Tharsis' 20 Gallon long

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tharsis

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Sep 28, 2010
26
0
0
Indiana
Here are some pics of my 20 long, I really like this size tank. I wanted a shallow river scape with riparium style above waterlevel plants.

Everything about this tank has been on the cheap (except for the fish). It was derimmed and the bottom panel broke in the process. So I replaced the bottom panel and resealed it. There are alot of scratches but it was free
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I am using an old HOB filter which I am hoping to replace very soon with a canister. The lights are walmart clip on desklamps with 23 Watt 6700K spiral bulbs. I built a light rig out of PVC. I have DIY CO2, but it is highly inefficient because of the HOB. The 'riparium planter' consists of a walmart showercaddy with suction cups lined with polyfil and filled with mineralized topsoil.

The tank has a trio of apisto agassizzi (male and two females). There are three caves (two of them are PVC pipes that I stuck in the substrate). The driftwood was collected from a lakeside near my place.

Plants are dwarf Sag, jungle vals, java moss, java fern, baby tears, dwarf baby tears, anubias nana petite, creeping jenny.

I am hoping to upgrade the filter to a canister and the lights to T5's soon. Until then it is a bit of a battle with the algae.

Taking pictures with the spotlights I have is bloody impossible so the quality is pretty poor.


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Here are some glam shots of one of the little ladies.

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Here is sir studly hamming it up for the camera:

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And a close up of the Cardinals:

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I took the cardinals from my 46 gallon and added them to this tank. I really like the addition, the added color is great and the tank seems so much more lively now.

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I really like this shot but all the scratches kind of depresses me. Can't complain though since the tank was free
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Here are some shots from the water change before adding the new plants:

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The moss is doing well, but the java fern that I have attached to the sticks really is not doing anything. In the first shot you can see the java fern doing ok but the stuff on the sticks just isn't growing. The arrow plant is growing like gang busters, I am scared it will get to big for my shower caddy planter.

Anyways thanks for looking!
 
nice..you inspired me with my 20 long that i have sitting around waiting to be set up...i don't know if i'll go rimless, but i will try take what i can from yours and run with it.
 
Inspiration :drool:


Did you buy your tank rimless or you took off the trimming?
 
Thanks for the compliments :)

I really like this size tanks, the length gives it a lot of options for aquascaping. The derimming was fairly easy to do with a planer to take away the plastic. The bottom one was a real pain though and I don't recommend it.
 
nice tank . . . and I agree, 20G long and 30G long are great tanks for aquascaping . . . maybe it's that long-and-low look . . . I did it with a 15G too, same effect

very nice job . . . and while the shop lights don't photograph well, they seem to be doing an excellent job on the plants :thumbsup:
 
Thanks sab_Fan, yeah the lights are surprisingly effective, I have 20 watt cfl 6500K bulbs in them so there is a lot of light. There are no real reflectors and there is a lot of light lost so it balances out to a nice amount for a lowtech set-up.

The long and low is indeed a great arrangement, that is why the 40 B is such a great footprint for a planted tank as well IMO. I think that will probably be the next tank I buy. The next time petco has the $1/gallon sale I am picking one up.
 
tharsis;4514338; said:
The long and low is indeed a great arrangement, that is why the 40 B is such a great footprint for a planted tank as well IMO. I think that will probably be the next tank I buy. The next time petco has the $1/gallon sale I am picking one up.


ditto . . . really want a planted 40B for my port cichlds . . .

might be a while, the GF already thinks I have too many tanks, not sure it's worth the grief . . . :grinno:
 
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