this work? o.0 [few questions.]

[pyro fiend]

i put this in beta sororities first. but no reply so ill try here..iv set up a 20H iv had it filtering for a few days.. now ik this will not cycle the tank.. but i plan on letting it sit at least a week more befor even adding a betta.its got dirt with sand on top of it for a substrate.. i bought some "Argentine sword" plant from petco. and am planning on planting it later... also got some 'betta bulbs' in jars im watching to see if they grow. and they will be added later if they do. but anywho.. if i say add a thing of java moss, maybe even some driftwood how many small girls can i fit in here?

i plan on getting them from petco [we dont have anywere elese that sells fem bettas] and puting them in either 1g drums [if there adults] and maybe mason jars if there tiny [usually ur petco sells SUPER tiny girls only] but i wont put adults with juvie fems.. and quarintining them for oh, 2 maybe 3 weeks. leting my tank cycle a little. and give my bulbs and plants a chance to grow some if at all. i wanted to add a few bottom feeders. this depends on the girls size tho.. i was thinking a 1-2in alb- pleco. or maybe a mixture of 4 or 5 [total] albino and normal corys? with a few tetras/mollies or something running around?.. this wouldnt be over stocked would it? might this work if i give enough hides? i was thinking 5 maybe 6 girls... also could i add some ghost shrimps ik theyl be snaked on but if there in there befor bettas itd at least keep it clean and itl giv eme something to watch untell the girls are in..

also if this would work out [and i think it will if i get the right girls] what other plants or anything should i add in to break the line of sight, assuming the bulbs are a bust. ik alot of you are fans of anubia, java moss, moss balls [tho i dont consider it a plant more of a toy/chair] and amazon swords.. not sure what ima use for hides yet, thought of pvc,s pots, and maybe some rock item for a center piece. as i hav one laying around.. just one tho lol XD

BTW ik that pleco will need a bigger tank. once its up to size it will go into my 50 or 55 till i set up my 75 if it gets that big..

so mainly.. Q1- would liek 5 or 6 small females, like 6 cories max, and a few comunity fish[like say 3 or 4] be too much?

Q2- i seen some people mention they added like 20+ plants. i know tis aint a must. but with the type of plants i do have. should i add alot more? if so what?

Q3- now being a 20h it dont have a ton of floor space. so what should i use for hides to not only let the girls get away. but to give me the best look to it. the tanks a old tank with a crown molding looking trim on it [th tore off top cuz it rotted wiel in a barn lol]

[Tikibirds]

would liek 5 or 6 small females, like 6 cories max, and a few comunity fish[like say 3 or 4] be too much?

I don't know about the community fish but bioload wise a 20G can handle the 6 bettas and the corys. However since its taller then it is long, not sure how that plays a part.

For pleco's I would go with a bristlenose as opposed to the common pleco or whatever one it is that gets huge. If you get a pleco, i think you need drfitwood or something for them to chew? maybe i'm thinking of something else but I think its pleco's...

If you want a few girls, you are going to need alot of objects that break up their line of sight. The more, the better.

i wont put adults with juvie fems.

Honestly, I am not sure if it makes any difference. Some people say you will have more sucess if you use siblings from the same breeder or they should be the same age and size. In my experience, it does not matter the age or size. Either they will get along or they won't. The only thing I will caution you about is - some of those very young petco females are very young mislabled males. I got 4 young females from petco - put them in a 20G and they all grew like weeds. However one kept growing and growing..right into a VT male. I still have my guy with the girls - so far he is very submissive. However, I have seen alot of people on here that had to return the mislabled male because he is way to agressive and they did not have an extra tank for him.

[pyro fiend]

well as for tall part yes im not sure if all the fish would be wize. but iv planted the swords [tho i feel like i didnt do it right for some reason] and plan on adding more plants, and such and prob take the rock thing [in pic] out but its just there because it was in a chiclid tank not too long back and it prob still has good bacteria. so figured it woudlnt hurt to throw it in. also plan on adding a peice of wood, for any fish. tho plecos dont usually chew wood from my experience. [had many and still have alot at friends indoor ponds]

i was thinking bristol too. as i seen someone post on craigslist [as bad as this sounds]with a few albino and normal like 4mon old ones.. tho id put them alone in a 10g if small enough till i know there healthy. [dont wana ruin a nice tank cycle or anything]

but i was gona run it by alot more people on there thoughts befor i add female bettas. and make sure everyone thinks the plants are good sized, enough hides, exc ect

last thing i want is to look at it and think "im good this will do" and all or most of my girls get seriously hurt or die.. thus why im letting my tank cycle, my bulbs grow. and was gona let the comunity fish [like 3 total fish either platties sword tails or tetras] help cycle it [without bottom feeders] and if they all lived. and my levels are great. keep them n as apposed to feeding to my turtle or flushing. that was my original plan tho. not too sure of others thoughts to this plan.



