Upgrade Journey - 20g To 55g

Upgrading my 20 high which currently houses 5 neon tetras, 3 albino corys, 3 bronze corys, a giant ramshorn snail & a zebra nerite snail. I'm upgrading to a 55gal and decided to go ahead and do a thread on the journey because I have a feeling this is going to be a whole project x'D
The biggest tank iIve decorated is a 29 gallon so this is going to be fun.

I'm buying the 55 next week if it's still available so hopefully someone doesn't buy it before then and makes this thread completely moot lol.

Total stocking list for the finished tank (ill add them one or two at a time over the next 4-5 months):

• 8 neon tetras
• 6 albino cory catfish
• 6 bronze cory catfish
• 2 zebra nerite
• 1 giant ramshorn snail (colombian apple snail) - Named George and yes his dumb tail eats my plants
• 1 apistogramma borellii

I'm going to focus on decorating it in july & august since while my current decorations are great for the 20, it won't be nearly enough for a 55g.

Equipment/etc used (as of right now I'm the 20g):

• Aqueon Quietflow 10
• Lustar Hydro Sponge Filter 3
• - Going to be buying an Aquaclear 20 - 50 filter in july to add to the tank. My current filters work with the updated stocking but you can never have enough filtration.
• CaribSea Eco-Complete 20-Pound Planted Aquarium
• Imaginarium Black Sand
• - Going to buy some pool filter sand to top over the eco and imaginarium sand since buying enough of either of those for my size tank will be extremely costly.
• Numerous live plants (I know there's some amazon swords and some sort of anubis but that's all I remember)
• A silk plant
• Algae covered cave that no one seems to like but hides behind
• Piece of drift wood covered in some moss from a marimo moss ball that came apart
• Marimo moss balls
• Aqueon Submersible Aquarium Heater, 50 Watts (I'm probably going to buy a second one and put one on each end of the aquarium, though I doubt it'll get used much since we keep the aquarium at 72.)
• Zoo Med Aqua Cool Aquarium Cooling Fan (also going to need another one of these since my house gets quite warm int he summer)
• 1 6 inch bubble bar (will most likely add another 12 inch bar)
• Aqua Culture 5-15 Gallon air pump (Will be getting another pump suited for larger tanks as well)

Heres what the 20gal looks like now:




I don't know if the lighting on the new tank is suited for plant life, and one if too big for the tank and makes it sit funny so chances are I'll be updating the lighting in the future.

Photo of the 55gal I'm hoping to purchase. Needs some cleaning but the current owner says there's no cracks or leaks and it's in perfect condition.

 

If white pool filter sand works for you, then I recommend going to home depot or lowes and picking up their "100lb silica sand" bag it comes out to like 12.09 with washington tax (8.9)
12 bucks for 100lbs vs 50lbs is a decent deal if you have multiple tanls to stock.
Just don't let the bag get wet or it will spill put everywhere!

 

If white pool filter sand works for you, then I recommend going to home depot or lowes and picking up their "100lb silica sand" bag it comes out to like 12.09 with washington tax (8.9)
12 bucks for 100lbs vs 50lbs is a decent deal if you have multiple tanks to stock.
Just don't let the bag get wet or it will spill put everywhere!

None of the stores in my city have the 100lb bag, though one does carry some 50lbs bag for about 6$. However I'm not so sure it's what i'm looking for? It seems to be for concrete



they also have all purpose play sand but nothing for pool filters, though they sell pool sand filters lol.
I found a big 50lb bag of pool filter sand for 20$ on amazon that I'll probably get. it's more expensive but considering I pay about 20$ for a 20lb of aquarium sand, I'm not bothered by it.
Also don't have storage space for a 100lb bag xD

 

None of the stores in my city have the 100lb bag, though one does carry some 50lbs bag for about 6$. However I'm not so sure it's what i'm looking for? It seems to be for concrete
View attachment 561183

they also have all purpose play sand but nothing for pool filters, though they sell pool sand filters lol.
I found a big 50lb bag of pool filter sand for 20$ on amazon that I'll probably get. it's more expensive but considering I pay about 20$ for a 20lb of aquarium sand, I'm not bothered by it.
Also don't have storage space for a 100lb bag xD

Quikrete is just the brand name, a lot of people actually use that sand in their tanks.
Also does that 20 dollar bag have free shipping? If not it might not be worth it XD
This is the bag I had, it's honestly not a whole lot bigger than the 50lb bag, and if you can't store it standing upright like you would a bag of dog food, you might be able to get like an 18 gallon plastic storage tub to put it in.

Play sand is also an option but often comes in brown not white.

 

Quikrete is just the brand name, a lot of people actually use that sand in their tanks.
Also does that 20 dollar bag have free shipping? If not it might not be worth it XD
This is the bag I had, it's honestly not a whole lot bigger than the 50lb bag, and if you can't store it standing upright like you would a bag of dog food, you might be able to get like an 18 gallon plastic storage tub to put it in.

