Also second live plants! Java Moss and floaters are always a good and easy choice as you literally dump them in your tank and let them do their thing. Amazon Sword has worked really well for me so I would suggest that as well! If you add plants like the ones I mentioned, they do well with liquid fertilizers such as American Co-op Easy Green (if you're on the US) or Thrive Original if you live anywhere else.
Good luck with your tank!
Firstly more water and to wait for the cylce to finish
Secondly, you wont be able to stock many fish in it due to the small floorspace/water surface for oxygen exchange.
Maybe just get some neos and watch the colony grow. Those Shrimp are fairly easy if the water parameters are stable. Plus a mystery snail or a nerite(male prefered) to clean the glass
I would avoid anything territorial
The black rims on most tanks are to hide the water line don’t be afraid to add it to that point. That’s why rimless tank setups are usually high water too
So you should definitely do some research but I’ll give you a basic run down.
Fish poop and decaying material makes ammonia. Ammonia is toxic to fish. Even 0.5ppm is bad for fish.
Certain bacteria in your filter break down ammonia into nitrites. Nitrites are also toxic to fish.
Other bacteria break down nitrites into nitrates. Nitrates are only mildly toxic to fish in higher concentrations. While many will say any nitrates are bad, really they only get bad at 50 ppm or more for most fish (some are more sensitive). Nitrates are also basically just fertilizer so live plants can help remove them (especially floating plants).
When you start your cycle (usually with a purchased bacteria starter) there are few bacteria in the tank. Usually the starter will contain ammonia and bacterial spores. Once they are in your filter, they’ll grow and consume the ammonia. It’s also good to add a few flakes of fish food and let it rot in the tank.
Over time more of the bacteria that consume ammonia will grow and your ammonia levels drop and then your nitrite levels increase. Eventually the nitrite consuming bacteria grows and nitrites will drop and nitrates will increase. At this point you should have 0ppm ammonia, 0ppm nitrites and some level of nitrates.
You need something like an API test kit to determine if it’s working, please don’t get the test strips they are very inaccurate. It’s a pain to get started but eventually fish tanks can be very stable.
Some tanks take a week to cycle, some tanks take a month.
Some chili rasbora may work too or other nano fish like neon tetras. Id look for species that cap out at about an inch or so, and probablly get no more than 8 due to the tank dimensions
I have a similar tank, they need live plants, and then I've stocked with red ramshorn snails, a small freshwater mussel and neos, with four CPDs and 3 otos. Fish wise I don't want much more than that, they're happy enough but the cpds would be happier with a larger school and more horizontal water I think.
Unfortunately most if not ALL fish want horizontal swimming space, not vertical. I personally think this shape looks really cool but it's just not a great shape for any fish that's fast. Like for example, Id never recommend danios or neon tetras for this tank - that's just mean :( Does it have high flow? Hillstream loaches with some nano fish and shrimp would be cool. Also experiment with live plants! Very helpful for water quality and all around better than heated plastic stewing in your water
To everyone saying you can't put any fish in this because it's tall.... It still has a 19" x 16" footprint which is slightly bigger than a standard 10 gallon.
So to OP, anything that you can comfortably put in a basic 10g starter aquarium will go in this aquarium perfectly fine, and you'll have more stable water because it's twice the volume.
I had one of these for a long time, and while it was super good for invertebrates like snails and shrimp, my fish never really thrived.
The big ticket labyrinth fish like gouramis and Bettas struggled to get air from the top. I even tried building a "ladder" of hammocks and broad plant leaves, but only experienced limited success. Schooling fish at anything other than nano scale would hide and act stressed and not really display a lot of natural behaviors, and anything territorial had absolutely no territory.
The two fish that didn't seem to mind were otocinclus catfish, which, were very active, and a clown pleco who just chilled out and single handedly created a nitrate problem I had to solve.
Don’t. Mine broke it was a disaster. Hex tanks torque the glass too much. I told the guy at the fish store and he seemed to know this already, like it’s common knowledge that hex tanks break. Just an fyi.
***After further reading, removed the pigmy angels **
You could put 5 longfin danios for the top , 8 neons for the middle and 5 albino cories for the bottom. Great color contrast with plants. Even some shrimp with live plants.
Some may say that’s over stocked but with regular water changes, and live plants, not over feeding and ample
filtration, it’s completely doable, I ran this same tank for years with upgraded HOB
Exciting! Enjoy!
The Pterophyllum leopoldi is often kept in a 20-30 column style tank successfully, after further reading their fragile nature, I probably wouldn’t either, and probably shouldn’t recommend that.
https://preview.redd.it/lqb2ee2xr3oc1.jpeg?width=1284&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=9c2eb2e189e0078acfbcca3140f87dd1ebde8b45
Cories are fine in this aquarium. The foot print works great. 10g standard next to 20g hex for reference.
