# 20 Long Community Tank



## Hadouken441 (Jan 27, 2010)

All right ladies and gentleman, I have upped to a bigger tank. If you know me, i've only done 10 gallons or smallers. But I decided to go for a 20 Long. I Love it so far. Its still in its cycling stage but with how many plants i have, Im getting barely any ammonia or anything haha. Silent Cycle i guess.

Anyway here my equipment

4x18Watt T5 lights
2x Aquaclear 20 Filters
Marineland Heater
Co2 setup
Fertilizers of all sorts


Fish so far! (still adding every week so bioload doesnt out compete the bacteria)

6 Espei Rasbora
5 Ember Tetra
1 Endler Guppy
*Looking* For the right Betta (a nice one haha)

*If your curious on the plants let me know!*

*Future inhabitants* 
40-50 Cherry Shrimp (I have these guys breeding like CRAZY in my other tank)
10 Crystal Red Shrimp (Love these beautfil Shrimp, One is pregnant right now in other tank)


Alright enough talk heres a front tank pic!










Close up of wood formation!











Anyway let me know what you guys think!


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## ThePearlFish (Mar 31, 2009)

this looks awesome. very attractive. I had a 20g L community with a betta  it CAN work. I am jealous that your's looked better than mine did


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## Hadouken441 (Jan 27, 2010)

Haha thanks. I think if I get em small they end up being nicer. Thats how all my other betta worked out at least.


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## lilchiwolf (Jan 10, 2011)

nice! I have been wanting to get one of these tanks and add in dividers so I can have even more bettas


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## ThePearlFish (Mar 31, 2009)

My male was full grown, but he had a really mellow personality and a LOT of patience for the fish that lived with him (the Cardinal tetras thought he was god and followed him endlessly and the corys would swim into him or land on him:roll: ) He was the best betta ever, and I haven't found one like him still. (the one in my avatar)


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## Hadouken441 (Jan 27, 2010)

So that pic of the tank was when i First set it up. Since then my carpet has been spreading very very fast. My guess in the end of this month, you wont see any substrate at all. I'll post pics frequently!


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## bloo97 (Mar 6, 2010)

Nice tank!x


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## motten06 (Dec 8, 2010)

Thats amazing


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## gbose (Dec 2, 2010)

Lovely tank!!! good luck with the betta!


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## Hadouken441 (Jan 27, 2010)

Update Update Update Update

Its been about a week since the tank was started and already crazy growth! My Moss Is Almost completely covering my Branch Wood and you can see all the runners I have on my carpet Plant Glosso. I'll have a carpet in no time! Slight algae problem but i've been workin on it!

Oh and I also have some Tropica 049 Plant coming in. Super pretty plant. Grows like a stem plant but only gets about 2 inches tall. Good for displaying different heights in a tank!

Sorry about pics! Girlfriend took the camera for the weekend!


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## Lion Mom (Jun 14, 2010)

Awesome!!!!!!


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## Cravenne (Dec 20, 2010)

Looks really fantastic  

There is really nothing more appealing to the eye than a live-planted tank....my fav!!

Great job.


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## Hadouken441 (Jan 27, 2010)

Haha thanks guys. I'll get more pics with a better camera this week! I mean it when I say it grows like crazy. You can see new growth every day haha


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## wallywestisthebest333 (Nov 30, 2009)

Your tank is SO beautiful! <3 ;_; I hope one day when I have the cash time and patience I can arrange a beautiful tank like this! <3 With CO2 and everything! <3


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## Hadouken441 (Jan 27, 2010)

Haha thank you. Its not as much money if you shop correctly! I know where you can get some good lights for super super cheap. And there are some good alternatives to co2. I dont like that yeast stuff (used to do it.... really messy) but you can do some cool stuff with a paintball tank. And if you buy plants from hobbiest you can get a lot for $15


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## wallywestisthebest333 (Nov 30, 2009)

Are there any hobbyists in particular you can recommend? ;] I'm always looking for cheaper plants and faster shipping!

