Since I had just gotten rid of one cube, I thought it would be only right to bring balance to the universe by installing another 30C. I'm not even waiting forever to start this journal either! Well, only a week, and I don't have water in the tank...yet.
SEPTEMBER 14 2022
New tank day! Tank was packed well, arrived in one piece. Although the glass was a little bit "smudgy" even though it was wrapped in plastic...strange.
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I also got the stand for it. Basically the most affordable 12x12 stand that I could find, and there aren't a lot of options. And I didn't have much space to work with as this was going right next to my 45S .
![Image]()
The next day I was back at it working with the hardscape items I had collected. I filled the tank with a decent amount of Fluval stratum as I wanted to get a bunch of elevation in the back left corner. Here I just tossed in what I wanted to start with, a bunch of spider wood and some elephant skin stone. I originally had some different rock I was going to work with, but it ended up just being too large. But anyways, this layout did not stay around.
![Image]()
Here, I found a more minimal layout for the wood that I kind of liked and a different layout for the stones. I'm thinking about putting sand in the front and using the stones as a barrier. I also put on the lightscreen backlighting panel. More on that later.
![Image]()
I continued to mess around with the wood and change things up. At one point I think this is the direction I going to go with. I also added the Caribsea white sand to the front.
![Image]()
I ditch the wood look and end up back on my original layout for the wood. That plus the sand has everything looking clean, but maybe a little empty.
![Image]()
I get all the glassware put on. CO2 diffuser, and lily pipes for the Eheim 2213. I'm not sure about the "Poppy Glass" return since it projects so far into the tank. I may switch it out for a different piece, but am going to try this out first to see how it works.
![Image]()
I also mounted the light. I went with another AI Freshwater Prime, just like on my 90P . It seems like overkill, but I could not pass up the deal I got on it. With the gooseneck mount I've got it up pretty high so I think I'll be good.
![Image]()
I still felt like it was missing something, so I managed to cut and wedge in another small branchy piece and glue it in place. I'm happy with this layout now. I also added some scatter gravel over the sand.
![Image]()
That catches us up! Thanks for looking.
SEPTEMBER 14 2022
New tank day! Tank was packed well, arrived in one piece. Although the glass was a little bit "smudgy" even though it was wrapped in plastic...strange.
I also got the stand for it. Basically the most affordable 12x12 stand that I could find, and there aren't a lot of options. And I didn't have much space to work with as this was going right next to my 45S .
The next day I was back at it working with the hardscape items I had collected. I filled the tank with a decent amount of Fluval stratum as I wanted to get a bunch of elevation in the back left corner. Here I just tossed in what I wanted to start with, a bunch of spider wood and some elephant skin stone. I originally had some different rock I was going to work with, but it ended up just being too large. But anyways, this layout did not stay around.
Here, I found a more minimal layout for the wood that I kind of liked and a different layout for the stones. I'm thinking about putting sand in the front and using the stones as a barrier. I also put on the lightscreen backlighting panel. More on that later.
I continued to mess around with the wood and change things up. At one point I think this is the direction I going to go with. I also added the Caribsea white sand to the front.
I ditch the wood look and end up back on my original layout for the wood. That plus the sand has everything looking clean, but maybe a little empty.
I get all the glassware put on. CO2 diffuser, and lily pipes for the Eheim 2213. I'm not sure about the "Poppy Glass" return since it projects so far into the tank. I may switch it out for a different piece, but am going to try this out first to see how it works.
I also mounted the light. I went with another AI Freshwater Prime, just like on my 90P . It seems like overkill, but I could not pass up the deal I got on it. With the gooseneck mount I've got it up pretty high so I think I'll be good.
I still felt like it was missing something, so I managed to cut and wedge in another small branchy piece and glue it in place. I'm happy with this layout now. I also added some scatter gravel over the sand.
That catches us up! Thanks for looking.
