• You are viewing the forum as a Guest, please login (you can use your Facebook, Twitter, Google or Microsoft account to login) or register using this link: Log in or Sign Up

45x30x30cm acrylic

chickennublet

chickennublet

Member
Joined
25 Oct 2019
Messages
220
Location
Singapore
Hello everyone.

I recently bought a used acrylic tank 45 by 30 by 30cm in dimension. It's made by a Japanese brand called GEX, not sure if anyone has heard of it before. I chose acrylic because I intended to use this as a tank to quarantine new fish and acrylic is a lot lighter than glass so it can be put away easily but when one has a new tank one cannot help but want to plant it. @dw1305 mentioned having a permanent planted tank and using that for quarantine so I did take some inspiration from that too.

It is currently housing one Corydoras CW51. It was originally in a bare bottom unlit tank. Recently put some sand in there. I also bought a light so that I can see him better. He seemed quite unwell a while ago but seems to be fine now as he able to keep food down and is showing normal colouration instead of just being really dark. His barbels have grown back too. I will leave him in there for now and give him small amounts of food daily until I buy some plants for this tank.

Will be using sand as a substrate but for this tank will try keeping plants in containers with aquasoil in them because I think they will grow better than in a pure sand substrate. I don't intend to use CO2 for this tank so my plant choice will be limited. Other than the ubiquitous Anubias sp, I will want to try growing easy plants that I've not grown before like Echinodorus and Aponogeton species. Filtration will be a BioMaster 350 which is currently unused. I think the flow might be rather strong for a tank this small, but I will try to dampen it by planting the big, broad leaved plants in the flow. Lighting is a Chihiros WRGB2 Slim 30cm. I definitely don't need such a strong light, but I like that it's programmable. Also I was worried that the brackets on a cheaper light might not fit on this tank because of the bracing. I tried putting my other WRGB2 Slim on it before I bought a second one and it fit like a charm. I bought the 30cm version because I have this tank next to my existing 30cm cube and I don't have a lot of space on this table so the view from the front will be from the 30cm part rather than the 45cm part. I do think it would be easier to scape a long tank rather than a cube, but aesthetics won't be that important for me for this tank. It's just something I want to enjoy.

Because I won't be using CO2, the lighting will be very dim. I expect plant growth to be very slow so I won't be aquasoil which are very rich in nutrients like ADA or Tropica. There is a Japanese brand of aquasoil called Jun Platinum that is widely available in Singapore and I will be using that instead.

I probably won't scape it in one session because I don't want to buy all the material for it at once and I don't think I will have the time to go shopping for it anyway. My 90cm and 30cm evolved over time and were not scaped in one sitting either and honestly are less of a scape and more of just a mass of plants. So I will probably do the same thing and plant and scape it over time. Still undecided on what fish to keep in there as I do want some fish to live in this tank permanently eventually.

I will leave this tank alone for now but will need to buy the following things soon:

1. Stainless steel pipes for the filter
2. Pots for the plants (currently undecided on whether to get glass containers or terracotta)
3. Aquasoil
4. Plants
5. Hardscape

I will be moving CW51 out of there before the pots and aquasoil go in because I don't want any potential ammonia leaching from the aquasoil affecting him. So I will probably get the pots, soil and plants closer to the end of June and start planting then. I'm looking forward to it.

Just a couple of pictures, although there's not much to see:

53781139013_d2321c621f_c.jpg20240609_160604 by Lenny Lim, on Flickr

The sole inhabitant looking a lot better than before
53779992612_d2c58e51ba_c.jpg20240609_162648 by Lenny Lim, on Flickr
 
I'm not very sure what happened but I just noticed some dead ants under the silicone on the edges. I don't think they were there when I first got this tank. It's kind of gross, and I think the tank there is a possibility the tank will eventually fall apart. Sigh!

I didn't want to but will have to order a glass tank soon to replace this one. Thankfully there is a local brand that is very affordable compared to UNS and ADA. The silicone work isn't very clean but I have two tanks from them and have not experienced any issues with them. Have used the cube for over 2 years now and the long one is just reaching 1 year soon.
 
