Mark's 29 Gallon High Tech Rimless

[Sfgiants415]

Hey guys,

I've never started a journal for any of my tanks so here it goes.

The tank is a rimless Seaclear Acrylic tank. This will be a high tech set up with pressurized co2.

It's been set up for a few weeks. I cycled it using a sponge filter from my 20g and additional filter media. I'm using soils capped with fluorite and eco-complete

Fauna :

10 harlequin rasboras
6 Celestial Pearl Danios
5 Panda Corys
4 otocinclus
5 amano shrimp

I don't plan on adding anything else.

Flora :

Still up in the air for background plants but I have foreground plants that I just planted the other day.

Elocharis acicularis
Pogostemon helferi
Staurogyne repens
Crinum calamistratum
Rotala colorata
Alternanthera reineckii cardinalis
Peacock moss
And a few crypts

I plan on adding a large variety of stem plants for the background. It's so bare back there!!

Equipment :
30" T5HO
Fluval 306

And my pride and joy!!!!!!!
The most expensive thing I've ever put together for a planted tank.
My brass dual stage, dual Guage, Matheson 3280 regulator
Ideal 52-1-12 needle valve
Burkert 6011-A solenoid with LED on/off
JBJ bubble counter with all brass fittings.
This thing is like my own child. The needle valve is probably the most precise needle valve you can get. It is extremely precise and accurate and it keeps a steady bubble rate.



Sorry for the awkward pictures. This app sucks..

Its attached to a 5lb tank. The co2 tubing is connected to a Rex Griggs inline reactor. Outflow of my canister goes through the reactor and into the tank.



I'm dosing dry ferts per the EI method.

The foreground is covered but I need to get some background plants ASAP. It looks bare without any.

 

[fort384]

Nice setup! The CO2 system is well worth the cost if you are in the hobby for the long haul. Looks like this should grow into a nice tank. That is a sweet lookin' tank, and the substrate sounds as if it will be killer for plant growth, especially if you stay on top of the EI dosing as well.

My personal taste here I suppose, but I'd ditch the plastic drop checkers, and get a cheap glass one on eBay. You can get one shipped from HK for $5-8 or so. It'll take a couple weeks to get, but I think it would improve the look of the tank. You have such a beautiful, simple streamline tank - but the white plastic sticks out like a sore thumb

1 DC in a 29 will be sufficient to keep an eye on CO2 levels. CO2 injection doesn't have to be an exact science - often close is close enough, if that makes sense

 

[Sfgiants415]

Nice setup! The CO2 system is well worth the cost if you are in the hobby for the long haul. Looks like this should grow into a nice tank. That is a sweet lookin' tank, and the substrate sounds as if it will be killer for plant growth, especially if you stay on top of the EI dosing as well.

My personal taste here I suppose, but I'd ditch the plastic drop checkers, and get a cheap glass one on eBay. You can get one shipped from HK for $5-8 or so. It'll take a couple weeks to get, but I think it would improve the look of the tank. You have such a beautiful, simple streamline tank - but the white plastic sticks out like a sore thumb

1 DC in a 29 will be sufficient to keep an eye on CO2 levels. CO2 injection doesn't have to be an exact science - often close is close enough, if that makes sense

Thanks! I completely agree with you're take on the white drop checkers. They really do stand out a bunch.

The reason I put another drop checker was to make sure the water was circulating correctly. My 40 breeder once had a co2 "dead spot" because the inline reactor slowed the flow rate a ton but this seems to be doing well in terms of flow rate. Sounds dumb but it happened.

I appreciate you're input though and I will purchase a glass drop checker soon. I keep looking at it and the more I do, the more I think about what you said. You're completely right!

Thanks!

 

[fort384]

Yup, makes sense. So long as you see that they are both reading the same, as long as you don't move around the inflow, 1 will be good once you are comfortable that you are getting even distribution.

Obviously the drop checker thing is a minor thing - the rest of the tank is lookin' great. I am probably a little biased since rimless is all I will buy, but nothing beats the look of a clean, high tech rimless tank .

 

[Brian_Nano12g]

Yes, high tech rimless! All I buy now are rimless too... anyway, nice setup! Following

 

[Sfgiants415]

Thanks guys. I appreciate it.

There's a good chance that the stauro and the dwarf Hairgrass are going to switch spots tomorrow. Everytime I hit a branch of the Manzanita, it uproots a stauro and it's really bothering me because they take a long time to establish. The dwarf Hairgrass on the other hand could take the beating and still stand strong.

I'm too lazy to do it tonight because I spent a long time getting the background plants in. That Manzanita makes planting extremely difficult. Even with 12" tweezers, my hand still hits it.

Anyways, the plants in the background are still droopy and sad looking but will perk up in no time. I added more Rotala colorata, rotala rotundifolia, Bacopa monnieri, and a few others.

 

[Sfgiants415]

Forgot this thread existed!

 

[Jkeating8]

Looks good. Needs a trim! Haha

 

[fort384]

Looking healthy! I agree it could use a haircut Always a good sign.

 

[Sfgiants415]

Haha it definitely does. I'm actually trimming the rotala on the left tonight and selling some. I'm trimming all the plants actually. I've had to do trims every couple weeks ever since I got the buildmyled fixture. Best fixture I've ever used.

 

[Brian_Nano12g]

Looking good! I forgot about this thread too, but wow... rimless + BML fixture = greatness waiting to happen. BTW, are you running the light dimmed or at full throttle?

Thanks for sharing the journey with us. Keep the updates coming!

 

[Old Scales]

Question.... What's the biggest rimless you can get? OS.

 

[fort384]

There are rimless 220+ gallon tanks.

 

[Old Scales]

Wow! Are they braced in any way?

 

[Jkeating8]

Wow! Are they braced in any way?

I've seen some braced and some not braced. The majority of them aren't braced. OS, check out Tom Barr's 120 on The Planted Tank.

 

[Old Scales]

OK thanks jk,
I would be nervous about glass stress on those length of tanks without bracing. However I'm old school and not up on the latest glass technology. I would love to see one of the newer ultra clear glass tanks in person. They say they're awesome. OS.

 

[Jkeating8]

OK thanks jk, I would be nervous about glass stress on those length of tanks without bracing. However I'm old school and not up on the latest glass technology. I would love to see one of the newer ultra clear glass tanks in person. They say they're awesome. OS.

They use some seriously thick glass on those big tanks. The low iron glass is great but once the lights are on, it doesn't make that much of a difference.

 

[Sfgiants415]

I'm getting tired of trimming the Hairgrass because whenever I do, I find trimming even weeks after I trim. I try to hold the gravel vac right about the scissors and even though it gets about 80% of what I cut, the rest just makes a huge mess.

I moved the red tiger lotus to the front right and and moved the ludwigia red to the left because it was turning into a massive Bush. I completely removed all of the Rotala because it grew way to fast like in the last picture I posted.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I537 using Aquarium Advice mobile app

 

[Brian_Nano12g]

Looks like a jungle in there... everything is looking healthy and colorful. If you're tired of trimming that DHG, you should switch that DHG species to e. Parvula. I almost never have to trim it because it stays short.