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30g low tech Journal: LLLLOOOONNNNNG overdue update, with PICS!

134K views 1K replies 77 participants last post by  Karackle 
#1 · (Edited)
Well....i planned on making this a step by step journal, but when I went to pull out my camera i found the camera case emptied which was when I remembered my friend borrowed it. So I'll have to get that tomorrow and start there. That means this is a picture-less first post...but I'll update tomorrow of course :)

This tank was previously owned by my friend's mom but she didn't want it any more, wanted to simplify her life slightly and had trouble keeping fish alive. She knows i'm very into the hobby so she asked if I wanted it. I said YES!!! So now I have me a new (to me) 30g tank. She cleaned it all out and everything for me. And she gave me her TONS of some kind of crypt (gotta look it up).

Parameters:

Equipment etc.:
30g Tank (36"L x 16"H x 12"W)
36" Strip Light
36" T8 bulb
50/50 Eco-complete + Black aquarium gravel substrate
[STRIKE]AquaClear HOB filter[/STRIKE]
Powerhead driven sponge filter

Flora:
Moslty a variety of
Cryptocoryne species
Java Fern species
Anubias
Bolbitis

Fauna:
Guppies, lots of them
4 Otos
6 Beckford's pencilfish
10 Espei rasboras
1 CPD (maybe...haven't seen him in a while)
1 ancient black neon tetra
4 amano shrimp (2 ancient ones, 2 new ones)
snails
 
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#2 ·
so (sorry still no pics) but i did do a little research and i think I have Crypt Lutea (it looks like Wendtii but the leaves are "waffly"?) if that comes in a red or have red stems. Pics later :)

And the bulb is a t12 color max 24" which i think is only 20watts? Any ideas where this puts me in terms of lighting? Loooowww right?
 
#3 ·
Hey can't wait to see this tank. Sound like you have pretty much everything worked out. :biggrin:
As for the lighting... 20W over a 30g is very low light. That's like .67W/g. I don't know what you can grow in there except java moss, java fern, and other plants of that nature. If you have Crypt Lutea then I'm pretty sure those are moderate light.
But I'm not an expert so anyone who needs to correct me feel free. :hihi:
 
#4 ·
Well, whatever the plants are that I think might be crypt lutea have been living in this tank and flourishing, but I definitely am going to need more light (despite the fact that everything grows like weeds in my 20g with a measly .75wpg :p) But I bought a glass canopy to switch out the hood for to get more ambient light in the tank, but mizu-chan i think I'm going to take a page out of your book and do some clip-on lights with CF bulbs until I can afford a bigger strip-light. The one that came with it is only 24" long and the bulb doesn't even span the whole length so the edges of the tank are definitely in shadow.....I did find some nice wood and stones in my friends yard though.

I promise updates with pictures after I eat dinner and as I go with the 'scaping :) If my friend hasn't dropped my camera back off by the time dinner is over, i'll snap the first few shots with my cell phone :p
 
#6 ·
Ok here (finally) are a couple pics before i get to work :)
(please excuse the floating and unplaced plants that i stuck in there while i was eating dinner, and the piece of airline tubing that's being used to drip acclimate my pygmy cories :p)





As you can see it needs a background (which i got today) and more hardscape are the big things. Clearly it needs more light and plants as well. Don't have the extra lights yet, but I did pick up a glass canopy to hopefully let some extra ambient light in for the time being.

Off to do some of that all now! Will post updated pics soon!
 
#8 ·
chugging along here, got some moss tied onto my driftwood and more hardscape in place so i thought i'd post a couple pictures :)



 
#9 ·
Thanks mizu-chan! I love the large rock too, not sure where my friend's mom got it from, but if I can find one similar i would love to add another
 
#12 ·
Another quick update, rearranged the plants that were already in there and planted the new ones. Just need to add the black background and put on the glass canopy and then I think i'm done for tonight. Here's what it looks like so far:





Also, I have this nice piece of slate that I was thinking I could use, but I'm not sure if it would look good anywhere, thoughts? Here's the piece:





will reply to comments when i make my last post of the evening, want to keep going here :)
 
#13 ·
ok this is all I can do for tonight, i think it's coming along ok. Definitely needs some more light and something in the left corner I think....maybe not when it grows in, but I think so.

