Upgrade 20L to 29? Pros and Cons.

[rydin4life]

I've made some posts about a 20L that I have with 12 Long fin white cloud mountain minnows, a Tidal 55, and medium sponge filter.  I'll be adding a hillstream loach to this as well and am considering upgrading to a 29 gallon.  I had the 20L already which is why I used it, but I think the 29 would look better with a taller background and I already have the stand and lid that would work and the filtration should be fine as well.  I could then add some guppies just to have more of a community tank. 

Pros and cons of going to the 29?  I'd just keep my 20L as a quarantine tank for now.

[Andrew Puhr]

It's more water volume in the same footprint which is nice. I like the 29 gallon especially for different levels of swimmers. You could add more bottom dwellers if you wanted. The white clouds and guppies would occupy similar water levels. If you have live plants and lights you would just have to account for more distance between the light and plants. 

[rydin4life]

On 9/17/2024 at 4:35 PM, Andrew Puhr said:

It's more water volume in the same footprint which is nice. I like the 29 gallon especially for different levels of swimmers. You could add more bottom dwellers if you wanted. The white clouds and guppies would occupy similar water levels. If you have live plants and lights you would just have to account for more distance between the light and plants. 

No light and I have fake plants and Gobi dessert rock so no worries there.  What would be good fish to add along with the minnows and hillstream loach?

[nabokovfan87]

I am in the middle of breaking down my 29G and moving it into a 20Long!  I much prefer the "longer" look visually.  Both are great, I loved the 29, but I am switching back to a 20L for a variety of reasons.  Plant depth being one of the big ones.  It's a lot easier when the tank is longer + shallower to do a lot of things.

If you want a ~20G tank and you want something slightly bigger, I would just recommend getting a 60G when you can and go from the 20L into the 60G

On 9/17/2024 at 1:29 PM, rydin4life said:

hillstream loach to this as well and am considering upgrading to a 29 gallon.

Definitely opt for the 3-4 foot long tank as opposed to just adding height.

 

[Pepere]

The height of the 29 gives you more opportunties to have fish at different levels.   Ie my Harlequin Rasboras and Green Neon Tetras really prefer the middle of the tank, whereas Cories and Kuhli Loaches like to spend most of their time at the bottom…  

 

with the height of a 29 it begs for a surface fish of some sort. Hatchet fish, emerald Eye Rasboras, Chili Rasboras are three that jump to mind that spend most of their time near the top…

 

[rydin4life]

On 9/17/2024 at 4:54 PM, nabokovfan87 said:

I am in the middle of breaking down my 29G and moving it into a 20Long!  I much prefer the "longer" look visually.  Both are great, I loved the 29, but I am switching back to a 20L for a variety of reasons.  Plant depth being one of the big ones.  It's a lot easier when the tank is longer + shallower to do a lot of things.

If you want a ~20G tank and you want something slightly bigger, I would just recommend getting a 60G when you can and go from the 20L into the 60G

Definitely opt for the 3-4 foot long tank as opposed to just adding height.

 

On 9/17/2024 at 4:35 PM, Andrew Puhr said:

It's more water volume in the same footprint which is nice. I like the 29 gallon especially for different levels of swimmers. You could add more bottom dwellers if you wanted. The white clouds and guppies would occupy similar water levels. If you have live plants and lights you would just have to account for more distance between the light and plants. 

 

Im not going to be going bigger than the 29 at this point.  I love the 40 breeder size and other bigger tanks, but the 29 gives me more options and doesnt require a different stand, filtration, etc.   Cost is a factor along with convincing my wife so I'm either at 29 or keep the 20L at this point.

 

What about cherry barbs?  Would they be at the same level at the minnows?  Right now my minnows are all over thr place but with an extra 6" of water column, that may change.

[nabokovfan87]

On 9/17/2024 at 2:56 PM, rydin4life said:

Cost is a factor along with convincing my wife so I'm either at 29 or keep the 20L at this point.

Have two 20's side by side?

Honestly, it's not about convincing or anything.

 

 

On 9/17/2024 at 2:56 PM, rydin4life said:

What about cherry barbs?  Would they be at the same level at the minnows?  Right now my minnows are all over thr place but with an extra 6" of water column, that may change.

I have WCMM in my 29 and 20.... moved them back and forth.  I also have cherry barbs in my 75g. 

Cherries = they stay low, they want cover.  There's literally nothing else in the tank and barbs in general want things around them... things to swim through.  That is what would determine where they are, being how tall is the hardscape and plants. 

