# Bookshelf Blackwater - 12g Long



## doylecolmdoyle (10 Dec 2017)

Fire bookshelf tank. 90cm Length x 25cm Height x 21cm Depth in 8mm low iron clear glass.
Hardscape - Malaysian Driftwood
Substrate -  Natural river gravel
Co2 - Yes
Light - 90cm Up Aqua Pro Z
Plants - Low light slow growers; Anubias, Buce and small amount of Java Fern
Stocking - Various Rasbora's, Cherry shrimp

Set the tank up yesterday, its still a bit murky and from front on doesn't look to tinted I guess because it only 20cm deep.


IMG_0923 by Colm Doyle, on Flickr


IMG_0909 by Colm Doyle, on Flickr


IMG_0912 by Colm Doyle, on Flickr


IMG_0944 by Colm Doyle, on Flickr


IMG_0942 by Colm Doyle, on Flickr


IMG_0948 by Colm Doyle, on Flickr


IMG_0938 by Colm Doyle, on Flickr


IMG_0934 by Colm Doyle, on Flickr


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## Kitalexander (10 Dec 2017)

Beautiful tank, would look great with emerged growth too! Is it a custom tank?


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## doylecolmdoyle (11 Dec 2017)

Kitalexander said:


> Beautiful tank, would look great with emerged growth too! Is it a custom tank?



Thanks, I am thinking about putting some terrestrial moss on the emersed bit of wood, no the tank is of the shelf, commonly called a bookshelf tank, few brands sell them, mine is Fire Aqua, which I think is a Australian / Asian brand, Mr Aqua also sell the same sized tank in America, I am not to sure for a supplier in the UK


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## doylecolmdoyle (11 Dec 2017)

Took some more photos today, water has cleared up can see thru the tank length ways now, much less hazy, perhaps a bit more tinted. 


IMG_0957 by Colm Doyle, on Flickr


IMG_0952 by Colm Doyle, on Flickr


IMG_0960 by Colm Doyle, on Flickr


IMG_0971 by Colm Doyle, on Flickr


IMG_0976 by Colm Doyle, on Flickr


IMG_0979 by Colm Doyle, on Flickr


IMG_0981 by Colm Doyle, on Flickr


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## doylecolmdoyle (15 Dec 2017)

This photo shows a truer representation of the light level and tannins, tho its always different from screen to screen and I edited this photo on my laptop, probably doesn't have the best display!




IMG_1008 by Colm Doyle, on Flickr


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## Edvet (15 Dec 2017)

I would add a small spotlight to highlight a small spot just below the surface. Just to make it more interesting.


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## zozo (15 Dec 2017)

Realy stunning and lovely beautifull little tank..



Edvet said:


> I would add a small spotlight to highlight a small spot just below the surface. Just to make it more interesting.



Absolutely! Good idea..  Best place would be above and beside the emersed wood so the light radiates dioganaly into the water like a rising sun.
Moss on the emersed wood and in the moss some Utricularia (graminifolia) flowering. . And or maybe a Drosera too..


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## Aqua360 (15 Dec 2017)

Beautiful tank, I've been toying with getting one this size for quite some time


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## doylecolmdoyle (16 Dec 2017)

Edvet said:


> I would add a small spotlight to highlight a small spot just below the surface. Just to make it more interesting.



That is a good idea, I do have a ikea floor lamp right next to this tank, it permantly sits to the left of the tank, could look interesting with the lamp on as well as LED lighting, I could play around with putting the lamp on a timer to have the spot lamp stay on after the LED goes off, I think that would look cool. Dont really have any space for the lamp to sit on the right of the tank, which I think would look better with light coming down from the right onto the emersed wood.



zozo said:


> Realy stunning and lovely beautifull little tank..
> Absolutely! Good idea..  Best place would be above and beside the emersed wood so the light radiates dioganaly into the water like a rising sun.
> Moss on the emersed wood and in the moss some Utricularia (graminifolia) flowering. . And or maybe a Drosera too..



