A 1" thick piece of styrofoam would be best. It helps keep the temp stable. Just be sure it fits snugly so the bottom glass is evenly supported.
Setting Up a 20 Gallon Long
- Thread starter nickag9
- Start date
Well I couldn't find any foam thicker than 1/2" (that came in sizes smaller than 4x8) at Home Depot so I bought a 2' x 4' 3/4" sheet of plywood and had them cut it to fit. It fit perfectly and the tank is now setup and runinng. I applied a Petsmart background to the outside of the tank, rinsed my "river rock" gravel and filled it with water. I purchased an AC30 and hooked it up and so far everything is running smoothly. All I need to do know is pick up some tank decor and add some fish! The problem I'm having is that I do not want to stock it with Tropical fish and that seems to be all my LFS sells other than Goldfish and Rosy Reds... Any ideas where I can get some small natives???
I'd go for foam, but i'm sure your tank has some trim attached to it along the bottom too, how much actual tank are you missing? Your substrate will be deeper than the gap you're worried about, so all that trim will really do is cover up some aquarium gravel.
As a new fish keeper its imperative that you use some horribly non-natural rock color combination for your substrate, like neon yellow and navy blue...
As a new fish keeper its imperative that you use some horribly non-natural rock color combination for your substrate, like neon yellow and navy blue...
Wow, see what happens when I write a post and then come back a few hours later and hit post?
That'll teach me to MFK from work.
Grats on your setup, Enjoy the hobby!
That'll teach me to MFK from work.
Grats on your setup, Enjoy the hobby!Haha, no big deal man. The piece of plywood I bought was super thick and made of Birch. The guy at HD told me the plywood I chose was already sanded and intended to be finished. Either way, I had him cut it to the exact size of the top of the stand. So, in essence, all I did was raise the top of the stand 3/4" which was exactly what I was looking to do. It shouldn't have put any more or less stress on the tank than the stand would normally.
Anyway, even though I'm a new fish keeper I know enough about fish from my days spent fishing that I used a natural "river rock" gravel and a realistic looking background for my tank. I'm going to try and pick up some fake plants today and search the woods behind my house for a large rock and maybe some driftwood. I'd like to try live plants but I don't know if I'm ready for that just yet.
Anyway, even though I'm a new fish keeper I know enough about fish from my days spent fishing that I used a natural "river rock" gravel and a realistic looking background for my tank. I'm going to try and pick up some fake plants today and search the woods behind my house for a large rock and maybe some driftwood. I'd like to try live plants but I don't know if I'm ready for that just yet.
Glad you got what you needed. You will probably need another AC30 (AC50 or 70 would be better), though.
Yep I'll try to get a picture up here soon. And yeah, I got the AC30 because it was on sale for $19.99 at a LFS and I'm headed back to get a second one today. I figure a 15x turn over rate should be good enough for 3 or 4 small native fish.
Sounds good so far! I suggest Java moss and Java fern as very low-maintenance, hardy plants that should do well in the tank. If you go collect your own natives, you can probably also find some native aquatic mosses. Most of those that I have tried do well.
Here are some pictures I took of my setup. I added a second AC30 and I'm currently waiting for my new piece of driftwood to soak up enough water that it will stay at the bottom but other than that I'm about done with the tank decor. All of the plants are fake except the grass looking things in the middle. They were on sale at Petsmart so I figured what the heck. Let me know what you think!
