Dan's First Journal - Iwagumi Style - GLA Rimless 36-L 6g Tank Build

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DanTheGuppyMan

DanTheGuppyMan

Aquarium Advice Addict
Joined
Oct 25, 2012
Messages
1,766
Location
South Carolina (USA)
Hello everyone! As you may know, I have a FW 60g planted angelfish aquarium. Along with that, I have a 5.5 gallon FW invert tank. I had a 10g FW community tank but i got rid of that as well as my 8g SW nano tank. So, I was planning on re-doing my 5.5 gallon, and I knew I wanted a rimless tank. This is when I stumbled on Brain_Nano12g's "GLA 6g rimless..." thread, and I immediately knew that's what I wanted. So I went on GLA and got me a 6g 36-L rimless tank like his and some CO2 equipment. I also got some Eco-Complete and I plan to cap that with ADA's Amazonia Powder Type AquaSoil if I can ever find it :lol: I also plan to use some biomax and other filter media from my established 60g canister and use it in the new filter so I wont need to do a long cycle. So, now that you have the background info, here is my plan.

Setup

Tank:
GLA 6g rimless 36-L glass tank (15x9x11in.)

Lighting:
Finnex Ray 2 LED

CO2 plan:
Use a manifold to split my 5lb. CO2 tank running my 60g

Filter:
Fluval 106

Heater:
Hydor 25 watt Theo

Substrate:
Eco-Complete possibly w/ an AS Amazonia Powder cap and white sand

Planned Scape:

Seiryu Stone or Ohko Stone with a hill on each adjacent side of the tank, a white sand "river" through the middle valley. Small peice of driftwood, going for the look of a "tree."

Planned Flora:
HC to make a carpet
Blyxa Japonia
Blyxa Auberti or Cyperus Helferi
Lilaeopsis Mauritiana (Possibly)


Planned fauna:
I am going for another shrimp tank, plan to have some CRS if not some RCS. Maybe a few Harlequin Tetras.

Fertilizers:
Along with pressurized CO2, I plan to dose PPS-Pro along with some root tabs regularly.


So that is my plan, the tank comes tomorrow, Monday, January 7th 2013. Ahhh I'm still writing 2012. :p

The tank comes Monday, Eco-Complete has already arrived, Finnex Ray 2 should be coming this week, Fluval 106 comes Monday along with all the filter media, have not ordered rock or driftwood yet so that is next on my list, and then plants and shrimp/fish!

What type of stone do you suggest I get?

Thanks for looking and be sure to subscribe and follow!
 
Thanks! I actually posted this in the "General Discussion" section before but I thought it didn't post so I posted it again here but now that I see it did post in the General Discussion section I now have 2 threads of the exact...same...thing...so if there are any Administrators here can you delete the one in "General Diacussion" for me before too many people post on it? Thanks!
 
Thanks guys. I guess I have been infected with MTS (multiple tank syndrome), because I haven't even started putting this project together and I am starting to plan another already!
 
Love bettas so I'm biased! Yes! They have great personalities and are real pets who can befriend you. They don't however pine for in-tank company so be careful about adding colorful or long-finned fish the betta may mistake for another betta. I've heard that shrimp will be lunch.

I'm planning a planted 60-P ADA Cube Garden after I get my shrimp tank set up and it WILL have a betta!
 
I have had a Betta for about 2 years now and he too is in a 6g planted tank and I absolutely love him! He is full of life and attitude especially if he sees me reaching for his food!
 
I prefer to get my Bettas online from overseas or at the pet store which carries the King Bettas. At $20 a pop for the kings I figure that take good care of them but kings need a big tank as they grow to 4 inches.

You might want to check out the gph of your filtration first. Bettas prefer little or. I current at all. I use nano filters that I can adjust to about 10gph or some people baffle the output so the betta doesn't have to fight the current with its tail.
 
I like either plan... shrimp or betta. Another option are galaxy rasboras or chili rasboras. Or even a scarlet badis.

When I first started my GLA 6g, I had a female betta in the tank for about a month. She's the first betta I ever owned because I always brushed bettas off with little interest because they're so commonly available. Only when I started taking interest in iwagumi and that simple Zen-like component it instills, is when I started to take into consideration of how beautiful a betta can be in the context of a planted tank. Although female bettas may not look as showy as their male counterparts, I found the color and fins on mine to be appealing enough to compliment the colors in my setup...at least thorough my subjective point of view. I only removed her because it was my initial intent to make this tank a shrimp and micro fish tank.. I'm still waiting for my Neo's to breed and once they do, I plan on getting the galaxy rasboras.

Here's a picture I liked of my red female betta in the 6g in the earlier stages of my tank :)
8104625792_ebea1e7f54_b.jpg
 
Brian_Nano12g said:
I like either plan... shrimp or betta. Another option are galaxy rasboras or chili rasboras. Or even a scarlet badis.