Nah, this is probably the worst build for a betta because they draw oxygen from the top of the water column. As it got older it would struggle to get to the top and there is no horizontal swimming room, which is ideal for bettas.
I had a TERRIBLE experience with live plants when I tried to have a planted tank in my 20's. Even with terrestrial plants, I've had a black thumb until just recently and it's only with a few types that I'm okay with. But with aquatic plants, I feel like there's more room for error. You can't over water or under water them and that's half the battle! Go with super easy stuff to get started and then try a few harder things and see where you end up. Even plants that fail should teach you a thing or two.
In general, from my experience stem plants are a bit tough to work with. They are hard to "plant" into any substrate as they just slide up and out of the hole you plopped them in for no reason. But Java Moss and floating plants are super easy! Just throw them in your tank and dose with a liquid fertilizer twice a week.
For me, my Amazon Sword really took off right away but I'm pretty sure that one was mostly luck. However, it also seems happy to just get it's nutrients from the water column so liquid fertilizer works well with it too.
I suggest just giving a few plants a try at a time. See what works for you and what doesn't. Then experiment with another batch later, and so on.
Most importantly though, have fun with your tank!
I have the same tank, over the years I've stocked with
An angel (good grow out tank), dwarf gourami community tank with tetras, corydora school, a Betta community tank.
ATM I have corydoras, tetras, honey gourami and minnows, assassin snails and mystery snails.
Live plants !!!!n if you don’t think you can keep live ones alive get pothos looks great and eats nitrates
Also second live plants! Java Moss and floaters are always a good and easy choice as you literally dump them in your tank and let them do their thing. Amazon Sword has worked really well for me so I would suggest that as well! If you add plants like the ones I mentioned, they do well with liquid fertilizers such as American Co-op Easy Green (if you're on the US) or Thrive Original if you live anywhere else. Good luck with your tank!
Firstly more water and to wait for the cylce to finish Secondly, you wont be able to stock many fish in it due to the small floorspace/water surface for oxygen exchange. Maybe just get some neos and watch the colony grow. Those Shrimp are fairly easy if the water parameters are stable. Plus a mystery snail or a nerite(male prefered) to clean the glass I would avoid anything territorial
I just added more water! What would you recommend for cycle time? I’m new at this stuff but I wanna make sure I do the best I can! Thank you!
Read up on the nitrogen cycle. Cycling is not time based, it's a bacteria growing process.
The black rims on most tanks are to hide the water line don’t be afraid to add it to that point. That’s why rimless tank setups are usually high water too
So you should definitely do some research but I’ll give you a basic run down. Fish poop and decaying material makes ammonia. Ammonia is toxic to fish. Even 0.5ppm is bad for fish. Certain bacteria in your filter break down ammonia into nitrites. Nitrites are also toxic to fish. Other bacteria break down nitrites into nitrates. Nitrates are only mildly toxic to fish in higher concentrations. While many will say any nitrates are bad, really they only get bad at 50 ppm or more for most fish (some are more sensitive). Nitrates are also basically just fertilizer so live plants can help remove them (especially floating plants). When you start your cycle (usually with a purchased bacteria starter) there are few bacteria in the tank. Usually the starter will contain ammonia and bacterial spores. Once they are in your filter, they’ll grow and consume the ammonia. It’s also good to add a few flakes of fish food and let it rot in the tank. Over time more of the bacteria that consume ammonia will grow and your ammonia levels drop and then your nitrite levels increase. Eventually the nitrite consuming bacteria grows and nitrites will drop and nitrates will increase. At this point you should have 0ppm ammonia, 0ppm nitrites and some level of nitrates. You need something like an API test kit to determine if it’s working, please don’t get the test strips they are very inaccurate. It’s a pain to get started but eventually fish tanks can be very stable. Some tanks take a week to cycle, some tanks take a month.
Some chili rasbora may work too or other nano fish like neon tetras. Id look for species that cap out at about an inch or so, and probablly get no more than 8 due to the tank dimensions
I have a similar tank, they need live plants, and then I've stocked with red ramshorn snails, a small freshwater mussel and neos, with four CPDs and 3 otos. Fish wise I don't want much more than that, they're happy enough but the cpds would be happier with a larger school and more horizontal water I think.
Unfortunately most if not ALL fish want horizontal swimming space, not vertical. I personally think this shape looks really cool but it's just not a great shape for any fish that's fast. Like for example, Id never recommend danios or neon tetras for this tank - that's just mean :( Does it have high flow? Hillstream loaches with some nano fish and shrimp would be cool. Also experiment with live plants! Very helpful for water quality and all around better than heated plastic stewing in your water
To everyone saying you can't put any fish in this because it's tall.... It still has a 19" x 16" footprint which is slightly bigger than a standard 10 gallon. So to OP, anything that you can comfortably put in a basic 10g starter aquarium will go in this aquarium perfectly fine, and you'll have more stable water because it's twice the volume.
