40L Project!

[Kelly-Jo]

Hi all,
 
I'm back to fishkeeping after having a two year hiatus due to our previous landlord not allowing us to have any fish. Alas, we now have a new house so the fish tanks are returning. I'm setting up my 40L and my partner will be doing his 200L shortly.

I thought I'd post some pictures along the way and keep a journal of the progress.

Today I have added the sand and water, the heater is in and the filter is going in tonight just to clear the water and get it up to temperature.

Cycling should be pretty quick as I have mature filter media to go in.

Equipment:
Tank: Generic 40L cube tank purchased second hand for £10 (bargain!)
Filter: JBL Pro Cristal i30
Heater: Trixie 50w heater
Lighting: Wave Point Micro Sun Led High output Clamp Light

Not sure about the stocking yet, open to suggestions!
 

 

[Kelly-Jo]

Also, I've just tested the tap water in our new house and it's as follows:

GH 180
KH 240
pH 7.5
Nitrite- 0
Nitrate- 20
 
Obviously the hardness of the water here has an impact on the stocking for when the tank is cycled.

 

[PondRepair]

Welcome back to fish keeping!  Great start of setting up your 40L tank. Will be waiting for your next update.

 

[Ch4rlie]

Nice little set up. I like these cube tanks actually
 
What plants, if any, will you plan to get for this little tank?
 
Noticed on the background poster it has Balansae Crypts, so you could go along with that, or could go for a similar type plant such as Narrow Leaf Java Fern
 
These will be prefectly fine in most tanks/lighting set ups anyway.
 
As for stocking, hmm, a few options, not that many granted with that moderate hard gH level. Threadfin Rainbowfish might be an option depending on what the dimensions of your tank is, or little Emerald Danios (Celestichthys erythromicron) but these prefer a higher gH level of 200+ though but a small group of Celestial Pearl Danios (Celestichthys margaritatus) would be fine in these water parameters and tank size
 
Just a couple suggestions there for you to start your research

 

[Kelly-Jo]

I think I have decided on a pair of scarlet badis (dario dario)!

 

[Ch4rlie]

Thats a nice choice actually. I have considered those before to be fair.
 
A pair would be fine or even 3 females and one male would be ok as well for your tank.
 
I have seen these only in one of my LFS from time to time, but be warned, finding females scarlets can be hard as LFS usually sells males due to their being a bit more colourful.
 
I'd love to see this tank once completed and habited with these lovely little fish. Wonder if you're planning to add some RCS and/or snails perhaps to add a little more diversity to the tank.

 

[Kelly-Jo]

Thanks for the encouragement.

I happen to live down the road from kesgrave tropicals which sells males and females 90% of the time, so sourcing them should be pretty easy.
 
Snails or shrimp are something I'd love to add at some point, but I don't have much experience with them.

I was going to get plants and wood/rock today but I had a cracking migraine and couldn't drive- so I'll update this thread soon !

 

[Kelly-Jo]

I thought I'd post a bit more of an update.

I brought some nice bogwood last week and it's been sitting in a bucket soaking. I put it in this morning and this afternoon went off to get the first few plants.

I've picked some Pogostemon helferi for the base of the wood- I really like the crinkle of the leaves. I also brought some Eleocharis parvula to carpet the whole tank, hopefully it'll do okay in a low tech setup.

The background will need some taller plants in a day or so, but any ideas about which plants would look nice for height and hiding places would be appreciated.

 

[BettaBettas]

what type of plants are those ones for the background? also good choice with Dario Dario

 

[Ch4rlie]

what type of plants are those ones for the background? also good choice with Dario Dario

 
There is no picture of any tank with plants .... though i think you're looking at the first picture, thats the background poster with a scene of stones and plants.
 
But for your info, the plants looks like Balansea Cryptocorynes or perhaps Narrow Leaf Java Ferns. And the shorter grass like plants could be Dwarf Hairgrass - Eleocharis acicularis.
 
Have to say that most hairgrasses require Co2, ferts and high light set ups as they can be a little tricky to keep healthy and growing.
But the balansea or java ferns are happy enough in a low tech, low light set up, a contrast really.

 

[Kelly-Jo]

The photo was working but then stopped working for some reason.
 
Here it is again....
 

 

[Ch4rlie]

Ah, of course, i forgot about that pic sorry!

 

[BettaBettas]

lol when that tank grows out it will look 10/10 get some shrimp in there maybe lol
also cha4lie I just looked back, that background is so realistic. see how ignorant I am now lol XD

 

[Kelly-Jo]

Thanks!

 

[BOGaming_]

Maybe add some red cherry shrimp? Amazing work on the tank! It's beautiful so far <3