Quick build Autumnsky Waterbox 2418 Clear 30G

[Autumnsky]

This is the tank and stand which was won from the CAS auction raffle.

Waterbox 2418 Clear - 30G

https://www.waterboxaquariums.com/freshwater/clear/

24" wide 18" tall and front to back

Unobstructed Clarity
Licensed Starphire Ultra-Clear® glass provide exceptional depth, detail and clarity to your freshwater aquascaped, hardscaped or fish only aquariums.


Clear Strength
Waterbox utilizes clear German silicone seams on all of our Clear systems. Each aquarium is water tested, hand trimmed and polished for the ultimate canvas to build your dream.


Pre-Glued Leveling Mat
Every Waterbox model includes a pre-glued self leveling mat that has been attached to the bottom glass panel. This mat provides a stable cushion base for your aquarium to rest on.

Found some lights will post more on that soon. 24" Ecoxotic P-60 x 2

http://www.aquariumadvice.com/forum...g-new-rimless-tank-waterbox-clear-370507.html

Just got the water in and scaping not completed

Backstory here
http://www.aquariumadvice.com/forums/f23/what-a-very-strange-day-370496.html

 

[Autumnsky]

Lots of dialog... Pics of the build are the next post!

So my "problem" in winning this tank is that I am in the middle of reducing the number of tanks I am keeping. Now this tank that I had wanted so much was on the back burner as I couldn't rationalize the spending for the low iron glass plus a stand, so scrapped the idea.

The tank sat empty for a long time because I already had a 80G tank which needed to be scaped.

Initially I threw in some substrate, Amazonia which was just sitting around (removed from a shrimp tank I had redone. There were a bunch of plants Corkscrw Val, a few runners, mostly Italian Val, a whole bunch, some Hornwort and dwarf Sag.

Added stones and wood from a tank I had taken down.

The Hornwort melted quite a lot caused tones of mucky plant residue. The Vals melted down and it was very messy in there. It was terrible. I got the lighting worked out and it was better but the moss from the taken down tank got a bunch of algae.

Due to some extenuating circumstances, I wasn't planning on making that tank a shrimp breeding tank in the near future.

Had a hard time deciding how to change around the fish tank plans to work in this tank.

Decided that instead of setting up my 20G long, adding one more tank for my Guppy /Endler mommas and fry, to set them up in there. This is getting a few drops of babies raised up for the adult males to go to the 72G (Some females in the wine glass tank and others rehomed in a few months - in case you wondered)

The Amazonia has lots of iron in it and made an orange rust iron stain all around the place where the substrate met the open water. (why I removed it from the shrimp tank)

Had a mucky mess which had to be emptied and cleaned and reset.

Pics will be next!!!

 

[Autumnsky]

Building the beauty

Will add details ( I accidentally deleted this post once after spending a bunch of time on it!) So I will add pics then fill in the words...


After a good cleaning added the shelf liner the plastic kind for lining a kitchen shelving wire rack. I bought it for the 80G build and got 2 18" x 48"

This is a 24" wide tank and cut in half so used the one trimmed half on bottom to keep a bit of buffer for the high clarity glass, the other for now, I added as a background.

Getting the sand and stone ideas in place.

Luckily found an extra mini shelf liner in the bathroom closet shelf!!!

Trimmed for the amazonia tiers!

Terrace views

Getting filled

Filled but not completed on the scape.
Had to add in the extra wood and rock since the Ottos might get hungry.

Need to replant some more of the plants that escaped during fill, and I have more small, medium and tiny river stones to add in as well.

 

[Autumnsky]

Scooted the Amazonia an inch or 2 in from the glass and added the sand in the space between.

Added in the languishing Hornwort, Italian Vals, Corkscrew Val and Dwarf Sag.

More Dwarf sag from the 12G mr. Aqua Guppy / Endler fry tank. The huge ball of Java Fern its a bit more narrow than regular but not the needle Java Fern, so maybe the "narrow"?

Moss balls, 2 large and 1XL.

~8 Flamingo Crypt, looks browner because it was hidden under an inch of Dwarf Water Lettuce and DW. Hoping the tank change / new lighting will help it color back up again. These are in the lower terrace.

There are a couple of Ottos, a slew of baby fish - Endlers and Guppies. Some Mts and Red RG snails, and my little Dwarf Rabbit snail was found in the mess of changing the tanks.

 

[Autumnsky]

Had an issue with the locations of the tanks - it looked bad wrong shapes and colors of stand, mix matched colors and shapes. It was not comforting to see, it was unsettling, lol. Had to take out 2/3 water and slide that baby over to a new place in the room.

Looks so much better! So much work again though!

 

[Autumnsky]

The water cleared up and will try for a pic tomorrow. Today the tank light stayed out as the connections were not plugged in right :/ and I was gone all day.

The Guppy / Endlers look like they have grown in 2 days with over 2x the space and 2 huge water changes in 3 days!

 

[libertybelle]

The tiers look really neat; can’t wait to see the whole thing!

