20 gallon aquarium - looking for ideas

I just mentioned this in another thread, and realized I could really use a little help here too.

My son has a freshwater 20g in his bedroom. He's been caring for it almost exclusively on his own since we stocked it in April. Currently he has:
2 African Dwarf Frogs
3 Oto-Cats and
5 Glowlight Tetras

Other than the critters, he has
Plastic plants - we haven't felt brave enough for life plants yet
Piratey hidey "scenery" large enough for African Clawed Frogs... which we'd originally thought we were getting instead of their smaller friends
a 20g appropriate heater keeping the water at 78
and a Duetto 100 pump, set to medium

My lil guy would like to have "something new for the aquarium" for his birthday... in about 2 months. I know that we're not quite stocked to capacity yet, but we're not that far off either. One thing we were going to do was get him a lighted hood... he's got a mesh lid right now, and I think that would help immensely with the evaporation issues we're seeing. But what else could we do? Would a shrimp or two work with these critters? We've got a very peaceful tank right now & I'd hate to introduce anyone that might scare the bejeepers out of the current residents. And I would REALLY hate to have overstocking issues!

Does anyone with aquarium experience have any ideas???
love,
mom

 

You would need a CO2 injection system to keep plants happy. They would also require a very good light like compact flourescents.

Personally I would suggest a betta. They are colorful and very peaceful, except with other male bettas. You have to make sure you get some "beta" food though because they need more meat then other small fish. You are very close to your stocking limit I would think though, especially if you have no filter.

It probably won't help much with evaporation. It will still occur and may be more because of the evaporation the light will cause. I light on a timer is good for the fish however.

1 small shrimp should be fine as well. There are some Japanese varieties that are good algea eaters as well. I would look at getting filtration, a undergravel filter is like $10. A bio-wheel would work well to and be about $25. I am sure you have some type of air pump but if not please add one. Oxygen becomes depleted quickly by bacteria utilizing the fish poo. Especially when you are pushing stocking max, which you are. If you are seeing algea growth then you have nutrients building up. You can also start doing water changes. Remove 10% of the water and replace it once a week or two. Also try to avoid using tap water for top off. It will lead to build-ups as well from the heavy metals in tap water. RO water can be bought cheaply at many grocery stores. They have fill-up stations for it. Usually if you get to a point where you just "want" more, then it may be time to upgrade him to a 55 gallon which are very reasonably priced especially if you have a strong table to put it on and don't need a stand. Of coarse there goes some more money for lights, filtration and pumps.

 

this is not true. i have a 55gal and a 20gal with flourishing plants, and no crazy equipment like that. we have a standard flourescent strip light, and leave it on 8-12 hours a day. when we buy plants, we look for cheap ones, so that we can replace them if they die/get eaten. also, they are usually the ones that are easier to keep. BF even gets plants from the pond and the lake, rinses them well, and uses them in our tanks.

i suggest cory catfish (corydoras). they are adorable and very friendly with every other fish. make sure you get at least 3. they are very social, active fish. they are pretty common, and inexpensive.

also, tap water is fine. just buy water conditioner at the pet store, and follow the directions.

if you have any questions, or need advice, pm me. my bf is an expert fish guy.

peace.
LP

 

Thanks
We do have a filter - the duetto is a combination filter & aerator. But I hadn't thought about the light causing evaporation too. Right now we're losing about a gallon a week... is the light really THAT bad too???

As far as water conditioners - right now we're using Prime for our main one. I have AmQuel as well, but it caused severe PH spikes so we're hanging on to it just for emergencies now. We tried bottled spring water with some tadpoles, and after the 4th water change they all died within an hour - the best guess anyone had was inconsistent water sources & we were afraid of killing anyone else. So we decided to try treating our tap water instead; so far it's worked well. Our froggies are supposed to be pretty fragile so I guess we've got to be doing something right

I think after asking around a bit we've decided to maybe look at a shrimp, (large enough not to become food) and maybe JUST stick with the new hood for now. We've got to research what plants are & aren't okay with the froggies before we can think about that, and with the sand substrate we might have "fun" with plants anyway.
love,
mom

 

Ok if you want to keep a nice variety of plants and not just the easy one or two species then yes you do need a way of introducing more CO2 and good lights.

Many times RO water is cheaper then buying the conditioner. Also the conditioner breaks down chlorine but that is it. Heavy metals+ whatever else is in there goes into the tank. Chlorine isn't even removed it just changes chemical forms. This is especially true as tanks get bigger. My 800 gal. saltwater tank evaporates 20 gallons a day. Of coarse I own my own RO/DI equipment.

You probably won't notice much difference but it won't slow down evap. If you get good lighting then it will increase it depending on the amount of heat the lights put off.

Spring water still contains minerials/salts. It has to be reverse osmosis or De-ionized. Distilled can be used if you don't have shrimp/snails. The copper in it can be bad for them.


Good luck.