Movin' on up to the 29 gallon

Thank you again, briangcc1997. You've been so helpful with this build. I'm hanging in there!

Another WC today, about 5 gallons, with a vacuum, glass cleaning and driftwood cleaning. (I have biofilm on the driftwood along with the diatom bloom.)

Thinking about removing my very big piece of driftwood, I like it but it takes up a lot of room and is hard to clean around. Also thought about adding some cories, thinking they'll stir up the sane and maybe help move the snail poop where it can be sucked into a filter. Also thinking of adding an airstone, and/or swapping out my little Penguin HOB for a sponge.

But, I think I'll just leave everything as it is for now, at least for a couple of more weeks and watch what happens.

 

Instead of removing the driftwood, how about repositioning it instead? Maybe angle it against the glass in the corner? Stack on top of each other? Other???

Remember this is no rules, no holds barred, no idea too outlandish, aquascaping

In my tanks I have air diffusers. I prefer Eheim as they seem to be very high quality and have yet (ok just jinxed myself) to have one pop off the glass. I do have a few chinesium knockoffs that are constantly popping off the glass. You get what you pay for.

When we setup my 75, we literally went through several iterations until we hit on what I liked. It may have involved a trip to several lfs looking for the "right" mopani to get the look I was after. But then if you're like me you end up with new fish too

 

What a difference 10 days (and a little aquascape revision) has made!

We’re just about one month out from the initial water fill of this new build and the tank is cycled, thanks to a supplemental Penguin 75 HOB filter from my QT tank.

I decided to remove the smaller piece of driftwood and make the big one the centerpiece of the tank. I’ve also added more of the polished pebbles. Really liking this look, (though I will probably need more plants at some point).

The diatom bloom is abating and happily, the sand is cleaning up nicely. I still have some little piles of brown that I’ve been blaming on the snails, but they are far fewer in number and it seems like some of them disappear in a day or so. Now I’m beginning to think what I’ve been seeing is driftwood flecks more than snail poop. No doubt some is due to the snails, but I think the majority of it is from the driftwood. If that theory is correct, I can live with that for now.

The plants are doing “ok”. Crypts are very happy, the s. repens seem to be rooting, and the moneywort, while struggling, is holding on. My beautiful anubias that was in my old tank is having some issues from the diatom bloom, but I’m confident it will recover (as it has in the past).

I put the glass cover on, so now the only thing to do is add stock. I’ll be visiting a highly recommended LFS that I’ve never used before, about an hour drive from my house, this coming Monday. That happens to be my birthday, so it’s the perfect day to go shopping for new fish!

Thanks to all of you for your encouragement and help with this build.

Will keep updates coming.

 

Update: Still doing OK

The brown algae/diatoms are essentially gone. Yay! Now I'm working on a slight green algae issue coating the sand. It's not significant, but enough to mildly annoy. I'm playing with the timing and intensity of lighting with the Fluval plant light.

Although I hoped to stock by now, I’m babysitting my granddaughter's fish, as her 10g sprung a leak. Most of her stock is in my 5g QT tank (pictured), except for her 2 dwarf corys which I’ve put in my new tank to avoid overstocking the 5. I don’t want to add new stock in mine as long as her fish are in there. One of her fish is Rain the Betta, who I nursed back to health last year with Rose of Sharon's help, so I’m always happy to have my grandbetta here for a visit…

At the beginning of this build I said I wanted to take my time and be patient. Well, that's happening for sure! This is a process, as they say!

 

I must say that Rain is looking good, lol!!!

And your tank is coming along nicely!!!

 

- I must say that Rain is looking good, lol!!!

All thanks to you, Rose! His tail fin never came back fully, but everything else did. He's a healthy and pretty boy. It so much fun to "play" with him.

I love, love the personality of bettas and have thought about having one in the 29, but I’d have to seriously revamp my filtration. I believe that the Aquaclear 70 is way, way too strong for a betta.

Thanks for the kind words about the 29!

 

New month, new update on the build. It's been 10 weeks since the tank was filled.

The green algae has been persistent, along with what I think is some brown algae on some of the plants (it's more slimy, not powdery as the diatoms were).

Shamed by my 6 year old granddaughter who asked, "GMom why is your sand all green?", I decided I need some intensive work.

Took nearly all hardscape put yesterday and gave it a thorough cleaning. Rinsed all filter media (in tank water of course) and cleaned filter tubes, which were coated with algae inside and out. I raked the sand and re-scaped it a little bit.

My moneyworts weren't showing any new growth - just stagnant, and seemingly a magnet for the brown algae. So I pulled them all and replaced them with Vals. Sadly, all of the moneywort showed strong and long roots, so I know they were established. But, what's done is done. I'm hopeful for a nice grassy look once the vals are established and growing. Interested on opinions/comments on the way it looks now with the vals vs the moneywort.