I'm not a fan of acrylic tanks and would rather go for low-iron glass ones with their green tinge if given a choice between the two.
Hopefully we'll get to witness this planted tank's glory behind glass panels soon.

I hope that solitary cory's doing better.

Also, what's the plan for plant species? Will you do some wabi-kusa emergent growth too?
 
azawaza said:
I'm not a fan of acrylic tanks and would rather go for low-iron glass ones with their green tinge if given a choice between the two.
Hopefully we'll get to witness this planted tank's glory behind glass panels soon.

I hope that solitary cory's doing better.

Also, what's the plan for plant species? Will you do some wabi-kusa emergent growth too?
Click to expand...
Hiya

The Corydoras is doing well! Apparently with the recent revision it's a Hoplisoma now. I will be moving him back to the main tank with the rest of them soon. I want to get some Corydoras hastatus (Gastrodermus hastatus) to go into this QT before I move him though. Are you from Singapore? East Ocean has a 15% discount on livestock at the moment but I can't be arsed to go out but if I can get them today I can move the CW51 sooner rather than later. I didn't want to buy them so soon but it makes sense to get them when there's a discount going on.

Undecided for plant species but I will be doing containers. Will be doing some Echinodorus and Cryptocoryne but yeah undecided on the exact species.

Not sure on emergent growth yet!
 
Here's a picture of the ants I spotted. They are dead.

I honestly don't know how they got in there and why.

I haven't noticed any new ants in there and there are definitely no ants in my glass tanks. There is still fish that I want to quarantine but I probably shouldn't keep using this tank so I will get a glass replacement soon although I might shelve my plans to plant it until later.

53831803026_c9d86f0d5a_h.jpg20240615_165541 by Lenny Lim, on Flickr
 
Hello everybody

I replaced this with a glass tank a few months back. I acquired another Hoplisoma CW51 back then and was keeping him in quarantine together with this one here but unfortunately the new one developed some kind of disease where his eyes got cloudy and he grew lumps over his body. Unfortunately medication and water changes didn't save him but the old one survived so I moved him over to the main tank and left this tank empty for a while.

I acquired a group of 5 Gastrodermus hastatus and kept them in my main tank but slowly started to lose them. I lost 2 in total and noticed that a third one was on its way out and that's when I decided to get this tank up and running again. Unfortunately the third one also passed, but the good news is the remaining two are still going strong.

At the time I needed to get this tank up quick so I basically took a bit of media from the Biomaster in my main tank and also poured all of the water in the Biomaster into this tank, along with all the mulm and shimp that were living in the filter. It's been bare for a while except for the shrimp which are doing well but today I got some driftwood and stuck them in there. The big piece was somehow dense enough to more or less sink immediately and I'm quite pleased because the tank looks so much more interesting now.

I probably keep the shrimp in there and run this tank permanently for now but I'm not quite sure what I want to do with this tank. I will be getting a group of 14 Gastrodermus hastatus from a friend of mine who has been breeding them for a while, so I will quarantine them in here. I could make this tank their permanent home, in which case I would want to catch my remaining two hastatus and move them in here too. I intended for this to be a quarantine tank. but this batch of hastatus will probably be the last group of fish I will be quarantining, as my main tank is getting rather crowded now. It's only 41 fish, but most of them are big messy Corydoras.

Alternative plans are to throw a bunch of botanicals in here (I already have them!) and keep some other fish but I really have to choose something that will bring me the most joy. I won't try building a real biotope but I don't really like mixing fish from different continents. Anyway, I'll figure it out eventually. Current ideas include:

1. Wild betta, but probably just one specimen because it is a small tank
2. More Corydoras because my main tank can only fit so much, but again it is a small tank and I won't be getting a chiller for this tank and will at most use a fan
3. Apistogramma
4. Small group of nano fish but will have to decide on what fish because I'd like this to be species only, since my main display is a little incoherent now
5. Small loricariidae, Nannoptopoma, Otocinclus and Parotocinclus have always piqued my interest

Anyway, here's a picture! Just haphazardly dumped the wood in there but I am quite pleased with it already. Might rearrange a little when I have more time. Shrimp are all gathered there because of the food hahaha.