Also how much does the average paintball CO2 setup work?


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## Hadouken441 (Jan 27, 2010)

Well my Paintball co2 is a little nicer than a DIY one. Mine has an electric solenoid that turns off the co2 when I unplug it. I dont like suffocating my fish at night. That one is about $100. But you can make one with a paintball regulator and any paintball tank for about.... $50 bucks all together? 

Any person selling plant packages on Plantedtank.net is always going to give generous amounts. I got ALL my plants from there for about $40. And I have like 20 different plants in there


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## wallywestisthebest333 (Nov 30, 2009)

Nice I think if I did go CO2 I'd save up the cash to get that electric solenoid and do it right! ;]

I believe I'm registered at planted tank so I'll try there next time I need any plants! =] Thanks! =]


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## Hadouken441 (Jan 27, 2010)

Alright folks! Hit my first snag on a new tank. I have a slight Bacterial Bloom. I Think it happened because I gassed my fish to death by accident. So when I woke up a lost about.... 6 fish. For how long they were in there, that could have caused enough bacteria to act out! Anyway I took the fish out asap and the best thing to do is wait it out! I might do a water change tomorrow.

On the good side! My RO system came in today! Now I dont have to drive to my lfs to get pure water. I can get 5 Gallons in about 1 hour and a half. Woot! I'll post pics when I can


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## Lion Mom (Jun 14, 2010)

"I Think it happened because I gassed my fish to death by accident."

How in the heck did THAT happen?


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## weluvbettas (May 29, 2010)

Lion Mom said:


> "I Think it happened because I gassed my fish to death by accident."
> 
> How in the heck did THAT happen?


Its when there is too much co2 in a tank (?) Dont know if i correct ? Im a low tech freak  Not into the high tech stuff!!


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## Hadouken441 (Jan 27, 2010)

So I promised Updates! Woot! Check out that carpet! Not bad! Its only been like 2 weeks too!

Also got a new plant. Its beautiful. Its called S. Repens or Tropica 049. It grows super super small in a flower growth. Very good for different heights in my tank!

Oh and also made a new Co2 Reactor. Works great. It shoots co2 all through my tank for perfect distribution. 

Dont mind the Algae! It happens during new tanks whoops!


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## Goomba3 (Jan 20, 2011)

WoooOOOooOOOOOoOOooOOoOooW is about all I can say... O_O


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## ThePearlFish (Mar 31, 2009)

i am so jealous of your skillz


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## breannakristine (Mar 26, 2010)

I'm jealous!


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## Hadouken441 (Jan 27, 2010)

I ordered a bunch on Anubias plants by misscalculation of how much room I have left in the tank! If I have extras, I'll sell em to anyone here for a good price! Let me know if anyone is interested!


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## Alex09 (Aug 9, 2010)

Beautiful tank you have there...


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## Hadouken441 (Jan 27, 2010)

Thank you! I wanna see other peoples planted tank and set ups! Post pics if you got em!


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## Alex09 (Aug 9, 2010)

My low tech setup. No co2, ferts (except for generic LFS plant food), natural lighting supplemented with 2-3 hrs of CFL...
Picture (few weeks ago)
Picture (today)
VIDEO (today)

Gah! was putting in a root tab for my apongeton (who really wants to be a lily) a few days ago. The ones I use start immediately dissolving in water. Didnt get to bury it in time. Most of it went into the water column. Now I have algae -_- Didnt help that the lamp was on all day on tuesday. I was out and the timer seemed to skip a cycle... I'll have to scrape as much of it off tomorrow (WC day)


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## Hadouken441 (Jan 27, 2010)

What tabs do you use? I use rootmedics you should give that a shot. I love there whole fert line.

And i like the idea of your anubias coffee growing out of the tank. Pretty cool!


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## Alex09 (Aug 9, 2010)

I used API root tabs. Will have a look at those other ones. I have no anubias. Emmersed plants are Pothos and Peace Lily. Common house plants lol. You can see a closeup of them in the vid at ~1:40.


