# UNS 60U – 20 Gallons



## Little_Gourami (Oct 29, 2021)

I’ve been running a rimless 12 gallon for the last 5 years. It’s gone through various layouts over the years, and I’ve been wanting to re-start for a while now. Earlier this week I took the plunge and upgraded to a 20 gallon. 


*Tank: *UNS 60U (23.62" x 14.17" x 14.17" – 20 gallons)
*Substrate:* Fluval Stratum capped with Seachem Fluorite Dark. Fluval root tabs added. Carib Sea Super Naturals Sand in the foreground. 
*Filter:* Fluval 207 – Carbon chemical filtration removed and additional bio media added. 
*Light: *Current Satellite Freshwater LED Plus (Not sure if this is bright enough. On for 7 hours a day.)
*Heater:* Fluval M100


*Fauna:*
2 Honey Gourami
18 Celestial Pearl Danio
1 Scarlet Badis
1 Nerite Snail
10 Cherry Shrimp
3 Amano Shrimp


*Flora:*
Java Fern (Unknown variety)
Amazon Sword (Unknown variety)
Anubias barteri var. barteri
Anubias barteri 'Petite'
Bucephalandra Kedagang
Hydrocotyle verticillata
Cryptocoryne undulatus
Nymphoides hydrophylla 'Taiwan'
Alternanthera reineckii 'Mini' (purchased in a 1-2 grow cup that was on clearance… I don’t have high hopes for it)
Salvinia minima










Played with the hardscape on-and-off for a day. I always find this the most daunting part. Once you commit and add fish, it's challenging to un-do. This time around I super-glued everything together stuffed filter floss in the cracks to help keep my aquasoil separate from the sand. I didn't think to do it last time, and I regretted it. The shrimp will probably still manage to distribute it, but hopefully this helps. 










Overhead view. You can see some of the filter floss. Smaller rocks and sand will cover it. I had some Fluval Stratum left over, so I used that as a base layer. I'm no longer a fan of the 'soil ball look', and I found it difficult to plant in, so I capped it with Seachem Fluorite Dark. Root tabs were also added between the two layers. 










Sand added. I also aggressively washed the Seachem Fluorite Dark after reading some muddy horror stories online. I didn't have any cloudiness after filling, so I suppose that it worked. 










The next day. Planting was done with the tank empty... and I was too excited to flood the tank to take a picture. Most of the plants were from the old tank, but there were some new additions that need some time to fill in. I realize that most of them will get quite large, but I'm a fan of the lush overgrown look? 










This is the angle that it will be viewed at most of the time. It's on my desk at home. 










Overhead view. My previous tank was quite narrow, so this perspective is novel to me. 

I'm a little torn if I should add CO2 or not. I’ve ran CO2 in the past, but I’m not sure if I want to add it to this tank. Most of the plants are low to medium in difficulty, and my light isn't the brightest. I'm dosing liquid fertilizers, but I may scale them back from the full dose. My CO2 tank needs also refill, and most likely needs to be re-tested, but that's not the end of the world. 

Thoughts?


----------



## CRS Fan (Apr 21, 2010)

That is a very nice set-up. If you can, CO2 will always help with plant growth. It will also help inhibit algae if kept stable ~30ppm. I run CO2 on both my tanks. 1 is high-light, and the other one…. Not-so-much. If that is Seiryu stone, keep an eye on your KH as it naturally releases a fair bit of carbonates (I would suggest keeping up with a 50% WC weekly.

Please keep us posted with updates!

Best regards,

Stuart


----------



## jiang604 (Apr 21, 2010)

Very clean looking! I myself am trying to allocate more time back into this hobby that I love. I am sure Stu knows 😉


----------



## Little_Gourami (Oct 29, 2021)

CRS Fan said:


> That is a very nice set-up. If you can, CO2 will always help with plant growth. It will also help inhibit algae if kept stable ~30ppm. I run CO2 on both my tanks. 1 is high-light, and the other one…. Not-so-much.


Thanks! The more I've been thinking about it, I'm probably going to add CO2. I've put in all this time and effort, _and_ I already have the supplies. I'm not thrilled to have a 5 lb tank under my desk, but it is what it is. 



CRS Fan said:


> If that is Seiryu stone, keep an eye on your KH as it naturally releases a fair bit of carbonates (I would suggest keeping up with a 50% WC weekly.


