40 Gallon Community

[HaydensFish]

I finally have some time to work on this project now that classes are on winter break. Looking back through threads in this section, I've enjoyed reading Roy's tank journals, so I thought I'd try something similar for my new 40 breeder.

My inspiration for this tank came from this video:

and the old display at Aquarium Coop that had lots of deep bodied tetras and val (I think it was a 90 gallon?).

I got the tank at the Petco 50% off sale a couple weeks ago



I also picked up a bag of Fluval Stratum that was on sale. I've never used aquasoil before. In the past, gravel and root tabs have worked fine, but since I want to do more crypts and swords this time, I decided to try it. I plan to mix it with gravel (because I'm cheap lol).

I ordered a Hygger light on Amazon. It seems plenty bright, but the UI to configure it is a pain.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B086STZG4Z?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_fed_asin_title

Next, I needed a stand. I measured out the stand I used for my old 55 gallon at my parents' house (the stand held the 55 for about five years then sat without any load for four more), and luckily it was just deep enough at 19 inches.



However, I noticed some issues once I got it to my apartment. First, the bottom supports underneath the lowest board had bent (didn't get a picture of this since it's under the stand. Also, the particle board supports were swollen where they contacted the lower part of the stand. Both these issues made me suspect that under weight, the middle of the stand was likely to bow. The stand wasn't level, which is fixable, but still problematic.



Overall, I didn't trust the old stand, especially since it's in a living space, so I've started making plans for a new cinder block stand (prepare for very amateur drawings):



I'm following Cory's design that he used in this video:

The plan is to use two 2x10s to hold the tank supported by cinder blocks (3 high). I'm a little bit concerned that there will be about an inch of tank in the front and back that don't have cinder block directly under them (blocks are 16", but the tank is 18"), but it seemed to work for Cory. Also, I figure the wood is plenty strong since it's used in the construction of decks and buildings. If anyone has advice on this, I'd be happy to hear it!

I'd like to make it look at least a bit presentable, so I'm going to stain the wood and paint the blocks black. I'm hoping not to blow my whole fish budget for the month on the stand, but we'll see.

 

[DMD123]

Nice start! Bummer about the old stand. Should be a fun project, keep us updated.

 

[HaydensFish]

I ended up using a piece of plywood under the cinderblocks to protect my floor. The 2x10 pieces I had were very warped so weren't usable. I built the stand up in the garage as a test:


My original plan was to stain and then protect the wood with polyurethane, but I was a bit impatient and didn't want to wait so long for the poly to cure. Instead, I put a big piece of vinyl (got it from Joann's) on top of the wood to keep it dry and then covered the whole stand with a curtain:


My floors and the cinder blocks weren't perfectly level, so I used plastic shims placed under the top 2x10s to fix this. I used black vinyl as a background and applied cooking spray to adhere it.



After leveling everything, I went ahead and put the tank on. If anyone else tries this stand, be aware that even though the wood has a nominal width of 10", the actual width is 9.25". I didn't think about this, and my stand was barely wide enough. I spaced out the two pieces to give myself a bit more room in the front and back of the tank.

I test filled the tank overnight and noticed duckweed had already appeared lol


The next day, I started putting substrate in. I started with a layer of play sand and small gravel (Thank you again to @DMD123 for the gravel, sponge filters, rocks, and wood!!). Next, I started building up a rock pile with river rocks and pea gravel. I like the sand as a base layer since it gives the stones something soft to rest on. I also put some rinsed grape leaves in this layer. I got this idea from one of Bentley Pascoe's videos. The thought is that as the leaves break down, they add iron for root feeding plants. I also placed a few root tabs where I knew I'd be putting swords and crypts.



I filled in the substrate with a mix of pea and fine gravel mixed with Fluval Stratum


Today I filled and started planting the tank. Most of these plants I got from the GSAS auction have been growing in a bin since then. For my preference, the Hygger light seemed really actinic even in the 'red' setting, so I decided to add a Costco shop light. I think it looks better, but I think it might be a bit too much light. If I get too much algae, I'll add more floaters to dim things down.

 

[DMD123]

Nice progress, looks really good! Glad you could use all the stuff.

 

[HaydensFish]

Plants have been growing in! I'm especially happy with how the dwarf aquarium lily is doing. I only added it about a week ago and it has added quite a few leaves. I also added more plants and some cherry shrimp culls from my 10 g.

lily:



Today I picked up 8 rosy tetras! They were constantly displaying at the store, so I'm excited to see their behavior as they settle in.

 

[DMD123]

Looking good! Plants have filled in really nice and you almost wouldn't know the tank had just been recently set up.

 

[lloyd378]

Love the way the plants are growing in! I think the tank would look amazing with a school of cardinal tetras too.

 

[HaydensFish]

Plants are still progressing, but I suspect they lack potassium since pinholes formed on many of the older leaves (especially the java fern). Last week, I upped the fertilizer to 3 pumps of easy green every day which seems like a lot, but I am still consistently reading nitrates less than 10, so I probably just need to dose more. The pearlweed grows fast and might be sucking out most of the nutrients I put in.
I added more rosy tetras (I think they're actually bentosi tetras), bringing the school up to 20 fish. Unfortunately, soon after adding the new fish, I noticed white spots on the fins of the old and new fish. I treated with IchX and it seems to be working (cloudy water in the picture from stirring up the tank for the daily water changes + possibly a bacterial bloom). I only see a few spots left in the whole tank, so I'll end the medication in a couple of days if they keep improving.

Because of the frequent water changes, the tetras are constantly sparring and scattering eggs (they eat every single one as far as I can tell lol). It's fun to watch, but I'm noticing a lot of split fins among the males from all the activity. I'm hoping they calm down after I'm done medicating.


There were some bumps in the road over the past few weeks, but it's heading in the right direction!