# what would you do?



## docdubz (Nov 4, 2010)

ok so in about a week or two I will be finished building a huge cage for my baby boa constrictor. once i move him to his new home i will have a spare 30 gal. i havent kept an aquarium in years (aside from a N. multi colony, but it was at my parents house while I was in the military) Im definitely going to go with a planted tank. but its been so long since ive kept up with information that I am having a hard time thinking about ideas for stocking it, and what kind of lighting I want to go with, filtration n substrate. So basically Im asking for ideas, what would you do if you had a 30 gal, starting from scratch and you had to purchase everything besides the tank. my initial start up budget is gonna be around $150-200 (plus the cost of plants and fish if the supplies eat up that budget)

thanks in advance


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## majerah1 (Oct 29, 2010)

Hm if it was me,i would do a small riparium.But thats just because they fascinate me so.Its a build with a fake riverbank,using planters stuck to the back and partially on the sides.Its filled about halfway and the banked plants actually grow out of the tank and i just think it takes on a new dimension.The fauna are usually a small school of fish and very few actual aquatic plants are used but its absolutly breathtaking when its grown in.

http://hydrophytesblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/28-iii-10-tank-i-m.jpg


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## docdubz (Nov 4, 2010)

that is a very interesting idea, definitely worth the thought. i still havent decided where the tank will go (not many options) so unless i come up with an innovative way to invent some vertical space, i may have to stick to a traditional planted aquarium. i have so many ideas i dont even know where to start with this tank


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## mfgann (Oct 21, 2010)

Beaslbob has a little cult of us going building a "leiden" tank. It basically is a balanced ecosystem type setup that is heavily planted and lightly stocked. Flakes feed the fish, fish feed the plants, plants filter and oxygenate the water. It does involve getting the substrate right (simple, but you have to plan ahead). 

One thought about your situation though: Are you certain the tank you have can handle the weight of the water and rock? Was it made for fish, or for reptiles? I think the reptile aquariums are usually thinner glass.


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## docdubz (Nov 4, 2010)

that would be a catastrophy! no, it is a regular old 30 gal aquarium. although now you have my questioning my memory (which is terrible) but unless someone decided to start making reptile specific cages look exactly like an AGA 30 gal I should be good. haha

I am really torn, and can not decide whether i want a fully aquatic planted tank or if i want to give a paladium (sp?) a try. either way i need to learn the ins and outs of proper substrate, the more I read up it seems theres some conflicting views on what is the best way to set up your substrate.


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## mfgann (Oct 21, 2010)

I don't know much about the reptile stuff, as I've never kept them. I just know I've seen others raise warning flags when old reptile cages are going to be used in a setup. I know at the pet stores they sell them seperately, and labelled as reptile cages. I just know most people would want to be really sure before having 30G of water, fish, and gravel dumped on their floor.


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## docdubz (Nov 4, 2010)

that is a very good point, while I am fairly convinced I remember pulling an AGA Label off of the corner when I purchased it, Im going to fill it up and leave it for a couple of days just to be sure.


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## beaslbob (May 29, 2009)

Good to do a water test.

Don't worry about the substrates and stuff with the leiden tank. Just scan the beaslbob builds here. Bottom line is simply to take care of the plants and the plants will take care of the tank.

I would check the thickness of the glass also. Reptile cages have thinner glass.

my .02


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## Auban (Aug 8, 2010)

before i joined the army, i used to sell reptiles at a flea market on weekends. i always bought fish tanks to sell to my customers as reptile cages. the only real difference is that reptile cages are usualy a little shorter and are designed for a lid to be able to slide on and off and lock in place. the glass is sometimes thicker and sometimes thinner than a fish tanks glass, really just depends on the brand. and ive used critter keepers as fish tanks before without any problems, just be careful with old ones, sometimes the long exposure to dry air and heat from lamps cause small cracks in the silicone that might take weeks to start leaking. ive only seen this on really old critter keepers though...


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## Amie (Sep 15, 2010)

I would figure out what fish I want first. From there you can figure out what type of substrate will work best for that type of fish and then you could figure out things from there. For example, Oscars sometimes like to chew a bit of the substrate with their food so sand works better for them. But, they will also shred any plants, so if you wanted an Oscar (for example only because he would actually he too big for that tank) then you would probably want sand and no plants. If you wanted to get angels (maybe for breeding) then you might want to get some nice big plants with broad leaves (for egg laying) so then you are definitely looking at a planted tank so you are going to want something good for plants. Some people go with eco complete for that, others gravel and supplements others sand (although I would not recommend that one) me, personally advocate the beaslbob model. 

So, try figuring out the fish first and then we can all help you build a tank around that. Contrary wise, if you want to pick the plants first we could also help you build a tank around that but it just seems easier to start with the main attraction.


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## docdubz (Nov 4, 2010)

thanks for all the input guys, this is a great forum!

I will do some research on which fish/plants I will probably get and then start a new thread in about a week. 

Amie, I was actually planning on starting off going all out with the supplemented soil, at first and once the plants are nice and established, scaling back to the beaslbob method. I also have a pretty novel idea for the use of a filter (im currently in the middle of building a snake cage so not much free time) but once I am finished with that project I will make some pretty detailed drawings to show what I am planning to do


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## Amie (Sep 15, 2010)

That's been my idea too. I'm doing a tank right now and am planting it slowly and still have the filter on but plan to eventually remove it. Also have a DIY CO2 system running but plan to remove that one after the plants have multiplied enough to my liking. I added a few plants to start and plan that the rest of my plants for the tank will be the 'child' of the 'parent' plants in there now.

My build is here: http://www.aquariumforum.com/f15/my-beaslbob-build-8208.html if you want to take a look. Who knows, maybe you might be able to pick up a few do's and don't's for your build


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