Probably won't be much interest here for such a small tank and dwarf cichlids, but a certain mod threatened to ban me if I didn't make a setup thread with the next tank I set up. #modabuse
Sadly, I lost my pair of dwarf acaras the last time I was out of town so I decided to get a my second 20 gallon long out of storage and switch tanks rather than break the current one down for a deep cleaning. Also, the old tank I had used spray paint on and it looked absolutely awful ... run lines, several thin spots where light off the wall came through despite three coats. So this time I bought a nice latex paint and a roller, only needed about a coat and a half with it and can't see a thing through it. Also, no run lines.
Pardon the garage mess, multifamily home:
Also painted the side facing the door as the tank is close to it, didn't want the fish spooking:
Got sand parceled out by our new LFS, love the color tone for a Westie tank ... not as white as the SA tanks, not as tan as the CA tanks. A nice medium:
I used SeaChem Stability, as I've had great luck with it in the past. A friend wanted a video of it's use, as he said to "Shake it like a blood parrot breeder" ... but I didn't feel like a minute of solid bleeped swearing would have added much to the thread, despite the use of Irish Gaelic. I'm kind of old school (and hate cannister filters) so filtration is a sponge and a Penguin 170. Driftwood is all mopani wood, plants are various anubias and the floater is cupped salvinia to keep with the Westie theme (except the floaters). Most of the plants came out of the previous tank, once I decide on permanent arrangement I'll trim the leaves and tie them down.
Added six dithers about 6 hours after the Stability, which worked last time I used the product so why not stick to what works. Already moved around one of the plants, will probably replace the driftwood on the right with a different piece and tuck it under the middle one to gain some height. I constantly tinker with scape since I'm not used to focusing on it, usually just fake caves and flowerpots are my usual route.
Sadly, I lost my pair of dwarf acaras the last time I was out of town so I decided to get a my second 20 gallon long out of storage and switch tanks rather than break the current one down for a deep cleaning. Also, the old tank I had used spray paint on and it looked absolutely awful ... run lines, several thin spots where light off the wall came through despite three coats. So this time I bought a nice latex paint and a roller, only needed about a coat and a half with it and can't see a thing through it. Also, no run lines.
Pardon the garage mess, multifamily home:
Also painted the side facing the door as the tank is close to it, didn't want the fish spooking:
Got sand parceled out by our new LFS, love the color tone for a Westie tank ... not as white as the SA tanks, not as tan as the CA tanks. A nice medium:
I used SeaChem Stability, as I've had great luck with it in the past. A friend wanted a video of it's use, as he said to "Shake it like a blood parrot breeder" ... but I didn't feel like a minute of solid bleeped swearing would have added much to the thread, despite the use of Irish Gaelic. I'm kind of old school (and hate cannister filters) so filtration is a sponge and a Penguin 170. Driftwood is all mopani wood, plants are various anubias and the floater is cupped salvinia to keep with the Westie theme (except the floaters). Most of the plants came out of the previous tank, once I decide on permanent arrangement I'll trim the leaves and tie them down.
Added six dithers about 6 hours after the Stability, which worked last time I used the product so why not stick to what works. Already moved around one of the plants, will probably replace the driftwood on the right with a different piece and tuck it under the middle one to gain some height. I constantly tinker with scape since I'm not used to focusing on it, usually just fake caves and flowerpots are my usual route.