 

[Autumnsky]

Thank you. The process is on hold till the end of this week at least. Have company coming, and extra stuff going on this week / weekend! I have a non-cloudy tank pic but the media pouches are hanging out in the front of the tank until I get the bigger filter.

The store I went to didn't carry the Aquaclear 110, just the one size smaller at their store in stock. . So that is why it isn't running right now!

So many little mommas

Basically the same pics but Guppies and Endlers moving around more in one. They always think it is feeding time, and they are always hungry!

 

[Autumnsky]

I am iffy on the smoky color background, makes the tank looks dirty :/ But it is very clear water.

edit: not really iffy, more like just don't care for it and need to change it.

 

[libertybelle]

And I thought I was overfiltering with the ac70 on my 29 You don’t think it will blow them around in there? They’re pretty small fish.

I didn’t even notice the background, too busy drooling over the pretty. The scape looks gorgeous even before plants have grown in!

 

[Autumnsky]

The plants are old ones from the other tanks so it IS nice it doesn't seem bare.

My 72G has a Fluval FX-5 AND a AquaClear 110. I "love" both of those filters actually and the 110 is so very adjustable. If it were a bit much flow, a piece of bulk filter pad stuffed in and slightly over hanging at the overflow and cut shaped like a low arch would help.

Strong flow makes them strong, lol.

Just noticed that Chewy has AC 110 for 67.46 but out of stock
AND the AC 70 is only $43 that is a huge sale price,
and price matching box stores I can get it tomorrow. I feel like the dirty baby fry would be best with the 110 but okay with the 70
hope this link below works for the GPH flow
Which I heard is just tested with out media or maybe it was brand new not muck clogged media like mine always is

Edit: the 70 would probably be better for the shrimp headed for the tank later. (Glad you mentioned the filter - getting me thinking)

AC70 is 300 gph
AC110 is 500 gph
http://www.hagen.com/pdf/aquatic/AquaClearPowerFilter_ProdInfo.pdf

 

[Autumnsky]

Added the AC 70 with the already there AC 20 a few weeks back.

Before adding the detail stones in front

Then after

Needing to move one of the DW pieces in the back because I can't get the rooty DW in the ideal position. But that needs to wait until the 80G gets set up when I move a whole bunch of things, plants and DW between the tanks.

In the mean time I have been able to move about 10 young male fry to the 72G since they are bigger and males.

Moved some attracive Guppies and Endlers into the tank to mate with the females, as before the really young males were getting all of them pregnant, before they even looked like males!

Now if it is a half inch long and isn't gravid then it will go to the 72G because that means it is a male. Moved about 16 males over so far.

The females are all pregnant and time will tell if there end up being another hundred or even more than that in babies in ~2 more weeks.

All of the tank moving things around to get the 80G built is going to take another week or so at least, maybe more. There are a couple substrate and media selections I am reading up on still, maybe 1-2 more weeks.

 

[TMaier]

Tank looks beautiful Autumn!

 

[Autumnsky]

Thank you! I am really happy with the progress of the growth.

Only using one of the 2 good lights, (one is the flashing light which was replaced, and I need to pack it up, its just sitting there behind the cabinet, can use for parts later if needed)

The Hornwort is like a huge monster. It just keeps growing and overtaken more than half of the tank.

A local hobbyist mentioned needing some and lives more than an hour away but said he'd want some next time he's out my way.

The growth surprises me as I previously couldn't grow it. Will try and snap a pic tomorrow, (or next couple days.) Baby Guppies/Endlers are growing, about doubled already.

Rabbit snails look to be eating up some algae, I put a greenish rock in there from my snail jar.

 

[earhtmother]

Moved to msgs

 

[Autumnsky]

Update.

This tank is a great little aquarium. not sure I mentioned it but I had added another filter, presently a AC 20 and AC 70.

This tank has been the Guppy Endler Grow out tank for a while now.

There were too, too many in here and was able to sort out the rest of the males and move fish around like musical chairs and all the females and babies went into the 72G Bowfront and there is a FX-5 plus a AC 110 running through the appx 1500gph, or 1000 can't remember atm.

