Grew up with tanks but never had to do anything for maintenance. Guess I’m here for the ride. Picked up this 20 gallon starter tank yesterday. Got everything all hooked up just waiting to add the fish now. Kids want Glofish so i will be changing the lights to blue led. And adding a neon background. Any tips or tricks to make it easier? Thanks for looking.
Posted by paycheck8
7 Comments
It will be harder to maintain with all the fake plants and substrate. I’d argue for real plants and hard ape becuase it’ll make water changes less frequent and give you fish a better life over all. You can also do a lot with a 20 gallon. Great idea to help kids learn a little more about nature and just to brighten the home! Best of luck and enjoy the ride lol, it can be up and down sometimes
One day, when you’ve bought your 10th aquarium, you’ll look back at this tank, and think man I came a long way
Fun!! If it’s a glass tank, melamine sponge (magic eraser) is the easiest to glean algae off the glass with.
Nice! Glad you know what you’re doing as far as waiting. Blue light is pretty high intensity so it has a tendency to grow algae really well so do stay on top of your water changes. Otherwise, have fun and keep us posted on your journey
This is okay, but natural stuff is always better. Just don’t get the fish right away, a colony of beneficial bacteria that recycle fish waste must establish first (cycling). For that to happen, you need to have the filter on and add food every day as if you already have fish (ghostfeeding). It can take around 3-4 weeks, perhaps longer if you don’t add some real plants. Anubias, java ferns, various floating plants don’t need to be buried in soil. And don’t throw out the white LED. Some fish do fine in blue light, others become stressed by it, then you’d have to switch back to white. And live plants, if you get them, need white light to grow
Live plants please ☘️
Why fake plants?