The Goatee Posted May 28, 2021 Share Posted May 28, 2021 Hello everyone. Decided to join the forum to try to meet some new hobbyists. I am from Central Florida. I have been learning and growing a lot as a fish keeper the past year. Tried some tanks when I was a kid but never realized how much more there was to the hobby until I started researching. It feels like a great STEM project in addition to having fun, relaxing animals. I went all in last July and got a case of MTS, all planted tanks, mostly nano, with some fake hardscape. I hesitate to share my first 20 gallon tall tank, because it is a bit of a jungle with bad plant placement, but the fish have all lived nearly 10 months now in it. So much thanks to Cory and Aquarium Co-Op for all the educational material. It has just been a great experience. By way of introduction, two tanks I am working on now, attempting to be as 100% natural as possible with no fake décor. Both are 20 gallon long and sit next to each other. Pictures were from initial setup, haven't changed much save some leaf melt and new growth / coloring up. They are a couple of weeks old now and still cycling. Almost done with large nitrite spikes; brown diatoms starting to show up everywhere. A couple of pond snails growing fast and flying across the tank. One tank is going to house guppies, which I've had breed like rabbits in smaller tanks, with numbers I care not to admit. Another tank will be a new community setup. At least in my defense of the smaller guppy tanks, they have dense jungle of pogo octopus which grows so fast and keeps things balanced. Will need to rehome some that don't go to the new tank. Boiling that mopani driftwood was an insane week, but the tannins are not bad at all. Anyway, looking forward to adding the fish soon. I really love the profile of the 20 gallon long aquarium. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fish Folk Posted May 28, 2021 Share Posted May 28, 2021 Love these! Welcome. More plants the better. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lefty o Posted May 29, 2021 Share Posted May 29, 2021 welcome to the herd. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colu Posted May 29, 2021 Share Posted May 29, 2021 Welcome to the forum nice tank Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skipper Posted May 29, 2021 Share Posted May 29, 2021 Looks great! 20L are my favorite 🙂 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Goatee Posted June 22, 2021 Author Share Posted June 22, 2021 Added some more plants, couple of anubias rotted so I replaced them. Tank is fully stocked now too. —powder blue dwarf gourami —school of von rio tetras —8 panda corydoras —2 mystery and 2 nerite snails The bottom left is a cryptocoryne pink flamingo. Came in so small but has four new leaves and showing some awesome pink. 3 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gucci Gourami Posted June 22, 2021 Share Posted June 22, 2021 Great looking tank and fish!!! Love the wood arch! Maybe add some mosses? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spicy Reef Posted June 28, 2021 Share Posted June 28, 2021 I C U have the double sponge... Love it. that's all the filtration I have in mine, I do have a tiny surface skimmer that I run at night. Keeps the water pristine. I keep saltwater as well and I'm very jealous of your Florida location! Ur tank looks great! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Goatee Posted June 29, 2021 Author Share Posted June 29, 2021 On 6/28/2021 at 7:44 PM, Spicy Reef said: I C U have the double sponge... Love it. that's all the filtration I have in mine, I do have a tiny surface skimmer that I run at night. Keeps the water pristine. I keep saltwater as well and I'm very jealous of your Florida location! Ur tank looks great! Thanks! Since I have two 20 longs side by side, I wanted good flow but also redundancy. If one air pump dies, one should keep running. Over a month in and it is all doing very well. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DebSills Posted June 29, 2021 Share Posted June 29, 2021 love the tank setup - I am jealous of that sweet arch you have! looking forward to seeing the guppy tank once its set up! I love how the dwarf blue looks against the plants and dark substrate - looks awesome! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Goatee Posted June 29, 2021 Author Share Posted June 29, 2021 On 6/28/2021 at 8:49 PM, DebSills said: love the tank setup - I am jealous of that sweet arch you have! looking forward to seeing the guppy tank once its set up! I love how the dwarf blue looks against the plants and dark substrate - looks awesome! The arch was pure chance acquisition. I got a random assortment of mopani and one was S shaped and balanced well to get the arch. Guppy tank has been going as well, the color of the fish just doesn’t pop as much since they are mostly mutts. Snails and kuhli loaches handle clean up. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CalmedByFish Posted June 29, 2021 Share Posted June 29, 2021 On 6/28/2021 at 8:17 PM, The Goatee said: Curious about the black rock. It looks like the same stuff a pool table is made of. Is it shale? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Goatee Posted June 29, 2021 Author Share Posted June 29, 2021 On 6/28/2021 at 9:33 PM, CalmedByFish said: Curious about the black rock. It looks like the same stuff a pool table is made of. Is it shale? Slate. Supposed to be all natural slate. Kuhli loaches spend almost all the time hiding in the cracks. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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