Tank setup for autistic 4 year old?

[Sugarfoot]

Hi everyone, I’ve been in the hobby for only 3 years and kept a betta in a 6 gallon planted tank but alas, “Stuffed Crust” jumped to his death unbeknownst to me because the lid was left open. So lesson learned. Anyways-I’m now looking to expand. I’m doing away with the 6 gallon for now and upgrading to a 20 gallon long, planted tank. I’m not planning on having the tank ready until the fall due to the amount of money I want to put into it as well as making sure it’s comfortably setup for whatever fish babies I end up with. I’ve been doing lots of research and keep going in circles. I’ve never kept anything other than a Betta so I really don’t know the ins and outs. So here’s my objective: I want an active tank, so a schooling fish is really peaking my interest. I have a 4 year old non verbal autistic son who is absolutely captivated by fish and when we had our betta he’d spend several minutes at a time watching him. So it’s important to me that it’s stimulating for him (and me!) and that’s why the silvertip tetra are really peaking my interest but I worry that a 20 gal long planted tank won’t be able to comfortable to house a large group of them. Originally I was thinking of doing 8 panda cory, 1 male German blue ram and 8-10 silvertip tetra. I do want some bottom feeders that will keep things clean (I had a weekly 75% water change and vacuum I’d do with the 6 gallon but ideally I’d like something I can do every other week rather than every week or even I’d do a water change every week but a good sand vacuum every other). I guess I just keep second guessing what I’m choosing. I want a large school of something - and I want them to be active. The silvertip tetra really attract me because of how when you put your hands on the glass they follow and I know my son would get a kick out of that. Anyone have any stocking ideas that would be good for these requirements? I want all the living things inside this tank to be happy and comfortable. I’m not trying to breed or anything, at least not on purpose! I still consider myself new at this so anything that’s pretty hard wouldn’t be a good fit. Here’s a picture of my 6 gallon that’s currently not stocked with anything. Im still running it and putting frozen brine shrimp in there just to keep the bacteria happy 🤷🏻‍♀️

[Fishbros]

      In my opinion one of my favorite beginner fish are Guppies.  Depending on the genetic strain and what the breeder did they can be pretty hardy fish.  They are very active and fluttering all over the tank and come in so many different colors.  Mine like to hang out with each other zooming around the tank and sometimes they will do their own thing.  You can keep them in a wide range of plants and water parameters.  Especially where you have had a Betta you can get some with a big flowy tail if you wanted to (one of my favorites).  They are also pretty commonly found and you could even have you child pick out a few they like to include them in the hobby.  I personally have not had any experience with silvertip tetras so I don't have any input on that, but they are beautiful fish.  I love your betta tank looks great! Sorry to hear you lost for fish that way!  

 

Here is a video from Cory with Aquarium co-op, he LOVES guppies as well.  There is a lot of info out there for them.  Happy fish hunting! 

 

[Struggle]

You could look into smaller rainbow fish like Rhadinocentrus ornatus or the blue eyed rainbows as well. On the Rhads, the different collection areas tend to have different patterns / coloration. Below is a link to see what the Rhadinocentrus ornatus look like.

https://www.aquabid.com/cgi-bin/auction/auction.cgi?fwrainbows&1657385403 

[Sugarfoot]

On 7/9/2022 at 10:29 AM, Fishbros said:

      In my opinion one of my favorite beginner fish are Guppies.  Depending on the genetic strain and what the breeder did they can be pretty hardy fish.  They are very active and fluttering all over the tank and come in so many different colors.  Mine like to hang out with each other zooming around the tank and sometimes they will do their own thing.  You can keep them in a wide range of plants and water parameters.  Especially where you have had a Betta you can get some with a big flowy tail if you wanted to (one of my favorites).  They are also pretty commonly found and you could even have you child pick out a few they like to include them in the hobby.  I personally have not had any experience with silvertip tetras so I don't have any input on that, but they are beautiful fish.  I love your betta tank looks great! Sorry to hear you lost for fish that way!  

