New tank! This will be replacing my saltwater tank that I didn't enjoy as much as I had hoped. I guess I'm just a freshwater girl
Here's the plan
Tank
Mr. Aqua 12 long
35.4"x8.3"x9.4"
Lighting
Coralife T5NO fixture--42 watts
CO2
Pressurized CO2 with Hagen mini Elite as a diffuser
Fertilizer
EI dosing
Substrate
sand
Flora
???
Fauna
Apistograma trifasciata trio
???
I just decided on an eheim 2213 for the filter. I'm going to put the intake on one side of the tank and the spraybar (cut to fit) on the other side of the tank. I hope there won't be a lack of flow.
The tank will be arriving Tuesday, so I'll start taking pictures then. Stay tuned for that :icon_mrgr
My two important decisions to make are about a dither fish for the tank and the 'scape! For dither fish, i was thinking of dwarf cories and maybe some boraras. I know this is only 12 gallons though and I'm afraid that I'm maxed out stockwise with just the apistos.
For the 'scape...I just don't know what to do with this super long tank! It's an awesome tank, but I have no idea what I'm going to do with it. I'm considering UG as a carpet. I definitely need to create hiding places for the apistos though, so I don't want to do an Iwagumi-style tank.
All-purpose sand. I use that same substrate in all my tanks :icon_mrgr Can't beat $2.50 for a 50 pound bag! I can't justify paying a fortune for those 'better' substrates when my plants grow beautifully already.
For a smaller tank, I think smaller grained substrates are best, because large grain substrates make the tank look as small as it really is :icon_neut
I'm pretty excited about the filter. Is it normal to be excited about a filter? I can't wait to start this project--It'll help me survive my final exams :icon_mrgr
Definitely go with a small school of dwarf cories! I wouldn't worry about slightly overstocking. They're tiny and their bioload is pretty minimal. Between the plants, the 2213, and regular WC's it shouldn't be a problem.
As for the scaping, maybe you could go with long, branchy manzanita driftwoods with java fern and moss tied onto it?
I do have a pretty sweet piece of manzanita that I was considering for this tank :bounce: If I have time, I'll take a picture of it later today.
I loooove dwarf cories. I have 10 of them in my 25 gallon, and they're really cute. I'll definitely think of getting more for this tank. in any case, I don't really know what else I'd keep in this tank other than the boraras
Your cory is adorable! I love how they rest on leaves and how they look like bumblebees zooming around the tank.
Hehe.... I breed CPDs :icon_mrgr I have them in my 25 gallon 'Fugue', so i was thinking of having something different in here. I do agree that CPDs are really great though!
Here are the two pieces of manzanita that I'm considering:
The only issue is that i always think that the wood looks so awesome, but I'm also always disappointed at my wood 'scapes. They're never what I hoped they would be :icon_frow
Tank arrived today!! Except...it's chipped. I should have a new one by next Monday. In the meantime, I took some pictures of wood in the tank so I can figure out what kind of 'scape I'm going to have for this tank. I'm not 100% sure that it will have any wood, but we'll see. Maybe you can help me decide?
I'd love to hear opinions about the wood! Again, I feel like I can never make wood 'scapes look good. Your ideas will surely help!
Yep. 16:9 is alot better then 4:3! Tho I must admit my 2007 laptop[Acer Aspire 5610z] was utter awesomeness even though it wasn't widescreen. My 2009 lappy[Dell Vostro A860n] sucked even though it was "better". Waiting for my brand new 2010 laptop...
Back on topic:
Amazonfish, that's a really cool tank! The possibilities!
I love the dimensions of your tank. Makes me want to go rimless...wait that sounded a little risqué...er you know what I mean.
I think it would look cool to use some of the thin and thicker driftwood layered on top of each other with the thicker branches stretching along the back and the thinner in the front. Regardless of positioning this is going to be a neat tank
Might the 42 watt light be too strong in a tank this small/shallow? I just ordered the same tank myself, and I've been trying to figure out what kind of light I can use.
I have this tank and ordered the same light as this for myself. I think a hagen glo single lamp 36" would be better but i couldnt find one for the right price. Its so shallow that i think you could prob get by with 21 watts and still get some decent growth.
The light issues for this tank are probably the only draw back to getting it.
I'm also worried about the light being too much, but I'm definitely going to have DIY CO2 on this. If I can find a way to get tubing all the way to this tank, I'll maybe eventually have pressurized. First I want to see if DIY does the trick. Can't wait to get the replacement tank!!
It's pretty cool that we're all working on this tank :icon_mrgr It's has such interesting dimensions. Once we all have our tanks running, maybe we should start a "Mr. Aqua 12 gallon long" thread.
The replacement tank arrived today!! It's in perfect condition. I've filled it up halfway. I want to check for leaks in the bottom half before I fill it up all the way. The sand is washed and ready to go in. I'm still not sure which piece of wood I'll use, but I bought some trident fern to use in here. The trident fern looked great when it arrived, but i left it in the bag for an extra 24 hours (I didn't have a tank to put it in!!). Now it's all brown :help: I hope that the rhizomes make it though. Stupid me.
I filled the tank and hooked up the new filter and....WHOA that's a lot of flow. i don't know if my apistos will like this :icon_cry: It's like a whirlpool in there! I'm not sure what to do about this...
On another note, I've been thinking a lot about the 'scape. I don't think I will be able to creatively incorporate any of the manzanita. I don't know what it is about manzanita, but I can't use it right! I have a nice piece of driftwood that I'll be attaching trident fern to, and that will go on one far side of the tank. I'll have something in front of the driftwood--some sort of low midground plant or high foreground plant. Maybe if I create a slope, I can put Staurogyne 'porto velho' or 049 there. I don't know where to go from there. I'm stuck!
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