Luananeko
Aquarium Advice Addict
I've had GloFish for around 11 or so years and this is the 3rd evolution of the tank. It's always been my "Mad Science" tank, meant to look as out of this world as possible, to contrast my natural planted tank and my saltwater reef tank. If you just want to see the current version and be spared my naive, early 20yr old me's stumblings, feel free to skip ahead to the final pictures 
Previous Iterations:
The first version was an overly complicated test bed of different techniques that mostly didn't pan out: I had a 20 gallon long display tank with a HOB overflow leading down to a 10g lava rock heavy planted shrimp tank, which itself had a HOB overflow leading down to a planted sump tank. The original intent was that the lava rock would behave similar to live rock in a saltwater tank and act similar to the Marine Pure media that was popular at the time, with the shrimp helping clean (plus being my first time keeping shrimp since usually my fish choices tend to nip/eat them), and the planted sump would help eat up nitrates so I could go all out on the plastic neon decor in the main tank. The primary tank had multi-mode lighting and could either have daylight lighting or full blue moonlight/actinic lighting.
Video showing the full triple tank setup of the V1 GloTank
It didn't take long to realize the triple levels were a nightmare to run. Keeping the two separate HOBs draining at the same rate so there was no flooding was way too tricky so I abandoned it pretty quickly. Instead, I moved all the lava rock down to the planted sump, and rehomed the shrimp since my DIY sump divider (it was just a simple pane of acrylic siliconed in place) didn't have any ability to keep them out of the return pump section. Within less than a year, I upgraded to a 36g bowfront tank. I kept the same planted/lava rock sump and still was using the HOB overflow. This version of the tank ran from January 2014 till May this year, and required a pretty high level of maintenance to keep it sparkly clean and glowing, which was getting more difficult to carve time out for after we became parents in 2018, and then again in January this year.
V2 of the GloTank - Daylights on vs Moonlight mode on
Having so many fake plants packed into it was super cool looking, but trying to keep them clean required a lot of scrubbing and bleach baths, which naturally led to the plants falling apart every few years and needing replacement to keep the tank looking nice and not blocking the overflow with broken plastic plant bits. The HOB overflow combined with my unskilled DIY attempt at figuring out how tall a permanent return chamber divider should be (spoiler: it should be much shorter than I had it so you're not constantly having to top it off) meant that I was frequently having sump floods, broken HOB overflow U tube siphons, a noisy overflow drain. Having so many plants also meant that the plants were the star of the show rather than the GloFish themselves. I also had some Dwarf Chain Loaches that I almost never saw because they were hidden among the bottoms of the plants and were mostly black on black sand in a dimmer lit blue lighting tank. I had the ability to turn the light from blue lighting to daylight, but it was on a manual switch which meant I almost never swapped it since the blue lighting looked the coolest to me. I tried to combat this by adding more blue lighting (finding STRONG blue lighting is really hard for tall tanks it turns out, largely due to my not being familiar with saltwater tanks at the time and not realizing that reef/frag tanks actually use a lot of the same lighting that the GloTank needed to really pop), which helped some, but caused severe algae problems later when I became pregnant and started falling behind on my maintenance schedule.
Current Iteration
Goals & Concept:
I wanted to rebuild the tank using what I've learned in the 11 years since the original iteration and have the system be large enough to keep some of the new GloFish varieties that have since come out. Back when I planned out my stocking for the 36g, there were only Glo Danios and Glo Skirt Tetras. I still liked the idea of a planted sump for nitrate absorption but there was no way I was going to deal with a HOB overflow again. I also wanted to swap to an aquascape that wasn't JAM PACKED with plants to help minimize the number of things I needed to scrub and let me see the fish better. Volcano aquascapes and underground tunnels are something I've always loved the concept of, and I thought my loaches would have a blast with (yes, I know they're an odd choice for a GloTank, but I've had these guys for AGES and they are such fun to keep that I make an exception). Now that GloCories and GloSharks are available too, I wanted lots of hidey holes and line of sight breaks to improve the chances of the GloShark tolerating other sand dwellers. To help improve the visibility of my loaches (black & white bodies are hard to see on black sand in blue lighting), I wanted to line the tunnels and hidey holes with orange gravel that would react to the blue lighting, to really sell the "lava tube" look.