Cheers! Yes I would like to put something on the wood, but plenty of time for that, hopefully can keep this scape going for a while with only slow growers.


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## doylecolmdoyle (21 Dec 2017)

Here is a quick video from this evening, I forgot to add any audio... hope you enjoy.


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## Doubu (26 Dec 2017)

I agree with the comments above (adding some terrestrial growth). Looking great!


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## doylecolmdoyle (7 Jan 2018)

Tank is going well, tannins are looking great, plants are growing and no algae! Fish seem very happy also, loving this scape.


IMG_1197 by Colm Doyle, on Flickr


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## doylecolmdoyle (28 Jan 2018)

Cleaned the pipes today, calls for an updated photo....


IMG_1219 by Colm Doyle, on Flickr

Still yet to find any red whiptail catfish, my local shop has "common whiptail catfish" but seems they can grow to 15cm so perhaps to big, they also have borneo scooters which look really cool, would like to try these guys but I think my ph may be to low. I have my lily pipe positioned high so it sucks down water and creates a lot of o2 bubbles so I think oxygen levels will be ok.

I added a bunch of mini pellia to the top of the emersed wood, seems to be going ok and is constantly moist, tho there is a bit of white mold growing on the wood... not sure what to do here, hope it just goes away over time..


IMG_1222 by Colm Doyle, on Flickr


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## doylecolmdoyle (28 Jan 2018)

Photoshopped the darkness levels to bring out some details but the last photo is probably more realistic...


IMG_1219-edit by Colm Doyle, on Flickr


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## doylecolmdoyle (25 Mar 2018)

Took an updated photo today, not that it really looks any different (lost a fair few buce leaves but the shedding seems to have slowed down) Added my 3 surviving oto's from my 60p to this tank and they seem happy, also added 2 CRS and they also seem happy tho I am not sure if they are a male female pair, havent noticed either being berried. Need to clean the pipes / tube but that can wait until next week, I modified the medium set of stainless steal pipes from hinterfeld to fit this shallow tank, cut to the same length of the glass Cal Aqua pipes I use, the outlet looks a bit weird and stubby but I will see how they go.


IMG_1399 by Colm Doyle, on Flickr


IMG_1400 by Colm Doyle, on Flickr


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## Kalum (25 Mar 2018)

Does the outflow pipe that's submerged detach easily to allow it to be cut to length then? I was thinking of doing the same


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## doylecolmdoyle (25 Mar 2018)

Kalum said:


> Does the outflow pipe that's submerged detach easily to allow it to be cut to length then? I was thinking of doing the same



Yeah both sets of pipes come apart where that collar is, I cut one pipe just after the bend (for some reason one pipe is longer after the bend) and then cut both pipes shorter on the side where the tubing would attached (they needed to be fairly short for my tank / filter setup / location)

I didnt need to cut the inlet section of the pipe but I am using the bigger 18mm pipes of my 5ft bookshelf tank and they will require a bit of cutting.

Note you cant really cut the "outflow" bend any shorter, it will always be about 5cm below the surface unless you raise the pipe


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## Kalum (25 Mar 2018)

doylecolmdoyle said:


> Yeah both sets of pipes come apart where that collar is, I cut one pipe just after the bend (for some reason one pipe is longer after the bend) and then cut both pipes shorter on the side where the tubing would attached (they needed to be fairly short for my tank / filter setup / location)
> 
> I didnt need to cut the inlet section of the pipe but I am using the bigger 18mm pipes of my 5ft bookshelf tank and they will require a bit of cutting.
> 
> Note you cant really cut the "outflow" bend any shorter, it will always be about 5cm below the surface unless you raise the pipe



Thans mate that's perfect, I actually meant inflow not outflow, always get them the wrong way around 

Will keep an eye on your mini pelia as I'm thinkng aabout something similar, although my light will be a lot closer to it


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## doylecolmdoyle (11 Apr 2018)

Some of the blackwater gang, didnt realise the glass was so dirty until taking these macro shots, perks of blackwater 


