Back To A 20 Gallon - Looking For Advice

I sold off all my aquariums about 6 months ago - knowing I was going to be away and not wanting to pile the work on my wife who was going to be dealing with two young boys while I was out of town at work. So, 75 gallon, 36 Gallon a 20 long and a 10 gallon all were sold and fish re-homed.

I sold my 36 bowfront to a friend that I gave a full 20 gallon setup to. When I got home, he offered me the 20 gallon back. It was a nice setup, but he was new to the game and the equipment took some lumps.

I just reset up most of it with stuff I had laying around. The fluval 206 he returned to me has seen better days. It is working, it took forever to prime and it could use some replacement parts - but it works as is. Pricing some of the parts got me thinking - would I be better off just getting a new filter? I looked at the Fluval C3 hang on the back. Does anyone use them? Would sticking it out with the canister filter be better or would a HoB give me similar filtration?

My second question, I'm thinking of doing Apistogramma. My favorite fish. Would 6 borelli's be too much for a 20 gallon? It's a normal 20, not a long.

It's going to be a month or more of cycling - I'm doing it the old fashioned method, no bio-starter. I still have a significant amount of left over aquarium stuff - heater, substrate, thermometer, API test kit, etc. If I can't find pure ammonia (I had trouble last time), can I just put some freeze dried shrimp in some mesh to start the ammonia part of the cycle?

Man - I can't believe I'm getting back into this - and with my original starter tank to boot. I figure with just a 20 gallon, if I gotta go for extended travel with work again it wouldn't be too much to ask my wife to look after. I'm not doing RODI this time, so water changes should be relatively simple, a 5 gallon bucket a week. I'm not new, but I remember all the nightmares starting out with this setup when I started in the hobby a few years ago. I figured I'd better start asking the questions first this time, rather then after I have a problem

 

We use the C3 at work. Granted, somebody stuck them on 55s... not nearly enough filtration but coupled with the big sponge filters I guess it's OK. They are not as good as Aquaclear filters IMO... they have compartments for mechanical, chemical and biological filtration, but they are not as modular or spacious as Aquaclears. They are also considerably more expensive. In the Aquaclears I forego the chemical filtration and just stock up on ceramic rings.

In a 20 tall I would not do 6 apistos. A male and 2 females would work out better on the smaller footprint. Perhaps someone else can chime in.

I think you can get ammonia from Dr Fosters. If not, the fish food in a mesh bag will work, though you won't get consistent levels of ammonia like you would with liquid.

 

We use the C3 at work. Granted, somebody stuck them on 55s... not nearly enough filtration but coupled with the big sponge filters I guess it's OK. They are not as good as Aquaclear filters IMO... they have compartments for mechanical, chemical and biological filtration, but they are not as modular or spacious as Aquaclears. They are also considerably more expensive. In the Aquaclears I forego the chemical filtration and just stock up on ceramic rings.

In a 20 tall I would not do 6 apistos. A male and 2 females would work out better on the smaller footprint. Perhaps someone else can chime in.

I think you can get ammonia from Dr Fosters. If not, the fish food in a mesh bag will work, though you won't get consistent levels of ammonia like you would with liquid.

I kind of figured 6 apisto's would be too much. It's hard finding borelli's as it is, let a lone finding a male and 2 females. I'll give it a shot, maybe another type of apisto if I can't get borelli's.

I priced C3's and they seem very reasonable (about $43) to me. I've had aquaclear filters on a few tanks and I never liked having to remove the whole media basket during maintenance - the C series just seemed easier to deal with.

My media selection is usually pretty basic - filter floss, bio sponge and seachem matrix.

 

I priced C3's and they seem very reasonable (about $43) to me. I've had aquaclear filters on a few tanks and I never liked having to remove the whole media basket during maintenance - the C series just seemed easier to deal with.

My media selection is usually pretty basic - filter floss, bio sponge and seachem matrix.

Eh, to each their own. I just like how much more room there is for media in the Aquaclears. The C3 is easier to work on and disassemble, but at the cost of lowered media capacity. They only hold a small handful of biological media and most of the space is taken up by the carbon tray. I took the carbon trays out of mine and fill them with more biomedia, I only use the carbon after medicating.

 

Eh, to each their own. I just like how much more room there is for media in the Aquaclears. The C3 is easier to work on and disassemble, but at the cost of lowered media capacity. They only hold a small handful of biological media and most of the space is taken up by the carbon tray. I took the carbon trays out of mine and fill them with more biomedia, I only use the carbon after medicating.

Same with me on the carbon - but I will run it the first week or two of starting the tank. I figure on a 20, a C3 is over-filtering so don't think the reduced space will matter much - just wondering if it may be too much flow rate. I'm using sand, so don't want it stirred up too much. In any case, I always try to run over filtered and about 70% stocking.

 

Same with me on the carbon - but I will run it the first week or two of starting the tank. I figure on a 20, a C3 is over-filtering so don't think the reduced space will matter much - just wondering if it may be too much flow rate. I'm using sand, so don't want it stirred up too much. In any case, I always try to run over filtered and about 70% stocking.

They have a similar flow-adjustment mechanism to Aquaclear filters.

 

I could just run the 206 for a week or two and see how it holds up. The parts I need will cost about the same as a C3. It's running right now as is, but the clamp for the hose isn't holding it in place good enough, and it could really use a new Aquastop valve. If it doesn't leak in the next few days I think it will be ok.

 

Ended up getting a Seachem Tidal 55 - my local Benson's had them on sale and got it cheaper then a C3 would've cost. I hear mixed reviews on them, but from what I gather they are a pretty well thought out filter and it comes with a good amount of Matrix, which is what I was going to buy for biomedia regardless of filter - so that saves me even a little more.

My first time in Benson's - not a big selection, but they had Dr. Tims Aquatic Ammonia!! First time I've seen it at a LFS.