Ok, so the time has finally arrived :biggrin:
After a large bottle of a deep red Merlot wine, I've decided it is officially time to begin the 55 gallon iwagumi attempt.
Following months of trial and error with my first 55 gallon planted tank, I've moved onto my second. For this tank I am aiming for a iwagumi style. My first tank has been a long and tedious process (which I've not documented on here) with battling hair algae and every other problem under the sun. I've slowly overcome these issues, and felt it was time for me to begin my second 55 gal.
In my first 55 gal tank, I went with a wide selection of traditional hardy plants ranging from Amazon Swords, Rotala Indica, Water Sprites, Anubias, Anarcharis, Java Fern, Dwarf Sag, etc. I will post a pic of this tank later on.
Thus began my second 55 gallon (with the Petco dollar per gallon sale :tongue.
First off, I built a stand for this tank, as did I for my first 55 gallon. I followed an excellent guide by uarujoey from Youtube and DIYfishkeepers.com. I built his stand design with a few extra cross supports for my personal comfort. The design he shows can support up to a 150 gallon.... but I beefed it up even more.... for a 55 gallon :biggrin: The build is very easy and straight forward, cost roughly under $50 every time around. I use the more fine selection "white board" 1x6's or 1x8's for the top cover boards, and these wind up costing more than all of the 2x4s involved in the primary build. I cut, build, then power sand, and paint the aquarium stand a semi-gloss black.
Doing a test fill as I type this.... Cross my fingers for no blow outs
______________________________________________
So to list the typical specs of a tank:
Tank:
55 gallon AGA tank (48" W, 13" D, and 20" H)
Light:
2 54w T5HO set up
Roughly 8 hours a day
Substrate:
Miracle Gro Organic Soil (bottom layer)
Safe-T-Sorb (top layer)
Filtration/Circulation:
Powerhead with prefilter (for CO2 distribution)
[STRIKE]Marineland Penguin 350 HOB filter (Possibly getting a 2nd)[/STRIKE]
Canister filter
CO2:
[STRIKE]DIY CO2
4 2L bottles via powerhead distribution when tank is eventually flooded
Planning/Saving for eventual injected setup.[/STRIKE]
Saving during DSM to buy a legit CO2 setup.
Fertilization:
EI method via GLA dry ferts [with extra random supplementation from Seachem Flourish Excel and Aquavitro Propel (iron)]
Rocks:
Random local rocks from state park (tested)
Plants:
HC carpet
Fauna:
[STRIKE]No idea - Def alot of shrimp and a large school of small fish[/STRIKE]
In my other 55 planted, I have albino corys, oto cats, neon and cardinal tetras, a clown pleco, amano shrimp, and RCS.
[STRIKE]Don't want to go with the same tetra school for this one... but I do want a large school. Considering some rasboras..... Open for any suggestions :wink:[/STRIKE]
Red Cherry Shrimp (hopefully 100s)
Amano Shrimp (~10-20)
______________________________________________
Now draining from the successful test fill, will post pics in a min of laying down substrates! :icon_smil
After a large bottle of a deep red Merlot wine, I've decided it is officially time to begin the 55 gallon iwagumi attempt.
Following months of trial and error with my first 55 gallon planted tank, I've moved onto my second. For this tank I am aiming for a iwagumi style. My first tank has been a long and tedious process (which I've not documented on here) with battling hair algae and every other problem under the sun. I've slowly overcome these issues, and felt it was time for me to begin my second 55 gal.
In my first 55 gal tank, I went with a wide selection of traditional hardy plants ranging from Amazon Swords, Rotala Indica, Water Sprites, Anubias, Anarcharis, Java Fern, Dwarf Sag, etc. I will post a pic of this tank later on.
Thus began my second 55 gallon (with the Petco dollar per gallon sale :tongue.
First off, I built a stand for this tank, as did I for my first 55 gallon. I followed an excellent guide by uarujoey from Youtube and DIYfishkeepers.com. I built his stand design with a few extra cross supports for my personal comfort. The design he shows can support up to a 150 gallon.... but I beefed it up even more.... for a 55 gallon :biggrin: The build is very easy and straight forward, cost roughly under $50 every time around. I use the more fine selection "white board" 1x6's or 1x8's for the top cover boards, and these wind up costing more than all of the 2x4s involved in the primary build. I cut, build, then power sand, and paint the aquarium stand a semi-gloss black.
Doing a test fill as I type this.... Cross my fingers for no blow outs
______________________________________________
So to list the typical specs of a tank:
Tank:
55 gallon AGA tank (48" W, 13" D, and 20" H)
Light:
2 54w T5HO set up
Roughly 8 hours a day
Substrate:
Miracle Gro Organic Soil (bottom layer)
Safe-T-Sorb (top layer)
Filtration/Circulation:
Powerhead with prefilter (for CO2 distribution)
[STRIKE]Marineland Penguin 350 HOB filter (Possibly getting a 2nd)[/STRIKE]
Canister filter
CO2:
[STRIKE]DIY CO2
4 2L bottles via powerhead distribution when tank is eventually flooded
Planning/Saving for eventual injected setup.[/STRIKE]
Saving during DSM to buy a legit CO2 setup.
Fertilization:
EI method via GLA dry ferts [with extra random supplementation from Seachem Flourish Excel and Aquavitro Propel (iron)]
Rocks:
Random local rocks from state park (tested)
Plants:
HC carpet
Fauna:
[STRIKE]No idea - Def alot of shrimp and a large school of small fish[/STRIKE]
In my other 55 planted, I have albino corys, oto cats, neon and cardinal tetras, a clown pleco, amano shrimp, and RCS.
[STRIKE]Don't want to go with the same tetra school for this one... but I do want a large school. Considering some rasboras..... Open for any suggestions :wink:[/STRIKE]
Red Cherry Shrimp (hopefully 100s)
Amano Shrimp (~10-20)
______________________________________________
Now draining from the successful test fill, will post pics in a min of laying down substrates! :icon_smil