A 29 gallon build thread!

[picture_117]

So I acquired a 29 gallon bio cube a while back. It came with a 300 watt Theo Hydor heater, 2 power heads, and the hood with a 150 watt 14000k metal hallide bulb and 4 purple LED's. I did my research and since it came with the super light, I decided to make it a highly planted tank. I scrubbed all the (I'm assuming it was calcium buildups?) white spots off the tank and let the powerheads run with clean water.

I decided to use mineralized top soil as the substrate with PFS on top of that. I tried using the power heads and the (I'm assuming sump) in the back of the tank as the filter. Well after dealing with to much flow, low water levels in the chambers, and to much noise, I decided to just remove the wall in the back and add a HOB or canister. I will be getting that tomorrow so I'm open to any suggestions for a filter I've been wanting a canister but I don't much about them so any help is appreciated.

As of now I have a 150 watt metal hallide light with a 6500k bulb. Soil and sand as a substrate. I'm running a small 10 gallon HOB for water movement for now. It will also have DIY CO2

This was the tank at first, I only have these pictures as I needed help on the flow

This is now, I had just scrubbed dry "mud" off the sides of the tank so it looks a bit cloudy.

This will have many plants! and as far as fish, I wanted angels at first but now I have no idea. So I'll be figuring that out too!

 

[PHP]

Good luck with your build and I will be following.

With the C02 and High lighting, you will also need Fertz (If not, the algae will build!)

 

[picture_117]

Thanks!

Yes! I will be doing PPS-Pro method, forgot to mention that!

 

[PHP]

Great, can't wait til you get some plant and fish in

 

[picture_117]

Thanks! There's one plant in there as of now lol. I don't know the name of it though.

 

[PHP]

From what I can see, it looks like a type of Anacharis (Egeria densa) or Rotala Indica (Rotala roundifolia)

 

[picture_117]

So I went out to petsmart and got an Aqueon Quiet Flow 30, it does 200 gph so this should be enough I believe. Has a really large compartment and I filled it with sponges and pollyfill in media socks. The filter makes no noise really, I'm pleased as of now! I kept the small HOB along side it with sponges so when I need the QT for my fish it's ready.

I also finally removed the false wall which was also the "sump" area. I added the heater in and now I just need to smooth out the bottom and fill the back area with more sand.

Next is the cycling process!! I added a sock full of polyfill and some sponges from my 20 gallon so this should help. My tap water already has about 1ppm of ammonia so I'll check the parameters tomorrow.

The Filter:

Here's the tank again, cloudy water from adding in more water to fill in for the extra space:

With the moonlights on:

Also can I use these for fresh water? I don't know if it'll affect the plants or fish.