Initial difficulties:
Unfortunately, my LFS stopped carrying pre-drilled tanks in the size I wanted so I could maximize my tank size for the space I had available to work with. I did NOT feel comfortable trying to drill a tank myself, so that led me to FB marketplace to see what options were available. I wasn't familiar with Waterbox or FijiCube aquariums until I stumbled across them on there, and was really impressed with the rimless designs since they meant I could see all the way down to the bottom of the tank without losing an 1" of my underground tunnels behind the bottom plastic rim. I ended up going with a Fiji Cube 80g internal overflow plus their stand, despite it being more spendy than I was hoping to go with. All of the FijiCube sumps unfortunately didn't suit my purposes, as they're designed for reef tank filtration - meaning they expect you to have a skimmer, filter socks, baffles to minimize bubbles, etc that were all overkill for my usage. None of the default tank sizes really maximized my sump volume and any custom built sump would have cost an arm and leg, so I opted for using my V2's 36g display tank as my sump - despite the weirdness trying to work with a bowfront sump would cause for gluing in dividers.
Right off the bat while researching available decorations that would look good under the blue actinic lighting, I realized there are very few tall volcano decorations of any kind, let alone ones that react well with actinic lighting. The tallest ones I could find were 9" tall, with most "large" volcanos ranging from 4" tall to 6" tall, but the Fijicube tank is 22" deep.I went with off the shelf options for the initial scape, but at some point I want to go back and 3D print a much larger volcano decoration that fits the height of the tank better. I just need to figure out how to either make, find, or buy a model that I can print that does the mental image I have of what I'm looking for justice. For now, I managed to combine a cool volcano from Amazon with a "Glowing effect" coral decoration that looked like a lava plume, along with neon orange gravel siliconed in over the top of the non-blue light reactive lava paint for my own spruced up centerpiece and paired it with a neat 6" tall glowing volcano bubbler. To combat the lack of height in most of my decorations (and the fact that my 6yr old daughter LOVES them) I grabbed some floating fake fish/animals to add some vertical interest.
The last snag I ran into was that I had purchased one of the Kraken Reef custom acrylic screen top lids, and when I bought it I didn't ask for any cutouts to be left for cords. I told myself that all of my cords would be down in the sump, so there was no need for cutouts! Except the air line and power cord for my volcano bubbler... Oops. Luckily, the cords were small enough I was able to grind out a little groove for them to slip through so the lid could sit flat as intended.
Starting to build:
I've been doing this build as a personal sanity project (something I could accomplish for myself to avoid falling into in baby care 24/7 survival mode) while I've been home on maternity leave, so much of my build has been done either after the baby is in bed for the night or while he's been napping, or recently while he's been starting daycare (due to a variety of reasons, he started daycare part time for 2 months before I had to go back to work). Due to this, I sadly wasn't thinking about grabbing photos during most of the build process, so I apologize for the description heavy bit here.
I started off with the sump since I knew it would take time to get the plants established. Due to using the 36g bowfront as my sump, I knew getting dividers fitted perfectly and glued in strongly for it would be a royal pain with the curvature. Instead, I opted to 3D print my own dividers that created rectangular sections, leaving the curved front of the bowfront to be part of the planted refugium section. I'm using a sheet of Poret Filter Foam to keep the water intake from stirring up the substrate of the planted section and for extra surface area for biofiltration to populate, so I had to add bracing to the intake divider to hold that in place snugly while allowing me to pull it for maintenance as needed. I am NOT very good at handling silicone seams, so it took some very messy and repeated attempts to get the dividers snugly glued in, but it finally worked.
The planted section I set up as a dirted bottom with a sand cap. I had several Crypts in my other heavily planted freshwater tank, so I snagged a few of them to start and picked up some dwarf sagittaria, an Amazon sword, and some Java ferns to flesh it out with some variety of heavy root feeders that grow at varying rates. I don't have time to keep pruning super fast growing plants, so I'm going fully low tech, Walstad style with the sump because it's still more nitrate absorbtion than I would otherwise be getting with how the display tank is setup.
Sadly, plumbing has always been my downfall for setting up systems with sumps, and this tank has been no exception. I have back issues that flare up when trying to get under the stand to glue in PVC fittings, and I generally have no freaking clue how to put the sump plumbing in well (I've only plumbed a grand total of 4 sumps now in the last 11 years), so the plumbing is a bit of a nightmare. I will likely need to revisit it since the overflow is super noisy and is slowly driving me insane. In hindsight I should have added a valve to one of the two intakes so I could better control the water level in the overflow, but since the pvc pipes are glued (badly) in, I'll have to either add the valve to one of the flexible tubes with barbs leading to it or figure out some way to unglue the pvc pipes to redo the plumbing without tearing the whole thing down...
