# 20 Gallon Long Pics and stocking



## TroyVSC (Aug 29, 2012)

Here is my 20 Long.



Current Stock

5 Serpae Tetras
3 Rummynose Tetras
1 Honey Gourami
1 Assassin Snail

I am not sure what else I could add to this tank as I don't want to overstock. maybe a few guppies or platies.

I will be changing the substrate to black Spectraquartz sand in the near future. I am battling a bit of algae due to work lighting, adjusting light time on the tank. I love having a tank at home and one at my job.

Here some pictures of the tank, fish and aquascaping.


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## rtmaston (Jul 14, 2012)

nice tank.i have a 20 gallon tank and have about the same amount of fish in it.thats all I am planning on putting in there to give them enough space.


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## CAM (Jan 27, 2013)

Beautiful tank, Troy !

Wish I had gotten a 20-long instead of 20-high for the fancy tail guppies. The dimensions would have suited them better, I think. 

You have any problem acclimating those rummy noses ? I hear they are a bit sensitive to acclimation.


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## TroyVSC (Aug 29, 2012)

No problem, I did lose one rummynose and two serpaes to ich after introducing my honey gourami later on. But all is healthy in the tank now. 

I acclimatized them the same way I do all my fish. I let the bag float for 20-30 minutes. Then I add small amounts of water every 4-5 minutes for the next 40-60. I think with them I stretched the process out to the full hour and a 1/2.


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## rtmaston (Jul 14, 2012)

how old are your long fin tetras?what do you feed your plants.im using seachem flourish tabs in the gravel it works very well.i have been using them for around 8 mounths now.


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## TroyVSC (Aug 29, 2012)

rtmaston said:


> how old are your long fin tetras?what do you feed your plants.im using seachem flourish tabs in the gravel it works very well.i have been using them for around 8 mounths now.


Only spike is long finned the rest are regular Serpae tetras. Although when they are smaller it is harder to tell if they are regular or long finned. i have had spike since july of last year and just got the other four a couple of weeks ago. 

I use API leafzone and have a DIY CO2. My lighting is subpar and would like to upgrade but no money and the 30" tank make for hard to find cheap DIY lighting.

I will doing some DIY oscomote plus root tabs eventually. One thing I have read that the stem plants I have do better with liquid dosing than root tabs because they take in most of their nutrients through their leaves and not their roots.


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## SueD (Aug 4, 2012)

I would add 3-4 more rummy nose tetras. You can then also add about 6 cories like the panda cory, or a dozen of the dwarf cories, like hasbrosus.


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## TroyVSC (Aug 29, 2012)

SueD said:


> I would add 3-4 more rummy nose tetras. You can then also add about 6 cories like the panda cory, or a dozen of the dwarf cories, like hasbrosus.


I am going to add a least a couple more Rummynose when my LFS has them on sale again for $1.50. They are very pretty.

I will think about adding any cories once I do a substrate change over to the black sand. 6 cories just seems like it would push the stocking limit to its limits so I will have to give it more thought. I also don't want to just get a couple because I know they do better in groups.


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## CAM (Jan 27, 2013)

I think in a 20-gallon you would be fine with 4 Cories. The dimensions of the tank of such that they will be in close proximity to each other. Probably would as happy as my 12 Cories running around in the 75.


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## Raymond S. (Jan 11, 2013)

Home Depot has a few 24" fluorescent fixtures that are not $89. Loew's has (and I would think Home Depot also) a GE bulb marked "daylight" and on
the package says 6500K. It cost $7.65 in the 18" so can't be much more in 24". I think I also noticed one in there that was 24" and a single bulb T5.


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## TroyVSC (Aug 29, 2012)

Raymond S. said:


> Home Depot has a few 24" fluorescent fixtures that are not $89. Loew's has (and I would think Home Depot also) a GE bulb marked "daylight" and on
> the package says 6500K. It cost $7.65 in the 18" so can't be much more in 24". I think I also noticed one in there that was 24" and a single bulb T5.


The bulb in there now is a 24" T8 18w GE Aqua Rays bulb from Lowes but it has only 3500k and 600mm. What's funny is they have no day lights in the 24 inch bulbs and neither does Home depot. So weird.


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## Raymond S. (Jan 11, 2013)

That being the case I think this is your best bet. The Power Glo is great for plants but also has the most visible light of any but the Zoo Med
and Coral Life 10,000K bulbs(which I've heard that they are not as good as the 6700K(T5) for plants. The Aqueon "Full Spectrum" has high visible light also
but I think the Power Glow beats them. They are rated at 8000K though which should be great for the plants.
Actually I was suggesting that you add an extra bulb when I mentioned the Home Depot thing. The Power Glow may be enough by it's self.
P.S. a 10,000K bulb would blind your fish in that low tank. I have two ten's and have two T8's on each but don't dare use a 10,000K.
What I do use is one Zoo Med Flora Grow(plant bulb/w not great visible light) plus one of either the GE "daylight" or an Aqueon Full Spectrum.
Plenty visible plus a "plant" bulb. On timers from 9A till 5P.
Hagen Power-Glo Fluorescent Bulb Aquarium Fluorescent Bulbs


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## Raymond S. (Jan 11, 2013)

Oops forgot to mention, your tank looks great. One plant caught my attention more than others. In the third and fourth pictures, it has very narrow leaves...what is it ?


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