HisXlency's 20L Adventure

[hisxlency]

I am so not creative to figure out a cool name for my thread.

I am putting together a 20L and this will be my first fully planted tank. I have kept fish in clown puke for decades and dabbled with Swords and Anachris but this is going to be done better hopefully.

So far I have pieced the following.

Tank:
- 20L
- custom built stand, nothing fancy. 2x4's with a ply shell

Substrate:
- Eco Complete. Found 2 bags on clearance at Petco for $9 each

Filter:
- eHeim 2215

Lighting:
- Finnex Ray II 30"

CO2:
- custom built Victor with 10lb tank
- Up! Aqua inline diffuser

Flora:
Rotala Macandra Red 'Japan'
Rotala Singapore
Rotala Macandra Green
Didiplis Diandra
Alternanthera Reineckii
Hydrocotyle Japan
Echinodorus Tenellus 'Red'
Ludwigia Red sp
riccia - 5"x5" portions
true dwarf sag

Fauna:
- Not sure yet. CPD's? Neon Tetras? Shrimp?

[johnson18]

Looks like you've got a good start/plan! Have you considered taking off the plastic rim?

[hisxlency]

Originally Posted by johnson18

Looks like you've got a good start/plan! Have you considered taking off the plastic rim?

On the top I have, something to consider as I look for my heat gun this weekend.

[johnson18]

I would only do the top! I don't understand why some folks wanna do the bottom, once you add a dark substrate it become less noticeable anyways! I recently took the top rim off of a 10 gallon, I was quite surprised at how simple it was!

[AguaTropical]

Originally Posted by johnson18

Looks like you've got a good start/plan! Have you considered taking off the plastic rim?

+1 to this! A 20L rimless makes for a beautiful tank!

[hisxlency]

Going to attempt removal of top rim this week. I also got confirmation my Hydor inline heater, inline co2 diffuser and bubble counter are all en route!

Tom Barr also is sending my driftwood as well. I VERY EXCITE!

[GMYukonon24s]

Good luck with derimming never tried it but I've heard alot of success stories.

[hisxlency]

After some thought, my kid can reach the rim so at this point I might not pull it off. Dont want to risk him getting stitches.

Today I got my Hydor heater, bubble counter. I am all set to go now. All I need is some co2 tubing which I will grab at the LFS in the AM> Might have a running tank this weekend. Plants get ordered now

[hisxlency]

Got my setup started, have a few things to tweak and waiting for the wood to sink even though i soaked them in a bucket for 2 weeks.

Plants to be picked up this weekend if time allows.

[hisxlency]

Got some basic plants in and my co2 is running but I can't tell my bubble count. What's the best way to resolve this. My tank is currently cycling so now fauna yet as I don't want to gas them

Water sprite, star grass, forgot the mid ground plant and the red one is Alternanthera reineckii Cardinalis

[hisxlency]

Tank parameters look good. Added more plants and I think my inline diffuser didn't work for a day? In 24 hours I now have a hair algae problem.

In terms of my scape, I have some things to fix but I wanted to get it planted and cycled before I worked out all the issues with the layout. I am not satisfied with my driftwood so until I find a better piece this is it

I swapped back to the in tank diffuser and will dose a bit more.

Today I added some brave Ghost shrimps since Pet Smart had them $0.30 each. I have 10 with 2 berried running around having fun in the tank.

Once the algae issue is fixed ill add some fish friends this weekend

Algae!



FTS

[hisxlency]

Plants are growing in nice now