 

Here is a video from Cory with Aquarium co-op, he LOVES guppies as well.  There is a lot of info out there for them.  Happy fish hunting! 

 

 

On 7/9/2022 at 10:29 AM, Fishbros said:

      In my opinion one of my favorite beginner fish are Guppies.  Depending on the genetic strain and what the breeder did they can be pretty hardy fish.  They are very active and fluttering all over the tank and come in so many different colors.  Mine like to hang out with each other zooming around the tank and sometimes they will do their own thing.  You can keep them in a wide range of plants and water parameters.  Especially where you have had a Betta you can get some with a big flowy tail if you wanted to (one of my favorites).  They are also pretty commonly found and you could even have you child pick out a few they like to include them in the hobby.  I personally have not had any experience with silvertip tetras so I don't have any input on that, but they are beautiful fish.  I love your betta tank looks great! Sorry to hear you lost for fish that way!  

 

Here is a video from Cory with Aquarium co-op, he LOVES guppies as well.  There is a lot of info out there for them.  Happy fish hunting! 

 

I thought about guppies…I’m afraid they’ll over produce? What do you do in that case?

On 7/9/2022 at 10:45 AM, Struggle said:

You could look into smaller rainbow fish like Rhadinocentrus ornatus or the blue eyed rainbows as well. On the Rhads, the different collection areas tend to have different patterns / coloration. Below is a link to see what the Rhadinocentrus ornatus look like.

https://www.aquabid.com/cgi-bin/auction/auction.cgi?fwrainbows&1657385403 

These seem interesting- Are they all that expensive though? That one was $125 😅

[xXInkedPhoenixX]

The way you fix the overproduction thing: you only get males! 🙃

[Fishbros]

It's actually pretty simple.  Just don't get females.  I have have lots of male only guppies I got from big chain pet stores and only recently just got some females to breed.  All the pet stores I have been to have them labeled as male or female guppies. Usually male guppies are more colorful to. 

You could try them out in your six gallon if you wanted to I personally would not do more then 2 maybe 3 in a six gallon. 

[Fishbros]

Once you get into fish keeping like this though it is a slippery slope to MTS.  (Multiple tank syndrome) 

[Struggle]

On 7/9/2022 at 9:57 AM, Sugarfoot said:

 

I thought about guppies…I’m afraid they’ll over produce? What do you do in that case?

These seem interesting- Are they all that expensive though? That one was $125 😅

They are only $25 each for 5, that’s how I justify it in my head anyways😂. The blue eyed rainbows should be a little less expensive as well. 

[Fishbros]

It depends on where you get them high end breeders will cost more as well as color strains.  All of mine have been less then $3 a fish from big chain stores. 

Just make sure to quarantine them. 

[PotatoFish]

What about having some zebra danios? They are constantly moving around, and if you have a nice school of them going, I think that would look rather nice.

Most big chain stores sell them, they're quite hardy, and you can get different types of zebra danios. For example, you can pick out some long-fin ones or perhaps the ones that are spotted instead of striped. And, usually, they don't cost any extra if they just sell them as the group "zebra danios." The difficulty would come in trying to get the employee to catch exactly the one(s) you want 😄

 

I will caution you though to use a lid. They are known to be jumpers, and they have leapt straight out of my past tanks before I ensured that they had nicely-fitting lids. I was also told that if you have floating plants, they are far less likely to jump. Also, the floating plants will help you with the water change plan you mentioned you are trying to work out.

[Flumpweesel]

I would take him to a fish store and see what he responds to is it the frantic busy little fish or big gliding fish. Then plan from there.

Does he have a favourite colour?

[Sugarfoot]

On 7/9/2022 at 11:20 AM, PotatoFish said:

What about having some zebra danios? They are constantly moving around, and if you have a nice school of them going, I think that would look rather nice.

