35 Litre Low Iron Glass Tank

[softlad86]

Hi all,

As I'm going to be taking my time on really trying to make this scape into something that I will A) Enjoy and B) Be attractive enough to keep it running for maybe a year if possible?

So I've purchased so far:

• BEGONDIS 35 Litre Rimless Low Iron Glass Aquarium Tank
• Several pieces of Redmore root wood
• Several piece of Seiryu stone
• 3kg OF ADA Amazonia (version 2)
• about 1Kg of Tropica aquarium plant soil
• Sand; to provide a top coating towards the front of the tank
• Fertilizers / water conditioner
• CO2 Monitor
• I already own an Ehiem ECCO Pro 300 (has not been run in 7 years and been kept in a garage - really hoping it works)

Things I need:

• Lighting
• Some kind of lid - in the past i've found that fish/shrimps seem to jump out of mine & often find them on the floor (sometimes they've crawled all the way to my bedroom - I was thinking a thin sheet of custom cut glass, i already have plastic brackets to use to mount it on.
• CO2 - This one I'm torn about. I'm not sure I the time to properly give the attention needed to ensure it flurishes & remains algae free; let alone the amount of water change.

Can anyone think of anything I've possibly missed? I havent decided on all the plants yet; but i definitely want a nice Java fern - I've got some photo's of a hard scape I've mocked up to see what I can achieve with the rocks & wood I have...

Here are some photo's of my proposed (not committed though) to the hard scape. Also is one which I have attempted (poorly) to trying get a view of how it will look one planted! Think will need CO3 injectedd to grow them or could they thrive without ( I do also have some EasyCarbo tht I could use a substitue)

 

[softlad86]

does any know how to speed up filter cycling? my Nitrate/Ammonia levels are sky high - probably cos of the leaching ADA Aquasoil.
Least i can cycle the filter without any live stock - but i want to be able to add some

 

[mort]

Hi, have you added plants yet? I wouldn't worry about the filter to much, just do some big water changes and get as many plants growing as you can. Floaters or a vigorous plant like hornwort are good in the early stage to mop up nutrients and you can remove these when things settle down. The plants will mature the tank quickly and the filter will catch up.

Most people when using these substrates plant on fill up and then do very frequent large water changes to begin with. The schedule varies but 50-90% every other day for the first week, 50% or so every few days for the second week and then perhaps twice weekly in the third before going to weekly changes after a month.

 

[Jobiwan]

Plants like moss give you lots of surface area for biofilm and beneficial bacteria, some folks swear by API Quick Start to add bacteria in a new system

 

[hwscot]

Late follow-up.
I also have the Begondis 35L .. bought early 2022. It's a cracking tank for the price, and I'd say unbeatable if you want a well-built tank of that kind of size / capacity. I use it as a grow-out tank for platy youngsters. I want to buy a second one, this time as a shrimp tank (time to upgrade from the plastic PAH that's been running a couple of years but is a bugger to maintain).
This time I really, really want a decent hood for it, i.e. easy to lift / open (not just a wee feeding flap) and with clearance to fit a light.
The amazon page has several folk asking if there is a lid for it, with unhelpful NO answers. It seems Begondis don't do one. I'm just hoping there might be a third-party hood that does fit it.
External dimensions of the tank (i.e. measured, not nominal) are 452 x 281mm.
Or is there a simple DIY method? Something better than the flimsy plastic cover plates (which I already use on a couple of tanks and are fine for the job, but not what's wanted here. My DIY skills are average, but I'd be up for a simple cut and glue job if I could be confident of producing something robust.
@softlad .. did you get anywhere finding one?