IMG_1534 by Colm Doyle, on Flickr


IMG_1542 by Colm Doyle, on Flickr


IMG_1547 by Colm Doyle, on Flickr


IMG_1554 by Colm Doyle, on Flickr


IMG_1557 by Colm Doyle, on Flickr


IMG_1559 by Colm Doyle, on Flickr


IMG_1560 by Colm Doyle, on Flickr


IMG_1569 by Colm Doyle, on Flickr


IMG_1577 by Colm Doyle, on Flickr


IMG_1578 by Colm Doyle, on Flickr


IMG_1579 by Colm Doyle, on Flickr


IMG_1584 by Colm Doyle, on Flickr


IMG_1586 by Colm Doyle, on Flickr


IMG_1611 by Colm Doyle, on Flickr


IMG_1616 by Colm Doyle, on Flickr


IMG_1618 by Colm Doyle, on Flickr


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## Aqua360 (11 Apr 2018)

Really like the driftwood shape, very pleasing flow to it


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## doylecolmdoyle (12 Apr 2018)

Aqua360 said:


> Really like the driftwood shape, very pleasing flow to it



Cheers, its actually about 6-8 bits of wood stacked up to try make it look like one bigger piece.


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## doylecolmdoyle (20 May 2018)

Updated FTS, need to add some more almond leaf tea bags, water is a fair bit lighter. Still loosing buce leafs daily, they just dont like this tank.




IMG_1997 by Colm Doyle, on Flickr


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## zozo (20 May 2018)

doylecolmdoyle said:


> Still loosing buce leafs daily, they just dont like this tank



It can come back, just wait patiently..  I grew buce in high tech and transfered rather large plants over to a low tech.. Lost all matured leaves rather soon and it took months, but new ones will eventualy grow but will stay significantly smaller for i do not know how long in low tech. But the plant will revive..


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## doylecolmdoyle (14 Jun 2018)

Tried to take a few macro photos today, camera just wasn't playing nice, only got a few interesting snaps, fish are looking good since starting to feed live micro worms, couldn't really get any good super close up photos, reflections where driving me crazy for some reason. 


IMG_2188 by Colm Doyle, on Flickr


IMG_2225 by Colm Doyle, on Flickr


IMG_2223 by Colm Doyle, on Flickr


IMG_2220 by Colm Doyle, on Flickr


IMG_2194 by Colm Doyle, on Flickr


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## Tim Harrison (14 Jun 2018)

Very nice...that's one well fed Rasbora.


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## doylecolmdoyle (14 Jun 2018)

Tim Harrison said:


> Very nice...that's one well fed Rasbora.



Thanks that last one is huge! I have some fairly small fish even tho I have had them all for about 2 years, makes me think perhaps some have bred, tho I have never noticed fry.


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## paul_j (14 Jun 2018)

Nice pictures, really shows the tannins!


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## Tim Harrison (14 Jun 2018)

doylecolmdoyle said:


> makes me think perhaps some have bred, tho I have never noticed fry.


I know what you mean, I have a shoal of 20 or so and I'm sure they must have bred since numbers seem to have increased if anything.


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## Edvet (14 Jun 2018)

doylecolmdoyle said:


> Still loosing buce leafs daily, they just dont like this tank.


I would try one outside the water with the roots on the wet wood.(maybe cover the leaves  with a wet tissue for some time)


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## doylecolmdoyle (13 Aug 2018)

Added two more otos today, have 4 now along with the 20-30 boraras, all in all not much has changed with this tank since I set it up, very slow growing, which is what I wanted, fair bit of BBA on the wood but i hit it with h2o2 every now and then to keep it in check, plants are fairly algae free, buce never really flourished in this tank and i loose leafs faster then they put out new leafs.


