# 6.6 Gallon Bookshelf Aquarium



## tw33kerloki (Aug 24, 2009)

*Petco 6.6gal bookshelf tank*

nice start!

I had one of these in my hands the other day when I stopped by my local Petco for some dog treats. Was thinking about the possibilities. Interested in how yours progresses.


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## Heatherdersh (Nov 4, 2009)

I love the hardscape. That's a nice looking tank too...I love the dimensions! I can't wait to see it with plants in


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## Church (Sep 14, 2004)

Thanks guys. Yes, I like the dimensions too. It's very much like a scaled-down 20-long. And the slight bow from the bowfront is negligible, because of how long the tank is. So there's no real distortion from any angle.


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## Tex Gal (Mar 28, 2008)

I like your layout. I didn't realize how big Eco complete is. It really looks pretty large. I can't imagine a small plant foreground. I know a lot of people use it. Does it come in different sizes?


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## Heatherdersh (Nov 4, 2009)

Church said:


> Thanks guys. Yes, I like the dimensions too. It's very much like a scaled-down 20-long. And the slight bow from the bowfront is negligible, because of how long the tank is. So there's no real distortion from any angle.


I think that's why I like it...I'm a big fan of 20 longs and this looks like a mini version. Looks like it'll be fun to scape!


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## The_Nerd (Dec 30, 2009)

I had this tank a while ago and it was very nice...definitely felt bigger than a 6.6 gallon. My only gripe was that you couldn't fill the water up too high or it would touch the top of the plastic cover thingy. I fixed this by putting a small (1/2") strip of electrical tape around the top so you couldn't see the water line anymore.

Eco doesn't come any smaller but it's fine for small plants. I grew HC in it no problem in the past. Nice driftwood btw


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## leemacnyc (Dec 28, 2005)

where did you get the tank?...really is a nice dimension...


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## tw33kerloki (Aug 24, 2009)

leemacnyc said:


> where did you get the tank?...really is a nice dimension...


Petco carries them.

Church,

how much Eco-Complete did you use?
and that's a pretty ecclectic book collection.


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## Church (Sep 14, 2004)

Texgal, thank you! Yeah eco-complete's particle size has gotten bigger over the past few years, but most of the bag is pretty uniform and properly-sized. It has always grown foreground plants just fine for me. I usually pick out the obvious, large pebbles. In this tank, I'll be laying out some moss-covered slate chips, for a moss carpet, so the particle size doesn't even matter at that point.

The Nerd, that's a good idea about the electrical tape. I'm not too concerned about the water line being visible, necessarily, but the tank isn't perfectly leveled, and that bugs me.

The tank comes from Petco. I think they are the only place you can get them. Only in the stores, not on their website.

I used about half of a bag of the Eco. The books are my girlfriend's, but you're right, it is quite an eclectic collection! I was wondering when someone would mention it, lol.


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## JennaH (Sep 28, 2009)

i got java moss i've been trying to get rid of but can't bring myself to throw it away. if you want it, let me know.
btw i agree on the dimensions, good stuff


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## hilikus16 (Nov 6, 2008)

I love those tanks, I want to pick one up every time i see one at petco. I'll be watching this tank, good job thus far.


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## Church (Sep 14, 2004)

*Quick crappy pic*










Well, it's a start... I'm still thinking about what plants to put where. I have to purchase more anubias petite, as I way underestimated the amount I would need. But I also have some taiwan moss that I'll be tieing on to some slate, for a moss carpet.

Still a work in progress...


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## Church (Sep 14, 2004)

:icon_conf Well some of the wood fell over while I was replanting the java fern, so I had to start all over.

I now see what the problem is... I don't have enough substrate, and the substrate I _do_ have is just not heavy enough to keep the wood form rolling around. I just had a very frustrating afternoon. So I've decided to just let the wood lay the way it wants to lay, and here's what I ended up with:















































...I just hope the wood stays put from now on, because the tank is too shallow to add any more eco-complete. I can deal with it the way it is now. I preferred it the way it was before, but that's life.

I now need some suggestions on what I can do with this tank. I have some taiwan moss I'll be making a carpet with, but I'm thinking a hedge of some kind of stem plants should be coming out of the fern bush on the left side, towards the back, while some small crypts and other things fill in the midground, and the gaps here and there. Oh yeah, I plan on getting more anubias petite to bush up at the base of the driftwood, as has already been started.

I just need some suggestions on what these "other things" should be. The real issues I'm working around here are the very minimal amount of substrate in the back left corner, because the intake pipe comes down too far, and the fact that the tank is only 8 inches tall.

All suggestions will be taken seriously. :biggrin:


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## Church (Sep 14, 2004)

Dang no comments. Okay then, how about if I add more pictures? I just tied a bunch of taiwan moss on to some small rock chips and began laying out the foreground. Tell me what you think:


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## oldpunk78 (Nov 1, 2008)

yeah! someone else with a moss foreground. do you have any plans for the left rear?


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## Church (Sep 14, 2004)

Oh yeah. This is just the beginnings of a work in progress. I need to figure out some stem plants to use, and also some small crypts... I need to get more moss, too, and anubias petite. I ran out of those. I think I have the right amount of fern, though.

So, I'm thinking I'll have the moss go a little further back on the left side, and swing around to the left of the intake. Then, I'll have some midground plants in the center, coming out of the fern/driftwood hodgepodge. I'm open to suggestions, as I said a few posts ago. If anyone is interested in giving me some suggestions, knowing this is a non-CO2 tank with low-med lighting, I'm all ears.