The hideous plumbing job... I had to make liberal use of water weld because my return pump pressure was strong enough my subpar pvc gluing/fitting skills weren't strong enough to avoid leaks... Trying to plumb this during my son's nap probably didn't help since it meant I felt rushed while trying to get it all to fit together because I knew he could wake up and interrupt me.
With the sump started and the plumbing in place, I started setting up the tunnels and substrate. All of my tunnels and against the glass caves were Etsy finds before I took the 3D printer plunge and got my own printer. Putting them into the tank took several dry-fit attempts to test out the best way to put them in, as just putting them in against the glass as they're shown in the Etsy listings led to sand seeping in. For a terrarium or an aquarium with just all-sand substrate, that wouldn't be a deal breaker, but since I planned on lining these tunnels with neon orange gravel to look like lava, having the black sand seeping in and sitting on top of the gravel ruined that effect. My second attempt tried 3D printing my own braces that I glued magnets into to help trap the tunnels against the glass, but the magnets weren't strong enough and kept getting bumped off the glass when I was wiping it. Plus the non-rectangular tunnels/caves were a nightmare to brace well since I didn't have the original 3D file to work with. I could have siliconed them all in like I did the dividers in the sump, but as shown by my VERY messy sump divider seams, that wasn't something I had confidence I could do aesthetically well. Instead, I found moldable silicone putty on Amazon that was black and could be molded like clay in the seams I needed and stayed flexible for as long as I needed to tweak the seam. This worked great, with a little patience. In theory if I need to pull a tunnel for maintenance/cleaning it should be doable without breaking down the whole display. We'll see how well that works in practice later... But anyways, I finally was able to start adding water to the display!
I had to go super slowly at first, as I didn't want the black sand to get washed into the tunnels as I filled. Also, the seals I did on the tunnels worked TOO well in some regards, as it caused air pockets in some of the tunnels! I had to carefully stick air tubes down into those pockets and siphon the air out. In the end I still didn't get them all, but I got enough out so they're not super noticeable and I suspect they'll eventually dissapate.
Once I got all the hardscape in and the tank filled, it was time to add the plants and floating decorations and lighting! For the primary light, I'm using a Current Orbital Marine fixture. I've been using this type of light on my saltwater reef tank already, and I absolutely love the fact that it will automatically go through a moonlight/actinic stage before and after a full daylight stage, without any intervention from me. This means I'll get to enjoy both the regular lighting and the cool blue lighting every day instead of just leaving it on blue constantly due to lack of patience for manually swapping it between the modes like my old version had.
Up til this point I hadn't actually turned on the return pump yet. Unfortunately, I realized immediately that the overflow was INCREDIBLY loud. Originally, I did the overflow the way FijiCube's instructions indicated, with a basic Herbie design, without realizing that Herbie overflows are designed to rely on a valve controlling the water level in the overflow (which I had failed to include and realized AFTER I glued in the plumbing). Unfortunately, I didn't have room in the box for a full U bend on each intake tube like I'm used to using in my other freshwater tank and my saltwater tank to help silence the intakes, so I've been attempting various other configurations to middling results. It's why the videos I've taken of the tank are all with sound off... But, I got it to a noise level I'm at least able to tolerate for now and I'll continue to tweak it during my final days of maternity leave. The current configuration has a 90 degree elbow into a 90 degree reducer elbow (because a non-reducer elbow doesn't fit) on the taller tube, and I added a short tube to the bare strainer intake and topped it with a Durso style overflow.
