Hi yall! It's been awhile since I have posted! The 20 gallon tank is going amazingly! I have integrated live plants and am slowly getting rid of all the fake ones! The fish are all happy and healthy and the two Angelfish are ready to be re-homed at about 3.5 inches long.

The 55 I am setting up is going to be all live plants, and natural materials.

The Fish List is:

My 2 adult Angelsfish (considering adding another 3 to try and get a breeding pair)
4(ish) Dwarf Gurami
4(ish) Bolivian Rams
#? Clown Loaches
-------------------------
Of course thats just a start and later I will find a good schooling fish, but for now I like the list. Any input is always welcome!

As for the plants I am thinking at least one water lily, some amazon sword, 2 or 3 patches of moss ( on drift wood), and then some random anubias to fill it out. If you all can think of a really colorful plant ( the wife is a little bumbed by the dull nature of the freshwater plants we are using) please let me know!

The gear is going to be a 400 gal/hr Filter (can't remember the name, but its a biowheel filter and the lfs recommended it) 130 watt light setup ( more then 2/gal !) two Bubble stones ( I just like them dangit!) and a more then adequate heater.

The substrate is going to be a bottom layer of Eco-Complete for all the plants, and then a thick layer of sand over that. I realise that eventually I might get alot of the black eco-complete coming up and mixing into the sand, but I am ok with that. I have one peice of drift wood that I am going to mount in the corner for a mangrove root type appeal ( from within which the lilly bulb will sprout!) and then a mix of rounded river rock, slate, and even a bit more drift wood to fill it out. I am thinking a slate pile of sort to make a nice cave system at the opposite end of the mangrove-esque wood. I want to have enough cover for comfort, but give the angels enough room to really flare out and be beautiful!

Anyways, any comments or concerns are welcome and as always Thanks for the help in advance!

JB

Have you thought about adding CO2 to this tank?

I think your stocking sounds good except i'm not sure about the clown loaches. I think they get pretty big, and if you include them, your tank might be full faster than you realize. Personally, i'd leave them out and go w/a nice size school of smaller fish instead, as well as upping the angels to five.

I agree about the clown loaches. They are schooling fish and they get to be 12" long! Nix the clown loaches. I wouldn't do kuhlii's either, you'll never see them. Very skittish and nocturnal. To keep the snails down, and you'll have 'em, go with 5-6 dwarf chain loaches. They need to be in a group but they'll stay really small and they love their snails!

Plants with color, like red, typically need intense lighting. I'm not sure what you've got for lighting, maybe I missed that part.

I have a heavily planted 55g and tried to go without CO2 and my plants steadily declined in health, even though I use Eco-Complete and I fed my plants liquid nutrients. Within a week of adding the CO2, my plants showed significant improvement. Now I'm pruning weekly though...lol.

Z

I stopped using co2 in my nicest planted tank because it was a pain and because I don't want to have to thin out plants every week or so.

Without the co2 I have dwarf baby tears, hair grass, and micro-sword growing fine.

My suggestion for a colorful plant is red lotus lilly (or something like that).
The base leaves are a beautiful red color.

My other thought is to be careful with the DIY co2. You don't want to over do it. I came home a couple times to find some dead fish and parylised shrimp. If you're going to DIY I'd keep track of the amount of pH drop and watch the tank for a day after seting up the co2, and realise the co2 ppm will go up at night and the o2 will go down.

Some people turn off the co2 at night, and some turn on an air stone or powerhead with venturi at night and leave the co2 on. I had my co2 on all the time and had it go through my canister filter, and also had a powerhead with venturi on all the time.

PK

I use DIY CO2 in my 30 gallon without problem, although my water is naturally hard and basic so i don't have to worry about ph drop as much. another option would be to forego CO2 and just plant easy to grow plants like crypts, anubias and java moss. Then, if you add CO2 later, you can add more demanding plants. Some people who must have an aquatic green thumb report success w demanding plants and no CO2, but i'm not one of those people, so try at your own risk (or maybe ask PK for his secret tips).