12x8x8

  • We are currently upgrading MFK. thanks! -neo
I definitely appreciate you letting all of us piggyback on your thread. I will post some pics here once I start setting my tank up just because we have such a good discussion going.

Scratch everything I said before, Lepisosteus Lepisosteus hooked me up with a 16x9x9 rimless tank. Pretty much perfect size that I was looking for. I was also getting worried about access to the inside of the tank with the Fluval, even though its a nice looking setup.

So once I get in my new house (1 month!) I'll setup my tank.

I'm thinking:

- 16x9x9 tank
- black background
- black carib sea super naturals sand. Is this okay for plants and shrimp?
- not sure about deco yet
- looking at this for a heater
http://www.bigalspets.com/ca/fish/t...m-heaters-for-micro-tanks-mini-aquariums.html
I think I can hide it in the sand??

- not sure what HOB to use. Think an aquaclear 20 will be too big/powerful?
Also could get this, but would prefer not to if I dont need to, its about an hour and a half drive for me.
http://angelfins.ca/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=28309_28222&products_id=1727

- lighting https://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/B0...e-9992-44c1-9ee0-eb9792e71b5e&pf_rd_i=desktop

Let me know what you think!

given the tank volume at 20(ish) litres, i'd go for a filter rated 250lph, giving you 10x turnover like this:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/3-5W-250L...848710?hash=item3f59484746:g:SgAAAOSwMmBVu0os

for the lights you linked, it really depends on the plants you want to grow. There are so many factors including light height from substrate, the plants themselves, light duration etc. I'd be tempted to try it with two of them, and see how you get on; it's consistently been proven though that many plants can still grow in comparatively low lighting, so i'd always under light than over light if that makes sense.

for the black substrate and background, this will be good for showing off shrimp colours and plant colour, the only downside is that it can often look unnatural, compared to say brown substrates and black backgrounds, or blue backgrounds.

Also that's good dimensions for a scaping tank, depth front to back is quite often the most important factor in creating scale :)
 
Honestly? On a small tank like 10gallon, I'd get down to ikea and pick up some small led lamps for super cheap, and run that at the start to get an idea of what I need. If cost isnt a worry, I'd have a look at some aquarium lights on eBay, the clip on ones :)

Here's the ones I use for the mini tanks, I'd even do two of these if needed:

http://m.ebay.co.uk/itm/2016-New-Fl...ht-Lamp-Sump-3-Modes-/391476842986?nav=SEARCH

The problem I find with the planted light bars, are that they are very powerful, and often necessitate upping the co2, otherwise the algae goes rampant, also the closer to the substrate they are, the PAR rises significantly. If you make the jump to injected co2 down the line, they then become a very good option imo
 
convict360 convict360
Would 4 of those lights you linked be enough for a 24 x 10 x 14?

easily length wise, I'd be a bit iffy about the light reaching the bottom depth though. Lighting info isn't my strongest point, hopefully a few more experienced members can chime in; I wouldn't be 100% confident recommending them for that depth...
 
This one seems to be at a good price and it ships from New York, so it won't take as long. If you use a nobrand filter like convict, I think this is the one to get.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/US-Stock-Aq...380649?hash=item43eaa351a9:g:5roAAOSwZ8ZW2A0R

This is perfect and will ship quickly. Definitely going to order one. Thanks!

given the tank volume at 20(ish) litres, i'd go for a filter rated 250lph, giving you 10x turnover like this:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/3-5W-250L...848710?hash=item3f59484746:g:SgAAAOSwMmBVu0os

for the lights you linked, it really depends on the plants you want to grow. There are so many factors including light height from substrate, the plants themselves, light duration etc. I'd be tempted to try it with two of them, and see how you get on; it's consistently been proven though that many plants can still grow in comparatively low lighting, so i'd always under light than over light if that makes sense.

for the black substrate and background, this will be good for showing off shrimp colours and plant colour, the only downside is that it can often look unnatural, compared to say brown substrates and black backgrounds, or blue backgrounds.

Also that's good dimensions for a scaping tank, depth front to back is quite often the most important factor in creating scale :)

Yeah I know it's not the most natural look but I love how it brings out the colours of the fish and shrimp. I find it calming as well. I have some white hermit crab shells I collected at the beach could use those as deco.

Totally agree about depth being important. Do you think 9" is good?

I think I'll buy that light and see how it does with a few low light plants. I'm not overly concerned about having plants. If I can get them going I'll get shrimp. If not I should be happy with some of endlers and a hill stream loach or two :)
 
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Those filters are not shipped here :( i keep my clipon light just above the water since it does not cover much of the tank higher up
 
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