Office Space

Ok I confess I was going to call the thread #4 but decided at the last minute that was a bit boring. Sign of the times that shipping cost almost as much as the tank
Pallet arrived this morning and here is the new Clearseal 36x12x12" waiting to be painted.

Initially I will just be using a plastic condensation tray as the lid and may make one in due course. I decided not to use the Marina internal filter I have lying around as it is not adjustable and I am aiming for low flow. There is also (IMO) a fundamental design flaw in the "waterfall" type filters in that the outlet dumps water directly in the path of the inlet. This means that it is not very effective at removing solid particles from the water. I spent half an hour watching the effect in a tank with duckweed and it was very effective at keeping the duckweed moving around the tank. So I have an Eheim pickup 160 arriving today. Nice and simple. No duckweed planned for this tank.

Was pleased with what the sand looks like in the bag.

More of a variety of colours than the Limpopo black in my other tanks. The grain size is also more variable so should create a nice textured look.

In case you missed my other posts I am planning a trio of apistos with ember tetras as the most likely dither fish.

Just waiting for the paint to dry. (Yes really!) One can of plasti-kote was not quite enough to fully cover 3 sides but it is good enough. Heater and filter have arrived so in theory I can pick up some ember tetra tomorrow - doubt I'll have the time though . No flaming on that - I have enough sponge ready to fill the filter sitting in the filter chambers of other tanks and it will be planted. Water sprite is currently floating in my only duckweed free tank waiting to be moved.

I will let the plants grow in before adding the apistos.

Still needs a clean before I fill it but here is a sneak preview.

Work day so the desk is in a typical state of disarray

looks good, nice looking tank, I like the dimensions, you can enjoy your fish while working My 20 gallon long is my 2nd favorite tank after my 55 gallon because it is so easy to work (maintain) compared to my other tall tanks.

Retired Viking said:

looks good, nice looking tank, I like the dimensions, you can enjoy your fish while working My 20 gallon long is my 2nd favorite tank after my 55 gallon because it is so easy to work (maintain) compared to my other tall tanks.

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Yeah. Suppose its a 20 super long. Technically its 22G (had to use the calculator because nobody in the UK uses gallons and when we do they are different gallons ) but it holds almost exactly the same amount of water as my 20 high but its 3' long rather than 2.

Now up and running. Heater calibration in progress. Sorry about the red light - pics of brand new tanks are very boring. Flourish comprehensive dosed at 100% to supplement the root tabs as there is nothing in the water to assist. I have used Dennerle Bee (shrimp) salt to raise the GH to 6d while the plants establish. KH is still 0 so I can have the soft acidic environment the fish need. Pump is turned up to full until I add fish as I only need to cater for the plants. I haven't actually raided my other tanks because in the unlikely event that everything I planted takes I will be thinning out in a few months anyway.

I will try to refrain from any livestock purchases until next week - but no promises

Plant list (for my own records)

• Hygrophila polysperma (rosanervig)
• Ludwigia repens (mesakana)
• Ceratopteris thalicroides
• Echinodorus reni

And with the lights on. I did say the plants were small . The sand is quite a bit darker than it appears on the pic.

ordered a sheet of polycarbonate today as the flimsy condensation tray is already annoying me. It's off now and won't go back on unless the first fish arrive before the new "lid"

Looks great!

30 hours on and the plants still look healthy and are all where I put them. I suspect it would be wishful thinking to suggest they have grown. The water is still disappointingly cloudy. This is almost certainly down to my half hearted rinsing efforts. The Unipac black Limpopo sand I have been using requires almost no rinsing so I treated this the same way. Oh well, I'll start getting practice at changing water in 4 tanks this weekend . I have also stuck a mini (home made) polishing filter in the speed up the process.

I guess I should test pH and hardness tomorrow just to confirm the sand is truly inert.

Another day-night cycle done and this time the hygrophila has definitely grown. Ludwigia looks the same but the leaves and colour have perked up. Echinodorus looks exactly the same. The homemade polisher / skimmer did a great job overnight. I changed 33% of the water anyway as I was doing the other 2 in the same room this morning. Should have read more reviews on the sand as many suggest it needs a lot of rinsing (Unipac Kivu) - so I'll just keep the little powerhead running it through floss till I add my first fish.

