Cgy_Betta_Guy Posted August 29, 2010 Report Share Posted August 29, 2010 So I figured it was time to start a journal of my tanks with the intent of maybe helping a first timer get an idea of the process of setting a tank up. I had intended to do it when I first started and took all the pictures but never got around to it due to needing to learn so much about fishkeeping. So a bit about why I got into the hobby. When I am not out playing hockey or golf, I used to come home from work and always sit in front of the computer or the TV and be completely bored out of my tree. One day I was cleaning out the garage and uncovered my brother's old 15 gallon that he had put into storage. "Hey I remember this thing!" I used to like watchin the fish when my brother and sister would be in there cleaning it or whatever. So I gave it some thought and decided that my brothers kids would like to have those same memories of watching the fishes. So off I went to start researching what I needed to know about fishkeeping and subsequently finding this site and the passionate community on here. I might also add that because I started looking my brother has also gotten back into the hobby. Not being absolutely positive I wanted to start that 15G tank up again before I knew what I was getting into and whether or not I was going to be a fish killer, I decided to pick up a small 1 gallon tank and a betta. I had done a little bit of research and thought if he survives then I might move onto a bigger tank. Well that was a mistake... that little betta I named Finnigan got me hooked on the hobby and few weeks later I went out and bought a 31G kit which brings me to this journal. 20090331 The Hagen Waterhome 31G Kit. Comes with everything seen here. I had attached my background ahead of time cut to size and scotch taped to the back of the tank along the entire perimeter. 20090403 Driftwood - had looked for unique and interesting pieces that would be small enough and versatile enough that I could reposition them to change the look of the tank if I ever wanted to. Also wanted to have space underneath so the fish had floor space to swim under and around the wood and places to hide. These 3 were the first chunks of wood I found. Here I decided where to position them in the tank to allow for plants to be placed in between. top down view of the pieces... seemed to allow for placement of plants in and around it on all sides while leaving a nice half circle area near the center of the tank for midground plants Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cgy_Betta_Guy Posted August 29, 2010 Author Report Share Posted August 29, 2010 20090409 Stand with foil - Finally decided where my tank was going to finally be setup. The basement gets kinda cool at times so I figured that heat loss might become an issue. I decided to attach foil under the tank so that heat would be 'reflected' back to the water. Not sure if it really does much but I figured it couldnt hurt. Temporarily tacked it with some tape here. Stand with foil and thin layer of foam - Since I was doing the foil I got the idea of also adding in a thin layer of foam to help insulate. The foam is from the packaging of an Ikea table that I bought. Its like the foam bagging that you would find wrapped around new electronics but seemed a bit thicker. Here I have cut it to size of the stand and lined it up to the foil. Probably doesnt do much since it gets so compressed but does act as a kind of anti vibration mat for the tank and inhabitants. It glows!! Foil and foam finally applied and lined up to the stand. Time to put the tank on it. Hydor Substrate heating cable - With the tank on the stand finally, I was able to start laying out the substrate heating cable. Unfortunately the cable wasnt able to completely cover the floor space of the tank so I had to come up with a layout that would work. This also gave me an idea about testing if the cable makes much of a difference for plant growth. Here is the right side of the tank. Should also mention that aluminum foil was applied to the back of the tank on top of the background in the hopes that it would add some more insulation. since the cable wasnt long enough I had to leave a bit of the tank floor bare. At least it gave me opportunity to place my Hydor Ario Aeration unit without problems. Also the bare square of the tank would be part of the plant growth experiment to see if the cable actually makes much of a difference. Note to self: when placing electrical wire in the tank, make sure to put the white writing towards the glass so its not visible from the front! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cgy_Betta_Guy Posted August 29, 2010 Author Report Share Posted August 29, 2010 The thermistor for the heating cable for monitoring temperature. Also organizing the cabling so its a bit neater going up and out the tank. Not the greatest suction cups but trying to run the cables nice and vertical to where they exit the tank. Tried to place them so that the heater and filtration would hide the cables behind them making the back of the tank look less cluttered and messy. With the cable in place I can now start filling the tank up! Starting to put the Fluorite black substrate in over top of the heating cable. Trying to eliminate any voids under the cable itself. I think I had bought 4 or 6 bags for this size tank to get a depth of about 3-4 inches and it definitely wasnt cheap but knew I was going to be doing a planted tank. Notice that the substrate at the 2 back corners were a bit deeper... this was part of my little heating cable planting experiment. Little did I know that the substrate eventually flattens out. Oh well. Live and learn. addition of my thermometer and a bit more rearranging of the gravel around the Ario aerator to keep it clear of any problem gravel going into the unit. Thought a picture of grain size of the Fluorite Black would be handy to have. Strangely at this point I dont have any photos of setting up the heaters and filter intake and outflow. It was probably getting late and I was getting lazy. The heater, filter and plants had been in my brothers 15 gallon tank that I had pulled out to do a cycle on the filter a few weeks prior. I figured it was best to start the cycling process while I was out shopping for plants and other bits and peices that I would need. I put the plants with the pots attached into the cycling tank probably 2 weeks into the cycle. Also gave an opportunity to QT the plants. I ended up fishing lots of pond snails out of that tank. