Aquaclear 50

[black hills tj]

Looking at equipment for my 20g tank. I'm going to order a visistherm stealth 100w. I'm also ordering an aquaclear powerfilter. Would it be alright if I ran the AC 50 on a 20g tank, or should I go smaller?

 

[kickeralpine]

little bigger never hurts anything in my book more gph would be a good thing to stop dead spots

 

[black hills tj]

Awesome. So I have the 20g tank, a hood w/ low wattage fluorescent lamp, i'll order the visitherm stealth 100w heater and AC 50 filter, grab some small gravel at a LFS as well as a thermometer. Am I missing anything?

I'll run the AC 50 for a while in my dad's 29g tank and then move it to my tank ^_^

 

[neilanh]

Airstone and pump if you want that. Might also want a background for it

 

[Zagz]

Or you can paint the back of the tank black. I had backgrounds on my tanks and started swtiching to painting the outside of the tanks black. Really shows off the fish. I would definately add an airstone. For substrate have you considered pool filter sand? It looks completely natural and is far less expensive than any gravel

 

[black hills tj]

I was thinking of going with a complete black background(may be painting it now because of Zagz ), and smaller black gravel.

 

[rich311k]

That is what is in my 36. I like it a lot.

 

[fish4brains]

I used the darkest window tint I could find at Pep Boys for a background. I think it is called Limo tint. It makes an awesome, smooth background that water cant get behind. Takes a little effort and a little money, but definitely worth it. If you decide to change it, you can just peel it off....HTH.

 

[Yeti]

Painted should look nice cant wait to see it!

 

[tropicalfish]

Make sure you paint the BACK OUTSIDE of the tank, not the back inside. I run an AC30 on my 10 gallon hexagon. A 50 would do fine on your 20.

 

[severum mama]

I agree, the AC 50 is an excellent choice for a 20 gallon. That's totally what I would pick. I've also heard great things about the Stealth heaters. You'll probably be happier with a background on your tank. You can buy the tape-on kind, or go with the limo tint (good idea!), or paint, but the limo tint or the paint will look darker (better!) than the tape-on kind. I've applied tons of sticky backgrounds (working at an LFS), which I assume is similar to the limo tint, and I can tell you that painting is much easier. It may take a couple of coats, though.

You should start a photo journal. We love pics!

 

[neilanh]

I got one of the tape on ones, and used the oil trick. THe background is flawless, and pitch black, just how I wanted it.

 

[black hills tj]

Pics will come in a week or so once I get paid and can order the stuff

Hey Neilanh,

Which background did you get and what is "the oil trick"

 

[neilanh]

I got my background at petsmart. It was 2-sided, with black on one side and that ocean blue color on the other. I wanted to use the black.

The oil trick works great, but takes a little bit of patience. If your tank is empty, lay it on the front so that you can work flat on the backside where you want the background. Cut the background to size. Get some vegatable oil, and make a thin layer all accross the back of the tank. Now, set just the top of your background where it goes. The oil will allow it to slide around so you can get it just right. Using a straight edge, such as a putty knife or credit card or similiar, slowly start scraping the background onto the tank. Use the edge to work out all of the bubbles down towards the bottom and sides. Keep some paper towels handy to wipe up the excess oil that you will scrape out. In the end, you have no airbubbles left, and from the front it looks like the tank was made that way.