Scott's 29g Build

Well, my 29g has been sitting empty and filthy for awhile now. It wasn't doing to well, especially with the lack of plant growth and lousy lighting. So I moved all the stock to a 20 gallon long, and the plants and fish are doing a lot better in there.

So, I am cleaning up the 29g and preparing it for its next endeavor. I've never done sand, so I thought I'd try that this time. I picked up a couple packages of CaribSea Super Naturals in the Sunset Gold color.

For stocking, I really want a nice shoal of corys, so that's the other reason for the sand. I think I may move my 2 Bolivian Rams and 8 Brilliant Rasbora from my 75g in to this 29g. I don't think the Rams are thriving in there. The dozen Buenos Aires tetras are so active and ravenous for food that the Rams don't get much. Plus, the Rasboras look a bit to much like a thin version of the tetras, so I'd rather add something visually different to the 75g at some point.

Equipment is an AquaClear 70. I also just ordered a Finnex CRV-30 light fixture. I tell you, not many choices for 30" LEDs that are good for plant growth and with a decent PAR down to 18". Sure did a lot of research trying to find a light. I'm a fan of the Current USA and Fluval but they don't do 30" and I didn't want a light shorter than the tank width.

Forgot to take a picture of the dirty 29g before cleaning, oh well! I'll post more pictures as it comes along.

-Scott

 

Oh! Found a picture of how dirty it was before after being emptied.

 

Decided to paint the back of the tank black. First time ever doing this!

 

Well, got the sand inside nicely (took hours to rinse, but well worth it!). It looks really awesome with the black painted background. This is not the finished decor and layout by any means. I haven't had a chance to get real rocks and wood and plants yet. But, the order of peppered cory cats came in so they needed a place.

-Scott

 

Good luck. I black/blue out my tanks with construction paper But I like the idea of painting them.

 

The rocks and wood arrived today! Who else gets excited for USPS to deliver a literal box of rocks?? LOL.

Should be good with this layout. Plants should be in later this week. I'll fill those in between the rocks, and some of that wood on the left.

 

Looking good! Can't wait to see how it turns out.

 

I'll second that tuggerlake26. Also love how the wood is positioned. I'd have never though to stand it up that way

 

Looking good! Are those Manzanita branches? Looks like the same I've gotten from Bloomsandbranches. com. Just a heads up all that red bark is going to get soft and start falling off the branches making a mess in a month or so. I've ordered a couple times from bloomsandbranches and now I get the sandblasted manzanita pieces to avoid the mess but the first time I ordered I got the "natural" pieces. When mine were in the middle of losing all the bark I got tired of the constant mess and took a wire brush to the branches to get the rest of the bark off.

 

Well, got the sand inside nicely (took hours to rinse, but well worth it!). It looks really awesome with the black painted background. This is not the finished decor and layout by any means. I haven't had a chance to get real rocks and wood and plants yet. But, the order of peppered cory cats came in so they needed a place.

-Scott

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The tank looks amazing! Though may I suggest the adding of real plants?

 

Hey!

Yesterday the rocks and wood arrived. Today the plants arrived, so I am all aquascaped now!

Setup:
29g
AquaClear 70, AquaClear 30
CaribSea SuperNaturals Sunset Gold sand
30" Finnex CRV LED Light Fixture
1 Manzanita Wood Branch 14"
Various Petrified Rock
Bacopa,, Cardinal Plant, Cryptocoryne Lutea, Ludwigia Ovalis, Scarlet Temple and an anubias (pulled from another tank and placed on a new piece of petrified rock)
Livestock: 6 peppered corydoras

The manzanita wood, petrified rocks and plants were ordered from ModernAquarium.com.

 

Update on this tank, made a few decorating changes today.