Most big chain stores sell them, they're quite hardy, and you can get different types of zebra danios. For example, you can pick out some long-fin ones or perhaps the ones that are spotted instead of striped. And, usually, they don't cost any extra if they just sell them as the group "zebra danios." The difficulty would come in trying to get the employee to catch exactly the one(s) you want 😄

 

I will caution you though to use a lid. They are known to be jumpers, and they have leapt straight out of my past tanks before I ensured that they had nicely-fitting lids. I was also told that if you have floating plants, they are far less likely to jump. Also, the floating plants will help you with the water change plan you mentioned you are trying to work out.

How many can I comfortably keep in a 20 gal long? Also, would panda corys still work? I’m thinking of just scratching the idea of even having a centerpiece fish so that the school is the focal point. 

On 7/9/2022 at 11:53 AM, Flumpweesel said:

I would take him to a fish store and see what he responds to is it the frantic busy little fish or big gliding fish. Then plan from there.

Does he have a favourite colour?

I’ve brought him to a store once and he wouldn’t leave without kicking and screaming haha. So when we were there he focused on those silver and black sharks? I forget what they’re really called but it’s what my uncle always told me they were called when I was little - I do know that those are a little harder to keep. He likes red and blues, I think? He’d appreciate color but I think it’s the movement and interaction he’d prefer 

On 7/9/2022 at 11:20 AM, PotatoFish said:

What about having some zebra danios? They are constantly moving around, and if you have a nice school of them going, I think that would look rather nice.

Most big chain stores sell them, they're quite hardy, and you can get different types of zebra danios. For example, you can pick out some long-fin ones or perhaps the ones that are spotted instead of striped. And, usually, they don't cost any extra if they just sell them as the group "zebra danios." The difficulty would come in trying to get the employee to catch exactly the one(s) you want 😄

 

I will caution you though to use a lid. They are known to be jumpers, and they have leapt straight out of my past tanks before I ensured that they had nicely-fitting lids. I was also told that if you have floating plants, they are far less likely to jump. Also, the floating plants will help you with the water change plan you mentioned you are trying to work out.

Yes I’m going to have a lid this time! 😂 lesson definitely learned!! 

[Sugarfoot]

On 7/9/2022 at 11:14 AM, Fishbros said:

It depends on where you get them high end breeders will cost more as well as color strains.  All of mine have been less then $3 a fish from big chain stores. 

Just make sure to quarantine them. 

Thank you for your suggestions! I’ll definitely think about it 👍👍

On 7/9/2022 at 11:10 AM, Struggle said:

They are only $25 each for 5, that’s how I justify it in my head anyways😂. The blue eyed rainbows should be a little less expensive as well. 

Ok that’s not as bad, haha. Would only 5 of them together be happy in a 20 long?

[Flumpweesel]

Cardinal or neon tetras for just pure visual bright and pretty and generally easy to find.

Or maybe rosy barbs fun bright and easy to keep. And won't bother anything else you pop in there. And they'll eat algae.

[nabokovfan87]

On 7/9/2022 at 7:08 AM, Sugarfoot said:

I have a 4 year old non verbal autistic son who is absolutely captivated by fish and when we had our betta he’d spend several minutes at a time watching him. So it’s important to me that it’s stimulating for him (and me!) and that’s why the silvertip tetra are really peaking my interest but I worry that a 20 gal long planted tank won’t be able to comfortable to house a large group of them.

When I first saw the tank photos my initial thought was "I really wish this was a 20L tank". I'm really excited for you and your son because it gives you some options.

I care for my stepbrother and stepsister and they are both autistic. One of them is definitely more interested and will spend time at the tank. I mention it just to say, I totally understand the mindset you're in and I really wish you the absolute best of luck. It sounds like you're in a really good place and long term this might be an amazing hobby for your son.

One of the things I learned was that it's a good tool. When she was learning about photosynthesis I showed her the tank and the plants pearling and it helped her to be amazed and in awe of seeing that. To see the plants "breathing" so to speak.