Play sand is also an option but often comes in brown not white.

yeah its free shipping lol. and I wouldnt even have the space for the tub, we have very little to no storage room in my house so if it can't fit under the tank, I can't get it. and since ill probably use the whole 50lb bag in the tank, its not a big deal.

so it'd be saf to use then? I wasn't sure since it said something about concrete in the description.if it's safe, i'd much rather spend 6$ rather than 28. The company says not to use it in pool filters bc of the gradation being wider.
this is the one on amazon:

 

yeah its free shipping lol. and I wouldnt even have the space for the tub, we have very little to no storage room in my house so if it can't fit under the tank, I can't get it. and since ill probably use the whole 50lb bag in the tank, its not a big deal.

so it'd be saf to use then? I wasn't sure since it said something about concrete in the description.if it's safe, i'd much rather spend 6$ rather than 28. The company says not to use it in pool filters bc of the gradation being wider.
this is the one on amazon:
View attachment 561203

Yeah, it's safe to use quikrete, especially after other people have used it too.
I've used pavers sand in my tanks before, which really is for concrete, and that last batch I got as well said suitable for concrete work too, but also pool filters.
Most sands are okay so long as there are no chemical additives, and those would usually be something like antI caking sand, or actual concrete mix.
My pavers sand likely had some sort of additive, but it only affected the plants not my fish.
You could also call the quikrete company if you can track down a number and ask what they add into their sand if anything at all, just to be sure.
But I also think if you look up quikrete on here, that you'll likely find a lot of posts about it.
That amazon one looks pretty decent too.

 

Yeah, it's safe to use quikrete, especially after other people have used it too.
I've used pavers sand in my tanks before, which really is for concrete, and that last batch I got as well said suitable for concrete work too, but also pool filters.
Most sands are okay so long as there are no chemical additives, and those would usually be something like antI caking sand, or actual concrete mix.
My pavers sand likely had some sort of additive, but it only affected the plants not my fish.
You could also call the quikrete company if you can track down a number and ask what they add into their sand if anything at all, just to be sure.
But I also think if you look up quikrete on here, that you'll likely find a lot of posts about it.
That amazon one looks pretty decent too.

I actually went onto their website and someone asked about using it in an aquarium and its said to be safe for it. So ill probably go ahead and get it, since it is cheaper.
I'm debating doing a mix of the existing substrate with the sand, or having the existing substrate as a layer under the sand. I'm not sure how having it layered under it would affect the cycle and beneficial bacteria that lives in the current substrate.

 

So lost out on that tank but got a 50gal instead, plus a ton of extras for 75$. Good deal. I thoroughly cleaned everything and am waiting for a new stand to arrive before setting up! I also have a few rocks outside that came with it, and I'm going to be buying new plants as well. Excited.

 

So it was a 55gallon, the original owner told me wrong. Got the stand in today that was meant for a 55, thought i'd have some space on the sids but nope. measured it and it's definitely 55 so I still have my original size haha.

spent about 5 hours setting up the tank and filling it and scapeing it.I put the original substrate (a mix of eco complete & imaginarium sand) at the bottom, planted my plants in that with some thrive root tabs right under the plants and then packed some pool filter sand around it and put a good inch thick of sand ontop of the original substrate.

placed some rocks, caves, and air bars inside the tank.

I have THREE filters in this tank. Sadly the one I had in the 20 gallon wouldn't fit along the rI'm of the 55gal, so I just took EVERYTHING I had inside of it and put it into one of the new filters.
the filters include:

• Aquatech 30 - 60 gallons
• Aqua Clear - Fish Tank Filter - 20 to 50 Gallons
  
• Lustar Hydro Sponge 3 (up to 40 gallons)

I put everything from the old filter into the aquatech filter, and the sponge filter had been in the 20 gallon for about a month. I also dumped in 2oz of Dr Tims One & Only nitrifying bacteria. Considering i'm very understocked to the size of the tank, I can only hope there's no issues with the cycle.

sadly, one of my older corys (I have had him since December I believe, and he was pretty small when I got him), passed away while in the bucket with the others. it stayed at 73F (what their tank was at) and had a bubble stone in it, so I can only assume it was stress. He had a white line down it's spine before I got him out of the 20 gallon, but otherwise didn't look sick and everyone else is showing ZERO signs of being sick, so I'm going to assume it was stress and jsut keep an eye on the others.

my giant ramshorn snail isn't liking the sand too much right now, but i'm hoping he'll get used to it. He's playing the floor is lava lol.

I'll take a photo tomorrow once the water has cleared up and I turn the lights back on.

 

Gonna replace the spongebob house at some point but for now it's an extra cave for the neons to hide in when feeling exposed

 

Can I have the dimensions of the tank?

 

Gonna replace the spongebob house at some point but for now it's an extra cave for the neons to hide in when feeling exposedView attachment 563608

Looks great other than the house! LOL

 

Looks great other than the house! LOL

Just got a new house haha

 

Can I have the dimensions of the tank?

12.5 inch width
4ft length
21 inch height

 

12.5 inch width
4ft length
21 inch height

Thanks.

 

12.5 inch width
4ft length
21 inch height

It looks to me like a standard 55 gallon.

 

It looks to me like a standard 55 gallon.

yeah I figured and wasn't concerned lol. he asked for dimensions so I went to measure xD

 

XD