Hi All,
Last weekend I tore down my 30 gallon to make room for a new species (for me). The this will be the first time I have kept the species and from doing some reading, research, and talking with the breeder I am doing a set-up I have not done before.
2020/07/19
Here is my old (15+ years) 30 gallon tank (36"X12.5"X16.75" high). Note the scratches on the glass showing years of use! Thank goodness most of those scratches disappear when water is added.
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After cleaning the heater and canister filter I added four (4) Osmocote Plus "00" root tabs. Based upon my experience with the 45 gallon which showed residual ammonia for about 2 months when I used one root tab per 2 gallons I decided to go stingy this time. There will be some species of plants in this tank but the fish will be the primary consideration.
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I covered the four tabs with a handful of sand substrate to keep them from shifting and added the rest of the sand substrate.
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This is the first time I have used sand as a substrate in a tank and I went with HTH Pool Filter sand which is made from crushed quartz, contains no shells to effect water hardness, and is definitely white! I am not a fan of white substrates because they can show all the detritus and other stuff but I want to keep this tank clean and pristine as possible.
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I put in a total of 50# of sand which is one bag. It cost me $9 including tax. This gave me sufficient for 2-1/2 inches in the back of the tank sloping to 1.5 inches in the front of the tank; an average depth of 2 inches. I did not wash or rinse the sand first, it went straight from the bag into the tank.
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2020/07/20
Next come the filling. I could have done the three (3) gallon bucket and made eight or nine trips up and down the stairs but I chose to use my weekly water change hose instead. I put down wax paper and a dinner plate to minimize disturbing the substrate during filling and added the water slowly.
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This is how it looked when filled before turning on the filter.
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I set the heater for 83 degrees and took some tap water readings for a benchmark, then called it a day.
Tap Water
pH = 7.0 (degassed 24 hrs)
dKH = 2.0
dGH = 3.0
Ca = 20 ppm
Mg = 0.9 ppm
NH3 = 0.00
NO2 = 0.00
NO3 = 0.00
And here is the equipment list:
Aqueon 30 gallon aquarium
Aqueon glass top
Fluval 2.0 LED fixture (36"-48")
Marineland C-220 canister filter (two sponges; filter floss; bio-balls X2 trays; Purigen)
50# HTH Pool Filter Sand (crushed quartz) 2-1/2” back / 1-1/2” front
Osmocote Plus root tabs ( 4 each “00” size)
Inline CO2 diffuser
Fluval CO2 drop checker with 4.0 dKH indicator solution