IMG_2360 by Colm Doyle, on Flickr


IMG_2363 by Colm Doyle, on Flickr


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## doylecolmdoyle (23 Sep 2018)

Few new photos


IMG_3003.jpg by Colm Doyle, on Flickr


IMG_3005.jpg by Colm Doyle, on Flickr


IMG_3006.jpg by Colm Doyle, on Flickr


IMG_3012.jpg by Colm Doyle, on Flickr


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## doylecolmdoyle (19 Feb 2019)

Almost 2 years on and still yet to trim or remove a plant (apart from frogbit), a comparison from day one and today.


IMG_0891 by Colm Doyle, on Flickr


IMG_8308.jpg by Colm Doyle, on Flickr


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## doylecolmdoyle (4 Mar 2019)

I got a bit to lazy and neglected cleaning the filter for too long, BBA was starting to become a bit to abundant, probably due to lack of water changes also.

Today I cleaned the filter and man was it full of brown gunk / poop / stinky stuff! Took the chance to fit my stainless pipes, will see how they go for awhile, need to sort some acrylic clips to hang the pipes on the side of the tank, for now I have to use many suction caps to keep them in place.


IMG_8433.jpg by Colm Doyle, on Flickr


IMG_8420.jpg by Colm Doyle, on Flickr


IMG_8419.jpg by Colm Doyle, on Flickr


IMG_8418.jpg by Colm Doyle, on Flickr


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## Kalum (4 Mar 2019)

looks like it's filling out a lot more with your buces and anubias even if it has taken a bit of time, do you think it's settled or are you still losing leaves?

love the depth the blackwater gives it, part of me would love to try this but i think my OCD would win over and want it back to crystal clear


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## CooKieS (4 Mar 2019)

I would put 2 bags of seachem purigen...OCD.

Nice buce btw.

Could you tell me which brand is that light stand? Thanks


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## doylecolmdoyle (5 Mar 2019)

Kalum said:


> looks like it's filling out a lot more with your buces and anubias even if it has taken a bit of time, do you think it's settled or are you still losing leaves?
> 
> love the depth the blackwater gives it, part of me would love to try this but i think my OCD would win over and want it back to crystal clear



Cheers, the buce never really took off in this tank but I think they have settled, havent noticed any leaves dropped in awhile, tho they dont thrive like they did in my old jungle cube scape.



CooKieS said:


> I would put 2 bags of seachem purigen...OCD.
> 
> Nice buce btw.
> 
> Could you tell me which brand is that light stand? Thanks



Cheers, I am not sure what the stand is called, I purchased from hinterfeld ages ago, seems hinterfeld is now gone? If you ebay search aquarium light stand seems the same stands appear in the search


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## Jules vH (6 Apr 2019)

Do you think co2 is a must in a blackwater tank?


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## dw1305 (6 Apr 2019)

Hi all, 





Jules vH said:


> Do you think co2 is a must in a blackwater tank?


You can just use floating plants and then you don't need to worry about CO2.  _Pistia stratiotes_ is pretty much universal in the Amazon basin anywhere there is enough light reaching the water surface. _Ceratopteris thalictroides_ is another option.

cheers Darrel


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## doylecolmdoyle (11 Apr 2019)

Jules vH said:


> Do you think co2 is a must in a blackwater tank?



No the tank probably doesn't need co2 at all, tho I have been running co2 24/7 since day one (about 1 bps) and all seems fine, the fish seem very happy, even the pigmy corys I added from my old jungle cube, all my ottos are doing well and I havent lots a fish in over a year (that I know off)


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## JEK (11 Apr 2019)

Man, I gotta start a blackwater tank again someday. Have you thought about trying to add a black background? I think it might enhance the dark blackwater feel.


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## doylecolmdoyle (16 Jun 2019)

Still kicking along with little to no maintenance, never trimmed any of the plants in the tank.


