Inspiration, Goals, & Considerations
I've had an interest in aquariums since a young age and had my own aquarium with fish like Angelfish and Mollies around middle school. Growing up, my dad had a bigger tank with Blood Parrots and Silver Dollars. Over 10 years ago, I had a low maintenance 55 gallon planted tank. I was pretty proud of it, but always envied the high tech tanks I saw on forums/social media and told myself when I broke that tank down that the next time I set up a tank, it would be like what I envied. At the end of 2024, I set up a small low tech 5 gallon planted tank to help scratch my aquarium itch, which really only reaccelerated my desire for setting up a high tech tank. And now, here we are!
The size of the tank was mostly dictated by the space. I originally planned on something around 30 gallons, but my LFS had the UNS 75P in stock and after measuring and discussing with my wife, we agreed it would work for the space. The tank is between the kitchen and living room, which is essentially a play area for my son, so lighting needs to be adjusted to make sure he's not blinded by the light when looking up at the tank.
Generally, I'd like to have a visually pleasing aquarium with lots of fish and plants that's peaceful to enjoy. I'd like to automate / reduce as much friction as possible and I realize there's still plenty I need to learn, so I'll need to have patience when things go wrong. I want to keep away from anything that's hard to get out of the tank once it's in (duckweed, moss, pest snails, etc). I felt like sharing prices below might give value to anyone in the future that's looking to start where I did with a high tech tank.
Specs (prices include sales tax)
Tank:
Lighting:
Filtration:
Co2:
Inflow & Outflow Pipes:
Substrate & Hardscape:
Fertilization:
Other Misc Equipment:
Chihiros CO2 Drop Checker
5 x Oase ShutOff Valve 16/22
Inkbird WiFi ITC-308 - $38
SwitchBot Leak Detectors - $15 each
"Stand"
Because the guts are located in a kitchen cabinet, I didn't want to screw directly into it and damage it. I was also concerned silicone would not be able to dry and outgas properly when sealing the edges. I opted to line the cabinet with contact paper. It's essentially a giant sticker, so I lined the sides, bottoms, and a second layer over the bottom edges/joints. I built a 3 panel "stand" inside of the cabinet so I could house everything and screw into the plywood without any concerns. I used 1 sheet of 3/4" Maple plywood and coated 1 side with a latex primer followed by a layer of latex white paint. This is mostly for water resistance and not necessarily water proof. I placed a silicone cabinet liner under the right side equipment. I made a shelf to place the EcoFlow on so if there's a catastrophic leak it's off the bottom.
One consideration I hadn't thought about was how "cramped" the cabinet would be since I placed the EcoFlow on a shelf with a "wall", which essentially made the work area much tighter.
Cable Management: Raceway and cable clips
Water
Express Water RO5DX - $160
Coming soon
I've had an interest in aquariums since a young age and had my own aquarium with fish like Angelfish and Mollies around middle school. Growing up, my dad had a bigger tank with Blood Parrots and Silver Dollars. Over 10 years ago, I had a low maintenance 55 gallon planted tank. I was pretty proud of it, but always envied the high tech tanks I saw on forums/social media and told myself when I broke that tank down that the next time I set up a tank, it would be like what I envied. At the end of 2024, I set up a small low tech 5 gallon planted tank to help scratch my aquarium itch, which really only reaccelerated my desire for setting up a high tech tank. And now, here we are!
The size of the tank was mostly dictated by the space. I originally planned on something around 30 gallons, but my LFS had the UNS 75P in stock and after measuring and discussing with my wife, we agreed it would work for the space. The tank is between the kitchen and living room, which is essentially a play area for my son, so lighting needs to be adjusted to make sure he's not blinded by the light when looking up at the tank.
Generally, I'd like to have a visually pleasing aquarium with lots of fish and plants that's peaceful to enjoy. I'd like to automate / reduce as much friction as possible and I realize there's still plenty I need to learn, so I'll need to have patience when things go wrong. I want to keep away from anything that's hard to get out of the tank once it's in (duckweed, moss, pest snails, etc). I felt like sharing prices below might give value to anyone in the future that's looking to start where I did with a high tech tank.
Specs (prices include sales tax)
Tank:
UNS 75P (8mm Glass - 29.52" x 17.71" x 17.71") - $519
UNS Atmos Backlight - $274
Lid - Working on getting a custom lid made
Lighting:
Chihiros WRGB II Pro 60 - $263
Chihiros WRGB II Pro Shades- $40
3D Printed Side Shades - Still need to do this
Chihiros Hanging Rope Kit- $37
Chihiros LED Lights Hanging Stand Kit - $64
Chihiros WRGB II Pro Shades- $40
3D Printed Side Shades - Still need to do this
Chihiros Hanging Rope Kit- $37
The mounting screws provided protruded beyond the bracket and would not fit with the backlight. I ended up getting washers and placing them outside the bracket to limit the screw depth.
Really disliked the fact that the stand was branded with Chihiros and visible when looking into the aquarium.
