# 55 Gal Rhom Tank



## Vince302

I want to plant my 55 gal , 3" rhom tank , I want a low tech set up without co2 ,i read a bit on plantedtank.net to get some idea and learn a bit , but i still don't know pretty much...

I was thinking about a couples bags of black substrate like flourite or ecocomplete ... some 48" t5 lights but they are really tough to find in my aera so a link with good price and shipping to quebec woulb be appreciated!

that's almost all i know ... i can built some diy support for the light , but i will also need to buy a fixture for the neon

how much pounds or bags of substrates i need in a 55?

and my biggest concern is about the light...

thanks for the help!


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## JoeDizzleMPLS

If you're going for a low light/low tech setup, you could easily get by with 3 or 4 T8 bulbs... just get a couple cheap shop lights and build a basic canopy.

Another option would be a couple T5NO bulbs, you could go the Home Depot route again or buy a 48" Coralife dual T5NO fixture...

http://www.bigalsonline.com/Fish_Lighting_Light-Fixtures_T5-HO-T5_Freshwater-Aqualight-T5-Series-Double-Linear-Strip-Lights.html?tc=fish

For a low tech setup, you don't need to spend a ton on substrate -- something cheap like Turface would work great, it even comes in a charcoal grey color. If you really like the looks of the black Flourite or Eco-Complete, you can't really go wrong with them, they will just cost a bit more. I just put about 25-30lbs of Turface in my 40 long (same footprint as a 55) and it gave me about 3-4 inches of depth.


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## Vince302

ok thanks !!

so if they are 15 pounds per bags i will be okay with 3 bags ...

for the light i call 4-5 homedepot in my area and they don't have 48" light, only 38" and only in t8 or t12 , i don't know anything about thats !

dual 48" t5 coralife sound good , i can get that at homedepot?


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## JoeDizzleMPLS

The Coralife light is sold at places like Big Al's, you wouldn't be able to get it at Home Depot, but Home Depot does sell T5 lighting, I've seen dual bulb 48" fixtures for around $40, but you would need to build a canopy or something for it and wire it for a plug.

You should be able to call around and find a 48" T8 fixture, that is the most common size, at least it is here in the states. In the end, you probably wouldn't save all that much money over the Coralife fixture tho.


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## Vince302

yeah i think i'm better with a complete kit..I don't care spending a bit for some good light , but i don't know where to buy it ,here its not the states!!they have nothing and the price are really high !all the home depot i call said they don't have t5 only t8 and 12, the nearest is 1 hrs so i don't want to go there for nothing. I think i prefer to buy a complete kit online ,or on ebay ...

suggestions are welcome!


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## Vince302

I look a bit and it seems like those dual 48" coralife is sold with 1 t5 10000k and one other light that i don't know ... anyone can explain me this , i mainly speak french so its difficult to me to figure what i need , 1 48" t5 is enough or i need the two neon to be t5 ?

thanks


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## Vince302

I have made somes changes

I try a lowbuck approach , with 4 t12 light

2 GE plant and 2 GE daylight bulbs

I bought somes plants at my lfs today ... water is still cloudy from the planting

I will go at montreal for more plants and maybe a drifwood..

one light are OFF on this picture ( 2 dual fixture)





































I hope I will have better luck with thoses!


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## TheCableGuy

Looks good Vince









Do you have more pics of your rhom?


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## Vince302

Hey thanks thecableguy!

here is a couples more ..




























its hard to take good picture of him , its about the betters one I got !


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## TheCableGuy

Chu pas sure c'est un rhomb, manque la bande noire sur la queue et les yeux rouge. Y resemble pas mal plus a un sanchezi.


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## Vince302

a quel age les yeux rouge ? il mesure 2" 3/4 environ 3" max


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## bricklr

I think that may be a Compressus. Maybe post a pic in the ID section? Nice setup and fish either way.


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## TheCableGuy

Vince302 said:


> I think that may be a Compressus. Maybe post a pic in the ID section? Nice setup and fish either way.


I was thinking more sanchezi


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## Vince302

thanks bricklr









thats what i was thinking also..

I will post pic to see what the other members think it could be .


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## TheCableGuy

.


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## Ba20

Nice start


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## Piranha-Freak101

Yea im going wit sanchezzi , i dont think rhoms get that red?


