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20 gallon long journal//new pics added 3/3

111K views 655 replies 128 participants last post by  erimar 
#1 · (Edited)

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DECEMBER 19, 2008


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So a friend of mine sends me this link yesterday showing me a 20 gallon long for only $10 on CraigsList. So of course I can't pass up the great deal and call the guy.
It's in great condition, but now that I have it I have no idea what to do first.

As I only have about 25 dollars left in my name :eek5: I kinda want to do something nice but extreamly cheap :frown: (having no job, and having to pay for gas money is quite the experience)

I know that later on I will need to probably upgrade what I get right now; but was wondering if anyone had any suggestions?

I could probably take some plants from my 10 gallon, but even that is slim pickin's.

Also substrate is a question. I know that Flourite is cheap-ish, but my LFS doesn't order it. I could go with the kitty litter way, but not sure yet.

Anyone got advice? >.<
Thank you.
 
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#2 ·
i think you should transfer everything from your 10 gallon into your 20. for substrate you could do some Schultz aquatic soil from homedepot as a bottom layer and your gravel up top. i did this in my 20 when i upgraded from a 10 and i couldnt be happier :)

also i have some plants i could send your way. moneywort, some leftover anubias rhizomes, hornwort
 
#14 ·
Day 1

So went out today and got some Schultz Aquatic Soil from Lowe's. I bought 2 bags, but found
that just one bag of 10lbs work just fine. Still going to have to go and buy something to cap it
with since it is very lightweight (hard keeping it all in the bucket while I was washing it ).



got for $6.78 a bag :)



I actually don't mind the color.



washed it a couple of times..



she so much wanted to jump into it thinking it was kitty litter :icon_neut
after awhile she decided that watching was just as fun.



It gave me a good 1.5"-2". Probably going to either but some black gravel, or use some old really
natural looking gravel I got while I was in Ohio awhile back. Depends on how much money I have left.

Expenses so far:
- 2 bags Schultz Aquatic Soil (-$15.04)
- 20 gallon long (-$10.00)

Already went over my $25.00, I was practically attacking my couch for quarters and other loose change. :icon_roll

:icon_eek: I still need to get:
- filter
- lighting
- heater

Hoping I can just ask around and see if anyone has any older equipment that they're willing to give me. :flick:

As for plants and such it will have to wait until everything else is set up (
chris127 and Raven1 don't worry I
am still going to take you up on your plant offers once I get the money. Trying to sell a couple of
paintings this week).
Since it IS low-tech I'm probably not going put any CO2 in it. I would if I was able. lol.

Well that's all for now.
Comments very much appreciated :)


 
#17 ·
Since you're going with a low tech setup, IMO you can't get much more bang for your buck with a filter than with an HOB. I personally really like AquaClears, but Penguin/Emperors are also pretty good (I own some of both). You can find them used in the S&S pretty frequently. (Keep an eye on the "trading forward" thread- I've seen several go through there. Also a good place to look out for a heater.)

Lighting is probably going to be your biggest expense, though- no way around that. BigAls has great prices on these fixtures though http://www.bigalsonline.com/BigAlsU...5/cl0/coralifefwt5aqualightdoublestriplight30
 
#21 ·
update

Part 1

So I finally cleared a space for my 20 gallon tall to make room for my 20 gallon long.



So I went and set up the stand so I could go ahead and make the transfer. The tank was extreamly heavy.
:eek: Me and my friend had quite the time moving it. I emptied out as much water as I could without
stressing out my Rasboras. But there was still 20 of Caribbean sand...



Me moved it with a little struggle as you can tell from my friends face. hah. :hihi:



I actually changed everything out of my 20 tall before I did anything else. Not scaped or anything.



So got the 20 long on the other stand, and filled it up. I tried to top it with Eco Complete before filling,
which made the layers mix... oh well. I learned my lesson :icon_roll Also it's really cloudy.



And yes I was able to get some Eco Complete with no cost to me. Like I said, low budget here, so
while I was browsing my LFS I asked the owner if the price on it would ever go down, and jokingly I told
him he should just let me take it for free. He laughed and paused for a moment and told me to wait
where I was. He goes into the back and brings back a bag of Eco! He said that I couldn't have it because that
morning one of his workers had dropped it and punctured a hole in the side, and that he would no longer
be able to sell it. So yes with luck I go a FREE bag of Eco. Very very happy indeed :biggrin:



Also the friend that helped me gave me this filter to borrow while I earned some money up. Not the best
thing in the world, but it works :)

So far so good! Still haven't spent anymore money :thumbsup:


Part 2

Woke up in the morning and my water had cleared up a lot. Decided that it was time to take action on
finding some sort of lighting. Tried looking up a lot of DIY, but got nothing (well -- that I could do ).

I ended up getting a loan from my parents. $30.00 to spend on lighting. Not much eh? But I really don't want
to get into debt with them. Turn evil when you owe them money :angryfire

First stop was Home Depot. Got nothing. Next was Lowes.
I actually thought I got
some really good stuff for my money.

- wood scrapes (free)
- 2 clip on lamps (-$18.89)
- 2 65W plant growth bulbs (-$9.67)

Total used -$28.56

I made the wood scraps into a base for the lamps to clip onto, then painted it black. I actually thought it came out pretty well :icon_lol:











This is also not scaped yet, but I still like it a lot better with the lighting. I'm sure this isn't as efficient as the
expensive lights, but I work with what I got :)


Comments/Criticism appreciated.
 
#29 ·
lighting

You sure are thrifty.

You might want to switch to spiral bulbs that are labeled daylight. They have a ballast like flouresant lights do, thus they put off less heat and use less electricity. Check Wal-mart out for these. Cheaper in a package of three than 1.
 
#35 · (Edited)
I got all of my plants in this week :)
Went kind of crazy in the S&S and went all out like i promised. I ordered some dwarf riccia, dwarf hair grass, floaters, and an assortment of others like a sword and some other plant I don't know the name of.



Two nice full baggies from fishman9809 :)
Thanks buddy! And I KNOW! I haven't taken pictures of them planted yet. I tried but they were so ugly and blurry. I WILL THOUGH. Promise :) :) :)





They are so nice and healthy! Beautiful plants. :thumbsup:

And here is the dwarf hair grass I got from eyebeatbadgers. Great stuff and a huge patch for little cost. Highly recommend buying from him! :)



Love it! But the mail box was totally beat up. I was so surprise. I guess our mailing service is going down the toilet.






I tried planting them with about 10 needles per bunch. Hope it grows out nicely. :)

I haven't taken pictures of the dwarf riccia yet, but it was really good quality. Got it from icex.




This is from erthlng. Unfortunately got a little cooked int he mail, but I'm hoping it will recover.

I'll try and take some full tank photo tomorrow. Been kinda busy and not feeling too well.

Thanks. Comment welcome. :)
Hope everyone is having a good week, day, year, life.
 
#40 ·

Is this straight Shultz or Eco and Shultz mixed? I'm thinking about using a 50/50 or 75/25 mix of Eco and Shultz and was wondering how they looked mixed.

I really like what you're doing with the tank, great lighting. Thanks for the thread.
 
#42 ·
:) Wow, mixture looks great, exactly what i'm looking for. I like how black makes the fish stand out but browns look a bit more natural. This mix is perfect and looks great in your tank. I didn't realize until the other day that Shultz and Profile were the same thing.

It will be a while before I my 30 set up, have all the stuff just have a problem with the room the tank's going in.
 
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