WCMM = they just don't care.  They are everywhere around the tank, midwater.  they sleep low, feed up top. 

[lefty o]

imo, there is no con to going to a 29 from a 20l.

[EricksonAquatics]

I don’t have a 20L, but I do like my 29. The extra 9g up top gives you more options in terms of top dwelling fish (as others have already said). So far I think it’s a nice size and I would upgrade if you have the opportunity - because hey, who doesn’t want to keep new fish?

[MWilk]

The only con is that you have to set it up all over again but it sounds like you don’t have plants anyway. The other con is also plant related, as others mentioned. Light penetration is weaker. I basically got my 29 and 20L setups exactly backwards, cherry shrimp in the 29 and a cold water heavily planted community tank for the 20L. My plants regularly grow out of the top of the tank. 
 

I keep white cloud minnows in both tanks, they do not care about depth at all and just go wherever they want. They’re very good fish. 
 

Don’t mind my ugly tank. It’s a work in progress. I don’t really know what to do with that vertical space. 

[rydin4life]

thanks for all the input.  I think I will upgrade to the 29.  I'll still keep the 20L, so I can always go back to it if I decide to in the future.  It will be a little work to change over, but only some large pieces of rock, fake plants, and the filters, so not a big deal...just takes a little time.  As has been mentioned, I don't have live plants so lighting and light penetration isn't an issue in this case.  

I did want to add another fish or a small school, so this will give me the opportunity to do so as well which is a plus.

 

Thanks all!

[Chick-In-Of-TheSea]

On 9/17/2024 at 4:29 PM, rydin4life said:

I've made some posts about a 20L that I have with 12 Long fin white cloud mountain minnows, a Tidal 55, and medium sponge filter.  I'll be adding a hillstream loach to this as well and am considering upgrading to a 29 gallon.  I had the 20L already which is why I used it, but I think the 29 would look better with a taller background and I already have the stand and lid that would work and the filtration should be fine as well.  I could then add some guppies just to have more of a community tank. 

Pros and cons of going to the 29?  I'd just keep my 20L as a quarantine tank for now.

I have both a 29 and a 20. The 29 is deeper and some plants don’t do as well because they want to be closer to light. The 29 also will get more of your arm wet during maintenance. The pro is that it takes up the same amount of floor space as the 20 and gives you 9 extra gallons you can stock. And you can get fish that like the various levels of the tank - low, mid, high. If you get a mystery snail it will climb up to the top and jump off the glass for a nice long parasnailing ride down to the bottom.

Edited yesterday at 02:19 PM by Chick-In-Of-TheSea

[rydin4life]

On 9/17/2024 at 5:17 PM, Pepere said:

The height of the 29 gives you more opportunties to have fish at different levels.   Ie my Harlequin Rasboras and Green Neon Tetras really prefer the middle of the tank, whereas Cories and Kuhli Loaches like to spend most of their time at the bottom…  

 

with the height of a 29 it begs for a surface fish of some sort. Hatchet fish, emerald Eye Rasboras, Chili Rasboras are three that jump to mind that spend most of their time near the top…

 

 

 

Would a group of danios work ok with my long fin minnows or would that not be a good mix?  I do want something that will be at a different level, but nothing that will nip and the minnows fins.

 

[AllFishNoBrakes]

I have a bunch of tank sizes. 2.5 gallons (for hatching eggs and the first stage of raising fry), and 10’s, 20 high, 20 long, 29’s, and 55’s. 
 

29’s are my favorite size (that I’ve played with thus far). I like the height because you can get bottom, mid, and top dwellers going. Personally, I haven’t really had issues with plants and the extra depth (I know you said this isn’t an issue for you), and I absolutely love that it’s the smallest of the “bigger” tanks, so you can do a lot with them, but they’re not not a giant time suck or money pit to set up and maintain. 

[EricksonAquatics]

On 9/18/2024 at 8:18 AM, Chick-In-Of-TheSea said:

If you get a mystery snail it will climb up to the top and jump off the glass for a nice long parasnailing ride down to the bottom.

The best part about this size tank, obviously!!

[ange]

I know that you've somewhat decided already but I wanted to say that I've asked myself the same question multiple times and what usually ends up happening is I make the switch. 20 long is great for keeping yourself relatively dry but the 29 is (to me) a more beautiful view and of course looks great with some plants that tend to get cramped in the 12" allowed by the 20 long.