Second is that she really has her fish that interest her! The more interesting and more on awe of a type of fish the better that engagement is. She was really into stingrays and so I found some hillstream loaches for the tank. She absolutely loves the plecos and going to the shop to see the big common plecos at the store.  If there's some feature, color, behavior that is interesting, they will form that attachment.

Livebearers was awesome because they got to see fry, but when the fry didn't make it, that was upsetting.

As for fish I'd recommend:

I HIGHLY HIGHLY HIGHLY recommend a corydoras.

Some type of shrimp (just not ghost shrimp)

Bolivian ram is a very awesome personality for a fish and makes it a very easy tank to care for.

White clouds, some barbs, some rasboras, and some tetras that have unique colors. Whatever your son's favorite color is, that's a great place to start in those species.

My best advice would be to watch some of the videos of store tours at the co-op and just pretend you're at the shop looking for fish. If you have ACO local that's a great trip to make to try to get some of those same fish but if you don't I would greatly encourage you to check aquahuna and see if they have the fish that were interesting to your son during watching the store tour.

Best of luck, enjoy the process, take your time.

On 7/9/2022 at 7:08 AM, Sugarfoot said:

I want all the living things inside this tank to be happy and comfortable. I’m not trying to breed or anything, at least not on purpose! I still consider myself new at this so anything that’s pretty hard wouldn’t be a good fit. Here’s a picture of my 6 gallon that’s currently not stocked with anything. Im still running it and putting frozen brine shrimp in there just to keep the bacteria happy 🤷🏻‍♀️

I would absolutely recommend adding some shrimp or some nano fish. Not many. But that's a perfect little shrimp tank.

Edited July 9, 2022 by nabokovfan87

[Sugarfoot]

On 7/9/2022 at 1:22 PM, nabokovfan87 said:

When I first saw the tank photos my initial thought was "I really wish this was a 20L tank". I'm really excited for you and your son because it gives you some options.

I care for my stepbrother and stepsister and they are both autistic. One of them is definitely more interested and will spend time at the tank. I mention it just to say, I totally understand the mindset you're in and I really wish you the absolute best of luck. It sounds like you're in a really good place and long term this might be an amazing hobby for your son.

One of the things I learned was that it's a good tool. When she was learning about photosynthesis I showed her the tank and the plants pearling and it helped her to be amazed and in awe of seeing that. To see the plants "breathing" so to speak.

Second is that she really has her fish that interest her! The more interesting and more on awe of a type of fish the better that engagement is. She was really into stingrays and so I found some hillstream loaches for the tank. She absolutely loves the plecos and going to the shop to see the big common plecos at the store.  If there's some feature, color, behavior that is interesting, they will form that attachment.

Livebearers was awesome because they got to see fry, but when the fry didn't make it, that was upsetting.

As for fish I'd recommend:

I HIGHLY HIGHLY HIGHLY recommend a corydoras.

Some type of shrimp

Bolivian ram is a very awesome personality for a fish and makes it a very easy tank to care for.

White clouds, some barbs, some rasboras, and some tetras that have unique colors. Whatever your son's favorite color is, that's a great place to start in those species.

My best advice would be to watch some of the videos of store tours at the co-op and just pretend you're at the shop looking for fish. If you have ACO local that's a great trip to make to try to get some of those same fish but if you don't I would greatly encourage you to check aquahuna and see if they have the fish that were interesting to your son during watching the store tour.

Best of luck, enjoy the process, take your time.

I would absolutely recommend adding some shrimp or some nano fish. Not many. But that's a perfect little shrimp tank.

