The Spawning Pool-- 75g shallow square

[vincenz]

Hello TPT, here’s to documenting the life of my bog+pond.








Equipment
36x36x14 rimless tank, 1/2" Starphire glass, open top

Filtration/circulation-- Fluval 406, Koralia 425, Koralia 240
Heating-- Marineland 300W
Lighting-- Natural sunlight supplemented by a Kessil spotlight

No dosing
No CO2

Hardscape
125 lbs Eco-Complete, 36 root tabs
Die kraken driftwood (courtesy T. Barr)
Locally-collected rocks

Kingdom Plantae
Aquatics- Cryptocoryne sp., Microsorum sp., Nymphaea zenkeri, Sagittaria subulata
Floaters-- Limnobium sp.
Marginals & emergents-- Saururus cernuus, Houttuynia cordata 'Chameleon', Pontederia cordata, Colocasia esculent 'Black Magic', Ruellia brittoniana, Canna 'Pink Sunburst', Echinodorus cordifolius, E. palaefolius

Kingdom Animalia
Vertebrates-- Ctenopoma acutirostre, Melanotaenia boesemani, Poecilia wingei, Otocinclus sp.
Invertebrates-- Ramshorns, pond snails, trumpet snails, bladder snails, feeder shrimp





The bog+pond replaces my extremely overgrown 20g High and 5.5g shrimp tank.

The tank builder was Coast to Coast Custom Aquariums in NJ. Unbelievable customer service, a real class-act. Craftsmanship and attention to details are incredible also. The underside is lined with poplar and all edges are beveled and machine-polished. Fit and finish are superb. I planned on buying that "one tank" and this is it.





The stand I constructed is made of 2x4s with panels stained a dark walnut. The panels are attached magnetically and the space underneath is for supplies and misc.





The tank is situated in a corner of a room directly under four windows. The room faces east so the tank itself receives direct sunlight a few hours a day in the morning only. The rest of the day, the tank receives indirect light slightly diffused by the window screens. The supplemental Kessil Amazon Sun runs two 5-hour photoperiods with a 4-hour siesta in the middle of the day.

The Fluval runs with sponges, bio-balls, and Purigen. With the large surface area and the concern about stagnant water, I went with two smaller powerheads. The Koralias along with the Fluval give me about 10x turnover per hour after accounting for some organic buildup.

There is no testing, no dosing, no CO2, and no water changes unless absolutely necessary. Just top-offs as I see fit with dechlorinated water. I lose anywhere from 1-2 gallons or more per day depending on conditions. In warmer weather, I combat the slight humidity in the room with a dehumidifier going nearby.

I wanted a low-maintenance tank that I could come home to at the end of the day and sit down and enjoy (much like the 20g I broke down). My submerged plant selection reflects that goal so there will be no monkeying at all on the bottom and in the water column. I went with all heavy root feeders and a couple variety of java fern (regular and Philippine). The half dozen crypt species, dwarf sag, and single red tiger lotus all get their nutrients from the root tabs, which I will replace every 2-3 months, more or less, so I expect the Eco-Complete to get better with time.

I went mainly with hardy bog and pond plants for the riparium section, all transplants (harhar) from the previous tank. The lizard's tail and chameleon plant are slowly taking over. The cordifolius sword is shooting new leaves out the water every few days.





In the pond, the Leopard bush fish hunts shrimp, unwary Endler fry/juvies, and innocent skinny-dippers. Once it gets large enough to swallow otos (which won’t be for a couple years at least), I will replace them with bristlenose plecos. Even with the predator, the livebearers population should be sustainable for the foreseeable future. There is approximately a 1:5 adult male to adult female ratio with roughly half a dozen males, and with a gestation time of just 23 days, the spawning pool sees some action. The males are constantly chasing the females in the harem. Right now, there are roughly 75 fry of all sizes out and about. And finally, the rainbows and otos swim freely and mind their business.




The juvenile delinquents




The settlers






The stranger next door...




The creepy crawlers rule their underworld








That's it for now. Thanks for reading, any questions at all, just ask!

[Noahma]

GREAT tank, do you only have the Bosmani's in the tank?