I've cut down on light quite a bit, but I suppose I can cut back more if the algae continues. Meanwhile I'm thinking of a colony of amino shrimp to help out. The little buggers are hard to find right now, though! Sure wish I could stock more fish, but not yet as my grandfish are still in residence.

 

I fight algae in my 29 as well. You know what? I use one of those magnetic cleaners when it bugs me enough. Otherwise, it looks natural to me - it's what I see when I'm out on the boat fishing with the kiddos. Pull a rock from a lake or river - chances are very good that its got algae on it.

Next time I'd hand the granddaughter the cleaner and have her go at it. Never know....might get another fish keeper out of it!

 

New month, new update on the build. It's been 10 weeks since the tank was filled.

The green algae has been persistent, along with what I think is some brown algae on some of the plants (it's more slimy, not powdery as the diatoms were).

Shamed by my 6 year old granddaughter who asked, "GMom why is your sand all green?", I decided I need some intensive work.

Took nearly all hardscape put yesterday and gave it a thorough cleaning. Rinsed all filter media (in tank water of course) and cleaned filter tubes, which were coated with algae inside and out. I raked the sand and re-scaped it a little bit.

My moneyworts weren't showing any new growth - just stagnant, and seemingly a magnet for the brown algae. So I pulled them all and replaced them with Vals. Sadly, all of the moneywort showed strong and long roots, so I know they were established. But, what's done is done. I'm hopeful for a nice grassy look once the vals are established and growing. Interested on opinions/comments on the way it looks now with the vals vs the moneywort.

I've cut down on light quite a bit, but I suppose I can cut back more if the algae continues. Meanwhile I'm thinking of a colony of amino shrimp to help out. The little buggers are hard to find right now, though! Sure wish I could stock more fish, but not yet as my grandfish are still in residence.

I have just read & looked all through your build & I understand your frustration. But the vals do look really nice! I myself struggled with white/light sand in the beginning of my first 29g & a few people shamed me on it here on fishlore, so my best advice is pick out what YOU like!

Plants are hard, I learned that patience will win the battle. I was "THAT" person who could not even grow duckweed lol! I had several bulbs that took months to sprout & grow. & Sometimes when they finally do grow it's still not quite the "look" you wanted.

But you are doing brilliant! I will keep watching your thread, oh don't worry too much about the algae, it always seems to resolve as the tank matures & grows older. Diatoms & green spots are a given at the beginning, but they go away eventually.

 

Thanks so much Kathylee and Briangcc1977. Your encouragement is so helpful! So far, even though it's been less than a week, I am liking the look of the vals and guess I will adjust to the algae.

Speaking of vals, I put a few in the temporary home that I'm maintaining for my granddaughter's betta and friends - pic attached. (It sits right next to the 29.) Hope they grow in the gravel substrate, so far so good and Rain the Betta is loving them! Fingers crossed that they won't be as tasty a snack for the 2 snails in there, as the Anubias seem to be!

Brian, I would tell the granddaughter to clean the 29, but she is dangerous...a few years ago she decided to "help" by feeding her sister's betta - a whole can of flakes. That was a "cleanup in aisle 10" to say the least!!

 

Well, here we are, 6 months after filling the tank. I'm really happy with the way it has turned out!

It was a long ride to this point, but thanks to so many of you, I stuck with it and here I am!

The driftwood is still leaching, but I'm a fan of tannins so all good. All of the plants are thriving: the moneywort is gone, replaced by corkscrew vals (they've already been thinned out a few times), the rest of the "originals"are doing well: crypts, Anubias, Java ferns, banana plants and S. replens.

Right now, it’s an invertebrate tank, housing my longtime pals, 3 nerites, and some newcomers: 10 Amano shrimp. I'll be adding some nano fish for color and variety toward the end of June when I return home from vacation. I’ve never had shrimp before but I just love them… always so busy!

I kept my ugly but functional heater, and changed out the noisy, overpowered Aquaclear 70 for a 50, plus a sponge filter. It seems to be just the right balance and hopefully will remain so after the fish are added.

One of my concerns with this upgrade was the additional work required of a 29 vs my old 20. That's been a nonissue, happy to say!

 

Added fish a month ago - at long last! 5 Ember Tetras and 6 Phantom Tetras have joined the Nerites and Amanos. Everyone seems happy and the tank has settled quite well. (For the astute observers: Yes, I am running 3 filters. My adult daughter wants a tank, so one of those filters will go to her, to cycle her tank a bit faster.)

I'm very happy, here at the 8 months post-fill date! Glad I undertook this project and even happier that I stuck it out through the algae blooms, plant issues and general frustrations.

My advice to anyone undertaking a new build. TAKE YOUR TIME - and be prepared to make some changes to your plan along the way.