Default plumbing instructions that came with the tank
Video showing the current overflow box setup and noise level
Finishing up & current pictures:
While I've been building V3, my V2 iteration's remaining inhabitants have all been living in a barebones 40g breeder tank I had leftover from another tank I broke down a while ago. I haven't touched the stocking levels in many years now due to lack of time, so the school sizes will all need to be toppped off later once the cycle is 100% finished:
5 Tiger Barbs (3 red GloBarbs, a green GloBarb, and an Albino Tiger Barb)
4 Dwarf Chain Loaches
7 GloSkirt Tetras (4 Purple, 1 Blue, 1 Pink, 1 Orange)
Since I kickstarted the cycle with bacteria from my other tanks and tossed in a bottle of Dr. Tims start up bacteria, I went ahead and moved them over a few days ago and have been closely monitoring the water parameters. Between the starter bacteria, the planted sump, and having a generally very low stocking level for the water volume they're now swimming in, the fish have absolutely thrived in their new digs! They were a bit nervous, but by the very next day the more brave individuals had started poking around in the tunnels. Unexpectely, it was one of my red tiger barbs that was the first to try them out, NOT the loaches like I expected! It's been 4 days now and all of the barbs and loaches have taken turns exploring all of the caves and tunnels at this point, with a few of them regularly poking their heads in to scavenge for leftover food crumbs. Each day they seem to get more comfortable with the tunnels and are exploring them more regularly!
Moonlight mode vs daylight mode
Additional Videos:
Showing off the various lighting modes
Full tank walkaround
General tank activity with the actinic/blue lighting
General tank activity under the daylight lighting
Fish exploring the tunnels
One of the loaches exploring the long double ended lava tunnel
Next Steps:
1. Keep attempting to resolve the noisy overflow issue. There's not much space in the overflow box, so I'm going to look into a Stockman style top to the intakes and see if that helps. Any suggestions here that don't require ripping apart the plumbing below the bulkheads would be greatly appreciated!
2. The depth and width of the tank makes the blue lighting mode a little dimmer than ideal for showing off the neon decor with the single light fixture. I've ordered some accent actinic light strips to add once they arrive. I'm thinking of 3D printing a bracket to hold all the lights so it's easier to move them as needed for maintenance.
3. Once the cycle is settled and the plants are growing well I'll start working toward my eventual stock list:
10-12 GloFish Skirt Tetras (short finned varieties, at least 1 of each color option)
10-12 GloFish Danios (short finned varieties, at least 1 of each color option)
10-12 Tiger Barbs (at least 1 of each GloFish variety, plus my random albino barb)
8 GloFish Corys (at least 1 of each color, maybe some albinos)
1 Albino Bristlenose Pleco
8-10 Dwarf Chain Loaches
1 GloFish Shark (probably either the orange or green variety depending on what I can find as a juvenile, will be added after loaches and cories are full grown to minimize chances of Shark being a jerk to them)
3. Eventually, get an epic, properly tall/large volcano centerpiece 3D printed and redo the scape to accommodate!
Hope you guys enjoy!
Previous Iterations:
The first version was an overly complicated test bed of different techniques that mostly didn't pan out: I had a 20 gallon long display tank with a HOB overflow leading down to a 10g lava rock heavy planted shrimp tank, which itself had a HOB overflow leading down to a planted sump tank. The original intent was that the lava rock would behave similar to live rock in a saltwater tank and act similar to the Marine Pure media that was popular at the time, with the shrimp helping clean (plus being my first time keeping shrimp since usually my fish choices tend to nip/eat them), and the planted sump would help eat up nitrates so I could go all out on the plastic neon decor in the main tank. The primary tank had multi-mode lighting and could either have daylight lighting or full blue moonlight/actinic lighting.
Video showing the full triple tank setup of the V1 GloTank
It didn't take long to realize the triple levels were a nightmare to run. Keeping the two separate HOBs draining at the same rate so there was no flooding was way too tricky so I abandoned it pretty quickly. Instead, I moved all the lava rock down to the planted sump, and rehomed the shrimp since my DIY sump divider (it was just a simple pane of acrylic siliconed in place) didn't have any ability to keep them out of the return pump section. Within less than a year, I upgraded to a 36g bowfront tank. I kept the same planted/lava rock sump and still was using the HOB overflow. This version of the tank ran from January 2014 till May this year, and required a pretty high level of maintenance to keep it sparkly clean and glowing, which was getting more difficult to carve time out for after we became parents in 2018, and then again in January this year.