When I first started my GLA 6g, I had a female betta in the tank for about a month. She's the first betta I ever owned because I always brushed bettas off with little interest because they're so commonly available. Only when I started taking interest in iwagumi and that simple Zen-like component it instills, is when I started to take into consideration of how beautiful a betta can be in the context of a planted tank. Although female bettas may not look as showy as their male counterparts, I found the color and fins on mine to be appealing enough to compliment the colors in my setup...at least thorough my subjective point of view. I only removed her because it was my initial intent to make this tank a shrimp and micro fish tank.. I'm still waiting for my Neo's to breed and once they do, I plan on getting the galaxy rasboras.

Here's a picture I liked of my red female betta in the 6g in the earlier stages of my tank :)
8104625792_ebea1e7f54_b.jpg
Click to expand...


Wow that is a pretty betta. I think I may ditch the shrimp tank idea... :lol: I miss having other types of fish :) It seemed that the link for the picture didnt work I will post it for others here. Oh and Brian, would the nano lily pipes on GLA's site work in this tank? The are the first listing and about $80 i think.

EDIT: Well nevermind the link did work...my computer is screwy. Sorry!
 

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Yes and yes again, a perfect fish would be a Betta to compliment the greens and browns of your scape. I'm adding 15 neons and 5 emperor tetras to my Betta tank this week (lfs ordered for me) for a nice colorful school. My Betta is deep blue and white, so the red, bright blue and purple colors are what attracted me to the tetras.

I recently saw a banana colored half moon Betta I would have died for! I told the dad who walked up with his daughter behind me,"get this one, he's the best" and hoped they did. A yellow Betta in a green/rouge/white sanded tank would be absolutely stunning!

(I paint and garden, color is my drug of choice)
 
Yes the Cal Aqua labs on GLA's site. You'll just have to get the clear tubing to replace Fluval's black ribbed ones.. They're sold at Lowe's and Home Depot I believe. You'll need 1/2 ID (inner diameter) hosing to fit on the Fluval and the 13mm lily pipes.

I haven't done it yet because I'll be ordering the same lily pipes soon.. but this thread on TPT helped me
http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/showthread.php?t=192944

According to Mahawka, " If you decide to follow the 1/2ID tubing you want to get 13mm lilys pipes; it fits like a charm. It is indeed tough to fit the 1/2 over the fluval system, but it fits."
 
Picture didn't work for me the first time either, but man that is one awesome tank, Brian!

I can't wait to see what yours turns out like Dan.
 
Brian_Nano12g said:
Yes the Cal Aqua labs on GLA's site. You'll just have to get the clear tubing to replace Fluval's black ribbed ones.. They're sold at Lowe's and Home Depot I believe. You'll need 1/2 ID (inner diameter) hosing to fit on the Fluval and the 13mm lily pipes.

I haven't done it yet because I'll be ordering the same lily pipes soon.. but this thread on TPT helped me
Ada Iwagumi Tank And Steps --Photo Heavy--

According to Mahawka, " If you decide to follow the 1/2ID tubing you want to get 13mm lilys pipes; it fits like a charm. It is indeed tough to fit the 1/2 over the fluval system, but it fits."
Click to expand...


Ok so I plan to do the dry start method. So what I would do is I need to get the tank setup with the substrate and hardscape and whatnot finished, then I can order the plants. Once I have all the plants I am going to put in there, I would pour in some water so that it is about 1/2 of a centimeter above the substrate, not covering the leaves of the plants. Then i go and plant the HC and others where I want them and wrap some saran wrap around the top of the tank and turn on the light, and how long should the photoperiod be? I mist the tank about every 4 days and after a month I should have had lots of growth, do I have it all right? Also, I plan to attach some moss to the DW...do I dry start that too? how?
 
I haven't tried DSM before but from what i remember in researching it once, not all plants are DSM friendly. You'd have to research that one.. I know HC is a good candidate for DSM. You'll see a bunch of examples of it on TPT. I believe Tom Barr has an interesting article on it in which he lists some of the flora okay with DSM. Lastly, you should PM Aqua_Chem here on AA... I've seen a nice example of his HC and S. Repens grown via DSM. Although, he may not agree that EC straight out of the bag has enough nutrients to pull it off... Its worth a try IMO.
 
Brian_Nano12g said:
I haven't tried DSM before but from what i remember in researching it once, not all plants are DSM friendly. You'd have to research that one.. I know HC is a good candidate for DSM. You'll see a bunch of examples of it on TPT. I believe Tom Barr has an interesting article on it in which he lists some of the flora okay with DSM. Lastly, you should PM Aqua_Chem here on AA... I've seen a nice example of his HC and S. Repens grown via DSM. Although, he may not agree that EC straight out of the bag has enough nutrients to pull it off... Its worth a try IMO.
Click to expand...

Ok thanks and I will PM Aqua_Chem. I will post Unboxing pics of everything when It comes tomorrow! Oh, and I think I may use Ryouh Stone...does anyone have any good pictures of it?
 
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