20241206_184607 by Lenny Lim, on Flickr
 
The Gastrodermus hastatus are in this tank at the moment.

I was also just looking in my main tank and watching all this relatively huge Corydoras crowding around a tiny piece of Novotab that I threw in there and I suddenly got a little unsure about whether a fish as tiny as Gastrodermus hastatus can survive and compete for food in that tank and I think it might perhaps be a good idea for me to try catching the two I have in there and moving them into this tank instead.

I had actually already decided to keep pair of wild Betta in here, but I might have to shelve this plan for now and turn this tank into a species only tank, or a community tank with some small characins from the same region. It makes me a little sad, but it's also probably better for my fish. Will get round to catching them soon.

EDIT: gone ahead to try netting them and I managed to get one out without much difficulty but the other one is much better at avoiding me and hiding. There are a lot of plants in the main tank too so it is difficult to net him. I decided that rather than stress myself and the fish out I would leave him be. The two of them have been living with the big boys for 2 months already after all. I'll leave that last one in there and if he makes it another month then I will probably conclude that they can indeed live happily in the main tank and I'll start moving the ones in this tank over. I also know of a local breeder and hobbyist who keeps a large group of them with his other larger Corydoras and they do fine, although he has a much larger tank than I do. The guy I bought this group of hastatus from also thinks they will do fine as he has managed to raise one of fry to adulthood together with his breeding group of Hoplisoma adolfoi. Fingers crossed!
 
Last edited:
Planning for a new aquarium is so exciting! I'm supposed to be working but I am dreaming of fish.

I have decided (finally) that I will not be keeping this little guys in the same tank as their much larger cousins, which means that I will have to restart efforts to net the last hastatus out from the big tank. Now that I think about it, some of my first group of hastatus might have died from being bruised and pushed around by the much larger Corydoras. But I was convinced after seeing them swimming about in their own tank.

I think I'll probably plan this tank as a loose biotope around these little fish, but will have to decide on tank mates and how accurate it will be. What I could find about this fish suggest that they are widely distributed and can be found in the Amazon river, Rio Guapore, and Rio Paraguay, among others. I probably will not be researching very much further because I will probably end up being inundated by information.

I have three contenders for tank mates, I think

1. Nannostomus eques (Amazon basin I think?)
2. Nannostomus digrammus (Amazon basin, Rio Guapore)
3. Hyphessobrycon elachys (Rio Paraguaym, Reed tetras)

I would really like to try the pencilfish, but it appears that Gastrodermus hastatus are more widespread in Paraguay and there does not appear to be pencilfish in the Paraguay river. As much as I want the pencils, the best tank mate I can give them will probably be the tetras.

I will have to look into plants too! Will probably not be too strict on plant choice but will stick to plants from the region for sure.
 
bazz said:
Are these not the Tetras that I've read about (probably on here) that they form a natural close bond with? That would be good to see.
Click to expand...
Yep, it's them!

I made an account on the Apistogramma forums to ask more about their habitats and it appears that Nannostomus species don't occur in the same area as G. hastatus. It was suggested to me that I research Apistogramma borellii because they share a habitat so I'll be moving in that direction but I do believe I have an idea of what plants occur in their habitat. Unfortunately the tank is already running and I think it would be a little difficult for me to add a layer of aquasoil to the bottom when there's already sand there. I had originally intended for this tank to be bereft of plants only to find out that G. hastatus can be found in areas with dense vegetation and clear waters.

The water in this tank is now rather heavily stained so i'll be doing some water changes until it clears up. I like the tannin-stained look, but if their habitat is naturally clear then I will try to strive towards that as well. Planting will have to happen in containers unfortunately, except for Helanthium tenellum which I reckon I can plant in the sand.

Will try to arrange everything so that it can be viewed from two sides.

For now, just a picture of the little critters:

20241209_221808 by Lenny Lim, on Flickr
 
Haven't really shared any pictures of the tank so I thought I would do so and share a small update. Still very much stained with tannins but it will go away after enough water changes. Will be a bit more judicious with the use of botanicals here. They should still be present in their habitat but not their water isn't quite so dark.