V2 of the GloTank - Daylights on vs Moonlight mode on
Having so many fake plants packed into it was super cool looking, but trying to keep them clean required a lot of scrubbing and bleach baths, which naturally led to the plants falling apart every few years and needing replacement to keep the tank looking nice and not blocking the overflow with broken plastic plant bits. The HOB overflow combined with my unskilled DIY attempt at figuring out how tall a permanent return chamber divider should be (spoiler: it should be much shorter than I had it so you're not constantly having to top it off) meant that I was frequently having sump floods, broken HOB overflow U tube siphons, a noisy overflow drain. Having so many plants also meant that the plants were the star of the show rather than the GloFish themselves. I also had some Dwarf Chain Loaches that I almost never saw because they were hidden among the bottoms of the plants and were mostly black on black sand in a dimmer lit blue lighting tank. I had the ability to turn the light from blue lighting to daylight, but it was on a manual switch which meant I almost never swapped it since the blue lighting looked the coolest to me. I tried to combat this by adding more blue lighting (finding STRONG blue lighting is really hard for tall tanks it turns out, largely due to my not being familiar with saltwater tanks at the time and not realizing that reef/frag tanks actually use a lot of the same lighting that the GloTank needed to really pop), which helped some, but caused severe algae problems later when I became pregnant and started falling behind on my maintenance schedule.
Current Iteration
Goals & Concept:
I wanted to rebuild the tank using what I've learned in the 11 years since the original iteration and have the system be large enough to keep some of the new GloFish varieties that have since come out. Back when I planned out my stocking for the 36g, there were only Glo Danios and Glo Skirt Tetras. I still liked the idea of a planted sump for nitrate absorption but there was no way I was going to deal with a HOB overflow again. I also wanted to swap to an aquascape that wasn't JAM PACKED with plants to help minimize the number of things I needed to scrub and let me see the fish better. Volcano aquascapes and underground tunnels are something I've always loved the concept of, and I thought my loaches would have a blast with (yes, I know they're an odd choice for a GloTank, but I've had these guys for AGES and they are such fun to keep that I make an exception). Now that GloCories and GloSharks are available too, I wanted lots of hidey holes and line of sight breaks to improve the chances of the GloShark tolerating other sand dwellers. To help improve the visibility of my loaches (black & white bodies are hard to see on black sand in blue lighting), I wanted to line the tunnels and hidey holes with orange gravel that would react to the blue lighting, to really sell the "lava tube" look.
Initial difficulties:
Unfortunately, my LFS stopped carrying pre-drilled tanks in the size I wanted so I could maximize my tank size for the space I had available to work with. I did NOT feel comfortable trying to drill a tank myself, so that led me to FB marketplace to see what options were available. I wasn't familiar with Waterbox or FijiCube aquariums until I stumbled across them on there, and was really impressed with the rimless designs since they meant I could see all the way down to the bottom of the tank without losing an 1" of my underground tunnels behind the bottom plastic rim. I ended up going with a Fiji Cube 80g internal overflow plus their stand, despite it being more spendy than I was hoping to go with. All of the FijiCube sumps unfortunately didn't suit my purposes, as they're designed for reef tank filtration - meaning they expect you to have a skimmer, filter socks, baffles to minimize bubbles, etc that were all overkill for my usage. None of the default tank sizes really maximized my sump volume and any custom built sump would have cost an arm and leg, so I opted for using my V2's 36g display tank as my sump - despite the weirdness trying to work with a bowfront sump would cause for gluing in dividers.
Right off the bat while researching available decorations that would look good under the blue actinic lighting, I realized there are very few tall volcano decorations of any kind, let alone ones that react well with actinic lighting. The tallest ones I could find were 9" tall, with most "large" volcanos ranging from 4" tall to 6" tall, but the Fijicube tank is 22" deep.I went with off the shelf options for the initial scape, but at some point I want to go back and 3D print a much larger volcano decoration that fits the height of the tank better. I just need to figure out how to either make, find, or buy a model that I can print that does the mental image I have of what I'm looking for justice. For now, I managed to combine a cool volcano from Amazon with a "Glowing effect" coral decoration that looked like a lava plume, along with neon orange gravel siliconed in over the top of the non-blue light reactive lava paint for my own spruced up centerpiece and paired it with a neat 6" tall glowing volcano bubbler. To combat the lack of height in most of my decorations (and the fact that my 6yr old daughter LOVES them) I grabbed some floating fake fish/animals to add some vertical interest.
The last snag I ran into was that I had purchased one of the Kraken Reef custom acrylic screen top lids, and when I bought it I didn't ask for any cutouts to be left for cords. I told myself that all of my cords would be down in the sump, so there was no need for cutouts! Except the air line and power cord for my volcano bubbler... Oops. Luckily, the cords were small enough I was able to grind out a little groove for them to slip through so the lid could sit flat as intended.
