare bottom, and I love it.

I can do that. I want to keep substrate without the issue of having it sucked up into the filtration so I may cut it a smidge shorter away from the substrate just enough.

 

Go with a good canister filter. I reckon cannisters are in fact easier to clean. My gripe with them is that most have very ugly intake and outflow hardware Get some glass intake and outflow pipes are you're set.

My take on CO2 is that just invest and go with a proper pressurised system. It gives you much more options plants. .Liquid co2 doesn't help much with plant growth, its more of a algaecide, while DIY co2 doesn't work half as well as a proper co2 setup.

 

I can do that. I want to keep substrate without the issue of having it sucked up into the filtration so I may cut it a smidge shorter away from the substrate just enough.

It shouldn't be a real concern as long as the sand isn't too fine. I think a medium grit or larger is perfect. I say this because even if you cut the intake, you still might have issues of sand getting sucked in when doing water changes, since fine grit is light and tends to get into the water column. But, I still recommend cutting regardless the type of substrate you choose, because the intake is a bit too long for even a decent depth of substrate.

 

Go with a good canister filter. I reckon cannisters are in fact easier to clean. My gripe with them is that most have very ugly intake and outflow hardware Get some glass intake and outflow pipes are you're set.

My take on CO2 is that just invest and go with a proper pressurised system. It gives you much more options plants. .Liquid co2 doesn't help much with plant growth, its more of a algaecide, while DIY co2 doesn't work half as well as a proper co2 setup.

LOL I was looking at the glass lily pipes, I was also interested in a possible spray bar.... but now that I think about it I'm not sure how much the hatchets will appreciate that lol.

I'm honestly hesitant on going fancy with that and a proper co2 setup. Not sure if I said it already but I am really on the fence about doing proper co2 system. I don't want to lol, but I know I have to consider it because with a good light I can have high enough PAR where I would need co2 to balance it out to prevent algae. So I guess I would more so need it as an algaecide than I would for plant growth. It's just that I don't want to invest that heavy just yet, at least not until certain personal events come to pass. I have a lot of time to weigh it though. This tank is in the rough stages of planning still yet lol.

 

Update:

I have to put this 20 gallon long project on hold. One of the managers at a LFS contacted me to see if I would be able to take in their friend's beloved goldfish as they are moving on short notice (military). I had a plan for a minI pond for my current goldfish that got pushed back a bit; however, with the new additions of some larger goldfish, that is not going to work out regardless of how much water changes I do so I must prioritize this pond now. For whatever reason, I find it was much easier to plan out the components of this minI pond at a moment's notice than it has been brainstorming the 20 gallon long lol.