I've also set up an aquarium fan for this tank to cool it down to more acceptable temperatures. The thermometer I've got says that the water is 26°C. Would be better if I could get it down to 25°C but I don't think that's happening without a chiller. Still, these guys aren't wild caught and also bred and raised in water without temperature control, so I think they should do fine for the most part. It's also loads better than what it would be without the fan! I'll ask the breeder if he knows the temperature of the water, but I suspect he doesn't. I do know for a fact that he doesn't have a chiller. The only thing that slightly annoys me is the rate of evaporation, but it's better than water that's too warm. I am also thankful that I'm not raising some super sensitive wild caught fish that needs RO water like a Betta hendra or persephone or something (although I suppose that Betta won't need a fan to begin with!).

Next things to do are to get some plants. Will start with the Salvinia auriculata or Pistia stratiotes. I'm not sure if these plants actually occur in their native habitats, but they have a cosmopolitan distribution (which is a term I only learned as I was doing research for this plant), and some Hydrocotyle leucocephala, which I hope at least is accurate.

Here are some pictures:

Picture from the side:

20241212_212603 by Lenny Lim, on Flickr

The front:

20241212_212634 by Lenny Lim, on Flickr

Picture of both tanks on the table. I really like the juxtaposition of the highly manicured tank next to a wild, tannin stained one

20241212_205819 by Lenny Lim, on Flickr
 
Hi all,
chickennublet said:
Will start with the Salvinia auriculata or Pistia stratiotes. I'm not sure if these plants actually occur in their native habitats, but they have a cosmopolitan distribution
Click to expand...
Both, or either, should be fine and native to the Pantanal etc.*

I'd definitely add some more cover for them (it doesn't matter what it is), they aren't a species that enjoys being in a bare tank. Structural leaf litter would be fine, and some moss would be even better.

* <"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0304377005000379"> - "Persistence strategy of Salvinia auriculata Aublet in temporary ponds of Southern Pantanal, Brazil".
<"Density-dependent reproductive and vegetative allocation in the aquatic plant Pistia stratiotes (Araceae)".>

cheers Darrel
 
Last edited:
dw1305 said:
Hi all,

Both, or either, should be fine and native to the Pantanal etc.*

I'd definitely add some more cover for them (it doesn't matter what it is), they aren't a species that enjoys being in a bare tank. Structural leaf litter would be fine.

* <"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0304377005000379"> Persistence strategy of Salvinia auriculata Aublet in temporary ponds of Southern Pantanal, Brazil

cheers Darrel
Click to expand...
Thank you Darrel

Yes it is rather bare at the moment, I will be sure to add more cover for them. I hope that I will be able to find some plants for this tank tomorrow.

There are some leaves in there at the moment but they are leaching a lot of tannins but I will be buying some guava leaves to throw in there too.
 
Hi all,
chickennublet said:
There are some leaves in there at the moment but they are leaching a lot of tannins but I will be buying some guava leaves to throw in there too.
Click to expand...
Guava (Psidium spp.) <"should be good">.
chickennublet said:
I hope that I will be able to find some plants for this tank tomorrow
Click to expand...
I wouldn't worry too much what the plants were, you can always remove them if you find something more biotope appropriate.

cheers Darrel
 
Hiya

First plants are in. Bought some Phyllanthus fluitans, Salvinia cucullata and Hydrocotyle leucocephala.

I've just thrown them into the tank for now. The H. leucocephala is anchored down by a plant weight at the moment.

However I do notice that there is quite a lot of surface agitation because of the filter and the fan so I am not sure if the floaters will do ok. Fingers crossed.
 
Last edited:
Further updates, not a good one.

I don't actually know how many fish I started with. I do believe I counted 14 new ones, but it is also possible that I miscounted. After adding the remaining 2 I had left, I should have started with 16.

I've confirmed the loss of two already. One passed, not sure of the reason as I didn't see any outward symptoms, just came home one day to find him dead on the sand. The other one, I found his body stuck between the wood and the glass. I think he got himself wedged in there and couldn't get out. This one is squarely my fault and I am still upset about it because he was one of the larger ones.