Yea, sorry - maybe I should’ve have posted the 6 gallon. I’m not even sure I’m going to keep it going, at least not with any fish. I was thinking of maybe using it just for plants and maybe some snails or something 🤷🏻‍♀️
For the 20 long I’m planning I think The corys for sure - I was thinking 8 panda corys. It’s the mid level schooling fish I’m hung up on. I wanted a large group of them - if I chose something like green tetra I’d be worried if they’d get lost in that tank 🤷🏻‍♀️ No clue. That’s why the silver tip tetra intrigued me because they come up to the glass if you touch it but only if there’s a large group but I don’t know if with the 8 Cory I can have a large group so then I’m kinda back on the green tetra?? Everything I’m reading is saying 3 gal per silvertip tetra so that would only give me 6-7 and I’m afraid that won’t be a large enough number to keep them peaceful and happy. I was also looking into rummynose tetra. Then I read somewhere if I had a nicely planted 20 long, which I’m attempting to do- I can have like 12 silvertips in there- but then does that mean no corys? And is that even true in the first place? I guess the green tetra would be a safer bet and then get a honey gourami or something. I’m all over the place, sorry 😂

[nabokovfan87]

On 7/9/2022 at 11:20 AM, Sugarfoot said:

I was thinking 8 panda corys.

I'd recommend 5-6 to start. You'll have more, I promise. I started with 5 I think, 3 survived acclimation and QT, we have ~30 now.

 

 

On 7/9/2022 at 11:20 AM, Sugarfoot said:

That’s why the silver tip tetra intrigued me because they come up to the glass if you touch it but only if there’s a large group but I don’t know if with the 8 Cory I can have a large group so then I’m kinda back on the green tetra?? Everything I’m reading is saying 3 gal per silvertip tetra so that would only give me 6-7 and I’m afraid that won’t be a large enough number to keep them peaceful and happy. I was also looking into rummynose tetra. Then I read somewhere if I had a nicely planted 20 long, which I’m attempting to do- I can have like 12 silvertips in there- but then does that mean no corys? And is that even true in the first place? I guess the green tetra would be a safer bet and then get a honey gourami or something. I’m all over the place, sorry 😂

No need to be sorry, you're perfectly fine!  AQAdvisor is an awesome tool.  Having plants will definitely be a great way to "add some space" for fish by helping with the filtration.  That is working in your favor.

https://aqadvisor.com/

This is a 20L with a 50G rated HoB filter.

A chili rasbora might be a cool fish too.  All depends on what colors and stuff your son likes, temps, etc.

[Patrick_G]

@Sugarfoot, I think guppies would really be fun for him. They’re certainly follow a finger around the tank and when the little guy comes in the room they’ll crowd the glass nearest him and do a little dance begging for food. A bunch of males might have the most impact color wise but I bet he would love to wake up one morning to some baby fish! 😁

[Intuos]

I would suggest rummy nose tetras, they are easy to look after and can usually handle a fairly wide range of water perramiters. Plus they are really active and will follow anything outside the tank and in it (I have to be careful when maintaining the tank as they are really inquisitive and sometimes get in the way 😂). In a 20 gallon long you could easily have a good size group of 12-18. 

[Solstice_Lacer]

I'll put in a vote for white cloud mountain minnows since I have recent experience with them. Peaceful, small, interactive, nice colors, inexpensive. Just don't get them too hot. They'd be good with the pandas. If you want a centerpiece a honey gourami could be nice. 

 

Edited July 10, 2022 by Solstice_Lacer
Grammar

[Sugarfoot]

On 7/9/2022 at 2:26 PM, nabokovfan87 said:

I'd recommend 5-6 to start. You'll have more, I promise. I started with 5 I think, 3 survived acclimation and QT, we have ~30 now.

 

 

No need to be sorry, you're perfectly fine!  AQAdvisor is an awesome tool.  Having plants will definitely be a great way to "add some space" for fish by helping with the filtration.  That is working in your favor.

https://aqadvisor.com/

This is a 20L with a 50G rated HoB filter.

A chili rasbora might be a cool fish too.  All depends on what colors and stuff your son likes, temps, etc.