[vincenz]

Hey thanks, nope, everyone's in there. Boesemanis, otos, Endlers, the bush fish, inverts, etc.

[Noahma]

Originally Posted by vincenz

Hey thanks, nope, everyone's in there. Boesemanis, otos, Endlers, the bush fish, inverts, etc.

I should have added in terms of Rainbows lol. I really like the dimensions of the tank, is the tank up against the wall? or is it "walk around"?

[AW0L]

Awsome wish my wife would let ne dedicate some house space for somthing this awsome

[albirdy]

wow, very unique dimensions. you did a great job with it!

[VeeSe]

Awesome tank dude!

[Shimagoma]

Oh gosh its so beautiful! Tanks like that make me want to build a nature room in my home! Curse you carpet! im tired of cleaning snake bedding out of carpet who knows what water could do to it:P

beautiful job!

[ChadRamsey]

great job. i love the footprint of that tank. Went done

[2in10]

Awesome looking tank

[vincenz]

Thanks a lot all

Originally Posted by Noahma

I should have added in terms of Rainbows lol. I really like the dimensions of the tank, is the tank up against the wall? or is it "walk around"?

Oh yeh, those are the only types of rainbows in there.

Nope, the tank isn't against the walls. There's a little less than a foot of clearing on both sides. I was questioning whether to push it against the wall to start with, but I'm glad I didn't. It's convenient to be able to walk around it to troubleshoot

[crazydaz]

Looks really nice, vincenz!......and, "familiar." Why did you take away a viewable side, bro?? I mean, I understand that you are relying on the sun for lighting.....but it kinda stinks that you had to take away one of the positive aspects of having a tank like this.

I'm a little surprised that you lose so much water per day, too!! How frequently do you have to top off?

Great natural looking set up, regardless! You're going to have to watch that lotus and be careful that it doesn't shade out the plants in the immediate vicinity too much! Which can be a shame....they send up the nicest flowers, but you have to let them keep their floating leaves. Thought of adding anything else that will produce flowers above water?

[vincenz]

Originally Posted by crazydaz

Looks really nice, vincenz!......and, "familiar." Why did you take away a viewable side, bro?? I mean, I understand that you are relying on the sun for lighting.....but it kinda stinks that you had to take away one of the positive aspects of having a tank like this.

I'm a little surprised that you lose so much water per day, too!! How frequently do you have to top off?

Great natural looking set up, regardless! You're going to have to watch that lotus and be careful that it doesn't shade out the plants in the immediate vicinity too much! Which can be a shame....they send up the nicest flowers, but you have to let them keep their floating leaves. Thought of adding anything else that will produce flowers above water?

Heya crazy, thanks. Oh yeh a square tank has always been a bit of a dream for me and seeing your 48x48 and some others pushed me over the edge. Plus I was going to renovate the floors, so I got that done around the same time.

I have to ask how you managed to move that monster though. I had enough trouble getting this thing up a flight of stairs and through doors. 150 lbs isn't so heavy with 2 people, but the bulk multiplies the difficulty by a lot! I can only imagine how it was like for a 4'x4'.

Trust me, if I had it my way, I would make it viewable from 4 sides, but it's mainly a space thing plus it was just convenient that the width of the 4 windows lined up perfectly, so it's not so bad.

I top off every couple days or so, but it really depends on my mood, hah.

Yeh I hear you about the lotus. When I first got it, it was actually really bushy, but after a while it started shooting up. Going to have to trim. A lot of the pond plants I have are supposed to flower during summer, so I will look out for that. The sword should flower, the canna, and the pickerel rush too, but we'll see.

[Algae Beater]

wonderful display!!

[crazydaz]

Yeah, I hear ya.....making any tank viewable from four sides without being a plumbing and electrical guru is next to impossible. You can do three easily. But, the situation in your case is different, and it looks great where it is!

I was able to heft it up a two flights of stairs with two other guys. Believe me, it wasn't easy. Luckily, we were all pretty dumb and big, and we managed OK.

I would love to see this thing when things start blooming, bro! It'll look way sweet! Keep on posting!