29g Planted Tank Build....Finally!

Alright guys I think it's actually happening now

A lot of setbacks in setting up this 29g but I think I should be able to set it up very soon

At first I planned on doing a 20 long but once I saw the petco 50% off sale, I couldn't resist.

SO here we go 29g........

Equipment:
29g tank
Aquaclear 30 (seasoned/cycled)
Aquaclear 20 (seasoned/cycled)
Possibly sponge filter (seasoned/cycled)
NIcrew ClassicLED Plus V2 (Full Spectrum)
Fluval or Topfin heater (50w or 100w)
Aquario Neo DIY CO2 (possibly)


Stocking:
2 (pair) Bolivian Rams
7-10 Espei rasboras
10 (ish) Endlers
6 Orange Venezuelen Corydoras (aeneus) (although one albino and one bronze aeneus in that mix)
1-2 ADF's
4 Amanos
1 Nerite OR 2 Assassin Snails

Otos OR Hillstream/Borneo Loach (not sure about these yet though)

Plants:
Amazon Swords
Echnidorus Hadi Red Pearl
Bucephlandra Rainbow Frost and Brownie Blue
Java Ferns
Jungle Val
Java moss
Anubias Barteri (large)
Crypt Wedtii Brown
Crypt Wedtii Green
Pogostemon Stellatus
Hydrocotlye Leucophela
Annubias Nana Petite
Alternertia Recknie
Rotala Indica
Nymphea Red Bulbs
Pothos (roots in filter box)

Fertilzation/Aquascaping
2-4 Larger driftwood pieces to have a double island scape
Seiryu Stone or Lava Rock to prop wood
Eco complete (40 IBS)
Fluval Stratum (4 IBS)
Flourite Black Sand (15 IBS) (Cap)
Flourite Root tabs
Aquarium Coop Root tabs
aquarium coop Easy Green Fertilizer
All in one fertilzer (can't remember company name)

I plan on keeping the tank at around 7.2-7.4 PH (my tap)
Temp wise I could be really flexible here since all of these fish do well in cooler waters. I'm thinking anywhere between 73F-76F.

Really excited about this scape and I will definitely be adding pictures and updates along the way

 

looks good but only thing is your tank is most likely going to be overstocked, perhaps remove the frogs from your list and you should be fine, make sure with endlers you have only male or female not both genders or they will breed and will way exceed your stocking limits.

 

I was a little worried about my stocking levels as well, however a few weeks ago i made a thread about this stocking and people agreed that it was fine. The ADF bioload is really low so shouldn't be an issue. I feel like with overfiltering, live plants and especially the established pothos, my nitrates will be very low and I'll be good to go.

I already have some males in one of my 10g's. In the other 10g is a guppy pair where the female has given birth twice but only 3 on the first and 5 on the second. I plan on adding endler females to the mix for the 29g and selling the juveniles to my lfs so Im not too concerned about that. (as far as hybrization concerns, these along with my lfs' endlers are not true endlers and are already hybrdized. I'm not too worried about overpopulation as I'll have fry grow out tanks ready as planned. Also i dont have much hope either cause im pretty sure the fry will get eaten.
And if all else fails with overpopulation well..... I have a hungry pea puffer in another tank...... Lol jk.

 

Update:

I just ordered some of the final plants for the scape

{
Hydrocotyle Leucolphela
Vallseneria
Java Moss
Pogostemon Stellatus
}

I decided to order the Diy Co2 (Aquario NeoCo2)

I've decided to take a diffrent approach to the scape.

I plan on adding rocks to lift and tilt my spiderwood upwards, then stacking them on one another on both sides of the tank. This is so it looks filled out, hardscape wise. I also decided that I want to make this Vallisneria heavy rather than amazon sword heavy since valls are thiner yet bushy and would look better with the larger java ferns (it would offer a variety of textures.

I still need to get some alternentia recknii, Nymphea Red Bulbs and buce's from my LFS though.

Hopefully I'll be able to setup this tank next week!

 

Why so many filters?

 

Why so many filters?

I personally like over filtering my tank, because of the bioload flexibilty and with two HOB's I can mix around with what I want for each HOB (one will have more bio filtration and one will have more chem filtration). Offers more flow as well and if the fish can't handle it, I can block the flow with a sponge.

The Aquaclear's will get the job done, and the sponges are just there to keep the cycle for them since I plan on using those sponge filters for a fry a tank.

In fact im a little more scared of the pothos rather than over filtering as it's well established and might consume too much of my macro and micros so I might consider taking them out.

 

I have a jungle growing out of the top of my 29g tank. I started growing them partly to consume excess nutrients. It worked. Now I have to fertilize, which is fine by me.

 

Can’t wait to see it. Sounds like a jungle

 

I personally like over filtering my tank, because of the bioload flexibilty and with two HOB's I can mix around with what I want for each HOB (one will have more bio filtration and one will have more chem filtration). Offers more flow as well and if the fish can't handle it, I can block the flow with a sponge.

The Aquaclear's will get the job done, and the sponges are just there to keep the cycle for them since I plan on using those sponge filters for a fry a tank.

In fact im a little more scared of the pothos rather than over filtering as it's well established and might consume too much of my macro and micros so I might consider taking them out.

yea that makes sense but honestly I would only do the 2 hobs