Starting a 20 Gallon Tank and plant care

So I'm setting up a new tank, either a 20 or 29 gallon. I really want the 29 gallon, but I'm not sure if I have the space right now so I may have to stick with the 20. Either way, I want to have real plants in this one, but I'm not sure what all goes into that. I just want something like a java fern or lilaeopsis, something easy that looks good. Any suggestions on the best thing to plant them in would be great and anything you need to do to take care of them? Anything advice is greatly appreciated!

 

Welcome to Fishlore!
That's great that you want to set up a planted tank. This link should help https://www.fishlore.com/aquariumfi...-set-up-a-low-light-low-tech-planted-tank.24/

 

Thank you!

 

No problem

 

A 29 and a 20 long have the same footprint, so if you can fit one you can fit the other.... the 29 is just higher.

 

A 29 and a 20 long have the same footprint, so if you can fit one you can fit the other.... the 29 is just higher.

And a 37 is higher yet with the same footprint.

 

Yeah, it's the hight that I don't have room for... it covers a light switch

 

Oh.....

 

yeah... I'm thinking if I turn it sideways though I could get away with the 29 gallon, so maybe. Any stocking suggestions for me?

 

How about a school of cories, a school of tetras (or rasboras or something else) and one or two centerpiece fish like guppies, peacock gudgeons, dwarf gouramis, or dwarf cichlids?

 

wow you are quite the fish arranger! are all of those good with plants? I hear some fish like to rip them out...

 

Yes, they'll be fine with plants. Depending on the type of dwarf cichlid..... rainbow cichlids may rip the plants up. But rams or apistos won't.

 

I just recently picked up a dwarf flag cichlid/smiling cichlid (not sure if it's actually a curviceps or a dorsigera but both are very similar) this weekend and he's been very peaceful. I bought him to replace my bolivian ram because the BR was being very aggressive towards my gourami's. So far he's left all my plants alone and has gotten along well with everyone.

 

Sounds good I can't wait to get it set up!!

 

Could you get a pic of it?

 

Sure will! As soon as I begin

 

There are a lot of dwarf cichlids that would work. I think my BR was just an oddball that had aggression issues. As when I told the LFS and others on here they were surprised so I take from that the BR's aren't typically aggressive.

 

Awesome sauce

 

About how long will it take to cycle?

 

About how long will it take to cycle?

That depends. On average 2 weeks, I've heard....

 

About how long will it take to cycle?

Hard to say. It kind of depends how you do it. With ammonia you can control how much you have in the tank. So less of a chance of having too much in there and stalling the cycle.

Pure ammonia and Seachem Stability is the way to go if you can't find any cycled media to use. Should take a couple weeks doing it this way.

 

So if I put stuff from my old tank in there to cycle will it cycle faster?

 

If you're moving just your existing fish into the new tank then either move the existing filter with them or put the cycled media from that filter into the new one & you're pretty much good to go, just monitor your water in case of any spikes & when you add any new fish do it slowly.

 

Alrighty. How long should I wait before adding a new fish?

 

I'd give it a week or so just to make sure the move went ok with no spikes

 

Okeday. My fish are gonna love the new space

 

Ideally you will want to monitor your ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate levels with an apI test kit. Get the one with the liquids- the strips are not very reliable. The majority of all questions ( when can I put my fish in a tank? Why does my fish look sick? Why did my fish die?) Will all center around what your water parameters are. It's the only way to find quality answers to these kind of questions.

 

alrighty. I got the tank- a 26 gallon bowfront. next... plants

 

if you eventually have room for a 29 keep in mind a 37 is the same width and length so you can do a little more with that. with my planted 29 I started off with flourish tabs, and then due to availability just started using API leaf zone, with a power glow fluorescent which I try to use 10 hours a day mixed with sunlight. the only other thing i've done to tend for the plants is add the acurel green phosphate remover pad in my filter and trim dying leaves. I should also note that I remove most of my plants from the pots and peel off the rock wool. I keep an amazon sword, a red rubin sword, a radican sword I split in two, some java fern and a red melon sword I got recently. I am new to this as well, but with those products and weekly waterchanges the plants have really done well. good luck and enjoy oh also I keep driftwood and mossballs in the tank , I have heard a high ph is bad for plants but I can't really confirm that.

 

alrighty then. I'm thinking I'll probebly end up with an amazon sword and java fers to start. I don't wanna overwhelm myself

 

if you eventually have room for a 29 keep in mind a 37 is the same width and length so you can do a little more with that. with my planted 29 I started off with flourish tabs, and then due to availability just started using API leaf zone, with a power glow fluorescent which I try to use 10 hours a day mixed with sunlight. the only other thing i've done to tend for the plants is add the acurel green phosphate remover pad in my filter and trim dying leaves. I should also note that I remove most of my plants from the pots and peel off the rock wool. I keep an amazon sword, a red rubin sword, a radican sword I split in two, some java fern and a red melon sword I got recently. I am new to this as well, but with those products and weekly waterchanges the plants have really done well. good luck and enjoy oh also I keep driftwood and mossballs in the tank , I have heard a high ph is bad for plants but I can't really confirm that.

Welcome to fishlore!

 

thank you kindly

as I said i'm new to the hobby

but my thirst for new breeds and knowledge is always growing

 

Dwarf gourami are pretty and fun imo but they do like to eat plants. But you can only have one in a tank that size so get plenty of plants and they should be fine. Just maybe not expensive ones.

 

Dwarf gourami are pretty and fun imo but they do like to eat plants. But you can only have one in a tank that size so get plenty of plants and they should be fine. Just maybe not expensive ones.

I've never had them eat plants.....

 

Mine likes to! it may depend on the plant . . . ferns no, but wisteria oh yeah! Which is fine because they grow so fast. Before I got the wisteria, there was one of my viney plants he loved and ate a few of the baby leaves. If hadn't gotten the wisteria the other plant would have been completely gone by the way he was going after it. I make sure that he eats at feeding time too because the faster fish tend to steal his food.