One of my original one has started developing red blotches on one side of his body. When he was in the bigger tank I did notice a strange white marking on him. It didn't look fuzzy so I thought it was a physical injury which would get better once he didn't have to contend with the other big fish. How stupid I was! I got him out of there immediately the moment I noticed that it was turning red and he is in a small hospital tank at the moment. He was behaving normally (swimming with the others and eating well) when I first noticed it, so I hope that is a good sign that he hasn't given up. I got some antibiotics, will be dosing them in his tank tonight.

I noticed that one of the new ones I bought seems to have dodgy eyesight. One of his eyes seem underdeveloped and really tiny but the other one looks normal. It's just a little thing I noticed.

The rest of the fish appear to be doing well, but I only counted 12 last night which leaves 1 unaccounted for. Will be counting them again and keeping a very close eye on them. I think I will also buy them a little water chiller by the end of the year so that I can keep them comfortable. Apparently Hailea now has a new model for small tanks below 45L and it is quite affordable. I'm not using a canister filter on this, but I can get a submersible pump and it should work.
 
Got home after work with my antibiotics only to find that the fish I isolated had died. I don't think I'm a very good fish keeper at all. Will promise to myself and to my fish to take action earlier next time the moment something appears wrong.

The rest of the fish still appear fine. Will be monitoring very closely. Spare filter will go back in here in a few days. Here are some random pictures:

Two fish perching on the Hydrocotyle leucocephala
20241217_211137 by Lenny Lim, on Flickr

Shrimp checking out the leaves I just added
20241217_211329 by Lenny Lim, on Flickr
 
Hi all

All 13 Gastrodermus hastatus are accounted for today and they are all behaving normally which is good. I bought a few small pots but I haven't gotten round to planting the Hydrocotye leucocephala just yet. They appear to be growing but the lower leaves are also melting. Will probably try planting them in a week or two. Some of the shrimp have gotten berried too.

Some pictures of the fish:

20241226_210655 by Lenny Lim, on Flickr

20241226_210648 by Lenny Lim, on Flickr

20241226_210633 by Lenny Lim, on Flickr
 
Just jotting down plans for the near future and some present observations.

I really want to plant the pennywort soon as I think that this will help with their growth. The substrate is just a very thin layer of sand and I don't fancy adding anymore to the bottom of the tank so I'm going to plant them up in small pots. I am a little concerned that adding aquasoil to this tank will cause the ammonia to spike, but I did choose one which is supposed to be a lot less nutrient dense than ADA's aquasoil and I'm also using just a small amount as the pot I will be using is very small. Perhaps I'll try this after the floating plants have established themselves a little more. I'll also have to increase my water changes a lot if I do this and I'm due to travel to Hong Kong for a short holiday in a little over a week so probably not a good time to do this now.

The temperature is ok at the moment with just a fan so I will hold off on buying a chiller at the moment. It is the end of the year so it relatively cool in Singapore at the moment, although it will probably start to get really hot again eventually. I was thinking that I will keep the tank cool during the hotter months by adding another fan, but the evaporation will be really bad and I don't have easy access to RO water so I've been topping off with tap water. It's a good thing tapwater in Singapore is so soft. I am thinking of how to keep the tank cool when I happen to be away on holiday. I'll be away on holiday for about about 6 days in January, which isn't too bad. But in March I'll be going to China for holiday with my family for two weeks so I can't possibly use a fan because nobody will be around to top off the tank and there really isn't anyone I could trouble to help me top them off daily. My girlfriend has very kindly offered to come in to feed the fish for me but I don't want to trouble her anymore than that. I am considering getting another chiller (secondhand to save costs) which I can stash away and hook up only when I'm away or during the hotter months of the year but it does seem kind of wasteful to me.

An alternative would be to get an auto top off but I would worry about it failing. A last alternative would be to simply not cool this tank at all whilst I am away since I won't be gone for very long anyway!

Would like to add more fish but that is not really a priority at the moment but would probably be good if I could increase the numbers for the hastatus and then also get a smaller group of Hyphessobrycon elachys. I'll see if I can get a small group of the tetras after my holiday in January.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top