Planted Goldfish Tank And 20 Gallon Swordtail Tank

[Crystal]

Figured I would share these.

37 gallon planted tank with 4 goldfish. The java moss really likes it, although there are a lot of plants in the unseen retaining wall behind it. 18" 10,000K light, open tank.

I have large almond sized stones between my rooted plants so the goldfish can't get to the roots. Works quite well.

20 gallon planted tank with blood red swordtails, 3 BN plecos, and 3 guppies. Two 24" lights, 10,000K and ATI Aquablue Special. The plants grow like weeds. Somehow got one flake of duckweed in there at some point and it is like a plague now.

[ckmullin]

Looks decent. The only thing I'd say is that you need more depth for your substrate and look at 6400/6700K for the lights next time you need to replace the bulbs.. For those sized tanks I'd recommend a minimum of 2" depth of substrate.

[Iceturf]

I'm a fan of the woodwork stand. Lots of detail, lots strong character.

Also, the java moss is cool, how are you getting it to grow so effectively? Mine tends to algae up after a while.

Edited August 1, 2015 by Iceturf

[Crystal]

Looks decent. The only thing I'd say is that you need more depth for your substrate and look at 6400/6700K for the lights next time you need to replace the bulbs.. For those sized tanks I'd recommend a minimum of 2" depth of substrate.

The 20g swordtail tank has 1.5" of black sand. I just need to figure out a way to get rid of the duckweed, considering it has a 3D background that the stuff always hides in.

The Goldfish tank has 3" of sand behind the retaining wall where the rooted plants are, but only 1/2" of gravel in front so it is easier to vacuum the waste from the goldfish.

I actually had 6500K ATI lights for a month, but all of my plants were dieing. I upgraded to 10,000K ATI and now they are growing, the low light ones are thriving. It might be because the light is 8" above the water, and the water is pretty deep. Many of my medium light plants are barely growing.

I think my java moss needs a haircut... :rofl:

Goldfish are an odd choice I know, but I only wanted a few fish that would be larger. I heavily considered a pair of red jewels or even a pair of gold occies. But I always loved ponds, goldfish, and koi. But Koi need 500 gallons a piece at 3 years... The goldfish should be able to stay in that tank for a couple of years. Maybe I will be able to talk my way into a small indoor pond by that time.