UNS Light Hanging Bar - $105
Filtration:
Oase BioMaster 2 Thermo 850 - $461
Oase tubing - Included with filter
Co2:
Misc. 10lb Cylinder - $118 (includes CO2)
CO2 Art PRO-SE Regulator - $105
Aqua Rocks Colorado Small Yugang Reactor 19mm w/ 90 degree elbows - $150
Inflow & Outflow Pipes:
Aqua Rocks Colorado Stainless Steel Lily Pipes 17mm - $54
Aqua Rocks Colorado Lily Pipe Clipper - $11
Substrate & Hardscape:
UNS Controsoil - Black, 'normal' used as a base and ‘fine’ on top - ~$129
CaribSea Super Naturals- Jungle River Sand (foreground sand) - $42 (only used a small mount of the bag - will user remainder in upcoming tank)
UNS Controsand Santa Fe (used as accent around dragon stone) - $57 (only used a small mount of the bag - will user remainder in upcoming tank)
UNS Controsand Sequoia (used as accent around dragon stone) - $52 (only used a small mount of the bag - will user remainder in upcoming tank)
I was surprised how dirty these rocks were and how much rinsing was required. For the price point, I felt like they should have come pre-washed.
Driftwood & Dragon Stone from Aquarium Co-Op - $111
Fertilization:
Burr Aqua Micros and Macros
Chihiros Magnetic Stirrers - $100
Battery Backup & PowerEcoFlow DELTA 3 Max (2kwh) - $680
Unfortunately prolonged power outages are not uncommon for us. We've been without power for multiple consecutive days, 7 days being the longest. This battery backup gives me some peace of mind knowing the tank can run for some time uninterrupted giving me the flexibility to get the generator out and running at a later time, refill with gas, etc. I believe run time will be around 12 hours.
Other Misc Equipment:
Chihiros CO2 Drop Checker
5 x Oase ShutOff Valve 16/22
Inkbird WiFi ITC-308 - $38
SwitchBot Leak Detectors - $15 each
"Stand"
Because the guts are located in a kitchen cabinet, I didn't want to screw directly into it and damage it. I was also concerned silicone would not be able to dry and outgas properly when sealing the edges. I opted to line the cabinet with contact paper. It's essentially a giant sticker, so I lined the sides, bottoms, and a second layer over the bottom edges/joints. I built a 3 panel "stand" inside of the cabinet so I could house everything and screw into the plywood without any concerns. I used 1 sheet of 3/4" Maple plywood and coated 1 side with a latex primer followed by a layer of latex white paint. This is mostly for water resistance and not necessarily water proof. I placed a silicone cabinet liner under the right side equipment. I made a shelf to place the EcoFlow on so if there's a catastrophic leak it's off the bottom.
One consideration I hadn't thought about was how "cramped" the cabinet would be since I placed the EcoFlow on a shelf with a "wall", which essentially made the work area much tighter.
Cable Management: Raceway and cable clips
Water
Express Water RO5DX - $160
I saw this recommended by @Naturescapes_Rocco, and feel like the value is pretty hard to beat. I waited until it was on sale to purchase, but even at the $190 list price, it's great. Water source is an artesian spring (well). From the tap, TDS measures 56. In my 5g, I've used water straight from the tap, but opted for RO so I can keep things consistent with this setup. TDS after initial filter flushing was 0 (yeah, 0!).
55 Gallon Brute Trash Can, 44 Gallon Brute Trash Can, 32 Gallon Greenmade Trash Can, and 2x dollys.I need to improve this setup because it's a PITA. RO goes into the 55g, then I need to transfer it to the 44g to fill the tank. The 32g was originally what I purchased because that was the biggest Costco had, but it didn't hold enough water to fill the tank, so I had to rethink my plans. Seeing the 55g in person, I wasn't confident I could fit 2 side by side in the space I set up the RO in (which I couldn't). This setup is very clunky and requires a lot of water moving to make it to the tank. I've been using the 32g for waste water so I could water plants with it, but I might get worn down quickly and send it down the drain.
Plants (all UNS TC)- Homalomena Sp Sekadau South (babysitter)
- Hydrocotyle Tripartita (potentially babysitter)
- Alternanthera Reineckii Rosanervig (initially planned as babysitter, but may keep some in long term)
- Hemianthus Callitrichoides 'Cuba'
- Rotala Rotundifolia Blood Red
- Anubias Nana Petite
- Micranthemum 'Monte Carlo'
- Alternanthera Reineckii 'Mini'
- Echinodorus Rose
Coming soon
- 25x Red Neon Blue Eye Rainbow
- 7x C005 Corydoras pantanalensis
- 3x C123 Yellow Cory 'Rio Nanay'
- Aphyosemion bivittatum 'Funge' Pair
- 5x Stiphodon rutilaureus Goby
- 1x True Siamese Algae Eaters
- 1x Bamboo Shrimp
- 8x Amano Shrimp
. Looking forward to following along.
