This is my FIRST EVER planted freshwater tank, so this is not only going to be a journal of my build/progress but I also need it to be part tutorial as well with lots of helpful comments from the peanut gallery. :hihi: Feel free to make suggestions along the way. I'd rather be corrected early on than end up with a complete failure later. So without further ado...
THE TANK:
My other tank is a 180g Saltwater tank with fish room, lots of tech, etc that can be seen here:
http://www.aquaticlog.com/aquariums/d2mini/1
But for this tank I decided to go ultra simple for now. So I chose an all-in-one... the Cad Lights 4g Freshwater tank. Has it's own filter system and integrated LED light system with around 150 PAR, so they say.
Looking down into the filter area.
Filter items in place. Sponge, then bio material, then return pump section (hoping to fit a heater here).
The original design of this tank was a removable filter area where everything was plastic, but as you can see it's glass baffles and it's all siliconed.
And now the fun part:
I stopped by ADG, got to meet Frank, and picked up some Amazonia soil and some rocks. This is my first attempt at planted tank aquascaping so fire away. I like odd numbers and asymmetry so that's kind of what I was going for. Even though the big rock is basically in the middle, the shape/height is weighted more to the left. I also sloped the substrate up towards the back to try and achieve some depth. The usable space in the tank is really only about 9.5" wide by 7" deep by 9.5" high so not much space to work with!
Fish:
And here is the handsome young stud who will be moving in, once he makes the long journey from Thailand. :fish1:
That's it for now. I wanted to get some feedback before filling it with water. I'm pretty happy with where it is but open to suggestions, especially if there is anything that will cause a problem down the road. The substrate is 1.5" deep in front and just about 3.5" deep at the very back. Is that ok?
For plants, I was hoping the tank is shallow enough that I could do some ground cover with riccia and dwarf baby tears. Scale is an issue in such a small tank so I'm looking for something pretty small. Then I'm gong to need some taller plants. Something floating, too.
Thanks for looking! :icon_smil
THE TANK:
My other tank is a 180g Saltwater tank with fish room, lots of tech, etc that can be seen here:
http://www.aquaticlog.com/aquariums/d2mini/1
But for this tank I decided to go ultra simple for now. So I chose an all-in-one... the Cad Lights 4g Freshwater tank. Has it's own filter system and integrated LED light system with around 150 PAR, so they say.
Looking down into the filter area.
Filter items in place. Sponge, then bio material, then return pump section (hoping to fit a heater here).
The original design of this tank was a removable filter area where everything was plastic, but as you can see it's glass baffles and it's all siliconed.
And now the fun part:
I stopped by ADG, got to meet Frank, and picked up some Amazonia soil and some rocks. This is my first attempt at planted tank aquascaping so fire away. I like odd numbers and asymmetry so that's kind of what I was going for. Even though the big rock is basically in the middle, the shape/height is weighted more to the left. I also sloped the substrate up towards the back to try and achieve some depth. The usable space in the tank is really only about 9.5" wide by 7" deep by 9.5" high so not much space to work with!
Fish:
And here is the handsome young stud who will be moving in, once he makes the long journey from Thailand. :fish1:
That's it for now. I wanted to get some feedback before filling it with water. I'm pretty happy with where it is but open to suggestions, especially if there is anything that will cause a problem down the road. The substrate is 1.5" deep in front and just about 3.5" deep at the very back. Is that ok?
For plants, I was hoping the tank is shallow enough that I could do some ground cover with riccia and dwarf baby tears. Scale is an issue in such a small tank so I'm looking for something pretty small. Then I'm gong to need some taller plants. Something floating, too.
Thanks for looking! :icon_smil