My 15g planted rimless (tank #2)

[theDeanoRama]

So ... apparenly Lay's and Aquariums fall under the same purview - You can't just have one. With this in mind I am starting this journal now before the real action happens (unlike my 1st one). You can now follow along my scattered thought process as I muddle my way through this in these early stages.

I'm piecing together something a little more user friendly than my Nano Cube for a planted aquarium. Not only is it hard to control heat in the cube, but it's not designed for the heavier filtration needed for planted tanks. With that in mind I introduce you to attempt #2 currently consisting of:

• 15 gallon rimless tank from Hagen
• 2x 24 watt HO Glo fixure ... also from Hagen (coincidence, not design)
  
  • Giesemann Midday
  • Giesemann AquaFlora
• Rena XP2 Filter
• Fluval co2 88
• DIY Light stand from EMT
• DIY Acrylic Lily pipes (in progress)
• Driftwood

The stock list is up in the air:

• 7x Cardinal Tetras (will be xfered from original tank)
• RCS because I love the little guys
• I'm thinking 2 or 3 Amano Shrimp as well this time around
• Nerite snails would also add some interest, more than my little pond snails are at least in the 12g
• After the above, I'm not sure ... another breed of tetra perhaps, or some male guppies. this part is undecided.

Plants:

• either a dwarf hairgrass or HC carpet in the foreground
• weeping moss on the driftwood (having trouble finding this)
• mid to background someplace some Blyxa Japonica (also hard to find)
• something not green in the very back on the left hand side to middle, have yet to decide what
• something tall and interesting to the right hand side back to center as well, perhaps along the lines of Echinodorus Vesuvius
• possibly some Anubias nanas if my light isnt going to be too much for them, I'm a little concerned about this aspect when it comes to the nanas, I was thinking under the driftwood thus under the weeping moss for shade.
• if not Nanas then something else small and foreground-ish to add some interest up front under the driftwood.

The substrate I've still not decided on, I'm waffling between flourite and flourite sand (what ever I pick, I want it to be black). I will have to make my decision soon though if I want to get started on this as its kind of an important aspect to the tank

Here is my DIY light stand made from bent EMT. I had to really curl the pipe over to get the bar into the middle of the tank, this gives it a shepherd's hook look to it but it had to be done, otherwise the support bar would have been at the very front of the tank. All thats left to do is clean off the stickers and my felt marks, cut the support bar to length and figure out the best way to support the suspension wires (sorry about the awful iphone pics):



I think I want to add another branch to this, arching higher up into the tank, but here is my driftwood currently. I hammer drilled the base and bolted through silicon for a good seal around the bolt, then sealed the head of the bolt as well:



The 'lily pipe' was my 1st forray into playing with acrylic. I made it pretty big so the walls are fairly thin. I will have to give it a good wrapping in painter's tape before attempting to cut it with a razor saw. I ordered this tube stock up from the States but if you live in the Greater Vancouver area and know where to source this stuff locally, I would love to hear from you:

[Morainy]

Deanorama, this is an incredible setup! I am amazed by the way that you built your light suspension. I love DIY stuff that is made with imagination. Extremely cool.

If you're looking for a black substrate that does well with plants, you could try Eco-Complete. I have that in a couple of tanks. Since you're interested in shrimp, you could also try Fluval's new substrate for shrimp. I hear that some stores in town have this now. I have this in one tank and it's very attractive. It's black and it's small pellets. It lowers the pH of your water, though, but it doesn't cause an ammonia spike.

[theDeanoRama]

Deanorama, this is an incredible setup! I am amazed by the way that you built your light suspension. I love DIY stuff that is made with imagination. Extremely cool.

Thanks, I can't take credit for the idea though. I was inspired by others that have used EMT in a similar fashion, though most just do a 90 degree over top of the tank with a side mount where as I wanted it coming from the back since the top of my stand isn't flush with the sides of the cabinet.

If you're looking for a black substrate that does well with plants, you could try Eco-Complete. I have that in a couple of tanks. Since you're interested in shrimp, you could also try Fluval's new substrate for shrimp. I hear that some stores in town have this now. I have this in one tank and it's very attractive. It's black and it's small pellets. It lowers the pH of your water, though, but it doesn't cause an ammonia spike.

I worry about my low ph too much as it is to try and compensate for something driving it even lower I'm in North Burnaby and my water here out of the tap is ph of 5 .. or lower since thats the bottom of my testing kit's range. With some help from crushed coral I've managed to get it up to it up to just over 7 now.

I have eco complete in my current tank and I'm not that happy with the large aggregate that a lot of it came in at. The bags of Flourite I've seen seem to come with a smaller grain size and then the sand of course even smaller than that.

[theDeanoRama]

I like the misted glass look of R type ADA tanks but I do like looking through the sides of my tank though so yesterday I decided that I would try and attain the same look on the background, leaving the sides clear.

A trip to home depot to purchase some frosted glass applique followed by a bit of squeegeeing then timming and the desired affect is attained:

[2wheelsx2]

This looks like a magnificent build. I really love topless tanks with suspended lights. Too bad I never seem to have enough tanks that I can have one without suicide jumper fish.

[theDeanoRama]

I'm concerned with the suicides myself. I'm going to have to be careful with my choices I think. I don't have enough experience yet to know what to avoid other than Bettas I'll have to do some research. I know my Cardinal Tetras should be safe, they seem never get higher than mid tank. I hear about the odd suicidal RCS as well but I rarely seem them at the top of my tank right now.

[curtisonrad19]

I love the frosted background!
Cant see cories going for the suicide jump

[Mferko]

i really like that frosted glass look, you did a great job making it look really even too! it would probably look great even with a black background behind it too, or maybe even backlit! now youve got me thinking i love it

i like the creative EMT light stand, if you want to get rid of the shephard crook later and prevent the weight of the light torquing it sideways you could make it an upside down U with 2 90's and then kick them forward about 30-40 degrees once they clear the top of the tank... then it would be supported on both sides too.

as for the support wires we used to just stick the EMT in a vice and then drill a 1/4" hole through it, then use airline cable or seismic cable w/e u wanna call it, bring it up through the hole then back around and crimp it. could also use chain if thats what was provided.

[shungo]

looks great! cant wait to see more pictures!

[theDeanoRama]

i really like that frosted glass look, you did a great job making it look really even too! it would probably look great even with a black background behind it too, or maybe even backlit! now youve got me thinking i love it

Its actually edge to edge flush, anything that looks otherwise is just illusion do to the angle I took the picture at. I was considering the backlighting too (I witnessed backlighting today when my 5.5 QT in the background flipped on). Something low that comes on in the evenings after the photo period to replace moonlights ..... tempting .....

i like the creative EMT light stand, if you want to get rid of the shephard crook later and prevent the weight of the light torquing it sideways you could make it an upside down U with 2 90's and then kick them forward about 30-40 degrees once they clear the top of the tank... then it would be supported on both sides too.

as for the support wires we used to just stick the EMT in a vice and then drill a 1/4" hole through it, then use airline cable or seismic cable w/e u wanna call it, bring it up through the hole then back around and crimp it. could also use chain if thats what was provided.

I have some braided wire and the connectors that came with the fixture. I just have to decide if I'm going to drill or just wrap the wire around the EMT. I may also replace the electrical cord in the fixture with something much longer so I can run it up inside the EMT to keep it out of site.

I considered the U route for the EMT but there wasn't enough length in the EMT to get the desired height and I didn't want a center join. If my cabinet was flush to the top I would have gone with 1" rather than 3/4" and just mounted it on the side with a single 90 bend.