WarEagleNR88
Aquarium Advice Apprentice
Hello, I wanted to share my tank with you, I hope you enjoy. My plan is to make it an ongoing log with updates here and there to keep you the reader informed. I want to look at this thing as my underwater garden in the works. We'll see how it goes.
Tank: a 30"Wx12"Tx12"D 20 gallon long all glass aquarium. I like the look of the longer tank while remaining small enough to move very easily.
Stand/Canopy: custom built at home using a fairly simple design of 2x4s and 1/4" plywood. It will be trimmed, sanded, and stained for protection and aesthetics.
Lighting: the bulbs will be 1x55W 6700K and 2x13W 6700K about 4" off the water. I'm hoping heat doesn't become a factor. The 1x55W kit and all bulbs are from AH Supply. The electronic ballast that will power my 2x13W is a tiny Fulham workhorse ballast model number WH22-120-C. I hate those stupid magnetic ballasts so I'm going with all electronic.
Substrate: two bags of Eco-Complete Freshwater Planted Substrate with some mulm from my current 10 gallon Freshwater tank to help seed it. Fairly basic uniform substrate, nothing fancy like 6 layers of stuff. My thoughts are when you get too fancy with lots of layers, things mess up in a hurry when things go wrong.
Filtration: provided by a Rena Filstar XP3 and will have a filter sponge on the intake to prevent animals from getting into the filter. The return will be via the spraybar approximately 1-2" below the surface of the water and will point down at an angle for good water flow within the tank. At the moment, I haven't decided how much and what type of media I'll use within the XP3. Even though the XP3 is for a much larger tank--the container it came in said up to 175 Gallons--I still want to use it. My thoughts on it are if it's too powerful, I can always throttle it back. But if I need more flow and I have a smaller filter, it's hard to get more flow from that filter.
CO2/Fertilizers: for carbon delivery, I'll be utilizing a pressurized carbon dioxide system on a 5 pound tank with the Milwaukee SMS122 pH controller to keep the pH at a nice steady spot all the time. I'm building a passive flow reactor on the intake side of the XP3. It will be made out of PVC and will be filled with bioballs. I'll detail more when I cross that bridge. For fertilizer, it's hard to beat Greg Watson's fertilizers. For that I have the usual--KNO3, Plantex CSM+B, etc.
Decorations: as far as plants, rocks and driftwood goes, I've yet to decide on a good design. This part is still up in the air as to what I'm going to do. I may just begin and see where it takes me. But I do need to find a good source for rocks. Driftwood I can order or pick through at an LFS. But it's the rocks that really help make a tank. For the background of the tank, I'm thinking about painting it black and going from there. I really like the look of a black background on a tank.
Animals: a uniform school of small fish that I'm still deciding on and the Neocaridina denticulata sinensis--the popular Red Cherry Shrimp--for cleanup along with some otos and a few ghost shrimp. I'm trying to decide if I want P. axelrodi, Aphyocharax anisitsi, or Rasbora dorsiocellata. I love the cardinal tetras, they are so colorful and will really enjoy a densely planted tank over the black Eco-Complete, but the hardness will be a pain to keep soft. That's why it's still up in the air. RO/DI? The A. anisitsi is a bulletproof choice--but I'm not sure if I want to go with it. I wouldn't have to worry about the heat as much, the hardness as much or the pH as much and I don't know if I want to deal with the fry. They might be a fun choice though. Then there's the little dwarf emerald eye rasbora. Such a nice, active schooling fish they are just so hard to pass up. Arghh! Which one to choose. Maybe I should just go with a mix of the said fish. Anyone have a suggestion/recommendation?
Well hopefully this is a good spot to "break ground" so to speak on this project. I'm really looking forward to it's progress through the years of it's life. Thanks for reading and check back soon. I'll try to keep this thing updated on a regular basis. Coming up next are some pictures.
Tank: a 30"Wx12"Tx12"D 20 gallon long all glass aquarium. I like the look of the longer tank while remaining small enough to move very easily.
