29 Gallon Low Tech & DIY Stand (56K!) Retired see pg 3 for new look

[kamikazi]

This thread is for my 29 gallon low tech tank.
Basic specs:
Standard 29 gallon tank
2 HOB Filters (Top Fin 30 and Aquaeon 30) on opposite ends of tank
1 Heater
30" T5NO Coralife Aqualife Fixture
Floramax with pea gravel on top

Hard Scape:
Collected rocks
Collected Oak branch

Fish: All SA species
1 Bolivian Ram Dead
2 Angelfish
1 Cardinal Tetra (got them when I bought a used 40 gallon)
1 Emerald Cory (got him used as well)
1 Peppered Cory (him and the Emerald are best buds)
9 Pristella Tetras (had 10 but one died)
1 Oto

Plants:
1 Amazon Sword
4 Melon Swords
1 Java Fern
1 Anubias
Crypts
2 Echinodorus angustifolius (type of chain sword)
Water Sprite
Blyxa
Alternanthera reinecki
3 cuttings of pelinium (the ivy stuff, I'm sure I get the name wrong)

The tank is viewable from both sides. I apologize for the quality of pictures, they are from my cell phone.
June 2011

Oct 2011

Jan 2012

May 2012

[kamikazi]

I got the tank used on Craigslist, cost me 40 dollars. It came with pea gravel, HOB filter, heater, and some random decor and such.

I built my own stand for the tank using 2x4s, plywood and door molding.
All the materials and stain cost me about $78.00 as I recall.
Here are a few images of the frame.


I used an old dish rag glued to the bottom of the stand to protect our hardwood floors from being scratched.

[kamikazi]

With the plywood on the sides and top I used door molding to spruce up the stand. I got the molding in packs from a Habitat For Humanity Restore for $1.00 a piece. I think I ended up with 2 or 3 packs.


I used a flat strip of molding I had laying around to hide the crack between the two doors.

[kamikazi]

Staining in process. I put 3 coats of clear coat on top of the stain, I lightly sanded the clear between each coat.


And here is the finished product. Eventually the wife (much more artistic than I) is going to paint something on the doors.


I put a shelf on the inside for storage. I used "L" brackets to hold it in place, the board was one I had laying around.

[kamikazi]

This is what the tank looks like now a year after initial setup. There have been various plants changed out over time, and hard scape changes.
About 3 months ago I got a 40 gallon and needed a place to put it. So I moved this tank over to act as a divider between the living room and sitting area. This move made the tank viewable from 2 sides so I did a major rescape to try to put taller plants in the middle and shorter plants on either side. I am always on the look out for more plants for this tank.
Left side

Right Side

[kamikazi]

Here are a few pictures of the inhabitants.

[kamikazi]

More inhabitants

Very hard to get a good picture of this guy as he is camera shy, but definitely not shy of me, anytime I come near the tank he comes up to the top to ask for food.

The Bolivian Ram is my favorite fish in this tank

[kamikazi]

That's all for now, I have been battling cyanobacteria in this tank for about a month now. I'm cutting my lighting period from 12 hours 6 morning 2 hour off 6 hours evening to 8 hours 4 on 2 off 4 on. Before I took these pictures I spent a good hour or two removing it manually with a turkey baster. If the lighting period change doesn't beat it back I'm going to consider macryn or whatever its called.

[idex]

Nice Stand.

[kamikazi]

Originally Posted by idex

Nice Stand.

thanks, really easy to build, sturdy and exercised some wood working skills.

[Wingsdlc]

Hey! The tank looks nice and so does the stand. Habitat is a great store. We swap things with them fairly often for our house projects.

The plants need to fill in a bit but they look healthy for sure. The lighting on this tank looks a lot better than the 40G. I bet the plants like that.

I will confirm the Water Sprite for you. The grass plant I think you got from me. That should be Echinodorus angustifolius.


"1 Emerald Cory (got him used as well)
1 Peppered Cory (him and the Emerald are best buds)"

Used fish? = ) I find that more than funny! If you want some more cory cats, mine keep spawning!

[kamikazi]

Originally Posted by Wingsdlc

Hey! The tank looks nice and so does the stand. Habitat is a great store. We swap things with them fairly often for our house projects.

The plants need to fill in a bit but they look healthy for sure. The lighting on this tank looks a lot better than the 40G. I bet the plants like that.

I will confirm the Water Sprite for you. The grass plant I think you got from me. That should be Echinodorus angustifolius.


"1 Emerald Cory (got him used as well)
1 Peppered Cory (him and the Emerald are best buds)"

Used fish? = ) I find that more than funny! If you want some more cory cats, mine keep spawning!

thanks man, like I said I have been battling BBA in this tank. I think I do need to add a 3rd clip on over the 40 gallon. one reason that tank looks darker is the tannins but the T5NO is definitely brighter.

Thanks for the plant names. Next time you do some plant trimming I'd like more of the echinodorus angustifolius. What type of corys do you have breeding?

[Wingsdlc]

Corydoras ehrhardti

I will let you know when I clean up my 20G long.

[luke20037]

really nice tank and stand, love the bud as you work!!
hows the bba, are you considering a black out?

[kamikazi]

Originally Posted by luke20037

really nice tank and stand, love the bud as you work!!
hows the bba, are you considering a black out?

yeh i had to throw in the beer shot

I'm not sure how the bba is atm, I'm out of town. I cut the lighting down to 8 hrs a day before I left so we shall see how it looks when I get back. I have a thread in the algae section discussing methods of bba elimination and it seems dosing the tank with macryn or something like that is the most effective, but it doesnt address the underlying problem, so I'm hoping my problem was too much light for too long. If that doesnt work I'll try something else. Nuking the tank is a last resort.