29 Gallon Tank Setup Process Log

[Gannon]

Wanted to share the process of setting up this aquarium as it will probably be the last brand new aquarium setup I get to do for a long time. It is 29 gallons and has standard dimensions. Here is a photo of it with the lid and light diffuser on bottom to support the larger rocks that will be going in here.

 

The lid is Marineland brand and was a nightmare to put together. I do not recommend anyone buy it. The back plastic portion of the lid was absurdly hard to attach, I had to use various tools to soften the material and bend it to expand it enough to put it on the lid, needless to say its never coming off now. 

What was also frustrating was the window film background. It just refused to stay clinging to the back of the tank no matter what I did, how much water I used, heat, etc. I eventually caved and used some strong clear tape to hold the horizontal edges down and it seems to be working as those were the only problems places.

Here are some of the plants that I took from my previous nano tanks that will be used in this tank, plus trimmings and runners of plants from my other tanks. My favorite one here is the giant bundle of anubias nana petite that I've been growing for a number of years I can't remember. It is a bit hard to see but its floating at the top middle of that quarantine tank. All of the driftwood in here is also likely to be at least attempted to be used in this new setup if possible. 

 

Here are the dry hardscape materials I have on hand. I have a couple more pieces of driftwood in storage, but they have too many places fish can get stuck potentially and other concerns that I'd rather avoid getting a headache over. The two big seiryu stones will ideally be the center pieces. The dragonstones are scraps from those old nano tanks that will likely go in my dragon stone scapes, but I do want to try having them with seiryu stones to see if there is anyway to have them look any bit nice together. The tiny driftwood on there could be used but isn't really big enough to be that useful. I'll hold onto it and see if there is anything I can do with it. 

This piece of driftwood I grabbed impulsively while visiting some fish stores in another state. There is something about its simplicity and texture that I really like and find charming. Hoping to find a good place for this, ideally one where is weaves through stones. The piece is luckily already sinking but has just as quickly been releasing a lot of tannins. Glad I started soaking it yesterday. 

That's all I've got for now, but I have more seiryu stones, a nicrew planted plus light, and a package from aquarium coop with the remaining necessities on the way. Hopefully the rest of the work needing to be done will be completed this weekend after the packages arrive around Friday or Saturday or so.  Thanks for reading! This will be a very fun project. Still undecided what to stock it with though. Maybe dwarf petricola, maybe more cories, maybe loaches, maybe gouramis, barbs, tetras, etc. I'll find out what I want eventually!

Edited January 17, 2023 by Gannon

[JJenna]

On 1/17/2023 at 6:35 PM, Gannon said:

he lid is Marineland brand and was a nightmare to put together.

I think all tops are like that, I struggled with my Aqueon Versa-top. You can always wedge egg crate in the open spot or get the little pothos holders on etsy and have pothos growing outside your tank. 

On 1/17/2023 at 6:35 PM, Gannon said:

light diffuser on bottom to support the larger rocks

Now that is a super idea, will tuck that away for later. 

Thanks for sharing your journey with us, can't wait to see updates. 

[Gannon]

On 1/17/2023 at 5:47 PM, JJenna said:

I think all tops are like that, I struggled with my Aqueon Versa-top.

The aqueon ones are the ones I've used for my entire hobby. They are indeed hard to put on but this Marineland one was on a whole different caliber. I spent ages trying to brute force it the way that aqueon ones typically go on. 

On 1/17/2023 at 5:47 PM, JJenna said:

Thanks for sharing your journey with us, can't wait to see updates. 

Thank you!!

[Gannon]

Update!

Yesterday I did a lot of dry aquascaping and began preparing RODI water for the tank. I'll fill it up late tonight when I'm finally home after my classes and lab. I'm very happy with how the hardscape looks especially. The 4 big stones were so great together I used all of them despite initially wanting to smash one for rubble and smaller rocks, but I really like the looks of these tall and detailed stones creating stuff that feels like rock walls. Also, in person they fill a lot more vertical space than it looks like they do in pictures. The sand gravel mix I did looks alright, but I'm wondering if there is anything that could be done to make it better. I definitely think I needed some extra texture and that the sand alone in a scape like this wouldn't be the greatest.

[Theplatymaster]

something odd ive heard that works for attatching the background on to the back, is use cooking oil, than squeeze the air out.

[Gannon]

On 1/19/2023 at 2:29 PM, Theplatymaster said:

something odd ive heard that works for attatching the background on to the back, is use cooking oil, than squeeze the air out.

It worked great with regular water once I got a new one. The old one was rolled the wrong direction so it kept trying to return to being rolled a tiny bit making it peel up on the edges. 

[Theplatymaster]

@Gannonany plans for stocking?

[Gannon]

On 1/19/2023 at 3:23 PM, Theplatymaster said:

@Gannonany plans for stocking?

I'm still thinking. One of my priorities is to finally keep a non-armored catfish like synodontic lucipinnis in here or something like that? Not fully decided on anything yet. I love honey gouramis and might do a group of those again, and I need a nice schooler. I have an L333 pleco that will also go in here. He might eventually get a smidge big for this tank, but then I should have moved and will have the tank upgraded by then. If not I also know lots of people that will want him, this would also be in like 2 years. I've had him since august and he's still pretty tiny.

[nabokovfan87]

On 1/17/2023 at 3:35 PM, Gannon said:

What was also frustrating was the window film background. It just refused to stay clinging to the back of the tank no matter what I did, how much water I used, heat, etc. I eventually caved and used some strong clear tape to hold the horizontal edges down and it seems to be working as those were the only problems places.

I had this happen.... Make sure you pull off that inner clear plastic you're supposed to remove.  I realized after all the hassle my tank still had grid lines.  Much easier the second time around.

