55g Planted/Sand/LED Adventure

[Rokuzachi]

Yay for PetCo sales!

I wasn't even in the market for a new tank. Then they had to go and do it. I'd have preferred a 75 but I couldn't get that up a flight of stairs and through a narrow doorway myself. The 55 wasn't too bad.

Equipment;
55g Aqueon
Aquaclear 110
Current USA Satellite LED 48-60” model
Hydor circulation pump

Substrate;
PFS from Leslie's (75lbs), presently 2.5” deep.
Distance from light fixture is approx. 20”

Residents;
3x Ameiurus nebulosus, “Florida brown bullheads”
4x Nandus nebulosus, “Asian leaf fish”
1x Erimyzon sucetta, “Lake chubsucker”

Later;
6x Puntius fasciatus, “Melon barbs”
Maybe some kind of big shrimps

Planned flora;
Rotala indica
Crypt wendtii
Wendilov fern
Bolbitis heudelotii
Red melon sword
Corkscrew vals
Orchid lily (red)
Moss (probably just java)

Ferts;
PPS Pro (from GLA)
Metricide 14

If this tank ever happened it was supposed to be a pure native US tank. Woops! Now it's your typical grab bag of fish from totally different places.

The LEDs arrived today. Couldn't believe how thin and lightweight they were! Color me impressed. They aren't terribly bright, but thats ok. We're going to see what all will grow under them for fun. If it's not enough, I'll get a second fixture since it was so cheap (thanks Amazon!). The Aquaclear is from my old 56g and needed a new impeller shaft. The old one was very noisy thanks to the fluorite sand that always got into it no matter what I did. I may swap a 405 onto it at some point with a spray bar depending on how things go.

I'm pretty much done with cichlids. They shant be finding a home in this tank. Once things are grown out more, assuming nothing bad happens in the interim, I'll be trading off one of the bullheads and possibly 2 of the Nandus.

Here's the barebones setup as of 4/9;

Don't mind the hideous stand – my apartment doesn't get visitors and I prefer cost-effective function over form. My bed platform is thick ply and cinder blocks, too. HAH!

Here's a bonus video of the Bullheads in their 29g grow out tank, which might become a sump now!

 

[Brian_Nano12g]

Hi Rokuzachi,

Nice new tank and light! If you seen my threads, you know I'm all about those Sat+ lights! haha

Anyways, 1 light will do well for low light with your height on that tank, but a 2nd fixture will drastically expand what you can grow and how fast you can grow them. Plus you'll get more even coverage from front to back... I recommend it. If you don't inject CO2, you can dim the lights if you start to see algae. One of the great things about these lights.

My only critique right now would be to add on a black background before you start planting and stocking that tank. The black background will help hide your equipment, wires, and also make your fish/plants pop in color.

Anyways... following along

 

[Rokuzachi]

Ah yea, that's a good idea. I usually forget about backgrounds! I kind of wish I had painted it, but the usual black roll of stuff will work.

Spent that last week or so searching for a nice centerpiece chunk of driftwood... all the ones I want are $100-150 though. I may have to just break down and go for it after I get paid. Just hope that I get lucky and have almost no tannins coming off of whatever I do get - the last 3 pieces I've purchased have barely tinted my water.

 

[Rokuzachi]

I found my driftwood today on lunch break! $50 for something that weighs a ton and is quite large. Seems a much better value than 24.99 for pieces that were 1/3-1/2 the size of it.

Going to soak it in a tub overnight to see what the tannins are like. As you can see it's got a lot of nooks and crannies for my Nandus to hide from me in!

 

[Brian_Nano12g]

That's a really nice piece of wood! Ummm, "that's what she said?" Haha... Naw, seriously... that DW got some potential! Good find.

Some moss would look super cool growing on that. Maybe have some anubias petite bunches here and there?

 

[Rokuzachi]

Looks like I bought myself a piece of wood that doesn't want to sink easily. First piece in the last six or so that hasn't gone straight to the bottom!

