My 20g tall planted tank

[jbyoung00008]

Fish Heaven

So. I decided a year ago to start a Planted fish tank. I am 29 years old and have had fish in my house ever since I was a baby. I have had my own tank set up since I was 12. Over the years I have had tons of different fish species. I have bread many different types of fish. I must admit that trying to breed Beta's at 15 years old wasn’t a success but I came darn near close. I recently took down my 20g tall salt water tank and set it up as a fresh water planted tank. I have never had a planted tank but all the saltwater gear I had for th 20g would work perfect for a fresh water tank so I made the switch. I never knew this obsession would turn into this.

Lighting: Coralife light w/compact flourecent 10k & 6700k 65w bulbs, 2 T5 24w 6700k bulbs and a led moon light. I have all this controlled by 2 coralife digital timers. Im trying to give the effect of sunrise and sunset. I turn on the T5 for an hour in the morning so I can feed before I go to work. The T5’s turn on at 12pm, 1.5 hrs before the CFL’s every day and turn off 1.5hrs after. For a total of 9hrs of light a day.

Filtration: fluval 204, aquaclear70, have both filters stuffed with bio rings I use filter floss as well as the regular pads these filters are sold with. I also add phosphate remover every now and than. I also run a power head to help with water flow

Co2 system: I added Co2 4 months ago. 10p Co2 bottle, Milwakee regulator, solonoid and bubble counter, fluval diffuser. I run 2 bubbles a second. Co2 turns on an hour before the lights. This helps replenish Co2 levels for when the lights turn on.

Air pump: I run an air pump on a timer at night to help raise O2 levels in the tank and help with any Ph spikes at night. Since my co2 is off Ph will have a tendency to go back to neutral. Plants take in oxygen when the lights are off so I like to keep a steady flow of it at all times . Keeps my plants and fish happy.

Plants: Anubias , Rotalla, various Crypts, Java moss, Java fern, Moneywort, Vallisneeria, Sagiteria, floating plants, Dwarf hair grass, Red tiger lotus, Hygrophila, Bacopa, The list goes on and on. I have stuffed so many plants into this tank that I cant remember the names of them all, I figure over 2o species. The Drift wood I found at the Vedder river fishing. I tied the branch to my fishing back pack and carried all day as we fished. Its actually all one piece. I prune every couple of days. It’s a jungle but I like it like that.

Fish: 6 various cory's, 2 Oto Cat fish, 2 Chinese algea eaters, 1 Albino long fined bristle nose pleco, 3 white clouds, 4 giant danios, 4 zebra danio, 1 leopard danio, 3 rumy nose tetra. 6 neon tetras, 5 rasboras ,3 long fined serpae tetras, 5 japonica shrimp,5 cherry shrimp

Most people would say that I have way to many fish for this size of tank and that my fish are all stressed out. I havnt had a fish die in over 8 months. The last 2 that died were on the same day. I found them on the floor in front of the tank. 1 leopard danio and 1 zebra danio. Must have been chasing each other. I do a 35% water change once a week sometimes twice. I probably have my hands in the tank way too much. I didn’t mean to buy this many fish. I have actually givin away fish to my neighbor 30 minutes after bringing them home. The fish I have seem to match up great. If you want this many fish in a tank this size be prepared to work on it lots. That’s part of the joy for me so I don’t mind.

[jbyoung00008]

I didnt post the pix in the right order. The last pic is what the tank looks like now

[jbyoung00008]

If you have any comments or suggestions feel free to let me know

[monkE]

the tank looks great man, nice to see more people getting into planted tanks! your off to a great start man it looks like all your plants are growing in nicely! keep the pics coming.


Just an FYI... if you upload your pictures to photobucket.com you can post high resolution pictures on your threads so they look better and are easier to see.