Ok FTshots





Left (from straight ahead)


Center (from straight ahead)


Right (from straight ahead)


And from a slightly above angle (more they way you'd see it looking at the tank)

Left


Right


Enjoy! Any and all comments, suggestions etc. etc. are more than welcome.

I couldn't get a good shot of the cories (6 pygmy cories are the only inhabitants thus far) but i'll keep trying :)

Ok now I will read / re-read the comments made thus far and comment momentarily :)
 
#14 ·
mizu-chan - thanks, yeah i'm digging the substrate too! I wanted to try black this time, it's about 50/50 eco-complete and black aquarium gravel :)

SeaSerpent - I've been flipping back and forth on the moss idea on the large rock, on the one hand I think it would look lovely, on the other hand, it'd cover up the lovely caves and crevices in the rock so i haven't decided, don't have the extra moss at the moment (it went to the DW that i definitely wanted moss covered :p) so i'll think about it.

Tex Gal - The rocks are inert, the tall one lace rock, large one laying down is slate and the rest are also inert though i'm not sure what they are, no worries! :) And thanks for the compliment, definitely still needs some more plants though! :)
 
#15 ·
My cories were simply ZOOMING around the tank this morning! They must be loving all the space to swim after being cooped up in a small QT tank for weeks. But a few of them stayed still long enough for me to get a couple semi-decent shots. Not great, but what's a girl to do?





Enjoy!
 
#18 ·
Mizu-chan - yeah, i think they're flipping adorable little things. They're tiny, i'd say about 1/2 inch

SeaSerpant - Thanks! They are pygmy cories (corydoras pygmaeus) and they're TINY i love them. Yes, I was thinking about putting moss on top, i think it could look cool, moss "curtains" in front of some of the little caves could be neat too if i get the right kind of moss that would "drape" that way.
 
#19 ·
I updated the first post with all the tank parameters.

I need help with stocking options. Here's what I am thinking:

- Pygmy cories (already in there)
- Sparkling gouramies (2? 3? how do these do in groups?)
- Ember Tetras (~15?)
- Phoenix rasboras (boraras merah)
and/or
Chili rasboras (boraras brigittae)
- few otos
- 1-2 Bamboo shrimp

Thoughts on the stocking?

Will the 2 rasbora speices school together? If so I'm thinking like 7-8 of each, if not then 15 of one of them

How will the bamboo shrimp do with that stocking? I know they require a bit of special care, I researched them quite a bit before but didn't have a good place for them to hang out near a current in my 20g, but I have a nice piece of driftwood right near the filter outflow in this tank so i'm thinking it could work. Will they push my bioload over the limit though?

Any and all input, comments, suggestions, concerns, etc. will be appreciated! Thanks!!!
 
#20 ·
Any aquascaping thoughts for me? Or anything else?

I called around and one of my LFS has a couple sparkling gouramies so they're on hold for me and I'm picking them up today! :)
 
#21 ·
Well there was some miscommunication and I only got 1 Sparkling Gourami, but it sounds like they're peaceful enough that being in a heavily planted tank I should be ok adding more later. If it becomes a problem I'll put them in the 5.5g, but from what I've researched, they'll flare at each other but don't attack the way most other labyrinth fish do.

I also got me a bamboo shrimp! The guy at the store picked me out the prettiest one :) Within 5 minutes of going in the tank, he was still sitting on the underside of a branch of driftwood, but he had his fans out sifting the water for food :-D

They were hiding a little but the bamboo shrimp cooperated for a picture....at least better than the sparkler :p Enjoy!

Bamboo shrimp:




Gourami (not the greatest pictures, had to use the flash, but better than nothing :)):


 
#23 ·
Thanks! The bamboo shrimp is really fun to watch. He's much different than anyone i've had in my tanks. The gourami is definitely shy, but I think once I get some school fish they'll act like dither fish and coax him out, i hope. Once i get a couple more of them in that might help a little too. For the schooling fish I think I'm going to go with like 15 ember tetras and either 15 chili or 15 phoenix rasboras, or possibly 8 of each.
 
#25 ·
That's what I was thinking too, especially if they school together. If the chances are that they won't school together, i don't know if it'll be enough of each?
 
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