I'm going to continue with the setup for now and use two other pieces that I have. I was hoping to have fish in this thing earlier this week but things have gotten behind schedule. If the wood doesn't sink by next week I think I may pick up a chunk of slate to drill and attach to keep it down.

 

[Rokuzachi]

Well, I bought a silly "coconut house" over the weekend for the Nandus nebulosus. They are the most shy fish I've ever had so they needed the love. When I introduced them to the tank, they sat on the bottom in a pile playing dead for a good hour until I turned all the lights off and went to the store. They're healthy and eating, but they are incredibly shy.

I got impatient with the driftwood and weighed it down with rocks. I may move it around a little but that's the general area it will stay in. Coconut shack is a bit funky I think but once it's got moss all over it I think it'll look fine.

 

[Rokuzachi]

My gallon of Metricite 14 just arrived - yay! Ordered another dosing bottle from GLA too. I love those things.

I'm toying with the idea of swapping the AC110 with the Fluval 405 from my 56g because it has a spray bar. That or getting a Koralia Nano 240 to create a small amount of flow across the back of the tank since the left side doesn't see much right now.

 

[Thumper828]

My gallon of Metricite 14 just arrived - yay! Ordered another dosing bottle from GLA too. I love those things.

I'm toying with the idea of swapping the AC110 with the Fluval 405 from my 56g because it has a spray bar. That or getting a Koralia Nano 240 to create a small amount of flow across the back of the tank since the left side doesn't see much right now.[/QUO

What is the foot print of the 56g? I seen one that was 30"x18"x24"...I was wonderin' if it was the same and if you liked it....

 

[Rokuzachi]

My gallon of Metricite 14 just arrived - yay! Ordered another dosing bottle from GLA too. I love those things.

I'm toying with the idea of swapping the AC110 with the Fluval 405 from my 56g because it has a spray bar. That or getting a Koralia Nano 240 to create a small amount of flow across the back of the tank since the left side doesn't see much right now.[/QUO

What is the foot print of the 56g? I seen one that was 30"x18"x24"...I was wonderin' if it was the same and if you liked it....

Those are the correct dimensions for mine. 30x18 is fantastic - I love the 18" width. Not so nuts about 24" tall though. It's a fine tank as long as you have appropriate lighting for the width and depth, but tends to feel a bit limited on floor space for planting. Used to have a 4x24w T5HO over it that grew all my low lights extremely well. I downgraded to a 2x24w later and while it does grow low lights, it is very slow. Even anacharis at that depth doesn't grow very fast.

I think the dimension of the tank make it ideal for a 'centerpiece' type layout, though. Like a huge, elaborate rock or driftwood in the middle with mosses and plants on/around it.

 

[Jkeating8]

It's all gone be ok

 

[Rokuzachi]

So one of the Nandus nebulosus is a little adventurous, or realizes that if he comes out of the coconut house at some point he'll get blackworms. Either way, he comes out when the lights are off, and when they come on, goes stiff and refuses to move until they turn off 6 hours later. Even when worms are wiggling around in front of him with the lights on, he won't chance moving. I snapped these last night before doing some aquascaping work.

This is him in "He won't see me if I hold perfectly still" mode (too bad it didn't work, I had to shoo him out of the way with a bushel of rotala);

This is one of this three siblings, trying their hardest to be one with the driftwood;

 

[Rokuzachi]

Picked up my Melon Barbs today - cleaned the store out. There were only 7 of them and they'd been at the store for months and months. After having the same one leap out of the net/bag as I was trying to acclimate them (he hit the wall once, the carpet the other time), they are all doing great so far. Eating a lot of NLS and picking over the sand. their presence already caused one of the Nandus to come out into the bright light and swim around. I was hoping the school would make them feel more comfortable.

I got these instead of the Rhombus, Black Ruby, Rosy or Odessa barbs they had because these have noticeably long whiskers when you see them in person

 

[azmodan]

Nice choice! Really like those Nandus too!