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cgy_Betta_Guy Posted August 29, 2010 Author Report Share Posted August 29, 2010 (edited) 20090411 Filled up and planted. The potted plant (microsorum pserotus narrow) ended up going back the the store because I felt I had too much planted and didnt have space to tie this down on the driftwood. Being a newb I still didnt know what plants were what so I left the tags in for a couple days. I spent way too much on plants buying them from the stores. Had I known more about the amount of plants the local community sells and trades it would have been much more affordable. Again... live and learn. I had also found that rock (zebra rock?) in my travels between fish shops and couldnt resist buying it despite it eating up a sizeable chunk of real estate. Plants added: Anubias barteri var barteri Anubias barteri var nana Microsorum pteropus Microsorum pteropus 'windelov' Bacopa caroliniana Echinodorus bleheri(bleherae) Cryptocoryne wendtii 'Mi Oya' Hydrocotyle verticillata (shield or whorled pennywort) Cryptocoryne undulata 'broad leaves' Cryptocoryne wendtii 'Tropica' hygrophila polysperma Hygrophila difformis (water wisteria) Pagoda by the mountain. Final configuration of the tank with the signs removed and stuff tied down. 20090415 Tank still cycling and bored so I took a few pics of the aerator in action... stuck the plant tags onto the outside of the tank since I still couldnt remember the names that well. Unfortunately the LEDs in the Ario ended up dying about 6 months in. The pump still works even though I stopped using it daily so its in there if I wanna get the water moving around. Edited August 29, 2010 by Cgy_Betta_Guy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cgy_Betta_Guy Posted August 29, 2010 Author Report Share Posted August 29, 2010 20090427 Got some fish in it! Tank had shown signs of the cycle completing the night before so I went and got fish and dropped Finnigan in to his new home! 20090428 I had ended up buying another Hydor spotlight to place in the upper right to shine down onto the foreground of my tank. However I definitely dont recommend the product as it failed after a few months. Too bad since it gave a neat effect. closer shot of the Hydor spotlight shining down onto the foreground of my tank. BUBBLES! In the spotlight 20090511 Tank shot to see growth progress. Finnigan hangin out in the spotlight. 20090725 view of the back - Got some water between the background and glass so had to take it off and dry it out cuz it was bugging me. Also decided to flip the background around and make it black. Here is a look at the root system of my biggest echinodorus bleheri while I had the background off. 20090727 a bit more growth Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cgy_Betta_Guy Posted August 29, 2010 Author Report Share Posted August 29, 2010 20090823 my female betta and Finnegan were getting frisky again after conceiving some kids back in 200906 in the 15G QT/breeding tank. After being separated for about a month (Finn was in a 1 gallon tank that I was getting tired of doing water changes on), I decided to reunite them in the main tank. This is after about a month being together. I swear Finnigan really liked that mood lighting. Finnegan catching as many eggs as he could before the rest of the tank inhabitants ate them all. 20090829 Most of my stem plants are really leggy and bare near the bottoms due to lack of nourishment and light. 20090902 a couple of 3 month old betta fry female from Finnegan and his gf that I finally got to put into the tank with them. Both parents were indifferent to the kids being there so I had no issues with keeping multiple betta in a community tank. 20100331 Officially have owned this tank for a year! What a difference! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cgy_Betta_Guy Posted August 29, 2010 Author Report Share Posted August 29, 2010 20100731 Added my DIY automotive light LED strip moonlight. Refer to my DIY LED Moonlight thread on how to make this item for your tank! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kronosdelsol Posted August 30, 2010 Report Share Posted August 30, 2010 Look great. Have you found any difficulty with rescaping the tank with the roots getting caught on the substrate heater cables? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cgy_Betta_Guy Posted August 31, 2010 Author Report Share Posted August 31, 2010 I havent actually done any rescaping on this tank since starting it so I dont know how bad the roots are intertwined with the cable. It is about due for a change though so I might find out very soon and will definitely post an update of what I find. A comment on the little experiment of the substrate heating cable under the right side of the tank. In the back 2 corners of my tank I had planted individual sword plants of similar size and root length. Because they were both planted in the back corners they should have similar amounts of light with the only real difference being the temperature of the substrate(water movement in the back right would also be slightly more due to placement of inflow and outflow). Its not really that apparent in most of my pictures but the plants in either corner stayed about the same size for roughly 9 months or so with no perceivable difference in growth. The only thing is that I have not checked out the root systems to see if there is any difference. If I ever get around to rescaping that is something I will definitely check out. To be a really good test I think moving them to the middle of the tank with no obstructions around either of them would give a better indication of whether the substrate heating cable is really worth the cost. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kronosdelsol Posted August 31, 2010 Report Share Posted August 31, 2010 Oh I think it is definetely worth the extra cost but can be a nuisance with the root structure. Maybe not enough light is hitting that corner or that plant is getting over shadowed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BettaVishVish Posted September 13, 2010 Report Share Posted September 13, 2010 Nice. I wouldn't think about the foil and foam ..that's good idea for adding the insulation. and oh your Finnegan looks pretty! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mko Posted September 29, 2010 Report Share Posted September 29, 2010 Nice tank =) good growth Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cgy_Betta_Guy Posted October 2, 2010 Author Report Share Posted October 2, 2010 Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sarah Posted October 2, 2010 Report Share Posted October 2, 2010 SUCH a beautiful tank! Love your bettas! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JLake Posted October 2, 2010 Report Share Posted October 2, 2010 Great progress in your tank. looks real nice Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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