16g planted aquarium build

[RedSarah]

About six months ago, I saw a 16 gallon Waterbox aquarium on Facebook Marketplace for a great price. I rushed to the seller's house to find that it was like new. Drove home grinning like a total dork with the tank in the back seat XD

I didn't have the time or space to set it up then, but a few weeks ago I got around to moving my smaller tanks to make room. I've been fiddling with the hardscape since then. Has anyone used egg crate to elevate and secure hardscape? I feel like it could be useful to keep the wood from shifting, but I don't want to impede root growth or flow somehow.

 

[Wills]

Wow thats awesome! Great looking tank, did the stand come with it too? Which light is that?

Egg crate to raise hardscape is totally fine it shouldnt cause a problem, the other thing some people do is get nylon mesh bags (with nylon zips) and fill it with gravel or lava rock etc mixed with aquarium soil or substrate and use those bags like bricks to build up height.

Wills

 

[AdoraBelle Dearheart]

Wow thats awesome! Great looking tank, did the stand come with it too? Which light is that?

Egg crate to raise hardscape is totally fine it shouldnt cause a problem, the other thing some people do is get nylon mesh bags (with nylon zips) and fill it with gravel or lava rock etc mixed with aquarium soil or substrate and use those bags like bricks to build up height.

Wills

Wow! Wonder whether that would work with sand? If the height wasn't too much, just thin "bricks". Or if the sand would just do as it tends to, and level itself off again, maybe exposing the bricks.

 

[Wills]

Wow! Wonder whether that would work with sand? If the height wasn't too much, just thin "bricks". Or if the sand would just do as it tends to, and level itself off again, maybe exposing the bricks.

From what I've seen its the bricks of soil/gravel and then sand on top. The sand stays in place, once the plants start to root is when it gets strong. But you can see on the videos he gets a good 5-6 inches of height at the back of the tank.

Wills

 

[AdoraBelle Dearheart]

From what I've seen its the bricks of soil/gravel and then sand on top. The sand stays in place, once the plants start to root is when it gets strong. But you can see on the videos he gets a good 5-6 inches of height at the back of the tank.

Wills

Have just ordered some nylon media zippered bags to arrive tomorrow, thank you! Excited for scaping again.

@RedSarah Awesome that you got a beautiful tank for a bargain! The wood piece is absolutely perfect, and with the mother in law's tongue and other plants around it, looks Insta ready! Looking forward to seeing the build progress

 

[RedSarah]

Wow thats awesome! Great looking tank, did the stand come with it too? Which light is that?

Egg crate to raise hardscape is totally fine it shouldnt cause a problem, the other thing some people do is get nylon mesh bags (with nylon zips) and fill it with gravel or lava rock etc mixed with aquarium soil or substrate and use those bags like bricks to build up height.

Wills

I've had the stand for a couple of years and was looking for a tank with the right dimensions. This one fit the bill! The light is a Twinstar C series—I'm interested to see how it grows plants

Nylon bags filled with gravel is a great idea. I have a bunch of old Eco Complete that I could reuse

 

[RedSarah]

Have just ordered some nylon media zippered bags to arrive tomorrow, thank you! Excited for scaping again.

@RedSarah Awesome that you got a beautiful tank for a bargain! The wood piece is absolutely perfect, and with the mother in law's tongue and other plants around it, looks Insta ready! Looking forward to seeing the build progress

Thank you!! Glad to hear that the wood looks ok. I used reef epoxy to stick a bunch of branches together and then couldn't get the stuff off my hands haha.

 

[RedSarah]

A small update: I ended up buying some plastic egg crate louver and used pliers to shape it into a platform for the driftwood. It took some trial and error to get the shape of the platform right—it was a little too big at first and I had to use a ton of soil to cover it, so out it came along with all the substrate I had added. I trimmed the louver down some more and it looks a lot less bulky. There are now plastic shards all over my living room floor lol. Zip tied the wood to the egg crate and poured the soil back in, and here we are:

I think the layout would look more balanced with a few more rocks, so I’m going to stop in to my LFS this week and see what they have. Otherwise, it’s pretty much ready to be filled.

 

[Wills]

A small update: I ended up buying some plastic egg crate louver and used pliers to shape it into a platform for the driftwood. It took some trial and error to get the shape of the platform right—it was a little too big at first and I had to use a ton of soil to cover it, so out it came along with all the substrate I had added. I trimmed the louver down some more and it looks a lot less bulky. There are now plastic shards all over my living room floor lol. Zip tied the wood to the egg crate and poured the soil back in, and here we are:

View attachment 159986

I think the layout would look more balanced with a few more rocks, so I’m going to stop in to my LFS this week and see what they have. Otherwise, it’s pretty much ready to be filled.

Looking really good! I agree more rocks will help in here maybe like a row coming from the middle to the front right corner?

I love how its positioned with the house plants around it, must be such a nice place to be.

Wills