# 60g Marineland Heartland Aquascape



## RyTheFryGuy (Jan 23, 2015)

Hey everyone!

Here is my aquascape for my 60g Marineland Heartland Tank. Scored the tank and stand for a decent price during Petsmart's aquatics sale in November. This is my first aquarium setup. I have done numerous Terrarium setups before (Red Tegu, Bearded Dragons, Leopard Geckos) but it's a total different game when your working with water and all that jazz.

Here are some photos:

I set it up in our basement, basically where me and the wifey spend 14-16 hours a day. (Work from home).













































One of our Kenyi's, his name is Wesley Stripes. All of our fish have names... lol...









11 little fry's, already! Would have been more but I wasn't sure if I wanted them all lol. Some let's just say... Was dealt the force by my Obi









All in all, love the aquarium. LOVE the fish. Cichlids are so much fun, and so is Aquascaping!

If you're wondering where the holey rock / log came from. It all came from Petsmart at half price.

I plan to do much more updates in the future but this is what I am rocking with for now, at least till the summer 

However might do some lighting diy as the flourescent lighting that is currently with the aquarium is boring and not very vibrant. I've looked into strip lighting from Phillips. They have some really cool stuff available now such as the LED Hue Strip: http://www.homedepot.ca/product/led-hue ... rip/400553


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## RyTheFryGuy (Jan 23, 2015)

I also forgot to mention I had problems fitting the Fluval 306 Canister into the stand. For a while I had it sitting in a clear plastic tote bin beside the aquarium. I was going to dremel out a hole for the canister to drop into, just didnt seem it would be best for the already cheap material used to make the stand... So after a few weeks, the wifey found a simple solution while at Costco. A tall Planters Box! Here are some photos:


















Simply covered the top of the planters box with a basket of fake plants we had lying around...


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## Loume (Dec 27, 2014)

I usually go for a bit more natural, reserved look for the scape, but very attractive, colorful setting, and innovative filter/planter solution, good find Mrsfryguy! If you decide to add another filter later, one on the other side would look good too. Love the name Wesley Stripes! :thumb:


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## Loume (Dec 27, 2014)

Just wondering what is the light blue smooth thing in the gravel in front of the "driftwood"?


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## RyTheFryGuy (Jan 23, 2015)

@Loume I feel ya on the real look. I just don't know what I am exactly after at the moment. Moreless all stuff bought was what was available at the time of tank/stand purchase. I've seen videos of Malawi Cichlids in RL and the backdrop is fairly plain and dull. However I have also stumbled across a Youtube channel of a dude who uses Universal Rock and it looks pretty stunning: 




The Grey / Blue smooth thing is a piece of slate. I have a whole box of red / blue slate. Tried it in the aquarium and seems just to messy and too much stuff to move around when cleaning.


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## Loume (Dec 27, 2014)

Ry, Forget about my blander preferences, Hopefully you'll continue enjoying your tank for many years, and there will be plenty of time for any changes that YOU guys really like. That's what counts! In the meantime, I think you did a really nice job on it., attractive and colorful, and thousands will agree with that. I think your fish luv it too!!

O.K. slate, it probably looks much more blue on my computer screen, wasn't sure what it was


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## RyTheFryGuy (Jan 23, 2015)

Yea that's one thing i've noticed just like Terrariums. You tear em down frequently till your happy with the final result lol. I say in a couple years we will have our final result!


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## RyTheFryGuy (Jan 23, 2015)

@Loume, taking your advice on another 306 filter on the right side.

Tricked the wifey into getting a second planter box while they still had them at Costco.










Hopefully next weekend I will have the second filter up and running.

I have a question about that though. For the media in the new filter, should I take half the media from the already running filter and put half of it into the new filter and half of the new media into the established filter? Or just start running the new filter with all new media?


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## Deeda (Oct 12, 2012)

No need to transfer media from the current filter, just set the new filter and new media up the same way.


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## RyTheFryGuy (Jan 23, 2015)

*UPDATE*

Installed a second Fluval 306 Filter. Saw a 4kg bag of Black River Rocks at crappy tire. Gave it a go. I am not happy with my substrate choice, so I feel the black rocks kind of break the beige / browns up. Shoulda grabbed a second bag, however I do plan to go with this look once spring arrives (



). However still torn between the Universal Holey Rock versus normal Universal Rock / River Rock/Boulders. I've also been looking through a lot of tanks on here for inspiration and theres MANY scapes I really enjoy.


































Also picked up a black / blue background. The grassy weedy background I was using was always to dark and never popped. Most likely because the Aquarium has a slight tint in the glass already...

Made a bubble wall behind the craggy rock. This was before the second filter though, had dead spots back there where poo would build up. The bubbles cleared it all up. Wifey likes it so I am leaving it in place for now...

I spent easily 2 hours watching the poo, that's right, not the fish, the poo... go into the filter one after another. It sure does put a smile on my face lol


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## Loume (Dec 27, 2014)

"@Loume, taking your advice on another 306 filter on the right side."

"Tricked the wifey into getting a second planter box while they still had them at Costco."
____________
Hehe Ry. good job on the trick. I wish i could still trick the wife. I think she's caught on to all of mine over the years. In fact i think she probably tricks me far more often anymore. 

