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A tale of 3 tanks: My DIY project journal (10g planted/33g planted/55g)

22K views 150 replies 38 participants last post by  danstock 
#1 · (Edited)
Hello all!

I have another thread on here (that definitely needs to be updated) for my DIY 33 gallon planted community tank, but I'd like to introduce my latest project.

Everything I do with my aquariums is DIY and done on a budget, partially because it's difficult to find anything but the basics here in Nova Scotia, Canada, but mostly because I enjoy tinkering and building things myself whenever possible.

This particular tank started as a fry tank for my 55 gallon mbuna Cichlid tank and evolved into a low-light no-tech holding tank for a few ferns and mosses - basically all put together with leftovers from my other builds.

About 2 months ago, I decided to finally spruce it up a bit and began planning what I wanted to accomplish.

The tank itself is a basic, cheap 10 gallon that was given to my by my sister in law when she realized fish tanks actually take some work. I de-rimmed it immediately but, up until recently, never really put much thought into it beyond that.

My goal was simplicity and relatively low-maintenance/low cost but, most of all, I wanted it to look good without breaking the bank. To me, this means absolutely the bare minimum for visible equipment in the tank.

With this goal I devised a plan for how it would be lit, filtered, heated, CO2 injected and displayed without any ugly equipment getting in that. It took a while to get everything the way I wanted, but I'd say I did pretty well!


Tank: 20"x10"x12" 10 Gallon (DIY de-rimmed)
Lighting: CurrentUSA Satellite+
CO2: DIY w/ two 2l bottles, check/shutoff/needle valves, DIY bubble counter and fed into a Ista Max Mix inline CO2 reactor.
Filtration: Fluval 105 w/ eBay lily pipes, stainless steal prefilter and clear tubing.
Substrate: EcoComplete capped with Pool Filter Sand
Heating: Hydor 200w inline heater
Dosing: EI dosing pre-mixed Macro and Micro on alternating days, Flourish root tabs in substrate, occaisional Excel spot treatment and Iron supplements.
Flora: Eleocharis acicularis, Eleocharis vivipara, Glosso, and Blyxa Japonica and Java Moss
Fauna: 7 neon tetras, 5+ red cherry shrimp

New setup has been up and running for about 3 weeks (since the tear down and rebuild...running for over a year prior to that) so the plants all need to grow in and I'm still working some small bugs out, but it's getting there!



All of the equipment is mounted on a shelf I built under the desk (originally an Ikea computer desk, but it's been modified quite a bit). The shelf is hidden by a cabinet door that, when it's closed, is pretty tough to notice. The filter tubing gets to the tank via small holes that I drilled into the table so all that is visible is clear tubing, lily pipes and the tank itself.

I also built a box-shelf over top of the aquarium (which actually holds my TV... this is all for the computer desk in my Man Cave) and that box contains my Current USA Satellite+ fixture. This puts it about 10-11" from the substrate, so I could use more light, but it could be worse.

I will take some better pics and also show the inner workings later tonight, but I figured I'd get a start on this thread now.

Let me know what you think!
 
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#9 ·
Thanks! They are just cheapo amber neon tube lights. 12V meant for automotive use, most likely, but I have them set on a timer to come on an hour before the main lights and stick around for an hour after to to create a semi-sunset effect - still would love a ramp timer in the future!

As for my other planted tank, here is a recent updated pic. Things are filling in slowly and the scape is still changing as things mature and I keep tweaking. Started a thread showing that tank a while back.

33g planted community: Build thread

 
#10 ·
Latest fun DIY upgrade:




DIY external drop checker made out of acrylic tubing I had laying around. Bent it to match the look of my lily pips, super-glued a suction cup to it, siliconed the end shut, filled it with 4dkh water and indicator... done! Took no time at all and removed the final piece of equipment from the tank.

I'm going to play around with some other designs and see if I can get creative but, for a first try, it's not so bad!

Also, since my last update, I have moved my neons over into my community tank and this 10 gallon is now home to 3 dwarf puffers! That was the original intention of this new setup, but my local shops never stock them. Made a trip to the city yesterday and came across some that I couldn't pass up.
 
#16 ·
Still tweaking the scape and just kinda letting it evolve naturally as things grow in and get shifted around. Very open to any suggestions as there is no strict direction to my design. I just kinda stare at it and try to brainstorm for ways I could improve it with whatever items I have access to lol

So, I wouldn't mind a second set of eyes to point out what I might not see.

Latest pic:



Thoughts?
 
#19 ·
Thanks! I might still add one more plant in that area, but I'm not sure what yet? For the meantime I have moved some of the DHG over a bit and just trimmed it to add even more perspective to the scape. Once the moss takes hold and I'm able to trim and clean it up I think it will make a huge difference.
 
#22 ·
Thanks for the kind words! As for the puffer/shrimp concerns, from everything I've read, it seems like it's a hit or miss combination. Seems to be fine so far for myself, and I've read many other success stories but, like bettas, it seems like a lot relies on the individual personalities of each puffer and may change as they mature. My shrimp seem to be breeding (I see a few babies, anyways), so I'm hoping to develop a larger colony of shrimp before any attitudes change. Puffers were always fish I wanted to try, so I was willing to take the risk. If I end up with a puffer-only tank then so be it!
 
#23 ·
While I wait for my 10g to grow in some more, I figured I would show off the other tank that is in this same room: my mancave. It's not planted (though who knows what the future holds... no plans, but I get bored sometimes...) but here it is...



It's a standard 55 gallon tank filtered by an AC70 and an AC110. Nothing but rocks, wood, and a mixture of pool filter sand, fine pacific gravel and aragonite make up the hardscape and it is lit by a Beamswork 48" Reef Bright LED. Canopy and stand are DIY that I built to match the other furniture in the room (all white).

Stock is all mbuna cichlids plus one RTBS and a couple adult albino bristlenose plecos (I hope), though I haven't seen the female in quite some time. There are lots of hideouts and abundant algae so that's not abnormal, but something in me says she's toast lol She's been in there for almost 2 years now with no issues, so it could go either way...

To me, this is a very nice looking, low-maintenance joy of a tank compared to my other two heavily planted setups. I love that all I have to do is feed the fish and change the water - nothing compared to trimming, fertilizing, adjusting, removing floating debris, monitoring co2, etc etc. I looove planted tanks, but I adore this tank due to the fact that it's not lol
 
#24 ·
Like the tank (10gallon). A suggestion/question is how you gonna contain the DHG in the front left from spreading everywhere, unless thats what you want over there. Nice setup and cleanliness of the look you pulled off.

I like the 55 as is cuz its just got a nice darkness with the light sand and fish offsetting it. But it is your tank and Mancave.
 
#25 ·
Like the tank (10gallon). A suggestion/question is how you gonna contain the DHG in the front left from spreading everywhere, unless thats what you want over there. Nice setup and cleanliness of the look you pulled off.
Thank you! I really am letting this scape come together naturally. I have a basic idea of how and where I want (wanted?) things but, no matter how much I plan, it is a very dynamic process. It's a small tank and the substrate/hardscape is constantly getting shuffled around slightly as I trim and clean. It has resulted in rocks ending up outside of their planned areas, usually with positive and natural looking results. Same goes for the plants. So, long story long, I'm just going to let things grow and tell me where they want to be. It's going to be many months before I truly know what the final layout is going to be...
 
#28 ·
Planning to pickup a few otos today if there's any at the LFS. After that, I would say this tank will be 100% complete (flora and fauna wise) and all that will be left is maintenance and letting things fill in.

Let me know if you have any questions or suggestions - I value any opinions or input!

Thanks.
 
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