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## Vince302

Ba20 said:


> Nice start


thanks !!


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## notoriouslyKEN

It looks like you might want to pull that Anubias out of the substrate some. If you bury the rhizome, it will slowly die. I like to attach my anubias to driftwood, which will keep the rhizome out of the water.


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## Vince302

thanks for the info !, i google it and you are right !! i will try to find some drifwood to attach them ...

but for know since i add my light all my plant are covered with alga and start to die


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## FEEFA

Thats a great lil growout tank, rhom looks happy and the plants look nice with the black substrate.
All it needs is a black background


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## Genesis8

Sweet setup. Like FEEFA said, all it needs is a black background and your set.


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## Vince302

thanks guys !

for background what is the best way if i want to remove it later , i see some guys painted it but not sure if you can remove that safely without scraching ? was thinking about a 100% tinted like a limo ?


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## notoriouslyKEN

Your local fish store should have aquarium backgrounds. They should have a solid black/blue one for like $5-$10 for your tank.


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## Vince302

what is the best way to install those type of background ?

when i put the one on my other 55 i use vaseline but without succes ,now it look like crap with lots of bubbles between glass and background ..


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## FEEFA

For black I just tape it on with electrical tape, it works great and doesnt leave a sticky mess behind when you remove it


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## Dolphinswin

I like the look of the wall in the back... I wouldnt get a backround.


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## Genesis8

Just go to a Vinyl shop and have them cut a piece for you, It's way cheaper.


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## Vince302

I made some change today, i intalled a t5ho light and 2 drifwoods, i modified the bigger by cutting about 1 " on the base and rotate it about 90* to make it fit in the tank

I was sick of the cloudy water every time i touch the sand so i removed everything and wash it during about 4 hours , still a bit of dust in but i got tired..

put the sanchezi in this 









I think i will add java moss on the drifwood.








rotated drifwood on the left


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## maknwar

Yes, looking good. Dont give up on a planted tank. We all fail and we all change our setups. What t5 light you get?

What was the plant sold to you as on the far right?

Also cut those stem plants in half and replant those in the same area.


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## wizardslovak

looks damn good ,brotha
what is that black mud , looks very niceee


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## Vince302

thank you guys !!

maknwar : yes your are right !!, it never works the first time !! at least for me ..

the light are sunblaster t5ho 48" 54w , my uncle use this for starting is plant before summer , so he buy me a set , at 30$ i was willing to try them , just need to build a little canopy for it.

http://sunblasterlighting.com/wheretobuy.php

for the plant i have no idea of their name , i will take a look next time i go to the lfs

black mud is 75 pounds of flourite black sand!


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## Vince302

I made a diy canopy today , still need some papersand work and tint for a better look ... i just install it for a test fit.

total cost of the built was about 20-25$!

seems to work fine , do you think i should add some aluminium paper inside for better reflexion or i'm ok with that ?

comments/critics/color idea are welcome !


















i need to work on my chain setup also 









I was thinking about a tint that would give me this kind of color


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## TheCableGuy

Looking good Vince!


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## Vince302

thanks !

I worked a bit on this today ...

I bought a NanoTech reflector and some cherry tint for canopy.

wasn't able to clip it correctly so i use glue

now the reflector are touching the bulb , do you think i should worry about ?


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## TheCableGuy

I'm sure the reflectors are heat resistant, but I'd be worried about the glue (depending how much the lights heats up)


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## Vince302

Hmm good point but i don't think it will made enough heat to melt the glue , and even if it melt the reflector can't really fall because of the bulb .


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## Vince302

With the moss on the drifwood ,I use little ice fishing line .


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## I Can Mate

looking good


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## TheCableGuy

Looks pretty good Vince!








Your sanchezi will enjoy that tank!
Are you painting the background black?


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## Vince302

Thank you I Can Mate ! Appreciated

TheCableGuy thanks again ! i'm still not sure what i want to do with this.. painting a glass on a new tank scares me a bit to be honest !


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## TheCableGuy

I painted my 75g with black acrylic paint and it comes off really easy. I can scratch it off with my thumb nail.


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## Vince302

Really !! good to know ... what do you use spray can or paintbrush ?

if you got 2 sec would you post a pic of the result ?

thanks!


