20" Tank Journal ( Step III )

i) First of all draw out the water with a pipe to lower water level easy for scape.

ii) Started to transplant from the old tank, it took hours for me to select & trim all algae on the leaves.

iii) Spray on some water to wet the leaves.

iv) After put all the balance of plants.....it is still looks too simple.

v) Temporary solution, DIY CO2, had something in mind to upgrade to an external CO2 tank with a solenoid.

vi) After all stuffs ready, bottle+sugar+lukewarm water+......where the heck of my yeast? Searched all areas in the fridge....couldn't find it, I was really fell from the sky. End up have to drive to the nearest store to buy a new pack of instant dry yeast. Wasted an hour, the water became cold, and need to redo for the lukewarm water....later +yeast+soda..........ready to produce CO2.

vii) The previous bottles had threw away, need to make a new one.

poke a hole in the cap & slot in the pipe connector, then seal the small gap with glue gun.

viii) Turn on the other side of the cap and seal with the glue gun for double protection.

ix) When the glue cold down, its really hold tight.

x) Now is the part between cap & plastic bottle.

xi) Try to flatten the glue in between the cap & plastic bottle with the hot gun.

Tips: How to check the leakage? It is simple, put your ear near to the bottle, blow in some air through the pipe, if can't hear the whizzing sound, means no leakage.

xii) Went out for awhile to get some rocks & a background plant, really hate the LFS...no name tag on the plant. Another nightmare on separating the infected hairgrass & the healthy one.

checked water chemistry, all okies. Wait for another day to let water get crystal clear. And more plants to add in later.

20" Tank Journal ( Step II )

Went to a few LFS to shop for the lights, finally I've got what I wanted, it is a the Aqua Zonic Super Bright double tube 24W T5 lamp with 12000K brightness, and it cost around RM160(50USD).

The new L60cm light fitting in the box.

Put up the light to test for the brightness. It is really a good workmanship, and I am highly recommended this light for a small tank.

This is nightmare, went back to my old house to collect all those full of algae driftwoods, the time I spent on washing it, was really killing my back. Tried to arrange it on the floor before put in the tank.

Still not the final arrangement, need some fine tuning. Meanwhile added some water to 1/3 of the tank.

20" Tank Journal ( Step I )

i) Filled JBL Floralpol ground fertilizer with a thin layer.

ii) All area almost covered with the fertilizer.

iii) Started to fill in ADA Aqua Soil - Amazonia II.

iv) Slowly put in the soil and do not disturb the base fertilizer.

v) Double checked anywhere hasn't covered with the soil or too thin layer, because when the time fill up with water will cause some soil floating.

vi) Ready to put some water.

vii) Completed the first step with low level of water & added some beneficial bacteria to grow for few days.

viii) This is the 4" old fan just cleaned it for this setup.

Ready to go!

Finally the cabinet is putting in a corner at my house as a decoration item with the 20" tank bought from KW, I like the black silicon edge instead of the rounded corner tank. And also bought a bag of 9Kg ADA Amazonia II soil is to control the water pH & kH, also got JBL ground fertilizer as I used before in the old tank, not a bad choice too. Will take sometimes to source for lighting & others. Just found an old 4" cooling fan to hook at the edge of the tank, need to get a new power adapter to run a test.

Thinking of order a stainless steel rod to hang the light, and plan to buy more driftwood to play around. I wanna setup the concept looks like Mr Takashi's tank, hopefully I can make it too.

My New Cabinet

Just visited to the carpenter workshop to have a final checked on the cabinet, overall the built quality is good and very like it. The special color that I had chosen to match my house furniture and also the little requirement from me, It has a small drawer built in the cabinet, is a must for me. And this time try to get more ready made stuffs instead of DIY like last time. If not mistaken, by this 2 days they will send to my place. It is a new challenge for me, and also the most headache is how to transfer the old stuffs from the old tank to here(new house). Well, I need to plan it out.