Anyway plenty of filtration for the little ones to grow out, a much better situation.

~~~~~

The tank was left with one female Guppy I couldn't catch (and then apparently 2 fry as well).

I was able to capture the one fry and female out and added in 7 Pencil fish from the 12G Edge tank, and then appx 10 -12 male Guppies and Endlers,

The tank was really mucky from all the babies / over-feeding, and I did a rinse out on the filters, plus changed 7 - 5 gallon buckets of new water since It was so very mucky / mulm-y in the moss, plants and corners.

That REALLY cleared it up. Added some filter floss too to get the floating gunk (will be tossed out) and WOW!!! Sparkly cleared up after a couple hours!

Lost one Yellow / Orange Rabbit snail. They really hate the mucky tank, and will lay low until a water change and come out all around the tank. I was using tap water for the refilling and that was likely a mistake for compounding the TDS. Which is probably what they didn't like.

Also reduced the amount of calcium I was adding as well to see how that would go.

Reduced most of the bad algae, just have a little bit here and there with up-ing the water changes and picking it off, AND removing one light bar it is much, much better. Still a bit like a jungle, removed the Hornwort which shaded the Vals and they died off to a degree, so hoping they will catch back up.

Will get around to adding some fert tabs soon and trimming off more moss. and removing a DW or 2 as well which are clogging up the space, but have been waiting for a up date scape in the 72G (still waiting, but soon I hope).

I am hoping for a few baby Pencilfish to hatch out in the 12G, waiting for a week or 2 to see if they left any eggs in the Hornwort or Java Ferns. If so will let them grow up a little before moving them over to this tank.

There are about 5 or so Pygmy Cories in here too. That's it. Not counting the Ramshorn snails, lol.

This tank will maybe end up being for a Shrimp Colony. Just haven't got the details figured of which other shrimp have to move around yet.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Still not sure which

 

[fearlessfisch]

I love this!

This tank is so pretty! Perfect for colorful guppies. Did you collect those rocks yourself? I would never have looked at round rocks like that and thought that they could make such a beautiful and interesting scape. I love the contrast with the dark wood and the greenery.



You mention adding calcium. For which tanks do you consider that necessary?



Lucky fishes!

 

[Autumnsky]

A quick pic post first...

Feeding baby brine shrimp to some voracious fish! They eat like little sharks.

Hiding for pic time

 

[Autumnsky]

This tank is so pretty! Perfect for colorful guppies. Did you collect those rocks yourself? I would never have looked at round rocks like that and thought that they could make such a beautiful and interesting scape. I love the contrast with the dark wood and the greenery.

You mention adding calcium. For which tanks do you consider that necessary?

Lucky fishes!

These stones were obtained during colder weather and while I wasn't able to hike around to get them myself, for the 80G Congo's Lazy River tank
https://www.aquariumadvice.com/forums/f19/autumskys-congos-lazy-river-80g-370444.html

The actual sand in front is (real) Garnet sand from Idaho (maybe Emerald Creek can't remember atm).

I am in Colorado, home of fabulous rivers and surely amazing river stones. But I checked around at the local rock /landscape yards to see what was available. Found these colorful cobbles, imported from Mexico, from the seashore, beach sand and river stones, which I am assuming is from a river near the opening at the beach. Mexican beach stones sound really fun anyway!

Since this was for the river style tank, I wanted a beautiful variety of amazing looking stones. Here we have some purple, red, blue, specked and veined stones, and Quartz from my house landscape river rocks.

Then I used them AGAIN but the tiny ones in my little 12G Edge rescape...
Sprinkled around

Hand picked each one of them from big iron wire, sandbag material lined baskets, maybe 5' x 5' wide and 3' high. Can't remember, 200- 300 pounds of rocks, lots extra to use for lots of projects. Plus I really like rocks so, I got carried away / picked more than my budget was planned for, lol! Oopsy!

Tiny stones they called "sand" are 1-3mm, pebbles which are .5-.75" then small stones 2-3" and a variety of medium and large cobblestones, up to 10-12"!

These tiny stones "sand" I have been using in my potted plants and some of the others too in the larger pots. The extras are sitting in my little flowerbed as a "Rock" garden!!! I really have been enjoying the rainbow colors!

As for the calcium, the kH where I am is usually around .5 on the test kit. Sometimes 0 - once in awhile 1. This leaves the balance off for buffering in the water. I often need to add calcium and magnesium for the wellness of the fish and stability of the water. In addition, the Guppies like some minerals in the water, don't love very low pH.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

More!

In this tank, the new fish are here - Wadai Hyphessobrycon! They will be temporary while they go through QT. And while the 72G is relieved of the hundreds of Guppies and Endlers, their name million fish is apt!

Hoping these new fish continue to do well, first couple days seem good.

It is hard to observe these guys as they see me and hide. They do not know me yet - I have food! They will like me soon

They eat like wild animals. I added Marine Cuisine to the tank and a bit fell off which was still a frosty/frozen-ish, and they rushed over to the clump and were tearing at it like a great white shark!

The previous keeper said they were aggressive eaters. and would jump out of the tank while feeding, and he would stand in front of the tank to catch jumpers.

And since they are jumpers, I added self stick plastic wrap on top until I decide how a top would work. The 72G which they will go into has Hatchet fish, and I already taped up the bigger spaces and holes.

 

[fearlessfisch]

Ha ha. Food is pretty much how I get everyone to like me.



The new tetras do look like little sharks. That photography is stunning. Love to see them living their lives...

That's a fascinating thread on the river tank. Love the driftwood above the waterline (would never have thought to do that), and the rocks are gorgeous! I gather all my wood from the shores of the Potomac around here and have found some really nice pieces. I hope someday to have a tank big enough for Boesmani rainbows and Congo tetras together--my largest so far is just a 55. I'm fascinated by your tanks that seem to recreate and stay true to geographic locations. I have always just thrown in what I think is pretty or interesting without thinking much about accuracy.

Appreciate your response about the calcium. I was wondering if you needed it for shells of invertebrates or something. I have enjoyed following your threads about shrimp tanks.