Hey everyone, did y'all miss me? :wink2:

It's been (checks phone) over 6 years since I last had a tank, and I think it's time for me to return. Aquascaping is soothing to me and I have nothing better to do in quarantine (well besides taking too many classes).

So here's my setup so far:

Tank: standard 20 long
Filtration: in-tank mini sump (diagram coming up) or AIO Fiji Cube
CO2: FZONE Mini Dual gauge, Twinstar CO2 diffuser
Light: ATLEDTIS Cookie+
Substrate: Amazonia with lava rocks and Bacter 100, ADA colorado sand
Extras: Twinstar M5
Plants (Planned): Mini Bolbitis, H. Pinnatifida, Trident Java Fern, Hydrocoytle Tripartita, Weeping moss, Fissidens, Rotala (probably a green one, still undecided), maybe A. Reineckii Mini
Setup: Dual island (opposite corners) of large (maybe Malaysian) driftwood and rocks with sand in the middle

Good plan! When will you set it up?

 

Light and regulator are on the way, I'm still deciding on if I'm doing a DIY filter or a premade one... either way, it'll be a box internal filter. Might wait for a Petco $1/gallon sale to get the 20G, so I'll probably just be slowly collecting gear until then.



Here's my current filtration plan, what do yall think?

 

De-rimmed and the light came!

 

Currently I have: Tank, Light, Lava rock (for under substrate)
In the mail: FZONE Regulator, inline diffuser, Fluval 307, Seachem Matrix and Purigen, Twinstar M5, Bacter 100
Need to get: CO2 tank, CO2 tubing, Flow valves, Air pump/stone, timers, aquasoil/sand, hardscape, plants

Here's a little mockup I made:

 

Got a bunch of stuff, all that's left is getting my filter and CO2 canister in the mail and finding a stand somewhere (any suggestions on that?)

 

Got a bunch of stuff, all that's left is getting my filter and CO2 canister in the mail and finding a stand somewhere (any suggestions on that?)

Great start. Your wood looks a lot like some I ordered from eBay. If so it is incredibly buoyant. I soaked mine for two weeks and saw no difference.

It was large and I ended up using a 1" x 5" x 10" thick piece of large slate to keep it down in my tank.

I would begin soaking it now.

 

Everything is set up now Monte Carlo, DHG, and Lilaeopsis are coming in the mail, then we'll be all planted.

Original scape and planting:

After a bit of hardscape collapse:

Planting:
-Mini Bolbitis on rocks in the back
-Rotala Rotundifolia/H'Ra in the back
-Hydrocotyle Tripartita in the midde
-Hygrophila Pinnatifida on the wood
-Trident java fern in the lower front wood
-Cryptocoryne wendtii in the shadows
-Fissidens in cracks

Today with the filter up and running, still a bit cloudy!

I'll try to give a clear tank update in a bit

 

Some eye candy.

 

I've been trying to decide whether to get a 207 or 307 for my 20 long.
How do you like the flow of the 307 in your tank?

 

It's pretty high, but all of my plants seem to like it. I need it high because the wood blocks so much flow in the front right corner.

Benji,
Nice to see someone else attempting to de-rim and de-base the 20L aquariums.
I have some threads about de-rimming and drilling them that I referenced in this thread:

https://www.plantedtank.net/forums/...t/forums/20-diy/1308865-fish-tank-rack-1-iron-pipe-live-edge-wood-thoughts.html

I see you left the base on..... I was considering do that... but they came off so quickly.... I'll sit them directly on thick cork.

I just left the base on because I was lazy lol. I had no real reason to take it off and deal with the ugly silicone.


Update pictures (foreground plants came and I put on some terrestrial moss):

 

Benji,
Nice to see someone else attempting to de-rim and de-base the 20L aquariums.
I have some threads about de-rimming and drilling them that I referenced in this thread:

https://www.plantedtank.net/forums/...t/forums/20-diy/1308865-fish-tank-rack-1-iron-pipe-live-edge-wood-thoughts.html

I see you left the base on..... I was considering do that... but they came off so quickly.... I'll sit them directly on thick cork.

 

Do you run the 307 full blast, or do you turn the flow down with the aquastop valve?

 

I have it running on full blast, with the lily pipe and large pieces of wood it's necessary to get to all corners of the tank. I also have it running with the inline diffuser, which reduces flow a bit. If your tank is hardscape-heavy, I say go with the 307, if it's just planted the 207 should be fine.

I understand. It's zero fun doing the final silicone cleanup. I did 8 of these tanks, top and bottom, total... imagine??

Yeah I'm not gonna put myself through even thinking about that... kudos for actually doing it though.

 

Some cool shots

 

Quick Video

 

Quick Video

https://youtu.be/8_6MPKpFtCA

Very nice [emoji106]

 

I made one as well

Sent from my SM-G973U using Tapatalk

 

Quick Update:

 

Update: came across an old ADA 90P that's been through some hard times... I'll be fixing it up and transferring everything into there.