My first tank, a simple 20 gallon.

[Sanctum38]

UPDATE (Tues. October 11.):

contents
5 Zebra Danio
1 White Ryukin Goldfish
1 Striped Raphael Catfish
2 German Blue Rams
Amazon Sword x 1
Wisteria x 3


Hello guys and gals!

So I am new to this forum, a few days new that is.

So far I love it here, very friendly people, and lots to learn from all of you.

Lets start with a quick heads up of where I started:
4 weeks ago, got a free 20 gallon set up. (tank, lid, filter, heater)
Bought all the other basics. (substrate, mopane wood, some danios)
Started FISH in cycling with 6 danios. (I know, frowned upon, didnt know that 4 weeks ago)
About 5 days in, I bought 4 goldfish (2 different species) and added them to the tank. (Which I also found out later was extra bad.)
3 days AGO, my tank started crashing. Found this out from purchasing a little chinese algae eater, and he bit the dust within 16 hours.
I brought it back, and had my water tested, Nitrates were through the roof...
110ppm.....
So I was told by the guy down at the LFS, that its the end, gotta hard reset.
Knowing some more stuff now, I left the store with some new carbon for my filter, a couple plants, and a small bottle of cycle.
Went home, did a 95% water change, rescaped the aquarium, put the danios back in, and its been cycling since.
Ive also removed the goldfish and gave them to a buddy.
And the buddy, from his main tank, gave me some crushed coral from the bottom of his tank, and a couple sea shells.


Now I will post 2 pics.

Pic1. The tank before the crash. some fake deco, and yellow tinted water from the mopane wood. The goldfish already removed.


Pic2. Tank after the cycle reset. took out the deco, planted my new plants.
The danios are happier now as well, before the reset, they would spend all their time at the top of the water. Now they swim everywhere, chase eachother, etc. They dont seem stressed at all.

[Sanctum38]

Any advice on where to go from here would be great.
I want to continue adding some more plants, and hopefully introduce a nice school of Cardinal Tetras, maybe 2 Blue gouramis.
What would it take to have some sort of mossy / grassy plant carpeting the bottom (lighting, co2)
(i know nothing about plants so far).

[BelieveInBlue]

Looking good!

[Luke78]

Thats quite the change,nicely done! If you have questions regarding plants/ferts/Co2 have a look through the topics posted here on the forums.Theres quite a few talented 'plant ethusiasts' here willing to help you out with all you need.Two sites i use for plant info are Tropica Aquarium Plants - Home or PlantGeek.net - Your Aquatic Plant Resource. Both are worth a look,and theres plenty more out there!

Any advice on where to go from here would be great.
I want to continue adding some more plants, and hopefully introduce a nice school of Cardinal Tetras, maybe 2 Blue gouramis.
What would it take to have some sort of mossy / grassy plant carpeting the bottom (lighting, co2)
(i know nothing about plants so far).

[BelieveInBlue]

Don't know if the cardinals could handle the overdrive that the danios are always in, and I think a pair of blue gouramis may be a bit big for a 20. If you like anabantoids though, I'd try some dwarf gouramis + maybe some rasboras. I think the danios are a bit too greedy of an eater for gouramis, they don't seem to frenzy like danios tetras and some rasboras do for me. You could of course jump continents and try SA stuff (dwarf cichlids, tetras, cories, otos, etc).

[Sanctum38]

Thats quite the change,nicely done! If you have questions regarding plants/ferts/Co2 have a look through the topics posted here on the forums.Theres quite a few talented 'plant ethusiasts' here willing to help you out with all you need.Two sites i use for plant info are Tropica Aquarium Plants - Home or PlantGeek.net - Your Aquatic Plant Resource. Both are worth a look,and theres plenty more out there!

Thanks for this heads up
I love planted tanks, I cant wait to gain more experience and have some beautiful tanks.

[Sanctum38]

Don't know if the cardinals could handle the overdrive that the danios are always in, and I think a pair of blue gouramis may be a bit big for a 20. If you like anabantoids though, I'd try some dwarf gouramis + maybe some rasboras. I think the danios are a bit too greedy of an eater for gouramis, they don't seem to frenzy like danios tetras and some rasboras do for me. You could of course jump continents and try SA stuff (dwarf cichlids, tetras, cories, otos, etc).

Oh, the danios will either be brought back to the LFS, or sent to a smaller tank.
And thats what I was thinking of, the DWARF gouramis, not the blue ones :P

So how would that work out, maybe a school of 12 Cardinal Tetras, and 2 dwarfs?


edit: Sorry for double posting, I havent been on a forum in a long time, I remember now that you can multi quote.

[BelieveInBlue]

Don't see much of a problem with that; the gouramis might get a bit aggressive should they build bubble nests, but cardinals should be fast enough that they can escape. Now you just need something for the bottom part of the tank

Edit: 2 male dwarf gouramis in a 20g could present a problem if one proves to be significantly more dominant than the other. Maybe try 3-4 and have a lot of plants/driftwood for hiding and running away, and to define territory too.

[Sanctum38]

Don't see much of a problem with that; the gouramis might get a bit aggressive should they build bubble nests, but cardinals should be fast enough that they can escape. Now you just need something for the bottom part of the tank

Edit: 2 male dwarf gouramis in a 20g could present a problem if one proves to be significantly more dominant than the other. Maybe try 3-4 and have a lot of plants/driftwood for hiding and running away, and to define territory too.

Sounds like a good plan! I would love to add another curvy piece of driftwood. and of course I want a beautiful plantscape in there.

For the bottom, well I dont know of many fish yet, other than corys. for the bottom.

I know ill want 2-4 ghost shrimp running a little routine around the tank.

[Sanctum38]

So ive noticed something the last few days, that seems a bit alarming.

my temp. has been 81f/27c pretty much since I got the tank started... and ive turned my heater off 4 days ago, because that seems kind of high. might it be the light bulb im using? it looks like a cheapo light bulb.

keep in mind i got this off someone for free.

-even with the heater off the temp stays the same.