Wow, for me, the simple black background made a world of difference, looking real good. Added a natural and realistic "depth" to the aquarium and your fish stand out now. I think the black stones do something for it too. Just a suggestion, if you could find black filter intake tubing, maybe even retrofit something cheaply from the hardware store, to get them to sort of just disappear into the background, another BIG plus! =D>

2 hr Poo Watching LOL!!!! :lol:


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## firefighter5 (Nov 25, 2014)

RyTheFryGuy said:


> *UPDATE*
> 
> Installed a second Fluval 306 Filter. Saw a 4kg bag of Black River Rocks at crappy tire. Gave it a go. I am not happy with my substrate choice, so I feel the black rocks kind of break the beige / browns up. Shoulda grabbed a second bag, however I do plan to go with this look once spring arrives (
> 
> ...


I went back and forth wether I wanted all the poo to go in filters or to just direct it to one side of tank and vacuum it up once a week.I decided on the latter cuz I figure I will save my self from having to open my cannisters because of decreased flow from all the poo from my 41 crapping machines.Just know you will need to clean out cannisters earlier then normal.Not saying you did wrong just my opinion on it.The main reason for filtration in my opinion is for benificial bacteria to grow to keep ammonia and nitrites at 0...


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## RyTheFryGuy (Jan 23, 2015)

Thanks for the tip. I plan to clean out the filters every 2 months. I have had the other filter running for 1 month straight now, going to do a clean out in 3 weeks and see how much **** the new filter has caught. We have a basement bathroom rough in that I need to attend to in order to get this basement more functional able and make vacuuming a lot easier...

I have one of those aquaclear 70 powerheads with quick filter. I have it sitting in a dead spot and it sure does help collect poo. I suggest using the actual filter sleeves for this attachment though. The filter floss I find tends to get out through the attachment and into the water. Plecco also likes sucking on it, and noticed it would pull the floss out. I clean my powerhead quick filter once a week and after each water change/vacuuming.

@Loume I agree, not much tricks left in my bag either lol

I've thought about riggin up something black to cover the distracting clear intake pipes. Possibly rip a PVC or black pex pipe in half? I have it on my radar now though and will keep my eyes peeled for some sorta cover. If I go with the Universal Holey Rock in the spring, I would be able to use the middle peak of the structure to cover the intakes though.


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## RyTheFryGuy (Jan 23, 2015)

Used some left over black hose from my filters... Simply just cut it and slipped it over the intake tubes.


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## Loume (Dec 27, 2014)

+2!! Another innovative idea, I hadn't thought about that. It'll take a lil extra effort to clean, but well worth it IMO. :thumb:

Do you take credit, or should I give your wife credit for that one? :lol:


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## RyTheFryGuy (Jan 23, 2015)

Haha I'll take full credit for this one!


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## RyTheFryGuy (Jan 23, 2015)

Forgot to mention... I scored a LED strip kit from Home Deps a couple weeks ago... Simply just added it with my Flourescent lighting... Got them for night lighting but turns out they add a punch of color during the day as well. Also comes with remote and bunch of color combinations. Cost me like $25 for the lighting kit...



















This kit came with 3 bridges. Which I used to cross the canopy support. You can also see where I setup the infrared remote sensor. 









Application was extremely easy...

Ill take a night time photo this evening. Simulate a full moon for the little guys or somethin and snap a photo lolol

Perhaps blood red for this Sunday's Walking Dead? =)


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## RyTheFryGuy (Jan 23, 2015)

Here are those LED strips in action:


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## misterrobot (Feb 20, 2015)

FryGuy

We have the exact same setup!

Lighting: Like you, we were not impressed with the large fluorescent fixtures. Changed to the smaller T8 fixtures as the dual bulbs allow a colormax and a daylight bulb. But they have to be replaced every 4-6 months at 4 x $15!!! Last weekend we pickup up a Aqueon 48" LED light fixture. LOVE IT. It comes with one daylight LED bulb but has room for a total of 3. Ordered a colormax to go with the existing daylight, will arrive in a few days. The daylight is not quite bright enough. It brings out the blues but not the red-purple in the Jewel Mbuna.

We ordered a 48" glass top to replace the plastic top but it broke in shipment. We really think the current plastic top reduces the available light for the tank.

Questions: What made you decide to go to the external filter? I have the standard over the back power filter and a undergravel with a powerhead. Seams alright but the Mbuna aren't full grown yet&#8230;

Peace

Capt Ron


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## RyTheFryGuy (Jan 23, 2015)

Hey Ron, I found the lighting that came with it is very yellowish, and not so bright. I haven't looked into much of the lighting that is currently available, the strips I used was moreless impulse buy to see if it would create night lighting / add a change of color. Which it does, I run it on blue during the day with the day time lights and it blends in really good. You can see a lot more detail with the LED's too.

The canopy is driving me nuts too, however I come from the reptile world and am very used to those ugly screen tops on terrariums so it really hasn't bothered me much. The stand sits the aquarium fairly high too so you don't really see much on top unless you hover over it.

I have limited space where my couch and walkway to office is so I opted to use the canister filters as it would allow me to put the aquarium right up against the wall, well close enough at least.

I removed all the old decorations & gravel and went with a white / black / brown sand and stones and the brightness has improved greatly.










I also painted up some extra baseboard I had lying around to get rid of the water line. Simply just stuck it on with "Hard as Nails" tape.

If you reorder that glass top please feel free to show a few pictures, would love to see how it looks with the 48 inch lighting too!


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## 3000GT (Jan 18, 2014)

I like the new aquacape a lot. I think it looks more natural. Have you thought about moving the heater to the middle of the tank, parallel to the ground behind the locks?

I also have the same tank and was also thinking of switching the top to glass. It just feels dark to me near the top front. I May pick those up this weekend or next.


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## RyTheFryGuy (Jan 23, 2015)

I thought about moving the heater but I have a steady 78f across the whole tank. My 200watter does the job.

I get 55lbs of more stone on Tuesday so I will most likely be moving some things around.


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