What I've got done so far.

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MrNitrite

Aquarium Advice Regular
Joined
Oct 3, 2009
Messages
65
Location
Houston, TX
I've been working on the 20 long this week. I decided not to do the fishless cycle. 4 White Clouds will start it off. The ammonia and nitrite are checked every other day-will do PWCs to keep water from getting too toxic. I painted the back black and covered the paint with contact paper to keep it from getting scratched. The stand is an inexpensive "Mathattan" metal stand from Petco. The main filter is the AquaClear 50. It looks so small and doesn't seem to move much water, so i added an AquaClear 20 powerhead a few days later to aerate and circulate water on the other side of the tank. The light strip I found in the garage crapped out, so this desk lamp will do until I get a nice light system. The plants are what I already had-will get some better ones later.

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The White Clouds seem to like their new home.

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Today I got the quick filter attachment for the powerhead to experiment with. Mechanical media goes around the screened compartment in the center. I think I'll fill the center compartment with biological media. The filter is almost too tall. And the heater from my previous aquarium days is too tall to be fitted vertically. I guess that's a downside to having a tank that's long instead of tall. The background looks warped-it's not-it's painted. Must have been the way the light hit it in the picture.

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Digital thermometer keeps an eye on the temp.

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Power block I made. Later I plan on building a black cabinet to fit inside the stand to store supplies and hide ugly cords.--And the power block will be inside!! The outlets on the right are switched. If you want to turn off the powerhead for feeding or the heater when sticking your arms in, just flip the switch-no need to unplug anything. The light and hang on back filter is plugged into the unswitched outlets.

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Nice tank, very clean electrical work.

Its the way the light hits the water and the black background at the same time, 1-2 pics out of every 10 or so end up like this on my 40 tall w/ painted back.

I was gonna ask where you got the lamp from, I an ditching the flourescent strips for something above the tank so I can actually get light into the tank rather then have these junk plastic hoods( unless I get glass cut for it its all I can do) I can make my own screen tops for them just cant cut glass myself.

The black on black rocks. very nice work.
 
I dont mean to steal the topic, but if you are looking for a better hood for your tank white, then you could have some plexiglass cut and just hinge em. Then you could either hang your existing light or get a new one, or just place it on the top. Glass tops I think are the best, second to no top at all. (If you dont mind losing a jumper now and then.)
 
Looking good! You may want to check ammonia levels every day instead of every other day, at least for the first week or two. I found when I did a fishy cycle in my 29g I had to change about 30-40% a day to keep ammonia levels below .25 ppm with just 4 or 5 neons in the tank. I was amazed.
 
I love the tank and the black gravel, I love the big helcopter i got in my tropical tank :)
 
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