I used that aqadvisor and thought this must be too good to be true lol - that’s great news for me, thank you! Thanks on the advice on the Cory’s- I’ll do that then. I didn’t realize they’d breed that easily. 
As far as the filter, I ordered the shark pro 500- I haven’t received it yet, not am I sure that it will be a good fit. I thought it might be a little too intense for a 20 long. It’s an internal filter but I think it’s probably better for maybe a 35 gallon tank but it says okay to use for 11 gallons… so I don’t know. 
I just started delving into heaters and thinking if i should avoid that and get fish that don’t need it. I used one with my Betts and one time noticed that the water was at like 88 and glad I caught it before it cooked him! So I’m a little weary on them now. 

On 7/9/2022 at 2:32 PM, Patrick_G said:

@Sugarfoot, I think guppies would really be fun for him. They’re certainly follow a finger around the tank and when the little guy comes in the room they’ll crowd the glass nearest him and do a little dance begging for food. A bunch of males might have the most impact color wise but I bet he would love to wake up one morning to some baby fish! 😁

That’s good to know! And yes the babies would definitely be a cool bonus. I think I’m going to come up with 3 different setups on paper and discuss them with the family and maybe take a vote. There’s so many things we can do it’s hard to narrow down to 1! I guess this is how people end up with 12 tanks 😂

On 7/9/2022 at 8:08 PM, Solstice_Lacer said:

I'll put in a vote for white cloud mountain minnows since I have recent experience with them. Peaceful, small, interactive, nice colors, inexpensive. Just don't get them too hot. They'd be good with the pandas. If you want a centerpiece a honey gourami could be nice. 

 

Yes! I watched a couple videos on those and they’re a contender as well I think! Thanks for the suggestion, I really appreciate any input. I like the honey gouramis!

[Sugarfoot]

On 7/9/2022 at 7:06 PM, Intuos said:

I would suggest rummy nose tetras, they are easy to look after and can usually handle a fairly wide range of water perramiters. Plus they are really active and will follow anything outside the tank and in it (I have to be careful when maintaining the tank as they are really inquisitive and sometimes get in the way 😂). In a 20 gallon long you could easily have a good size group of 12-18. 

That’s another one I’m toying around with- great to know I can have that many!

[nabokovfan87]

On 7/9/2022 at 5:31 PM, Sugarfoot said:

As far as the filter, I ordered the shark pro 500- I haven’t received it yet, not am I sure that it will be a good fit. I thought it might be a little too intense for a 20 long. It’s an internal filter but I think it’s probably better for maybe a 35 gallon tank but it says okay to use for 11 gallons… so I don’t know. 

I would have to verify the dimensions but the filter should be fine.  I have my opinions about how it's setup! But that's just because I used the normal shark ADV internal and got frustrated by it.  I'll explain this at the end to try to avoid confusion.  For what you have you might want to have one of those on each side of the tank.  For the short term I'd recommend the filter on one side (the output goes across the length of the tank with the spraybar) and then on the opposite side of the tank add an airstone to make sure there isn't any dead spots and the tank has good aeration and good flow. The corys will also play in the bubbles sometimes too! 

What I will say, if you have a 20G tank, you probably want a 40+ Gallon rated filter.

On my 10G I used a Tidal 35.  On my 29G I run Tidal 55s.  On my 55G and 75G I ran TWO Tidal 75s.  Some fish absolutely love to have good water movement, some don't, so the fish will tell you if they want more or less.  Redness in the gills, breathing rapidly, staying at the surface, or hiding from the flow of the filter and now swimming normally would be some of those indicators. 

The "middle" one is rated for the tank you have in terms of the advice above, but I don't like how sicce has designed these in one aspect.  Essentially, I would use whatever one has the right height for your tank and that's the only dimension I would use. This would be just under 12" tall.





