DIY All-In-One Betta Aquascape

hey surprise squad i hope you're doing well tanner here and i'm back with another diy aquascape build to preface this a few weeks back my wife and i went to a local fish store while there my wife was captivated by a particular betta i couldn't agree more that there was something special about this fish and we decided to bring our home luckily i have plenty of quarantine bins on hand so getting a fish on a whim is no big deal anyway now that we have a new addition in the family we have to set her up in a proper home let's get to work about a month ago i was trying to drill a 75 gallon tank that ended up being tempered needless to say i ruined the bottom piece of glass and thus the tank is useless in its current state no problem we can take it apart and build a new tank i've shown this process a number of times but i'll still give a quick outline what i do first is remove the frame to avoid breaking the glass i used a utility blade to cut the plastic after cutting through can simply be pulled away from the glass i also cut into the silicone between the glass on the sides of the tank i did the same to the bottom of the tank and the glass could be removed once the good pieces were taken from the main tank i had to clean them up i used a razor scraper to remove the excess silicone then i sprayed down the glass to remove any remaining debris now i can cut the glass into smaller pieces for that i use a few measuring tools a spring clamp lubricating oil and a glass cutting wheel like i've shown in other videos i measure the glass oil the cutting tool and score a line i put a piece of wood under the glass and hit the scored line for a clean break i went back with a wet piece of sandpaper and cleaned up the edges so the glass is safe to handle here are the pieces i ended up with [Music] prior to constructing the tank i cleaned off the areas that will receive silicone with isopropyl alcohol then i taped off the tank for cleaner beads of silicone [Music] per usual i'm using ge silicone one i started by applying it along the edges of the bottom piece of glass next i applied silicone along the edges of the side pieces everything was put together accordingly i also taped off the corners and added a few clamps to keep it all in place i went back and applied silicone to the inside of the tank it was smoothed out with my finger for even application the tape on the inside was removed and was left to sit for 24 hours after that they could be removed i scraped away excess silicone and sprayed down the tank to get it nice and clean it turned out fairly well and i really like the dimensions since this is a rimless tank it will perform best with some sort of self-leveling mat for that i'm using one-quarter inch thick adhesive neoprene it was stuck to the bottom of the tank now we can make the filter compartment for that i have a few items including black corrugated plastic super glue a small submersible pump a length of pvc pipe a cpvc elbow a length of 5 8 inch vinyl tube a return piece from an old filter and black knitting mesh first i cut out pieces of corrugated plastic i cut out a long piece that's the desired height of the compartment from there i cut a large piece for the front and four identical pieces for the various compartments two of those were cut shorter i use these to mark for where the separations will be on the larger piece the overflow is accounted for and i cut out the plastic now the pieces can be attached together i started with the overflow by gluing the mesh in place [Music] then i applied a line of glue along the markings from earlier and attached the dividers while the glue dried i assembled the pump components the pvc pipe fits onto the pump and the cpvc elbow fits onto that pipe from there i marked for the pump on the back of the plastic sheet i used this mark to drill for a hole after that i glued the final separator to the main piece of plastic i think it turned out great but i felt that the overflow strainer would clog easily i decided to cut out sections of the mesh to make it more open i also want the filter box centered on the back of the tank it was put in place measurements were made and i marked for it tape was put just outside of these markings for where i'll attach the filter box as is it would work fine but it will function better if silicone is applied along the plastic although the glue holds everything together there's most likely cracks that would hinder its function i applied silicone along the edges and where the structure touches the glass it was pressed into the tank and lightly clamped in place silicone was applied along the edges it was smoothed out and the tape was removed this was left to cure for 24 hours after that i could remove the clamp and get the other components in place first i put the pump in the return compartment as you can see the cpvc elbow sticks out of the front it was covered and secured with the vinyl hose which also attaches to the return piece the other components of the filter include coarse metal mat fine filter media a mesh bag and lava rock first i stacked a few blocks of metallomat in the bottom of the mechanical filter compartment these will act as a lift that will maximize the flow of water that was topped off with the fine media then i filled the mesh bag with lava rocks [Music] i