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## TheCableGuy

I rolled the paint on.


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## Vince302

cool!! look good









thank you!


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## Piranha-Freak101

looks good vince, i wish i could do DIY projects but they look so hard


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## Vince302

thank you !!

In fact its not that hard , just need to take time to do it right , the canopy was far easier than the stand , its a great place to start and learn some skill !

You are 15, it a huge advantage , if you slowly start with basic thing in 2-3 years building a killer diy stand will be easy !


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## Piranha-Freak101

Vince302 said:


> thank you !!
> 
> In fact its not that hard , just need to take time to do it right , the canopy was far easier than the stand , its a great place to start and learn some skill !
> 
> You are 15, it a huge advantage , if you slowly start with basic thing in 2-3 years building a killer diy stand will be easy !


sounds good cause i would rather pay 25 for supplies and build then $100 or more in an already built one


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## FEEFA

WOW Vince! I really like the way this turned out, You did a great job

When you added the flourite did the tank go really cloudy?
I havnt added substrate yet and I would also like to plant but am debating between reg black gravel or fine flourite?


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## Vince302

thanks FEEFA!!

Yeah I was debating the same option at first , I was thinking about mixing some bag of regular and some bag of sand , but i like how it turned , its your personal choice i think , my flourite sand is a lot more rought than the sand i pick on the beach wich was uniform ,my flourite got lots of dust and is not really uniform in size .
close up pic of the flourite sand:









cloudy was not even the word!!

I don't wash mine at first and the dust come up every time i touched the sand so i removed all the water and wash it doing water change with only 6" of water during like 4 hour!

I made somes mini bonzail with the moss i didn't use and tip of drifwood i cut to make it fit


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## notoriouslyKEN

I'm loving this tank. The driftwood bonsai tree looks so awesome. I can't wait to see it fill in.


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## FEEFA

I am loving this setup!

Yeah the cloudyness is what I'm worried about, I heard that you shouldnt rinse it though but I think I will


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## Vince302

thanks guys!

I also suggest cleaning it , or make a test with some sand in a bucket and put water to see if it turn really dusty.

I was dosing excell to remove some algua , but i just read the java moss don't like them , so i will stop , in fact my moss was just about to die !

hope it will recover fast !


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## JustJoshinYa

Lookin very nice Vince i love how this turned out, as far as your piranha i think its a rhom not a comp or sanchezi to me it looks rhom, great tank great aquascape

i love florite great stuff does get cloudy initially, slightly prewash the stuff in a 5gallon bucket with tank water and pour off the dust layer it wont take too much of the good stuff out with it.


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## Vince302

thanks man !

ohh really!! i still hope for a rhom but a sanchezi is cool too , so i don't really care for now .


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## Vince302

Here is some more recent pic of how it turned out

sorry for the crappy pic my camera is starting to make some weirds effects,i think its time for a new one!

the moss starting to grow


















1st is 2 weeks ago and last is tonight , after a cleaning and wc , water is still cloudy a bit .


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## DiPpY eGgS

You did a good job on this tank, mate.

It looks good! TY for sharing

Keep updating it from time to time like you are doing, we are interested in seeing everyones planted aquarium in here!

Great job!


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## MPG

I like what you did with the moss on the driftwood. I agree you should paint/background it black so you can focus more on the tank itself.


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## TRIG

looks good man keep it up!


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## Vince302

thanks guys !!


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## jp80911

looks great but where's rhom?


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## Vince302

I have made a post in the ID section and its a sanchezi , he his super skittish and stay behind the driftwood on the left all the time , its almost like having no fish









since the beginning i'm thinking getting something else but not sure what..


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## JoeDizzleMPLS

Any ideas on what else you'd like to get?


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## JustJoshinYa

Ill take that sanchezi off your hands I have a special place in my heart for sanchezi I think they are an underrated species


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## Vince302

JoeDizzleMPLS said:


> Any ideas on what else you'd like to get?


I don't know.. a bigger rhom was my first choice , but i'm still thinking about a more active community tank...

btw i just find a 4+ inch rhom for 60$

here is a pic of the fish 









what do you think?? , personnaly i prefer her look over my sanchezi .


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