Just Another 55 Dirt Build...

[LemurLad]

Not to steal any of the spotlight from Marconis's Dirt 55, but I decided I'd get rolling with my 55 as well. This tank will be my last set up for a while so I wanted to give it my all. (On my meager college student budget) This tank is also going to be a replacement for my 10gal and I'm moving all the fish, plants, and decor from the 10 to the 55. The tank is already nearing completion, but here's the process:

First: Picked up a 55 and let it sit for a few months. It sat there on an ugly stand, taunting me every time I walked past it.

So: I decided I'd build it a new one - a 10$ stand of cinderblocks and plywood.

And then: I was going to use this standard 48x12x21" tank, but soon found out that the damaged rims were a no-go. So I opted to find a new tank on the handy-dandy Craigslist. This one was 48x15x17" so it gave me a lot more room to aquascape.

After that: I heard about the awesome success folks had been having with dirt tanks so I figured I'd try it out. And dirt's a heck of a lot cheaper than flourite or eco-complete. I wanted to go for a layered effect from the side -
Top
Scattered medium gravel
Small gravel
Silty mulm that settled after planting.
Sand
Dirt
Bottom

What next?!
Well, twas time to hit up my favorite LFS and do some plant and driftwood shopping. A heap of cash and hours of planting later and this is the result:

YouTube - 55 Gal with Dirt First Vid

Here's the flora and fauna list so far -

Plants in the 55:
Aglonema
Narrow leaf chain sword
Rotala sp.
Sagittaria platyphylla
Ludwigia repens - All pulled from my little bro's 10gal
Cryptocoryne blassi
Crypt. wendtii "brown"
Crypt. lucens

Coming from my 10gal:
Java Moss
Java Fern
Tiger Lotus
Hygrophila sp.
Anubias
Myrio

And as for fish I'm thinking want to create a rare/uncommon gourami and badis community with 5 or 6 species of small gourami/badis and then a school of something... Maybe Glowlight danios. So far from the ten gal, I've got P. Cupanus and T. Pumila. I was thinking of including Licorice Gouramis, Scarlet badis, Badis badis, and maybe leave room in case of an impulse buy, lol.

 

[DragonFish71]

Sooooooo

What were you air-guitaring to in the picture?

 

[Marconis]

That's one sick piece of DW.

Edit- Should watch the whole video before commenting. That's TWO sick pieces of DW.

 

[mfdrookie516]

Looks great! I love dirt

 

[LemurLad]

Thanks for your comments guys! Here's another vid kind of explaining my aquascape idea:

YouTube - 55 Gal w/ Dirt - Aquascape Explanation 5/15/10

Any ideas for schooling fish?

 

[Jason7894561230]

Rummynose tetra? Glow light tetra? Cardinal tetra? Zebra danio, the list goes on lol

 

[LemurLad]

Haha, I was looking at rummies, but I think something dark might look nice over the lighter substrate I've got. I love white clouds, but I fear that the tank might be too warm for them.

 

[Coleallensmom]

Wow, that is some awesome DW you have there!

Nice plant list too. Will be interesting to see how this one turns out...I always like your crazy jungle tanks!

 

[Jason7894561230]

The white couds are some of the most versitile fish i know. They can go into a wide range of tempertaures, so they should be fine in that tank

 

[Gillie]

Hehehe, I hope you kept you're scissors sharp those plants are going to explode! I have soil in my 5.5 and everything blew up in less than 2 weeks

The tank looks great cant wait to see it filled in.

The name you were looking for on the Anubias like plant is Lagenandra very nice plant

 

[LemurLad]

Ooh I like the look of your tank! Nice and jungle-y. Those reddish crypts on the right side look great! What are they?

 

[Gillie]

I believe they are wendtii, but who knows I got them from a tank full of random crypts.I'm starting one emersed so I can get an id when it hopefully flowers.

 

[LemurLad]

Alright, so the tank is giving me readings of 4.0ppm ammonia, 0 Nitrite and 0 Nitrate. I'm using two, rather small powerheads with prefilters that have come from a cycled tank. I'm guessing the high ammonia reading is from the soil, but I was hoping the bacteria/plants would keep it down. Should I change the water to get that ammonia down or let the bacteria take care of it?

 

[jetajockey]

Still fishless right? I'd let it sit at 4ppm if so.

 

[LemurLad]

Definitely fishless. Okay, I'll let it take care of itself. Also, I swear the plants have already grown a bit, here's a new pic with the two plant T12 plant/aquarium bulbs I have on it:

I'm worried that the chain sword might not survive because of the low light, but perhaps I can salvage it for another tank or trade it in for more crypts. Also, what do you guys think of stocking the tank mostly with species endemic to the Myanmar-area and making it a sort of biotope? I'm thinkin' a big shoal of Danio Choprae, 6 or so Badis ruber, a few uncommon gouramis and maybe a type of loach would look stellar in this set up.

 

[jetajockey]

fireline danios are pretty cool also =]

 

[daileene]

wow....am speechless...there is a lot of things so nice to look at in your tank....the 2 DWs....wooohooo...that is so awesome..where did u ever find those? then the substrate....wayyyy cool...look so natural like u are under a lake....then of course your plants....very cool choice of plants....way to go...

am hovering around to see how this tank will look like...

 

[LemurLad]

Alright! I'm back from a roadtrip up to Santa Cruz and in the week I was gone, the tank has had some awesome growth and it looks like my cycle has rolled on through, cause I'm seeing high ppm of nitrites and nitrates. Gonna do a 75% water change tonight, let it sit overnight, then check the water chemistry tomorrow and hopefully add some fish!

Seriously though, for such low light, the plant growth has been incredible in just one week's time. I had my doubts, but dirt totally works. The narrow leaf chain swords haven't fared well in these conditions and I'll be removing them, but the lotuses are thriving! They've almost grown to the surface in just a week. Bravo dirt. Bravo.

I'll update with some pics after I do this water change.

 

[LemurLad]

Okay, so I let it sit and I got crazy high readings - 4ppm Ammounia, 2+ppm Nitrite, and 10ppm Nitrate. Looks like it's still cycling afterall, ah well. My LFS got some scarlet badis in, so I may throw together a desktop 5gal for a few of them, cause they are just such gorgeous little fishies. Anywho, here's a crappy shot of the 55. I added some indian almond leaves for more tannin-y goodness and for a more natural look that I like.

 

[daileene]

still looks very cool...good job!