20 Gallon Journal

bigfish93

Brokenrules: My plans for stocking as far as fish go is: a gourami, 6-7 Neon Tetra (maybe more depending on what others say), and some MTS. For plants, this is going to be a low light natural tank so anything that fits those conditions. I haven't really picked any specific plants. That's all I know is that I want in to be heavily planted. I love the look of the angels in your tank! What kind are they?

bigfish93

Thanks Byron, I have read through your aticles 2 or 3 times already . Whenever I get bored in between class at school, I research anything about aquariums to learn as much as I can. I don't want to make the same mistake that I did the last time.

brokenrules69

thanks a lot i have no clue what type of angels mine are i got my tank for free on craigslist stocked i am in the process of separating the barbs from the angels
i should be getting 5 tanks for free tomorrow on cl again
craigslist is my favorite thing in the world
i am new to the hobby this is my first tank but i think they just like generic golden angels

bigfish93

Just put my order in with Dr. Foster and Smith. I got the Oxygen Plus Bio-Filter 5 sponge filter, Whisper Air Pump 20, Air Check Valve, 8ft of tubing, thermometer, and a med/large piece of malaysian driftwood. The petsmart in my area doesn't sell sponge filters so now I have to wait. It should be here within the next 7 business days. This should be everything I need (aside from the light which I will be building this weekend) before I can add the plants and fish. I think it will be a while before I get those though, so I can let my wallet recover

P.S. I have a Marineland Bio-wheel Filter 150 and a Marineland Hood up for sale right now if anyone is interested.

bigfish93

I sealed and painted the inside of my canopy white today. I also built my DIY lighting. I used 2 13watt CFL daylight bulbs. It came out really nice and seems to light up the tank very evenly (no dark spots). Each bulb puts out 13 watts, 825 lumens, and 6500K. Thats a total of 1.3 watts per gallon and 1650 lumens over the tank. I went with the 13 watt bulbs instead of the 10 because I figured since I am using a gutter instead of an actual reflector, only about 10 watts would actually make it into the tank. If I were to get the 10 watt bulbs then I would have less than 1wpg. I just noticed my canopy is warping from the paint. Oh well, I will just make a new one sometime. Anyway, here are some pictures.

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bigfish93

Also, my sponge filter and driftwood should be on my doorstep tomorrow. After I get those put into the tank, it will be ready for plants and fish.

LexCorp

exciting stuff! I'm also setting up a 20g and trying to decide what new decor to get.

I'm transferring from a 10g though so I'm luckily using a lot of old supplies

bigfish93

My driftwood and sponge filter came in today!! I must say that I love the sponge filter already. It is really quiet (using the whisper 20 air pump) and makes almost no current. I am also pretty happy with the peice of driftwood. Afer all it was only $10. My tank is now ready for plants. I just put in my order with sweet aquatics. I ordered 7 corkscrew val, 5 water Wisteria, 11 Dwarf Sagittaria, 4oz of Java Moss, 1 Amazon Sword, and some Amazon Frogbit. They should be here in 2-3 days.

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Byron

If I may be permitted to make a suggestion, use the wood to hide the sponge filter. Just move either. The wood can remain out from the back, sort of mid-tank, so there will be plenty of water circulation around it to the filter.

bigfish93

should I use the wood or some plants? I was going to plant some corkscrew val along the back of the tank and cover up the filter.