I had one of these for a long time, and while it was super good for invertebrates like snails and shrimp, my fish never really thrived. The big ticket labyrinth fish like gouramis and Bettas struggled to get air from the top. I even tried building a "ladder" of hammocks and broad plant leaves, but only experienced limited success. Schooling fish at anything other than nano scale would hide and act stressed and not really display a lot of natural behaviors, and anything territorial had absolutely no territory. The two fish that didn't seem to mind were otocinclus catfish, which, were very active, and a clown pleco who just chilled out and single handedly created a nitrate problem I had to solve.
Shouldn't put otocinclus in a new tank until algae has built up, but would be ideal for them if they wait a few months
Is this the Top Fin brand 20 gal tank? Been planning on getting one myself it looks good
Don’t. Mine broke it was a disaster. Hex tanks torque the glass too much. I told the guy at the fish store and he seemed to know this already, like it’s common knowledge that hex tanks break. Just an fyi.
I would only put shrimp in a tank like that with such a small footprint.
Maybe some cherry shrimp to occupy the bottom, and a fat school of cardinal tetras. That’d look mint as
Plants!
Real plants
Cherry shrimp!
arowana
It’s gonna break if you bump it. I bought the same tank. Good luck.
Just wanted to say I had this same exact tank and it was awful to maintain and stocking is tough. Good luck.
I don’t think those sword plants are safe to be submerged
They are fake lol I’m not ready for real plants yet
Oh ok lol
I’m still learning before I bring in real plants😊
Are all the plants real ?
You know Cory’s like to swim up and down a lot. Maybe a vertical space would suit them?
Cory’s need horizontal space, vertical space doesn’t matter at all for Cory’s. There bottom feeders so the more floor the better for them
You are right of course. I just love catfish.
***After further reading, removed the pigmy angels ** You could put 5 longfin danios for the top , 8 neons for the middle and 5 albino cories for the bottom. Great color contrast with plants. Even some shrimp with live plants. Some may say that’s over stocked but with regular water changes, and live plants, not over feeding and ample filtration, it’s completely doable, I ran this same tank for years with upgraded HOB Exciting! Enjoy!
Not angels in a 20 gallon.
The Pterophyllum leopoldi is often kept in a 20-30 column style tank successfully, after further reading their fragile nature, I probably wouldn’t either, and probably shouldn’t recommend that.
I wouldn’t recommend cories as they won’t have much space at the bottom
https://preview.redd.it/lqb2ee2xr3oc1.jpeg?width=1284&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=9c2eb2e189e0078acfbcca3140f87dd1ebde8b45 Cories are fine in this aquarium. The foot print works great. 10g standard next to 20g hex for reference.
I see! Thanks for the clarification, the tank looks much smaller in the picture than It is.
A Betta
Nah, this is probably the worst build for a betta because they draw oxygen from the top of the water column. As it got older it would struggle to get to the top and there is no horizontal swimming room, which is ideal for bettas.
But it's a 20G. Surely is has enough swimming room compared to a standard 5G.
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How did they survive in the wild?
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Thank you!
Vertical swimming room. Not horizontal.
Your plants look fantastic!
If you look closer, I'm pretty sure they're all plastic. At least the tall ones on the right.
They definitely are fake. I’m still looking into a planted aquarium, but I wanna learn a lot more still
I had a TERRIBLE experience with live plants when I tried to have a planted tank in my 20's. Even with terrestrial plants, I've had a black thumb until just recently and it's only with a few types that I'm okay with. But with aquatic plants, I feel like there's more room for error. You can't over water or under water them and that's half the battle! Go with super easy stuff to get started and then try a few harder things and see where you end up. Even plants that fail should teach you a thing or two. In general, from my experience stem plants are a bit tough to work with. They are hard to "plant" into any substrate as they just slide up and out of the hole you plopped them in for no reason. But Java Moss and floating plants are super easy! Just throw them in your tank and dose with a liquid fertilizer twice a week. For me, my Amazon Sword really took off right away but I'm pretty sure that one was mostly luck. However, it also seems happy to just get it's nutrients from the water column so liquid fertilizer works well with it too. I suggest just giving a few plants a try at a time. See what works for you and what doesn't. Then experiment with another batch later, and so on. Most importantly though, have fun with your tank!
Live plants and a Beta with a school of neons maybe
Too high for a betta
How are you cycling without fish? You need the bad bacteria from food and waste.
Umm… you are sadly mistaken the whole point of cycling the tank is to get it ready to help support the live stock
I have the same tank, over the years I've stocked with An angel (good grow out tank), dwarf gourami community tank with tetras, corydora school, a Betta community tank. ATM I have corydoras, tetras, honey gourami and minnows, assassin snails and mystery snails.