Parameters all check out. pH has dropped off the chart but that is both expected and desired. No sign of algae after 2 days so I have increased the lighting by half an hour. There does seen to be a small amount of white "fuzzy" growth on one of the coconut shells but I'm not worrying about that. The light seems very bright to me but then my other tanks are all quite dark, with darker substrate - and the water sprite still has some growing to do . I need to get a switched power strip. Getting under the desk to unplug things for the water change was a bit irksome. I arrange the plugs for all my tanks in the same way so all I ever have to do for a W/C is turn off #1 (pump) and #2 (heaters).

I'll try not to bore you with anymore updates or pics until there is something substantial to report

Water is crystal clear now so I'll take the polisher out tomorrow after another 50% water change. Hygrophila still showing new growth daily and last night the Ludwigia was sporting new leaves and shoots, and even more today. Swords are looking healthy and the water sprite seems to be spreading. Less concerned about that as I have 2 tanks full of frogbit waiting in case it hasn't grown enough by the time I add fish. I'll only do this if I actually need to as I'd like everything in this tank to be different from the other tanks. Inside of the tank feels a little slimy - so I guess I'll be seeing diatoms soon. Oh and added another half hour to the lighting from today. Now up to 7 hours.

There is a substantial report too. I have swapped the Eheim 160 for an Eheim 60. Even turned down to min the 160 was creating way more flow than I wanted, and the 60 is a much better height for the shallow tank. Its on the hygrophila side so should be hidden within a couple of months.

I have redeployed the 160 in the Thai tank (20G high) because the microdevario kubotai just love high flow - its set on max . I have taken out the powerhead which I had on a timer and the HOB can come out in a month or so. Tank / hood design means the HOB is in the wrong place, it flows across the centre of the width of the tank and the waterfall dumps in front of the inlet - so I spend way too much time siphoning organics out on the weekly change. It is bulkier (and uglier) than the HOB inside the tank, but is surrounded by hygrophila costata and crypts - so should also be invisible in a couple of months

Lid's arrived about 10 days sooner than promised.
FWIW 2mm is too bendy (@Russjw in case you are thinking of similar). Still need to cut a notch in the back for cables and will silicone lengths of airline to the side braces where I have the plastic rawl plugs for balancing. I will also attach clear "handles" of some sort and may cut out a feeding hole. I'll probably have to put a mini rod across the centre to stop it sagging. Its 2 sheets with the split under the light.

Finally if you get it ordered pre-cut check the tolerances with your supplier. I specified the width to allow a 2mm clearance and instead I got a 2mm overlap. Measured it against what I ordered and it was not a measurement error.

Colour is developing nicely although a bit hard to tell against the pitch black background. Excuse the bags of dried leaves floating around - I need the spare space in the filter to add the established media currently loitering in the filter chamber of the nano. Plants are definitely on the way and have grown noticeably, although they are still small. I love the way they are all growing towards the window even though the blackout blinds are always closed. Those reflections of the gaps between the blind slats are only there because the windows are open today.

The lid is in place now. I decided to use the overlap to my advantage and turned it into a sliding lid so I won't need to cut out a feeding hole. I may nip out tomorrow and pick up around 20 ember tetras. I have to keep restraining myself from hitting buy now on the site where I will be getting the apistos. I really need the plants to provide more hiding spaces before I do that. I suspect 2 weeks will be enough but I think I'll observe for at least another week before committing. I still can't decide if it will be a pair or a trio but based on what's in stock now my current favourites are Agassizs fire reds but my mind changes daily - and they have just got in some a.atahualpa which look rather nice too. And of course I don't know yet what the LFS has in stock I may throw in some shrimplets as ready made snacks when I change the water in the nano at the weekend - just not sure how they would cope with 0 hardness.

Looks good, I like long tanks better than tall, easier for me to work in and I think most fish like the larger foot print. Would really like to see the 20 embers swimming in a school, I have a shoal of just 6 and they like to hang together in the evening at one end of the tank. I hope to get my water and tank conditions just right to see some ember fry someday.

Retired Viking said:

Looks good, I like long tanks better than tall, easier for me to work in and I think most fish like the larger foot print. Would really like to see the 20 embers swimming in a school, I have a shoal of just 6 and they like to hang together in the evening at one end of the tank. I hope to get my water and tank conditions just right to see some ember fry someday.

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I love the size of this tank. You know me and big groups of shoaling fish . My first thought was around 40 but I have decided to keep this tank lightly stocked. At least that's what I tell myself . I have wanted nannostomus eques for a while (that's hockeystick pencilfish @Deanasue ) - nobody locally has stock at the moment, but who knows what the future may bring.