Starting to build:
I've been doing this build as a personal sanity project (something I could accomplish for myself to avoid falling into in baby care 24/7 survival mode) while I've been home on maternity leave, so much of my build has been done either after the baby is in bed for the night or while he's been napping, or recently while he's been starting daycare (due to a variety of reasons, he started daycare part time for 2 months before I had to go back to work). Due to this, I sadly wasn't thinking about grabbing photos during most of the build process, so I apologize for the description heavy bit here.
I started off with the sump since I knew it would take time to get the plants established. Due to using the 36g bowfront as my sump, I knew getting dividers fitted perfectly and glued in strongly for it would be a royal pain with the curvature. Instead, I opted to 3D print my own dividers that created rectangular sections, leaving the curved front of the bowfront to be part of the planted refugium section. I'm using a sheet of Poret Filter Foam to keep the water intake from stirring up the substrate of the planted section and for extra surface area for biofiltration to populate, so I had to add bracing to the intake divider to hold that in place snugly while allowing me to pull it for maintenance as needed. I am NOT very good at handling silicone seams, so it took some very messy and repeated attempts to get the dividers snugly glued in, but it finally worked.
The planted section I set up as a dirted bottom with a sand cap. I had several Crypts in my other heavily planted freshwater tank, so I snagged a few of them to start and picked up some dwarf sagittaria, an Amazon sword, and some Java ferns to flesh it out with some variety of heavy root feeders that grow at varying rates. I don't have time to keep pruning super fast growing plants, so I'm going fully low tech, Walstad style with the sump because it's still more nitrate absorbtion than I would otherwise be getting with how the display tank is setup.
Sadly, plumbing has always been my downfall for setting up systems with sumps, and this tank has been no exception. I have back issues that flare up when trying to get under the stand to glue in PVC fittings, and I generally have no freaking clue how to put the sump plumbing in well (I've only plumbed a grand total of 4 sumps now in the last 11 years), so the plumbing is a bit of a nightmare. I will likely need to revisit it since the overflow is super noisy and is slowly driving me insane. In hindsight I should have added a valve to one of the two intakes so I could better control the water level in the overflow, but since the pvc pipes are glued (badly) in, I'll have to either add the valve to one of the flexible tubes with barbs leading to it or figure out some way to unglue the pvc pipes to redo the plumbing without tearing the whole thing down...
The hideous plumbing job... I had to make liberal use of water weld because my return pump pressure was strong enough my subpar pvc gluing/fitting skills weren't strong enough to avoid leaks... Trying to plumb this during my son's nap probably didn't help since it meant I felt rushed while trying to get it all to fit together because I knew he could wake up and interrupt me.
With the sump started and the plumbing in place, I started setting up the tunnels and substrate. All of my tunnels and against the glass caves were Etsy finds before I took the 3D printer plunge and got my own printer. Putting them into the tank took several dry-fit attempts to test out the best way to put them in, as just putting them in against the glass as they're shown in the Etsy listings led to sand seeping in. For a terrarium or an aquarium with just all-sand substrate, that wouldn't be a deal breaker, but since I planned on lining these tunnels with neon orange gravel to look like lava, having the black sand seeping in and sitting on top of the gravel ruined that effect. My second attempt tried 3D printing my own braces that I glued magnets into to help trap the tunnels against the glass, but the magnets weren't strong enough and kept getting bumped off the glass when I was wiping it. Plus the non-rectangular tunnels/caves were a nightmare to brace well since I didn't have the original 3D file to work with. I could have siliconed them all in like I did the dividers in the sump, but as shown by my VERY messy sump divider seams, that wasn't something I had confidence I could do aesthetically well. Instead, I found moldable silicone putty on Amazon that was black and could be molded like clay in the seams I needed and stayed flexible for as long as I needed to tweak the seam. This worked great, with a little patience. In theory if I need to pull a tunnel for maintenance/cleaning it should be doable without breaking down the whole display. We'll see how well that works in practice later... But anyways, I finally was able to start adding water to the display!
I had to go super slowly at first, as I didn't want the black sand to get washed into the tunnels as I filled. Also, the seals I did on the tunnels worked TOO well in some regards, as it caused air pockets in some of the tunnels! I had to carefully stick air tubes down into those pockets and siphon the air out. In the end I still didn't get them all, but I got enough out so they're not super noticeable and I suspect they'll eventually dissapate.
