Almost 100% diy 40g build

[christine2012]

Originally Posted by jkdubs2

What color sand should I go with? White or black?

The tank as it sits at the moment full of water with the filter running. I have a power head in the tank too because I could see that the water was not really being circulated well so that problem is now solved.

Looks awesome! Sand is personal preference, but I have white sand and I cannot stand seeing all that poop. Black would definitely hide that.

[jkdubs2]

Thanks and ya I was thinking white would look like poo once it got dirty. Will the black sand clash with the black background tho?

[christine2012]

I don't think so. Black gives tanks a lot of depth, and tons of room for contrast. Dang, I really want black sand now! I don't think it'd be too much black at all. If you have Photoshop or something like it, you could always "try it on" in a picture!

[butterfly_koi]

My vote is with black sand. What kind of stock are you going to go with

[jkdubs2]

Originally Posted by christine2012

I don't think so. Black gives tanks a lot of depth, and tons of room for contrast. Dang, I really want black sand now! I don't think it'd be too much black at all. If you have Photoshop or something like it, you could always "try it on" in a picture!

Hah good idea!

[jkdubs2]

Originally Posted by butterfly_koi

My vote is with black sand. What kind of stock are you going to go with

I dont know yet lol I bought some fish I shouldn't have a day or so ago (because I dont have room for them at the moment) so I've been looking to see what will go well with them. They are gold barbs so it will be a peaceful aquarium definitely but other than that I have no idea. Maybe a couple angels and a school of Cory's. Maybe some shrimp if I can get them to not get eaten. Idk. Suggestions?

[butterfly_koi]

I love angels, do black sand with your black background and make it heavily planted and things will really pop

[jkdubs2]

Originally Posted by butterfly_koi

I love angels, do black sand with your black background and make it heavily planted and things will really pop

Yeah that's the plan. I want this tank to look awesome so lots of plants are a must. The t5 light fixture I bought from a guy only has 3500k bulbs in it so my guess is low light plants right?

[jkdubs2]

Ok so there was quite a problem with the over flow tube but I think I fixed it. I had fish in the tank to test out the tube and everything and learned that the smaller ones got sucked right down it if they got too close and ended up it the trickle tower getting the fish version of what I assume water boarding is like (air boarding for a fish?). Only two got sucked down. One made it. Quite upsetting. But I think I have the problem solved after trying many materials. Fish net was no go cuz it wouldn't allow a vortex for the tube (wat a waste of a fist net!) then I tried an end cap with many small holes and encountered a similar problem as the fish net except that instead of no vortex I had very tiny ones and they didn't pull the water quick enough to keep up with the return pump. Then I tried that but with a bigger hole in the center that I thought the fish would not get through. Alas I was wrong. All fish fine tho cuz I made a pool above the filter floss with an extra drawer In case it happened again before I solved the problem so pretty much the fish hung out in the slowly draining drawer I made for them all night until I woke to find them there swimming happily. At least that idea had worked! But that didn't solve my problem of them getting sucked down the tube so I finally took an endcap and hollowed out the core of it except for the ledge that buts up against the PVC tube so it was essentially an open endcap. Then I took a metal mesh (steel) noodle strainer I bought at the dollar store and cut it to fit inside the endcap. I then made sure ther was extra to form an upward cone out of the endcap so the vortex of water would not collapse on itself. This is working perfectly and hasn't broken the vortex! The only foreseeable problems with this will be possible rust over time which is an easy fix to replace mesh and then since it will be a planted tank possible clogging of the mesh from plant debris. But here's the tube in action! (side note: I went with the cheap playsand from Walmart. Washed it really well)