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## doylecolmdoyle (15 Sep 2019)

Photo from today, I swear there are fish in the tank, I spooked them when taking the photo



Bookshelf Blackwater Aquascape by Colm Doyle, on Flickr


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## Arana (15 Sep 2019)

doylecolmdoyle said:


> I swear there are fish in the tank, I spooked them when taking the photo


I can see at least 4 fish in the photo


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## doylecolmdoyle (24 Sep 2019)

As my photos never capture any fish... and I am surprised how well these boraras have thrived in this tank I decided to take a video, these boraras have been in this tank for about 3 years or more back when this tank was a iguwami, also a few cory catfish, a few otos (not seen), a bunch of shrimp and a heap of pest snails, the odd planaria, snail leach and all that stuff you dont want


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## doylecolmdoyle (23 Oct 2019)

New FTS, finally cleaned the filter after a plantra (spelling?) outbreak, man that filter was full of gunk.



untitled-2366.jpg by Colm Doyle, on Flickr


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## CooKieS (23 Oct 2019)

Lovely !


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## dw1305 (23 Oct 2019)

Hi all,





doylecolmdoyle said:


> a plantra (spelling?) outbreak


<"Planaria">?

cheers Darrel


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## Steve Buce (24 Oct 2019)

Great looking tank


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## PARAGUAY (24 Oct 2019)

Very natural looking


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## doylecolmdoyle (12 Dec 2019)

Shot a very quick video tonight testing out some new software, all hand held (stabilised in post) with the tiny old canon eos m, running magic lantern shooting 1080p raw video... all I can say is wow so cool for a $200 camera and $100 lens! 



This fishtank is going strong, I have not done a water change since I cleaned the filter on 23rd dec... I will change the water this weekend but seems I can do monthly changes and keep things ticking along.


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## Tim Harrison (12 Dec 2019)

Nice, very tranquil


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## doylecolmdoyle (11 Feb 2020)

Quick video of my usual test subject when I want to test out a new lens / video process... this time I didn't overexpose and it shows how dark this tank really is, I guess the low light has helped because I have not done a water change since I last cleaned the filter about 6 months ago  Due to no maintenance the tank is a bit messy with many snails... but I dont mind


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## doylecolmdoyle (6 Jul 2020)

Quick update, the tank is well overdue for some love, I told myself last time cleaned the filter / tank that I would keep on top of maintenance, well I have have not, last water change was when I did the filter clean in October 2019... still going strong. I would like to eliminate the small snails. I am tempted to try some chemicals... does anyone have any tips?



IMG_3128 by Colm Doyle, on Flickr


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## mort (6 Jul 2020)

Really love this tank. 

Do you have any shrimp in the tank or is it just fish? I have never tried to kill snails with chemicals, I just tend to put a piece of cucumber or lettuce in there and remove them when they congregate on it. If you only have fish you likely have more options.


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## doylecolmdoyle (7 Jul 2020)

mort said:


> Really love this tank.
> 
> Do you have any shrimp in the tank or is it just fish? I have never tried to kill snails with chemicals, I just tend to put a piece of cucumber or lettuce in there and remove them when they congregate on it. If you only have fish you likely have more options.



Thanks Mort, there are also red cherry shrimp in the tank, I may just try go the natural route and bate the nails with food, first I will tackle cleaning up the overgrown right side of the tank this weekend


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## mohamed elsorahy (16 Nov 2020)

hi doylecolmdoyle
Loved this tank 
any update ?


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## doylecolmdoyle (23 Nov 2020)

mohamed elsorahy said:


> hi doylecolmdoyle
> Loved this tank
> any update ?


Hi mate, no real updates its still ticking along with very little maintenance, just top up the water weekly, it is due (well overdue) for a filter clean and generally clean up, will take some photos when I get around to that.


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## castle (23 Nov 2020)

Easily one of the nicest tanks out there, or has ever been. I don't say that easily either, the growth is excellent and proves patience is key for the low tech tanks. I wouldn't even know where to begin with trimming that though.

Do you get much of a smell from the wood?


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## Nico Felici (24 Nov 2020)

I really like the simplicity of this. At some point I'd probably want to set up a similar tank, long and shallow, ideally with some more emerged material.

Looks like it needs a bit of a trim as well by the way . I find it curious that no plants have emerged and crawled on top of that wood over the course of two years - have you been purposely keeping it clear?


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