put this in the middle for biological filtration here's a final look at how the compartment is set up from there i decided to cover the back of the tank with window tint film typically i would have painted this but i didn't want to wait for the drying time the process is simple you spray on a solution press the film onto the glass and use a scraper to remove the excess solution here's the finalized tank i think it turned out very well especially considering that it was made from scrap materials now we can get to escaping for that i'm using weathered driftwood these are great because they're very dense and will sink immediately i'm also using cereus stone which is one of my favorites it has great texture and is readily available for substrate i have my standard mix of fluval stratum and sea chem fluoride dark i started by pouring in a base layer of substrate in other tanks you've seen me put down egg crate or foam to distribute the weight of the hardscape that wasn't necessary for this one because the glass is very thick for a tank of this size and i'm not using anything that's overly heavy per usual the substrate was distributed with a brush it was sloped up toward the back of the tank to create depth next i place this stump which is the largest element i use it as my key element which dictates the rest of the scape from there i worked in a few of the stones i kept the directional nature of the striations in mind during this process i filled in more of the space with another piece of wood and more stones [Music] after getting those elements in place i used small stones to fill in gaps between the largest piece of wood [Music] lastly i build up more height with the substrate here's the finalized escape it's very simple and consists of only a few elements i think it'll work perfectly for what i have planned though i use seachem onyx sand and red flint sand as a top dressing for the planting substrates i started with a base layer of the onyx sand this will help tie into the stones which are primarily a gray hue [Music] i sprayed everything down to get a better idea of how things will look when they're submerged with that i could determine where to sprinkle the red flint sand this will make things look more cohesive than just a uniform layer of gray sand let's bring it to life with the plants for this one i have a dwarf aquarium lily a red tiger lotus giant hair grass creeping charlie water hissop anubius nana petit brazilian pennywort taiwan lily and bronze crypt i started by planting the lilies in the back of the scape they're the largest plant and will look great as they grow out from this spot i added the hair grass and creeping charlie near the lilies for textural contrast with these plants in place i filled up the tank i did this to get a better sense of how the plants will lay in an aquatic environment from there i added the anubius throughout crevices in the foreground next up was the pennywort i really like the shape of the leaves and i think they help add a cool look to the tank in some parts of the setup i let the stems grow tall and in others i'll keep the plants while trimmed for more compact growth the crypt was added in the mid ground just behind the driftwood i also added another piece of driftwood but it was later removed because it looked out of place during this process i stirred up a lot of debris so i did a 100 water change these days i won't set up a betta tank without botanicals i have a mixture of various items that will add to the setup these also provide an array of benefits that are especially helpful when keeping fish like bettas to help get things moving i added fritz turbo start which was provided by our channel sponsor it helps jump start the nitrogen cycle which means the tank can be stocked immediately otherwise this is not possible without using cycled media or other methods to complete the setup i had to add a serpa design decal what about stalking first door 8 x-ray tetras these are great schooling fish that are docile and an appropriate tank mate for bettas i also added three amano shrimp to help keep the algae at bay in addition to that were three zebra narrate snails lastly of course was the female beta which my wife named ellie [Music] [Music] and there you have it the new all-in-one beta aquascape from the tank to the scape i think it turned out really well it's a simple and effective design that will only get better with time as it matures i should mention that i also decided to add some hornwort for finer textures it can easily get out of hand but looks great if well managed overall i'm really excited to add this tank to the animal room and the inhabitants it houses i want to know what you think though let me know down in the comments what you think about the scape and my stalking choices i think there's still room for a few more additions as well let me know what else you think i should add anyway that's all for this one as always i really hope you enjoyed this demonstration and learned something new until next time surprise squad take care and peace [Music] [Music] you

Channel: SerpaDesign

Views: 681,592

Rating: 4.9587607 out of 5

Keywords: aquarium, aquascape, fish tank, betta, betta setup, planted tank, diy, do it yourself, x ray tetra

Id: CGBA4x51scg

Length: 13min 53sec (833 seconds)

Published: Sat Aug 08 2020