20 gal tank water question?

Question

Whats best for water quality planted unplanted if un planted how much light how ofen does allgee need light to grow

Answer 1

Planted, more light= more algae! You should only keep your light on during the day for 4-6 hours! To much algae will make your tank look icky, 16hrs. of light is way to much!

Answer 2

Planted works better as a natural set up, you can go the whole hog using co2 undergravel heating but for a 20 gall tank you should be able to use normal flourescent lights probably 2 one using a white light and a warm orange/red spectrum light for the plants (also shows blue, red fish off).
Plants you'll be able to grow easily in there would be valisnera, cabomba, and pretty much most cryptocorns theres many more that'll grow it will be trial and error for awhile. Only downside to this is oxygen as most ppl are aware plants absorb co2 during light periods however, during dark periods they use oxygen and the co2 can build up, to maximise co2, oxygen exchange at the surface a small airstone should be used during the dark period.
Theres plenty of books out there about aqua scaping that should help.
Light should be on for about 12hrs a day with 1 hr gap in the middle of the day, that and some algae eating fish, platties for the plants and Siamese algae eaters (black line through tail fin) will be beneficial.

AJ

Answer 3

unplanted tanks should have a maximum of 8 hours of light, planted tanks a maximum of 12 hours. you can't ever completely escape algae though.

planted tanks do improve water quality a little, and also look much nicer than artificial plants, live plants can be even more work than fish though, so choose plants carefully if you go down that route!

Answer 4

Planted tank:
Live plants are very easy to kepp provided they have good light source. The lights should be on 12 hours a days. There should be a small amount of nitrate for the plants to eat.

Unplanted:
This is an easy task. I wouldn't want too much algae. If you want some atleast leave the light on for about16 hours a day.

Answer 5

Dannios are a reliable selection for starter fish. Catfish are a bad theory because of the fact they haven't any scales. this would lead them to succeptable to "new tank" syndrome. Zebra dannios are actual hardy fish. i would not advise any variety of unique fish to start. i'd save the dannios for a minimum of 6 weeks, then upload the exotics. in spite of the incontrovertible fact that, there is an option. you should purchase some micro organism it relatively is made via Biospira. you are able to upload unique fish real away with out starters in case you employ biospira. And biospira is very low fee. reliable success!