Gardens of the River - Aquascape - 30GAL

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Hyr

Fish Fanatic
Joined
Jan 2, 2018
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Location
Boise, Idaho
Hi, I thought I might start an aquarium journal here. Yes, I know, this isn't necessarily an aquascaping forum, but, this forum has the most kind, helpful, wholehearted people, and I want to share with them something that they helped me work so hard on. This is my first aquarium over 10gal too, and my second aquarium with plants. Yes, I did go a bit over the top!
I live in Boise, Idaho, and we currently have only two LFS's; both are saltwater too! That being said, I purchased basically everything online, except the tank. I believe I got it for something like $50-60. As for being rimless, I couldn't care less for it. I'm going to be going with floating plants, so the top is already going to be kind of ugly (in my humble opinion), although I have seen people pull it off.
Here's the 30 gallon tank I bought (36inx12inx16in):
18002_400wh.jpg

Next, I decided to go with Power Sand Special S and ADA Amazonia Powder for the substrate.. Due to the size of my aquarium, I ended up needing 18L of ADA Amazonia, and the Power Sand Special S was just fine as I ended up not using it on many places in the aquarium.

I went with ADA Amazonia Powder because the small form of the substrate demonstrates scale and in turn, makes everything look a bit bigger than it already is. If I were to go back, I would most likely go with inert substrate with added nutrients, but, really, I think spending the extra money may help me get off to a good start.
This set me back about $200, as one, being in the us to get ADA products a bit pricey, and second, I ended up dumping it in the aquarium, and waking up the next morning finding out that my cat thought it was a litter box, as she had gone number one in it! (She's been banned from my room since, haha.)

For hardscape, I bought 30 pounds of Seiryu stone(received ~45lbs), and no wood. I originally wanted a iwagumi styled aquascape, but as @Byron pointed out, that limits my fish tremendously and can stress them out. Since then, I was trying to comprehend what to do. I kind of wanted to do a biotope, but, I had already bought $100 worth of rocks. I came to a compromise however; I decided I would try to loosely replicate the habitat of the fish I chose.
My apologies for not taking any pictures of the rocks, I would now, but they're currently sitting inside my tank!

For the filter, I decided to go with the Eheim Professional 4 250gph filter. It cycles the water a bit more than I need it to, but it was what was in stock. Haven't tried it out yet, so I can't say anything good or bad about it.

So, now that leads us to the fish I chose. I decided to go with:
  • 10x Dwarf Neon Rainbows (Melanotaenia praecox)
  • 15x Espei Rasboras (Trigonostigma espei)
  • 10x Shrimp (Have yet to choose which ones, leaning towards Amano or Crystal Reds)
I decided to loosely base my tank off the habitat of the Dwarf Neon Rainbows, having a swamp-like river bed with a little bit of current. I am not completely sure about getting Espei Rasboras however, as they boast an expensive price tag and are not very common. Unfortunately, as I stated earlier, I will have to order these online, as I don't have any fish stores near me (freshwater).

And that leads on to my current hardscape, simulating a river bed. I will most likely add wood, but right now I have yet to hear back from multiple places to buy wood. I have decided that manzanita wood will probably look best, but I'm up for suggestions! Ignore the poor lighting situation--I had to borrow that from my ball pythons vivarium.
0gMMs4B.jpg

I have chosen the lighting system-- although it hasn't come, and that's using Dr. Kevin Novak's "BrightStik" idea inside of a pendent light. There will be 4 bulbs overall, 2 in each Double Mini Dome by ZooMed. There is 1600lumens per bulb, and it should be easily enough to grow plants.
wHDqcgl.jpg

A few extra things: I will not be dosing co2, as @Byron pointed out (again) co2 is not natural and can harm the fish. I will only dose co2 if it's below what can grow plants, even then, moderately. I will have floating plants to help the fish not be so stressed too. That's it!

I can't figure out what plants I necessarily want yet, open for suggestions! Thanks everyone. Please don't be too critical of me, it's my first time! Thanks!
 
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Hi @Hyr

Thank you for sharing your efforts, always nice to follow and you might get some valuable input too.

I didn't see the water parameters mentioned. But the soil will decrease hardness and pH. For the tank size and softish water the T. espei (imho spectacular fish) are the better choice. Anyway, I highly recommend to go for only one fish species, it will look much better.
 
Hi @Hyr

Thank you for sharing your efforts, always nice to follow and you might get some valuable input too.

I didn't see the water parameters mentioned. But the soil will decrease hardness and pH. For the tank size and softish water the T. espei (imho spectacular fish) are the better choice. Anyway, I highly recommend to go for only one fish species, it will look much better.
Thanks for the input. I might just opt to only have rainbowfish; they're very pretty and I like them alot. I personally didn't add parameters because I was pretty set on what fish I want, but here they are:
pH: 7.3
kH: 3.1
The thing about the hardness is, it will definitly increase. I'm not sure how much, but from my research people have seen a 2dkH gain with seiryu stone in their tank. But I'm confident I'll be able to keep rainbowfish, if not, I'll add some crushed shells or something.
 
Here's my current scape, I have filled it up with water, and have been cycling it for months now. The rocks haven't changed in position much, and I have yet for the plants to come. I got the lighting situation figured out and the filter setup. I would be open to any plant suggestions; it's been a while since I first planned this and I forgot what plants I meant to use, thanks!
4O99yAp.jpg
 
I love it!
One question from someone who is a bit of a noob,
how difficult will it be to clean / vacuum the substrate when it is so fine like that? How will you keep that part looking nice?

It looks gorgeous so far! I love your choice of lighting. :)
 
I love it!
One question from someone who is a bit of a noob,
how difficult will it be to clean / vacuum the substrate when it is so fine like that? How will you keep that part looking nice?

It looks gorgeous so far! I love your choice of lighting. :)
Thank you! It's not that hard to vacuum the substrate to get rid of excess detritus, but once I plant the aquarium I shouldn't really have to worry about that much. But if you're asking if the vacuum will suck up the granules, no, it won't. :#
 
Just to clarify, did you use ada amazonia underneath the sand?

Also how did you get the lights to hook on? What kind of setup is that? Do you have a lid on the tank, or do you plan on getting a glass lid?

Sorry for all the questions! Your thread has made me fall in love with aquariums again and I am spending all my free time researching!!

Also I am loooking into using a canister filter, like the one you have, but where is your intake and outtake tubes? :fish:
Thanks for any help! Love your setup so far.
 
Just to clarify, did you use ada amazonia underneath the sand?
I actually just used ADA Amazonia "Powder" version instead of the full size granules coupled with the ADA Power Sand underneath it to add more nutrients. I'm not sure if it will work out great, but I saw a few people saying it wouldn't damage the aquarium.
Also how did you get the lights to hook on? What kind of setup is that? Do you have a lid on the tank, or do you plan on getting a glass lid?
For the lights, I hooked them on with this: https://tinyurl.com/ybybrnjn, and then used the provided spacers to put the light domes on. Inside the light domes I have these lights: https://tinyurl.com/y7wz6g22.. I do plan on getting a glass lid later, as Dwarf Neon Rainbows are known to jump.
Also I am loooking into using a canister filter, like the one you have, but where is your intake and outtake tubes?
My intake is on the right side, next to the heater, and my outtake is on the left side, being diffused through a spray bar. Here's a picture of how the lights are setup and you can also see the intake.
401SyJh.jpg
 
With only 2 LFS, and only SW, congrats on getting yourself going. Don't feel bad though, here in LA we have only 1 official ADA store, which happens to be the LFS nearest me.
 

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