Advice Wanted - Latest Decor Arrangement

[Doc7]

i think maybe my corydoras are hiding (nearly all of the time, it seems) because all i do is muck around with the tank; if folks think that this looks like a "decent" set up, i will leave it alone aside from feeding and weekly water changes / gravel vacs (6 gallons out of 20) for a month and see if the cories become more active when i leave the tank "alone" and aren't always "Attacking" it.

I have posted a few threads, and made several changes over time (changed substrate to sand, new decor, moved decor, moved decor, changed to live plants, changed back to plastic plants after a day due to a fertilizer tab disaster, added filter) and was looking to get "final advice - for now" specifically on what this tank looks like now. i haven't "Added" any decor since i last posted pictures in the forum but i feel that the latest re-arrangement fills it out some.

i have 7 corydoras sterbai and 7 cardinal tetras right now and will be adding a GBR or some apisto some time soon. it may or may not be strictly necessary but i did add another filter, an Eheim 2213 canister, to my AquaClear 30. it seems like the extra source of flow will help keep the sand cleaner in most areas (especially the front), for detritus and the like, that cories won't eat of course, and keep the water quality in even better condition for the tetras.

ammonia and nitrite are 0, nitrate is sub-40, temp is at 80 on the dot (with anticipation for GBR)

Front

Front Down

Filter Placement - no spray bar for the canister on the right as along the back in this tank wasn't good for any flow direction in terms of what kind of currents it made, in my opinion, and along the side not an option with the standard hood i got with kit

Right side

Left side

Thank you very much for any advice!!

 

[Doc7]

Anyone? Thank you...

 

[moochy13]

i would be putting a couple of pieces of real wood in there, some really interesting shaped bits. fake plants i can just about accept, especially as not everybody can grow real plants perfectly. but that looks like a fake piece of wood, and those i cant stand. theres no excuse to not have real wood that i can think of, and it looks a bazillion times better than fake stuff. yours future dwarf cichlids will appreciate it aswell, lots of nooks and crannies. apparantly the easier it is for fish to hide, the less they will hide, its a comfort thing i think. also i wouldn't be putting the new wood neatly on the floor, id be trying to stack them, or overlap them, or at least make it a bit interesting. have some fake plants popping up through them or something.

 

[Doc7]

i haven't yet found decent real wood i like for a 20 gallon high...

i guess that could be my first step towards upgrading my decor. i'm really nervous about planting in sand (had a bad experience my first try, a week ago, with fert tabs that subsequently caused major clouding issues and algae problems that have since been resolved through water changes), and my stock hood lighting is horrible and i haven't found a good solution to light a 20-High with my current hood and also not need CO2. i'd be ok with ferts but maybe not daily. can't decide if a planted tank is for me in other words...

i can look for wood at LFS but am worried about spending a bunch more money already i have spent an embarassing amount of money on a 20 gallon tank already!!! but i will be able to re-use parts and substrates in future QTs/hospitals/other setups just maybe not in my current apartment!

also - the corydoras pretty much spend a lot of their hiding / downtime in that fake wood which is hollow. real wood wouldn't provide that type of protection for them. would they really be more comfortable that way?

 

[Whitey_144]

i haven't yet found decent real wood i like for a 20 gallon high...

i guess that could be my first step towards upgrading my decor. i'm really nervous about planting in sand (had a bad experience my first try, a week ago, with fert tabs that subsequently caused major clouding issues and algae problems that have since been resolved through water changes), and my stock hood lighting is horrible and i haven't found a good solution to light a 20-High with my current hood and also not need CO2. i'd be ok with ferts but maybe not daily. can't decide if a planted tank is for me in other words...

i can look for wood at LFS but am worried about spending a bunch more money already i have spent an embarassing amount of money on a 20 gallon tank already!!! but i will be able to re-use parts and substrates in future QTs/hospitals/other setups just maybe not in my current apartment!

also - the corydoras pretty much spend a lot of their hiding / downtime in that fake wood which is hollow. real wood wouldn't provide that type of protection for them. would they really be more comfortable that way?

i thought corydoras are usually more confident. It sounds like they need a rest from the tank changes. Are your water tests all coming up ok now after teh fertiliser tab?

I'm sure you can grow plants which you dont need to plant, like java moss, java fern, anubias, all you ned to do is tie it on to small bits of bogwood/driftwood and you can make your own pieces, the corys would probably prefer more small things to hie in than one in the centre (i guess), you can alwasy keep the hollow one in too.

Also if you make some live plants on wood you can move them around easily when you decide you want to change the layout and it wont make a mess.

i dose TPN+, whcih can be done weekly and i dose liquid carbon each day, takes me 5seconds when i feed the fish.

But i also think probanly a lot of people dont bother, but they probably wouldn't grow so well.

how watts of light do you have per gallon?

 

[Doc7]

it's like 15 watts in a 20 gallon...and that's a 20 high so not much is reaching the bottom that plants could use. i'm not a big fan of the rhizomes on the "tied down" plants...


water tests are perfect with 0/0 amm and trite and i keep my trates below 40. in fact the fert tab didn't release any detectable nitrates when i mixed it into the water column which surprised me, but i *did* have algae growth that has since gone away.

 

[moochy13]

id try some amazon swords. dont bother with extra plant food. just buy a sword and plant it, it should have a root system on it when you get it. if it dies, its only a couple of quid, but at least you tried. i wouldnt use extra plant food/tabs etc unless my plants were dying. i certainly wouldnt put it in 'just beacause i could'. i dont feed mine any extra. however, i also think live plants would benefit from a few more fish that will provide the food - poo - for the plants. wood wise, you can find bits of wood in every shape imaginable. ok so you probably wont find a bit shaped perfectly like a hollowed out log, and i know its expensive, but there are soem really nice bits. P@H do cheap, nice wood. im not sure how the more hiding spaces = less fish hiding. i think because theres plenty of cover available, they feel more comfortable exploring

 

[Aqua Tom]

Do you have backing on that tank? Its hard to tell from the photo's.