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20 gallon Longs


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#1 Guest_NVCichlids_*

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Posted 02 June 2008 - 10:34 PM

these are my two 20 gal L's. One will be a river tank and the other a swamp tank.

current swamp:
driftwood found at the wisconsin river, background recently painted. Will soon have layers of leaves on the bottom and sand ontop along with live plants. will be running a 30 gal sponge filter and possibally a HOB filter made for a 30 gal tank.
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river tank:
driftwood purchased for $2.50 and thought it looked good. pictures show the piping for the current with the powerhead on one end. I still need to find sponge to put in the intake end, anyone know where to find some?? Then after that, I will be making the DIY background so it looks like natural rocks sticking out from the wall.
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this is my current 10 gal with a sample of my DIY background:
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let me know what you guys think!!

NV

#2 Guest_bflowers_*

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Posted 03 June 2008 - 12:07 AM

these are my two 20 gal L's. One will be a river tank and the other a swamp tank.

current swamp:
driftwood found at the wisconsin river, background recently painted. Will soon have layers of leaves on the bottom and sand ontop along with live plants. will be running a 30 gal sponge filter and possibally a HOB filter made for a 30 gal tank.
Posted Image
Posted Image
river tank:
driftwood purchased for $2.50 and thought it looked good. pictures show the piping for the current with the powerhead on one end. I still need to find sponge to put in the intake end, anyone know where to find some?? Then after that, I will be making the DIY background so it looks like natural rocks sticking out from the wall.
Posted Image
Posted Image
Posted Image
this is my current 10 gal with a sample of my DIY background:
Posted Image
let me know what you guys think!!

NV


Looks great! I especially like the background. May need to do that with my 125 river tank.

Bill F.

#3 Guest_NVCichlids_*

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Posted 03 June 2008 - 07:00 AM

thanks Bill, just letting you know it is a very time consuming process that can only be done on tanks that are not set up. All of my tanks that have this DIY background done were new tanks to me that I did this to and allowed 1.5 months to let the water cure and come back to normal. doing the 10 gallon tank took me 3 days and about $50, but then again I had excess products that can be used for several more times.

if you want a step by step on how to do it, I could PM it to you.

thanks again,
NV

#4 Guest_BullHeadsrdfish_*

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Posted 03 June 2008 - 04:13 PM

Looks nice. What will the occupants of the tanks be?
Keep us posted as they come along.

#5 Guest_NVCichlids_*

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Posted 03 June 2008 - 07:00 PM

Looks nice. What will the occupants of the tanks be?
Keep us posted as they come along.


The swamp tank will be a banded sunfish breeding tank (hopefully I will get atleast one male and one female out of the three). I was also thinking of adding some sort of live bearer, but didnt know if adding sailfin mollies would over crowd the tank? any suggestions on tankmates would be great. I currently have fundulus rubrifrons and flag fish.

the second tank I am hoping to find some colorful shiner/dace species to keep it in along with some darters (orangefinned or greensided preferably but orangefinned or rainbows would also be good). I just need to find people who have them for sale/trade because we are not allowed to collect here in wisconsin due to VHS.

would madtoms work in either tank?

thanks for the comment,

NV

#6 Guest_nativeplanter_*

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Posted 04 June 2008 - 10:08 AM

NVC,

Step-by-step directions would be a great article for American Currents...

#7 Guest_jase_*

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Posted 04 June 2008 - 10:58 AM

NVC,
Step-by-step directions would be a great article for American Currents...

There's a great step-by-step here: http://www.cichlid-f..._background.php

Search around and you can find a number of others on the same topic. I'm not saying it wouldn't be a good AC article, but it's something that's well covered in the "mainstream" aquarium hobby. :)

Anyone have suggestions for alternate materials? Foam just strikes me as a real pain in the a** to deal with. Ever sanded foam? It's not pleasant and nearly impossible to clean up completely.

BTW, looks great NV!

Edited by jase, 04 June 2008 - 11:01 AM.


#8 Guest_NVCichlids_*

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Posted 04 June 2008 - 12:51 PM

thanks for the comments guys,
I used styrofoam and carved it with a kitchen knife and screwdriver then covered with mortar mix with dye in it.

Just curious about the questions above, I have been getting conflicting responses. Would I be able to keep a pair or trio of sailfin mollies in with the banded sunfish? Also, would madtoms work in either tank, or would they just eat the babies?

I will keep pictures posted about the background which should be worked on soon. I move into my summer apartment starting today, so I should be able to set them up quickly once I get moving.

Any additional comments are appreciated!

Thanks again for all who left feedback,

NV

#9 Guest_scottefontay_*

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Posted 04 June 2008 - 01:23 PM

jase, it doesn't sound like you need to sand the styrofoam based on the methodology employed. I wonder what how long it would last and if any adverse chemicals would leach into the water from the styrofoam, dye or cement?

Looks really good NV!

#10 Guest_jase_*

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Posted 04 June 2008 - 01:54 PM

jase, it doesn't sound like you need to sand the styrofoam based on the methodology employed. I wonder what how long it would last and if any adverse chemicals would leach into the water from the styrofoam, dye or cement?

I started a background thread at: http://forum.nanfa.o...?showtopic=4999
So NV can have his show-and-tell thread back. :)




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