Stand/Canopy: custom built at home using a fairly simple design of 2x4s and 1/4" plywood. It will be trimmed, sanded, and stained for protection and aesthetics.
Lighting: the bulbs will be 1x55W 6700K and 2x13W 6700K about 4" off the water. I'm hoping heat doesn't become a factor. The 1x55W kit and all bulbs are from AH Supply. The electronic ballast that will power my 2x13W is a tiny Fulham workhorse ballast model number WH22-120-C. I hate those stupid magnetic ballasts so I'm going with all electronic.
Substrate: two bags of Eco-Complete Freshwater Planted Substrate with some mulm from my current 10 gallon Freshwater tank to help seed it. Fairly basic uniform substrate, nothing fancy like 6 layers of stuff. My thoughts are when you get too fancy with lots of layers, things mess up in a hurry when things go wrong.
Filtration: provided by a Rena Filstar XP3 and will have a filter sponge on the intake to prevent animals from getting into the filter. The return will be via the spraybar approximately 1-2" below the surface of the water and will point down at an angle for good water flow within the tank. At the moment, I haven't decided how much and what type of media I'll use within the XP3. Even though the XP3 is for a much larger tank--the container it came in said up to 175 Gallons--I still want to use it. My thoughts on it are if it's too powerful, I can always throttle it back. But if I need more flow and I have a smaller filter, it's hard to get more flow from that filter.
CO2/Fertilizers: for carbon delivery, I'll be utilizing a pressurized carbon dioxide system on a 5 pound tank with the Milwaukee SMS122 pH controller to keep the pH at a nice steady spot all the time. I'm building a passive flow reactor on the intake side of the XP3. It will be made out of PVC and will be filled with bioballs. I'll detail more when I cross that bridge. For fertilizer, it's hard to beat Greg Watson's fertilizers. For that I have the usual--KNO3, Plantex CSM+B, etc.
Decorations: as far as plants, rocks and driftwood goes, I've yet to decide on a good design. This part is still up in the air as to what I'm going to do. I may just begin and see where it takes me. But I do need to find a good source for rocks. Driftwood I can order or pick through at an LFS. But it's the rocks that really help make a tank. For the background of the tank, I'm thinking about painting it black and going from there. I really like the look of a black background on a tank.
Animals: a uniform school of small fish that I'm still deciding on and the Neocaridina denticulata sinensis--the popular Red Cherry Shrimp--for cleanup along with some otos and a few ghost shrimp. I'm trying to decide if I want P. axelrodi, Aphyocharax anisitsi, or Rasbora dorsiocellata. I love the cardinal tetras, they are so colorful and will really enjoy a densely planted tank over the black Eco-Complete, but the hardness will be a pain to keep soft. That's why it's still up in the air. RO/DI? The A. anisitsi is a bulletproof choice--but I'm not sure if I want to go with it. I wouldn't have to worry about the heat as much, the hardness as much or the pH as much and I don't know if I want to deal with the fry. They might be a fun choice though. Then there's the little dwarf emerald eye rasbora. Such a nice, active schooling fish they are just so hard to pass up. Arghh! Which one to choose. Maybe I should just go with a mix of the said fish. Anyone have a suggestion/recommendation?
Well hopefully this is a good spot to "break ground" so to speak on this project. I'm really looking forward to it's progress through the years of it's life. Thanks for reading and check back soon. I'll try to keep this thing updated on a regular basis. Coming up next are some pictures.
Ok, I've done a lot with the project--was a little behind on starting a project thread--but it is still not set up as I'm trying to finish up the stand and canopy. Woodworking, staining, and sealing takes a long time when you get busy with work! So far I'm almost completely finished with it all. I just need to do some touch-up staining, let it dry, put a polyurethane coat on it and let that dry. Then I can reassemble everything and do a wet test. Then there's the tank painting, the rock/driftwood gathering, and finally tank setup. So there's still lots of time before there's anything living inside of it.
