20 Gallon Long

[spoot]

So, I keep eyeballing this empty 20 Gallon long I have sitting at the apartment. When I bread Sajicas and Kribs I used it as a grow out tank, but now that I'm not doing that anymore, it's just sitting there.... empty.... taunting me.

Right now I'm thinking it would look good with a substrate of black sand, some low light Crypts and Anubias with a small piece of spiderwood, and starring Marty the Crowntail.



Any ideas what I could try with him? Someone suggested some neons, but tbh, I'm not a fan... maybe black neons tho? A school of black skirt tetras? A lot of it will depend of Marty's temperment I guess. He's been the lone wolf in his 3.5 since I've had him. He may not enjoy company.

I think I may try some ghost shrimp and an albino BN for clean up.

What kind of filtration should I go with? When I had it for fry I used a simple sponge filter, think this would work? I actually think if I kept it with just Marty and the shrimp I could forgo a filter completely and just use the smallest wavemaker fan/powerhead I could find to add a little current. I might just get a 20-30 gallon hob and remove the carbon from the pad. Probably the best idea? Since it will house a betta, I don't want a ton of flow, just enough to avoid the water stagnating.

Also, I never could get lighting right with it. Either I had a 36" light over it with 3" hanging off each side, or I had a 24" on top of the glass with dark areas on the ends . Maybe a couple of clip on desk lamps with some Spiral CFLs. I'm going to use the stand I had made for my 75 on previously. It sustained a small amount of water damage back in the floods 2 years ago. I didn't feel good with it holding a 75G, but it should still be way more than adequate for a 20. This means I should have a lot of space around the tank that I could mount a lighting fixture of some sort. The only other option I have spied locally is a 30" T5NO fixture at Exotic Tropicals for $40. That may be just as a cheap as buying the clip-ons, or even building a top. I just worry it may be too much light. With the lamps/clip ons using spiral CFLs I can always buy different wattage bulbs and easily adjust how far off the surface the light is.



Any other ideas? I thought about trying to do a paludarium... but with 20G Longs only being 12" high, that doesn't give much in terms of water level. I think those are suited more for tall tanks.

[spoot]

Hmmm upon further research the BN is out. I thought a 20 long would be sufficient for a single, but apparently not so much.

May just leave it as ghost shrimp on clean up until the tank gets settled then add some ottos.

[kyangelsncorys]

i breed my BN in a 20 long , i have 1 male and 2 to 5 females and they do great in a 20 long as long as you feed them and do your water changes

[belxavier]

Yeah I don't see anything wrong with a bristle nose in a 20g long.

[tlyons01]

I agree. I have an albino BN and I picked this species because they only get to be about 4-5 inches. I think the ghost shrimp is probably a bad idea. Well, maybe good in a sense. Since he has lived alone for so long, he might enjoy hunting them down. I had a 5 gallon that had one betta and one ghost shrimp. He chased that shrimp around and nipped at him constantly until I removed the shrimp. The good thing would be that the shrimp are very cheap and might be a good way to test his temperament.
For lighting you could look into a hydroponics grow light, I have seen them on amazon.com. They are adjustable in height and a good base that the light hangs on. I'm not sure how long a 20 gal long is, but I think a 2' light was around 50.00 when I was deciding a few months back on my options..

HTH

[rickl]

What about red cherry shrimp, or a couple dwarf african frogs? I've read conflicting results about shrimp and bettas -- if you get the RCS locally though, worst case is slightly expensive live food? In a 20L with a single Betta I bet you could get them breeding fast enough to keep up even if some of them become snacks

-Rick (the armchair aquarist)

[spoot]

Ghost Shrimp are cheap as dirt here (something like 4 for a buck) so I figured I'd try a group of 12 of em and if they get ate, it's just fine dining for Marty and I'll work out something else. With a 20 gallon long, heavily planted, and spiderwood, I think they would have plenty of places to hide and escape.

I've never had any luck with the African frogs. I'd love keep them, but I haven't had one make it past a week. Despite all the different types of food I give my guys, none of the frogs I have had ever ate.

I think I am gonna try one or 2 BNs. Worst case scenario I have to take em out and move to my 75. Which is fine... not like my Clown Plecs are eating algae anyway.

Still looking for suggestions on filtration... HOB is what I'm leaning toward. I think a sponge would get clogged if I use sand as the substrate. Initially I thought about doing a half and half substrate with gravel and sand, and just putting the sponge on the grave side. I dunno though.

Thanks for the tip on Hydroponics Lighting. Will definitely look in to it. with the reflector system on them even a 24" should cover the tank.


Plan Right Now:
1 Crowntail Betta
12 Ghost Shrimp
2 BNs
6 Harlequin Rasbora

[tlyons01]

the stock list looks good. I like Rasboras very much. I have used a sponge filter on sand and never had an issue with the sand getting sucked on it. An HOB may not get the flow all the way to the other end of your tank, maybe use a powerhead on the other end to keep circulation. I had a betta get sucked into the grill of a power head I was running and he died there. Broke my heart, so I would say be careful which you choose and be sure you have something that doesn't come loose so the fins won't get sucked in. Handsome Betta, by the way