It is! It was in various tanks over the years, and I've typically struggled with my water being too soft! I'll have to dig out the API kit and check. 

I used to do 10-20% WC weekly, and I was going to do the same here, unless the test kit tells me otherwise. 



jiang604 said:


> Very clean looking! I myself am trying to allocate more time back into this hobby that I love. I am sure Stu knows 😉


Thank you! 

My motivation had been falling the last couple of months, and the previous tank got to the point where I wanted to rip it out and start over. A fresh clean tank really helps. I'm looking forward to see how this one progresses.


----------



## dcn (Oct 22, 2017)

Wow looking very nice!


----------



## Little_Gourami (Oct 29, 2021)

CO2 is up and running as of yesterday. Turns out that I did in fact still had 2lbs of CO2 in my tank, and that the check valve had failed—which is why I thought that I was out. Glad that I decided to weigh the tank before taking it in.

My regulator is pretty old and basic, so I’ve been slowly increasing the amount and watching the drop checker to be safe. So far it’s still blue.










The bubbles seem larger than I remember, and it looks like they are just popping at the surface. I remember the bubbles being more of a mist? Should I just move it into the path of the filter outflow?

That or is the diffuser just clogged? It’s old and was used in multiple tanks in the past. I soaked it in bleach and hydrogen peroxide (separately) as the surface of the disk was a bit green.


----------



## dcn (Oct 22, 2017)

Would it be better if you placed the diffuser closer to the substrate and move it to the back right corner (under the gameboy on the wall), where your filter outflow is pushing water down against glass, that way the co2 bubbles will have more time to dissolve in water. as opposed to going straight to surface and wasted.


----------



## Little_Gourami (Oct 29, 2021)

dcn said:


> Would it be better if you placed the diffuser closer to the substrate and move it to the back right corner (under the gameboy on the wall), where your filter outflow is pushing water down against glass, that way the co2 bubbles will have more time to dissolve in water. as opposed to going straight to surface and wasted.


Unfortunately, this particular diffuser has the ‘hook’ built in, so I can’t change the depth. I will try moving it to that corner tomorrow to see if the bubbles get pushed under at all.

I also started browsing online, and there are some options for ~$20-$35 that are longer. I also have a second nano one with a much smaller surface area, but it might be less clogged?


----------



## Little_Gourami (Oct 29, 2021)

*Week 1 Update*

Everything seems to going well so far. I replaced the CO2 diffuser for a new one and the bubbles are actually fine enough and dissolving now.










The plants have noticeably perked up. Everything seems 'brighter' and more green. I'm still waiting for things to grow in and fill out the tank.

There was some algae on the plants when I moved them into the tank, but it looks like it's dying back. Fingers crossed. I'm dosing liquid fertilizers (Seachem Flourish, Seachem Excel, Aquario Potassium & Aquario Iron) as per instructions. It feels like a lot, and I'm expecting the algae to come back with a vengeance, so I'll keep an eye on it.










The Alternanthera reineckii 'Mini' melted, however. There is a small chunk that might make it, so I've set it aside, but the rest is completely gone–oh well. That's what I get for buying discount plants. I replaced it with Alternanthera reineckii 'Rosanervig'.

I haven't seen the Nerite snail for a couple days. Hopefully it's just somewhere in the plants. I'm a little worried that it's not getting enough to eat.










After spending way too much time researching online, I've come to the conclusion that the two Honey Gourami are female. I've had them for a year now, and while one is pretty colourful, I'm certain that it is a dominant female. I was also in my LFS the other day and they had some obvious males in a display tank. Surprisingly they let me buy one, so I decide to take the risk and add one.










He was originally chased a bit by the two females, but everyone has calmed down now. All three are doing their own thing and have found their favourite spots. The male will occasionally do a dance in an attempt to woo a female, but he's quite timid and spends most of his time exploring right now. If the group dynamic changes, I'll re-home him.


----------



## Catsoo (Nov 30, 2021)

Nice tank! Where did you get your hydrocotyle verticillata from?


----------



## Little_Gourami (Oct 29, 2021)

Catsoo said:


> Nice tank! Where did you get your hydrocotyle verticillata from?


Mr Pets on United Boulevard in Coquitlam.

They keep Ramshorn Snails in the plant tank, so I gave it a salt dip before adding it to the tank.


----------