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## Hadouken441 (Jan 27, 2010)

What lighting do you use? It looks a little dark! I know a great site that sells lights for super cheap.


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## scootshoot (Oct 11, 2010)

Hmm, your name sounds familiar. You the guy who posted months ago with the amazing 5 gallon planted tank running on CO2 paint ball canisters? If so, nice upgrade to a 20 gallon. You show mad skills with planted tanks mg:


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## Hadouken441 (Jan 27, 2010)

Yeah thats me haha! Didnt think it was amazing haha just simple! I took the driftwood out of there and used it in my new tank! The betta is still in there with like 50 shrimp and tons of floating anubias haha.


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## Alex09 (Aug 9, 2010)

Hadouken441 said:


> What lighting do you use? It looks a little dark! I know a great site that sells lights for super cheap.


Mostly just natural indirect sunlight (tank is below a window). I used to have the CFL on for 8 hours a day (tried 13 watt & 26 watt 6500k) but I had a horrible (HORRIBLE!) algae problem. Scraped the tank, did a blackout, and cut the light. Problem hasnt come back since. Pics are darker than real life. Not to mention that all the pics were taken when the room itself is dark to minimize glare and reflection. Normally I have my shutters open and they provide a constant source of light into the tank throughout the day.


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## scootshoot (Oct 11, 2010)

Sweet thought it was ya! Your 5 gallon planted tank was unique, not many 5 gallons set up like yours so it was easy to remember. I recall a poster thinking the closeup pic of that tank was a 15+ gallon!

So you decided to upgrade eh....:cheers:


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## Hadouken441 (Jan 27, 2010)

I see I see. Well the problem that people have when they start new into plants is that "lights will make my plants grow and only lights!!!"

Wrong. Sorry. Even if you have easy plants, too many light will cause more problems than help them. You gotta add co2 and dose ferts into the water. Its like when you add more lights, you add more co2 and more ferts. Thats why I see a lot of people giving up on planted tanks. 

Anyway haha your tank is lookin good! Keep it up for sure.


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## Hadouken441 (Jan 27, 2010)

scootshoot said:


> Sweet thought it was ya! Your 5 gallon planted tank was unique, not many 5 gallons set up like yours so it was easy to remember. I recall a poster thinking the closeup pic of that tank was a 15+ gallon!
> 
> So you decided to upgrade eh....:cheers:


Yeah I always wanted a bigger tank! You can dont much aquascaping in small tanks which leaves me bored of small tanks pretty fast ha!

Im gonna add my betta in there after I add my shrimp so he'll love it!


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## Alex09 (Aug 9, 2010)

Yup that what happened to me. I assumed that a longer photoperiod and stronger light would make my plants grow faster and bigger but all I managed to grow was algae. I then proceeded to do a diy c02 which I thought would help. just made things worse X( 
Oh well. Things have been running swimmingly for a few months now so I assume my tank is "low light". My anacharis, and apongeton are growing like crazy. The hygro & wisteria seem to be doing decent. Java fern pretty much looks the same lol. Except now I have a bunch of plantlets.

PS: I too remeber the 5 gal. It was AMAZING


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## Hadouken441 (Jan 27, 2010)

Haha well if your interested in a carpet plant, im trying to sell a plant package. All plants will be low tech. And the carpet plant is Marsilea Minuta. I can include Java moss, Dwarf sag, Floaters, Bacopa, and whatever else I trim up in my 30 gallon. Let me know if your interested


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## Hadouken441 (Jan 27, 2010)

Got some Anubias today! A lot of it too. I couldnt even use it all! I filled it the gaps between my rocks with as much anubias as I could.


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## Hadouken441 (Jan 27, 2010)

Last picture of tank before re-model. This tank is now Gone.


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## mitchkin5 (May 13, 2010)

That looks awesome!


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## nikkilee (Jan 28, 2011)

Soooo cool! )


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