i do wana add a few more plants. but only ones my lps sell is "umbrella plants" which i know is a nono "crested java moss" not even sure what this is. but didnt look too great in the tube. "lillypads" and "argintine sword" i know nothing about any of these. or i know they realy arnt aquatic. besides swords. and a lil bit about java moss... but no other place around here sells live plants. we dont even have a plant nursery tht sells you aquatic plants/bulbs :C and petco is the only one with live plants :( any ideas here? any pointers or critisizm is happily taken :P

[aokashi]

both cory and betta breathe air. but in different ways. :) the recommended depth for a cory is 1 ft or 30cm max, for fear of drowing.

Oh and the crested Java fern is also calle lace javafern or javafern windelov, that one is a true aquatic.

I'm also selling plants right now :) Nothing that will fill a 20g right away though. But they're fast growing plants.

[pyro fiend]

hmm.. well with java in its name i trusted that its aquatic lol but it said moss and it looked kinda like a nasty brownish oval mossball with curly Q moss.. idono. maybe its the way it was in the tube..

my tank from top to lower points of substrate is about 13.5-14 inches and i dont fill it to top, as you can see i took top trim off and im still adding stuff, and dont wana spill water or keep filling up jugs/buckets. but with it about where its water level is about were its gona be is about 13inches. so hmm :S to chance or not to chance... i dont wana add too much more sand. i only had .5in dirt and like 1in sand. plus the swords are prettymuch planted lol....

so question.. i got a log from a petco a few yrs ago. i was "driftwood" i used it to bask my bearded dragon on.. its been washed many times sence out of use and bleached once.. but i put in a tank of water last week n water started turning brown.. ik the tenner or w/e it is can be good for bettas. but should i let it sit in a dif tank and keep changing brown water till it goes clear? or put in as is? or just not at all.. i think itd be a nice little thing to put moss on, maybe even anchor a plant on and has nice hide for like shrimp [if i was to add them thinking of it now sence you say 12in is max for cories </3]

no idea how to go about this with plants and iv never had agressiv fish together and i dont wana mess up lol

[aokashi]

XD cories are one of those fish that sinks :P if ur tank is well aerated, it's not too much of a problem. I'd say 13in is OK.
As for the tannins... you have 3 filters right? add carbon and that should absorb the tannins.

[pyro fiend]

we;; was gona only use the smaller 2 the other one was to help the tank cycle a little quicker as it came from my buddies cichlid tank ;P kinda wana give it back lol as he was kind enough to lend it to me... solike add carbon behind the filter? in the filter pack things?? sorry im a moron im used to rock and 100% plastic plants and objects lmao but yay im getting the help of a ninja of planted tanks :D

[pyro fiend]

as you can see i have alooot of spare room i need to fill n [again rock thing prob wont stay in there its 4 cycling] :C what elese.. maybe anubia or w.e it is? some moss? :P again any tips will be apreciated :P

[starrlamia]

you need to add a lot more plants for a sorority, like cover the majority of the bottom of the tank.
Cycling will take 4-6 weeks on average, so I would hold off for a while before buying fish.
For buying plants you can look online, Ive heard good things about live aquaria and aquarium plants.com

[SpookyTooth]

If you've used dirt then you'll really really need to plant it out heavily with stem plants, they'll use up the nutrients in the dirt and stop the tank from going toxic (from what I've read); not only that but as mentioned before a sorority needs loads of planting.

Water wisteria, anarcharis, rotala, cabomba, hygrophila are some stem plants that you may wish to look into. Soil based tanks are very simple in the long run but in the short run you really need to ensure enough plants are present to stop algae blooms, ammonia spikes and to prevent the tank crashing and killing everything inside. Also, with soil and sand you'll need to poke the substrate around every now and then to stop gas pockets building up or introduce Malaysian trumpet snails to do that for you.

It might be worth contacting Oldfishlady about your tank if you have any doubts as she's wonderful with NPTs/dirt based tanks.