The Adventure Begins - UNS Rimless 20G Planted Tank

It'll be sweet if you could hide the heater inside the filter compartment!

eatyourpeas said:

It'll be sweet if you could hide the heater inside the filter compartment!

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Yep, the heater will go back there, too! At first I wasn't going to get the all in one then I started thinking about not seeing the heater and cords and all of that and how clean the inside of the tank will look so I decided to go with it despite the loss of some space in the tank. I think it will look really nice once it's set up.

Also, if they did not provide you with a mesh bag for the ceramic bio media, I would consider getting one. Then you can just lift the bag out of the casing for cleaning.

That's a pretty similar setup to the Flex. FWIW I didn't bother with the ceramic media and just use the sponge. It very effective and leaves me with space for 2 heaters in the back (one of my foibles - all my tanks have 2 heaters). If the outlet vents are high enough the filter system also acts as an effective surface skimmer. Water changes are also really quick as you put the fresh water into the filter compartment so can do it fast without worrying about disturbing the substrate.

seangee said:

Water changes are also really quick as you put the fresh water into the filter compartment so can do it fast without worrying about disturbing the substrate.

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Oh that's a great tip! I hadn't thought of that but it will be wonderful to not have to worry about messing up the sand. Thanks for that!

@mrsjoannh13, are you planning on adding any other fish to the corys and the betta? I think neons would look good in the tank imo.

Also are you doing a dark background?

Fish4dawin said:

@mrsjoannh13, are you planning on adding any other fish to the corys and the betta? I think neons would look good in the tank imo.

Also are you doing a dark background?

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The tank in reality only holds about 16 1/2 gallons with the space taken up for the compartment on the back. So I think 6 corys and the betta will be my limit.

The compartment on the back is black so the background is already dark. That's another thing I like about the tank. I didn't have to fiddle around with putting a background on it!

mrsjoannh13 said:

The tank in reality only holds about 16 1/2 gallons with the space taken up for the compartment on the back. So I think 6 corys and the betta will be my limit.

The compartment on the back is black so the background is already dark. That's another thing I like about the tank. I didn't have to fiddle around with putting a background on it!

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All of the fishs' colours will show up better through dark backgrounds. In my opinion, dark backgrounds are the best backgrounds.

TANNINS! That's all I have for you today, kids. A soaking piece of wood releasing tannins.

Well, other than the stand I ordered online apparently is not in stock even though it's listed as in stock on the website. Seriously - cannot find this stand anywhere in the US. Looks like I'll have to get something custom made. Sigh. Why do I have to be so darn picky?

mrsjoannh13 said:

TANNINS! That's all I have for you today, kids. A soaking piece of wood releasing tannins.

Well, other than the stand I ordered online apparently is not in stock even though it's listed as in stock on the website. Seriously - cannot find this stand anywhere in the US. Looks like I'll have to get something custom made. Sigh. Why do I have to be so darn picky?

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Lovely tea!

Ok so here is my tank as of now. Pretty cluttered to be honest and I need to put something in the back right but yeah.

We have sand! I'll be washing it out this weekend - no time to really go at it until then because of this pesky job I must maintain to support my fish and Disney habits. It's CaribSea sand in sunset gold. Me likey!

Hubs made me this temporary rolling cart thingy to keep the tank off the floor. I am not sure If it will serve any purpose until the stand I ordered comes in or not.... maybe easier to roll the tank back and forth to scoop the sand into from the back patio? For now it's an eyesore in my study but I'm sure it will look better once I get it unwrapped, cleaned up and start to put the sand, hardscape and plants in. The rest of the hardscape items should be delivered Monday.

Looks like the stand I ordered is still at least 3 weeks out from arriving. So frustrating! All good things to those who wait, I suppose. ?‍

That's it for now. Hopefully lots more progress to come this weekend into early next week as I start cleaning everything and putting in the tank to start the cycle!

Look at it this way: you can cycle while waiting for the stand, then when it arrives, you can empty it and get all the plants and fishies in once the cycling is done. Also, you can play with layout as well.

eatyourpeas said:

Look at it this way: you can cycle while waiting for the stand, then when it arrives, you can empty it and get all the plants and fishies in once the cycling is done. Also, you can play with layout as well.

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Yes - that is exactly my plan! I get all the hardscape in this weekend and will put that in with the sand and then plants then start the cycling process. We have a trip planned in February so I wasn't planning on getting fish until after we got back. So it gives me plenty of time to cycle without wanting to rush the process.

In the meantime, THIS came in today. I saw a YouTube video where a guy used this contraption to help with cleaning his sand in buckets. I thought it was genius! Going to give it a whirl (literally) this weekend.

mrsjoannh13 said:

Yes - that is exactly my plan! I get all the hardscape in this weekend and will put that in with the sand and then plants then start the cycling process. We have a trip planned in February so I wasn't planning on getting fish until after we got back. So it gives me plenty of time to cycle without wanting to rush the process.

In the meantime, THIS came in today. I saw a YouTube video where a guy used this contraption to help with cleaning his sand in buckets. I thought it was genius! Going to give it a whirl (literally) this weekend.

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That is such a weird contraption lol. How does it clean the sand out?