On 1/19/2023 at 10:41 AM, Gannon said:

 Extremely nice texture on the stone! Awesome find.

[Gannon]

On 1/19/2023 at 4:30 PM, nabokovfan87 said:

I had this happen.... Make sure you pull off that inner clear plastic you're supposed to remove.  I realized after all the hassle my tank still had grid lines.  Much easier the second time around.

 Extremely nice texture on the stone! Awesome find.

The bad window film was just rolled the wrong way and didn't have anything to peel. Not ordering that stuff on amazon ever again. Payed 3x as much but at least what I bought in person worked. 

And thank you! Two of those rocks were hand picked and two were luck of the draw on an online order. that big stone on the back left with all the texture and the front right one are my favorite rock pieces I have now. 

[Gannon]

Here is the tank filled and planted! I'm undecided on that crypt in the middle, but I know I could probably use a few more plants in this tank. Perhaps a dwarf aquarium lily on the right side of the tank. My light came early and is a NICREW planted light. I wanted to do an aquarium coop light and probably should have, but wanted to save money somewhere to justify getting more fish and more exciting fish later. Let me know what you think of the plants and general setup!

[knee]

On 1/20/2023 at 11:14 AM, Gannon said:

Here is the tank filled and planted! I'm undecided on that crypt in the middle, but I know I could probably use a few more plants in this tank. Perhaps a dwarf aquarium lily on the right side of the tank. My light came early and is a NICREW planted light. I wanted to do an aquarium coop light and probably should have, but wanted to save money somewhere to justify getting more fish and more exciting fish later. Let me know what you think of the plants and general setup!

I'd move the crypt in front of the rock and driftwood. The jungle val will eventually send out runners and will cover the crypt.

[Gannon]

On 1/20/2023 at 2:33 PM, knee said:

I'd move the crypt in front of the rock and driftwood. The jungle val will eventually send out runners and will cover the crypt.

I might move it, but in general I'm gonna be taking out most runners and will be keeping the val pretty restricted and small. In all my tanks it takes over and absorbs too many nutrients taking them from slower feeding plants so im not going to let it crowd out anything. 

[nabokovfan87]

On 1/20/2023 at 11:14 AM, Gannon said:

Here is the tank filled and planted! I'm undecided on that crypt in the middle, but I know I could probably use a few more plants in this tank. Perhaps a dwarf aquarium lily on the right side of the tank. My light came early and is a NICREW planted light. I wanted to do an aquarium coop light and probably should have, but wanted to save money somewhere to justify getting more fish and more exciting fish later. Let me know what you think of the plants and general setup

Looks good! The plant in the back breaks up the wall of green so that's nice. We'll have to see how it develops!

[PineSong]

Looks really good! Those are great rocks indeed!

[Gannon]

Quick small update on all this:

The driftwood is leaking more tannins than I've ever seen. Visibility is still fine with light on but the tint is pretty interesting and intense. Didn't boil it because its a little too big and wanted to keep the piece undamaged. The low light plants shouldn't be affected and so far ph hasn't moved much. I've been starting the cycle of the tank with some added ammonia and some gunk from established filters. Hopefully its ready for fish soon!

[Theplatymaster]

On 1/25/2023 at 2:17 PM, Gannon said:

Quick small update on all this:

The driftwood is leaking more tannins than I've ever seen. Visibility is still fine with light on but the tint is pretty interesting and intense. Didn't boil it because its a little too big and wanted to keep the piece undamaged. The low light plants shouldn't be affected and so far ph hasn't moved much. I've been starting the cycle of the tank with some added ammonia and some gunk from established filters. Hopefully its ready for fish soon!

if the tannins are an issue, you could remove them with some carbon

[Gannon]

On 1/25/2023 at 1:18 PM, Theplatymaster said:

if the tannins are an issue, you could remove them with some carbon

Thats the plan, though I'd rather not cut out a hole in the plastic part of my aquarium lid to put an HOB filter in. Currently just running a sponge filter. 

[Theplatymaster]

On 1/25/2023 at 2:21 PM, Gannon said:

Thats the plan, though I'd rather not cut out a hole in the plastic part of my aquarium lid to put an HOB filter in. Currently just running a sponge filter. 

if you get something  like a carbon infused pad that Aquariumcoop and others sell, you could wrap it around the sponge filter, and make it stay with a rubber band.

[Gannon]

On 1/25/2023 at 2:29 PM, Theplatymaster said:

if you get something  like a carbon infused pad that Aquariumcoop and others sell, you could wrap it around the sponge filter, and make it stay with a rubber band.

I ended up using a very old aqueon HOB with the carbon cartridges it came with and were never used!

[Gannon]

Update: Since the last update I've began stocking the tank, first with my preexisting (in my care) L333 pleco as well as some little endlers. This weekend I also added some honey gouramis, 4 of them. One of these passed away yesterday morning sadly, but the other 3 seem to be adjusting better. I also have orange laser cories coming in the mail that will go into quarantine. Hopefully the cories come in healthy and I don't lose any more gouramis. 

Edit: Another one passes away strangely even after eating a little bit. Their breathing doesn't look any bit stressed and their color is bright. And of course the tank was well cycled, there were fish in it beforehand, and all the measurable water parameters are exactly where they should be. I wouldn't be shocked with one dying as things like that happen, but 2 out of 4? Seems unusual and I'm not sure why it happened. Probably just shock? I did my typical 45 minute acclimation process and I checked the temperature in the bag to make sure it matched. Maybe some other difference in water was drastic enough to be leading to lethal shock but I'm unsure. The other two seemed fine this morning, but I guess that doesn't mean I'm in the clear yet. 

Edited February 21, 2023 by Gannon

[Gannon]

So far, so good for the other two. They just aren't really eating much yet.