So you do have room for that middle size or to add on another foam section if you can find just the add-on box itself 🙂

This is how the cartridges are designed.  The bottom most looks like this.  I do not like that it's 3 pieces of foam.  I think this will cause issues long term.  It also makes absolutely no sense to differentiate between a foam section and a non-foam section because the intake grill grates are on every box no matter what. So it's very likely the highest power intake is simply going to be whatever is closest to the pump itself.  It's a weird design choice to me.



If you buy any of the other sizes of the filter the boxes will be filled with this:



Now we know why it has 3 pieces of foam. and I really, really, really don't think those small pieces of foam on the outside are thick enough to protect the media too well.  The grey box in the middle is for media. Could've easily just been a media bag, but this is what they chose to use.

I would suggest ONLY using foam in this filter, not ceramic media because of the design issue mentioned above.  It's a weird choice to me and I don't think it serves the fish too well.
 

[Sugarfoot]

On 7/9/2022 at 8:51 PM, nabokovfan87 said:

I would have to verify the dimensions but the filter should be fine.  I have my opinions about how it's setup! But that's just because I used the normal shark ADV internal and got frustrated by it.  I'll explain this at the end to try to avoid confusion.  For what you have you might want to have one of those on each side of the tank.  For the short term I'd recommend the filter on one side (the output goes across the length of the tank with the spraybar) and then on the opposite side of the tank add an airstone to make sure there isn't any dead spots and the tank has good aeration and good flow. The corys will also play in the bubbles sometimes too! 

What I will say, if you have a 20G tank, you probably want a 40+ Gallon rated filter.

On my 10G I used a Tidal 35.  On my 29G I run Tidal 55s.  On my 55G and 75G I ran TWO Tidal 75s.  Some fish absolutely love to have good water movement, some don't, so the fish will tell you if they want more or less.  Redness in the gills, breathing rapidly, staying at the surface, or hiding from the flow of the filter and now swimming normally would be some of those indicators. 

The "middle" one is rated for the tank you have in terms of the advice above, but I don't like how sicce has designed these in one aspect.  Essentially, I would use whatever one has the right height for your tank and that's the only dimension I would use. This would be just under 12" tall.





So you do have room for that middle size or to add on another foam section if you can find just the add-on box itself 🙂

This is how the cartridges are designed.  The bottom most looks like this.  I do not like that it's 3 pieces of foam.  I think this will cause issues long term.  It also makes absolutely no sense to differentiate between a foam section and a non-foam section because the intake grill grates are on every box no matter what. So it's very likely the highest power intake is simply going to be whatever is closest to the pump itself.  It's a weird design choice to me.



If you buy any of the other sizes of the filter the boxes will be filled with this:



Now we know why it has 3 pieces of foam. and I really, really, really don't think those small pieces of foam on the outside are thick enough to protect the media too well.  The grey box in the middle is for media. Could've easily just been a media bag, but this is what they chose to use.

I would suggest ONLY using foam in this filter, not ceramic media because of the design issue mentioned above.  It's a weird choice to me and I don't think it serves the fish too well.
 

It was an impulse purchase - I thought if I waited they would sell out. I did buy the extra cartridge box…I thought maybe if I didn’t like it I could find someone who could use it 🤷🏻‍♀️ I saw things on the tidal - so with the 20 long you think I should have the tidal 55? Set it up say in the middle of the tank or to one side? And then setup my air stone on the other? Or have 2 smaller filters on both sides with maybe an air stone in the middle? 
I’m still trying to figure out my fish 😅 I’ve contemplated every fish under the rainbow. Currently I’m trying to learn more about pearl danios, not the celestial pearl danios- but I’m wondering if they’re the same because there’s so little videos or information about them and all I keep seeing is stuff about the cpd’s. 

[Emrie G]

Pearl danios are different from celestial pearl danios! CPDs are the spotted ones and pearls are just the, well, pearly looking ones you see at big box stores. I kept a school for a bit and they were really fun fish, but oh man they are jumpers. I thought my lid was air tight and they still kept escaping, so I eventually stopped keeping them, but they do school together and move all around, and are super pretty once they get bigger.