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Bookshelf Blackwater - 12g Long

Joined
26 Jul 2016
Messages
895
Location
Australia
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.

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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
 
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!

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Realy stunning and lovely beautifull little tank..

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. :woot:. And or maybe a Drosera too.. :woot:
 
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.

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. :woot:. And or maybe a Drosera too.. :woot:

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

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

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

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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..

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

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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.

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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
 
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
 
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 :banghead:

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

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