Once I got all the hardscape in and the tank filled, it was time to add the plants and floating decorations and lighting! For the primary light, I'm using a Current Orbital Marine fixture. I've been using this type of light on my saltwater reef tank already, and I absolutely love the fact that it will automatically go through a moonlight/actinic stage before and after a full daylight stage, without any intervention from me. This means I'll get to enjoy both the regular lighting and the cool blue lighting every day instead of just leaving it on blue constantly due to lack of patience for manually swapping it between the modes like my old version had.
Up til this point I hadn't actually turned on the return pump yet. Unfortunately, I realized immediately that the overflow was INCREDIBLY loud. Originally, I did the overflow the way FijiCube's instructions indicated, with a basic Herbie design, without realizing that Herbie overflows are designed to rely on a valve controlling the water level in the overflow (which I had failed to include and realized AFTER I glued in the plumbing). Unfortunately, I didn't have room in the box for a full U bend on each intake tube like I'm used to using in my other freshwater tank and my saltwater tank to help silence the intakes, so I've been attempting various other configurations to middling results. It's why the videos I've taken of the tank are all with sound off... But, I got it to a noise level I'm at least able to tolerate for now and I'll continue to tweak it during my final days of maternity leave. The current configuration has a 90 degree elbow into a 90 degree reducer elbow (because a non-reducer elbow doesn't fit) on the taller tube, and I added a short tube to the bare strainer intake and topped it with a Durso style overflow.
Default plumbing instructions that came with the tank
Video showing the current overflow box setup and noise level
Finishing up & current pictures:
While I've been building V3, my V2 iteration's remaining inhabitants have all been living in a barebones 40g breeder tank I had leftover from another tank I broke down a while ago. I haven't touched the stocking levels in many years now due to lack of time, so the school sizes will all need to be toppped off later once the cycle is 100% finished:
5 Tiger Barbs (3 red GloBarbs, a green GloBarb, and an Albino Tiger Barb)
4 Dwarf Chain Loaches
7 GloSkirt Tetras (4 Purple, 1 Blue, 1 Pink, 1 Orange)
Since I kickstarted the cycle with bacteria from my other tanks and tossed in a bottle of Dr. Tims start up bacteria, I went ahead and moved them over a few days ago and have been closely monitoring the water parameters. Between the starter bacteria, the planted sump, and having a generally very low stocking level for the water volume they're now swimming in, the fish have absolutely thrived in their new digs! They were a bit nervous, but by the very next day the more brave individuals had started poking around in the tunnels. Unexpectely, it was one of my red tiger barbs that was the first to try them out, NOT the loaches like I expected! It's been 4 days now and all of the barbs and loaches have taken turns exploring all of the caves and tunnels at this point, with a few of them regularly poking their heads in to scavenge for leftover food crumbs. Each day they seem to get more comfortable with the tunnels and are exploring them more regularly!
Moonlight mode vs daylight mode
Additional Videos:
Showing off the various lighting modes
Full tank walkaround
General tank activity with the actinic/blue lighting
General tank activity under the daylight lighting
Fish exploring the tunnels
One of the loaches exploring the long double ended lava tunnel
Next Steps:
1. Keep attempting to resolve the noisy overflow issue. There's not much space in the overflow box, so I'm going to look into a Stockman style top to the intakes and see if that helps. Any suggestions here that don't require ripping apart the plumbing below the bulkheads would be greatly appreciated!
2. The depth and width of the tank makes the blue lighting mode a little dimmer than ideal for showing off the neon decor with the single light fixture. I've ordered some accent actinic light strips to add once they arrive. I'm thinking of 3D printing a bracket to hold all the lights so it's easier to move them as needed for maintenance.
3. Once the cycle is settled and the plants are growing well I'll start working toward my eventual stock list:
10-12 GloFish Skirt Tetras (short finned varieties, at least 1 of each color option)
10-12 GloFish Danios (short finned varieties, at least 1 of each color option)
10-12 Tiger Barbs (at least 1 of each GloFish variety, plus my random albino barb)
8 GloFish Corys (at least 1 of each color, maybe some albinos)
1 Albino Bristlenose Pleco
8-10 Dwarf Chain Loaches
1 GloFish Shark (probably either the orange or green variety depending on what I can find as a juvenile, will be added after loaches and cories are full grown to minimize chances of Shark being a jerk to them)
3. Eventually, get an epic, properly tall/large volcano centerpiece 3D printed and redo the scape to accommodate!
Hope you guys enjoy!
