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20H ̶R̶C̶S̶ Dwarf Puffer Paradise

2K views 11 replies 3 participants last post by  thedood 
#1 · (Edited)
I have a nice RCS colony going in a 10g (journal located here: http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/12-tank-journals/931425-doods-10g.html). I havent done much with it since setting it up but regular maintanence and harvest some shrimps out of it to feed my Altolamps. I did thin the plants out of it and move some to my 75g. Ive learned a lot since setting it up and now I am going to take that knowledge and apply it to a 20H I have and move my shrimp colony to a new home.

The tank is a standard AGA 20H with the dimensions L = 24 1/4" W = 12 1/2" and H = 16 3/4". The back has been painted black.

I plan on using the same driftwood and will move the plants in it over to the 20H and add some trimmings from my 75 to fill it out. The following is the list of flora this tank will have:
Java fern
Bacopa caroliniana
Ludwigia repens
Alternanthera reineckii 'rosaefolia'
Staurogyne repens
Vesuvius sword
Indian red sword
Peacock moss
Java moss

I will be stocking this with my rcs colony, 6 oto, and 3 nerites.

One of the things I am going to do is take stainless steel mesh, or I may use that plastic art mesh, and create a screen for the peacock moss and place it at one end and create a moss wall.

Substrate will be pretty typical for low tech. 75% clay rich yard dirt and 25% cat litter (the el cheapo special kitty all clay litter from wally world) covering a sprinkling of osmocote plus and capped with black diamond blasting sand.

This tank will be diy heavy starting with filtration. Filtration will be provided by a home built filter constructed of pvc and filled with floss, purigen, and ceramic bio-media with all water pre-filtered at the intake by an ATI FilterMax #2 sponge pre-filter. Water will be drawn through the filter by two small power-heads. For the design plans see this thread: http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/20-diy/1037113-diy-internal-canister-v2.html

Lighting will be provided by a diy light system built from the remains of two 18" fluorescent light assemblies mounted in a diy canopy. The lights will be Zoomed 15 watt florasun and a 15 watt tropicsun. I havent decided yet what I will build the canopy out of but I will be building it this coming weekend. Most likely I will construct the canopy of 2x2 frame and 1/2 plywood which I have on hand. The canopy will have a hinged front for easy feeding access.

Sticking to the diy theme the stand is diy as well. I dont have the best carpentry tools so the stand has imperfections but will serve its purpose. The stand is the same length and width as the tank and is 28 1/2" tall. The frame is 2x4 and is skinned with 1/4" Luon and trimmed out with 1x3. The top and bottom shelves are 1/2" plywood. The coating will be antique walnut colored polyshade. I have almost completed the stand, would have finished tonight but I didnt have the nails for the trim. Here it is as of this evening.



I look forward to getting this finished and cycled so I can get my rcs in it.
 
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#2 ·
Got some more done on my stand tonight. All I have left now is wood putty the cracks and nail dings, sand it, and make the cabinet door and coat it. Oh and put the back on it. A lot of things didnt come out right. There is some lumber I should have bought, notice the difference between the top front and the bottom front which may make the door look stupid. All I have are basic tools and should have had someone cut the plywood for me. All in all I am not unhappy considering this is the first thing I have made out of wood since high school. Next project after this is the canopy.
 
#3 ·
I wanted to give an update. I have been working on my diy canopy with cooling system. The cooling system will by activated by an Inkbird ITC-308S controller. If there is some interest in what I did here I will do a how to on this system and the principles behind how it works. Here are some pics of he cooling system for this tank.





 
#5 ·
@burr740 Thanks for the comment and compliment. This system moves an unbelievable amount of air. If I had relized how efficient it would be I would have only used two fans. I am working on getting the lights mounted in it now.
 
#7 · (Edited)
I have the hood on and I have the tank planted. I was unsure if I have enough lighting (2 18" t8, a zoomed triopic sun and flora sun). That said the l. repens is going good as is the roseafolia. I placed a really bad looking amazon sword plantlet that I took off of a runner in there and it is growing and has new leaves. I had a small cluster of staurogyne repens that stayed the way it was in my 10g but is now growing and spreading, I suspect that the tannins in the 10g were dimming the light and keeping it stunted. I received some awesome plants from @Seattle_Aquarist that kind of went south but seem to be bouncing back. I placed some checkered barbs in the tank to eliminate scuds and miraculously I'm not seeing any scuds now lol and I really like the fish.

The cooling system works well. It has no problem dropping the tank several degrees below ambient but does require major top-offs, small price to pay I guess.

To do:
I'm not liking the filter. I either need to redesign or something. It filters great, the water is crystal clear. I have an ATI Filter-Max sponge (attached to the pvc), wally world quilt batting, and a 100ml purigen pack in 2 1/2in pvc powered by an AquaClear 20 powerhead. The AC20 is a fine powerhead but doesnt have enough oomph in this application. SO I have a decision to make. Change the powerhead or go to a different internal filter. I have looked at some internal filters but have yet to find one that I can easily use the purigen pack. SUggestions welcome on this. Right now the filter is unsightly but once the plants fill in I dont think it will be visible except from the left side.

I am going to redo the hood. I havent decided how yet and the current setup seems sufficient. I used cheap wood and it shows. I want to wait a bit until I see how the lights work. Once I make a determination of the lights adequacy then I will make a decision on what to do on the hood.

 
#8 ·
#9 ·
If you are running PVC, I would paint it black with krylon fusion. Would look nicer.
If it's a mainly shrimp tank I would just go air powered sponge filters. Or a corner HMF with your powerhead.

http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/12-tank-journals/987225-buddhas-corner-hmf-shrimp-build.html

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I was going to paint the pvc but have read mixed reviews and was in a pinch to get it done. Do you have or can you point me in the direction of the build guide for your hmf? I am game to give it a shot maybe, I found some info on running purigen in an hmf.
 
#11 ·
Not much has changed. The tank is no longer an rcs paradise. The Checker Barbs and Salt N Pepper cories own the tank now. I was planning on removing the fish but I decided I really like them so they are staying and they seem healthy and fine in there.

 
#12 ·
This tank is being re-purposed. I have pulled the livestock out and moved it to my 75, this was done awhile ago. I left the sub in it. I have decided to make this tank a home for some dwarf puffers so it is getting a scrubbing and being moved into my shop room.

Substrate: Seachem Fluorite red (on order)
Filtration: Hagin dual sponge filter (air driven) and a Lee medium corner filter with floss and pumice (air driven) (on order)
Lighting: zoomed liights, same as before
Heating and cooling will remain unchanged.

The tank will have the following plants:
Aponogeton Crispus
Cryptocoryne wendtii
ROTALA ROTUNDIFOLIA
Java Moss

Fish will be snails and a colony of red shrimp with a few dwarf puffers added in a few months after the shrimp get acclimated and breeding.

I will post some pics. I should have the tank ready to put plants in next weekend, depending on shipping time for the substrate and filters.
 
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