Thanks oldpunk!


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## CL (Mar 13, 2008)

I think that it looks much better! I know from experience that you will really like it when it grows in. Taiwan moss is great for what you're using it for.
What happened to half of your books? I don't see "Atlas Shrugged" anymore.


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## Church (Sep 14, 2004)

Haha! My girlfriend has been cleaning her bedroom, which is where this tank resides. She moved most of the books and put them in another bookshelf. Something about droplets of water or something...


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## JennaH (Sep 28, 2009)

> She moved most of the books and put them in another bookshelf. Something about droplets of water or something...


haha that's funny. what about blyxa? i've never tried to grow it myself so im not sure if will survive in low tech settings but i think it makes a great mid/background plant in smaller tanks. also i just put some hygrophilia kompakt in my 40 and i love it! has a nice green/orange color, fairly small and grows tight together. something like this might look better with the fern.








btw i like the moss carpet, i have the same thing in my 10g on slate, you can't even see it once the moss fills in.


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## devadair (Nov 24, 2009)

it's a shame you couldn't keep the driftwood up. It looks great tho, I love the tank iteslf, really cool


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## demonbreedr16 (Jan 10, 2008)

It looks great!

The only suggestion from me referring as what plants to use is Hygrophila Polysperma 'Rosanervig'...It's pink/white veins are freakin' awesome!

Oh, You'll love the Taiwan moss too! It's my favorite moss so far....growing in less then 1 WPG in my 29gal. :icon_mrgr

Good luck in the progression of this tank!


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## Church (Sep 14, 2004)

^ Thanks for the suggestion! And yes, I'm looking forward to the moss filling in and taking off. It looks very pillowy, so I can't wait to see it as a carpet.



devadair said:


> it's a shame you couldn't keep the driftwood up. It looks great tho, I love the tank iteslf, really cool


Thanks. One thing I should mention is that I've resolved to, in the future, superglue all the wood directly to the bottom of the tank itself, THEN fill it in with eco-complete. On shallow tanks such as this one, I think that's the best way to achieve a specific look, or sculpture of manzanita. Nonetheless, I'm okay with the way it looks now.

Time for some new pictures! I just planted some Rotala rotundifolia over on the left side, and some Ludwigia arcuata on the right side. Here are the pics, some with flash, some without:






































I'm pretty sure the rotala will do fine, but I'm not so sure on the arcuata. I'm also thinking that HM would do well right in front of, and to the left of, the rotala. Anyone agree or disagree? Also, has anyone successfully grown Blyxa japonica under non-CO2 conditions?

Thanks for visiting!


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## wendyjo (Feb 20, 2009)

I have 2 of those tanks - I use them for Q tanks.

Are you going to put any hardscape on the other side? I nice chunk of rock with some java fern on top would look nice and give some height on that side.


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## Church (Sep 14, 2004)

Thanks for the offer, but I'm going to leave it the way it is. There will eventually be plants there, which will provide some dynamics to the left half of the tank. This tank is still in what I would call its infancy at the moment. I'm mostly just out of spending cash, and out of plants, so I have to be patient here...


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## Takedakai (Jan 4, 2010)

I really like your tank so far! It really looks like it is bigger than it actually is.



> Thanks. One thing I should mention is that I've resolved to, in the future, superglue all the wood directly to the bottom of the tank itself, THEN fill it in with eco-complete. On shallow tanks such as this one, I think that's the best way to achieve a specific look, or sculpture of manzanita. Nonetheless, I'm okay with the way it looks now.


I'm considering doing this... if you were serious I have a question. Would you superglue the wood when it was dry? Or could you super glue wet (weighted down) wood to something?


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## OverStocked (May 26, 2007)

Looks great. Can't wait to see it progress.

BTW, your tank called, asked me to tell you it wanted a background.


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## demonbreedr16 (Jan 10, 2008)

Church said:


> I'm pretty sure the rotala will do fine, but I'm not so sure on the arcuata. I'm also thinking that HM would do well right in front of, and to the left of, the rotala. Anyone agree or disagree? Also, has anyone successfully grown Blyxa japonica under non-CO2 conditions?
> 
> Thanks for visiting!


I'm not sure about the Rotala doing doing well....despite previous attempts at having it thrive...mine died... 

My Narrow-Leaf Ludwigia is thriving in my no-c02 10gal as does Blyxa...but I have 3 WPG in there...so, that's something to think about...

In my 55, Blyxa grew like a weed despite having no real WPG...LOL Of course, there is no Co2 in there and plant eaters[rainbowfish]....


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## houstonhobby (Dec 12, 2008)

I prefer the wood in it's new alignment. If the size of the eco-complete bothers you you could sift some playsand over the top of it. I do that anyway because I like corys and they like soft playsand. Playsand over eco-complete seems to be good for hairgrass, it would probably be good for other small plants.

Where are the fish?


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## Church (Sep 14, 2004)

Thanks everyone!



Takedakai said:


> ... if you were serious I have a question. Would you superglue the wood when it was dry? Or could you super glue wet (weighted down) wood to something?


I was serious, and I think it actually wouldn't matter, since people in both the freshwater and saltwater side of things are known for using superglue entirely underwater. I've done this before for attaching coral frags to rocks. As long as you "break" the bead of superglue, as it is underwater, it will adhere to anything. But since you asked, I would probably do it to the dried pieces of wood, since I normally sit around and float the wood, waiting for it to sink. Wouldn't have to do that anymore!



over_stocked said:


> BTW, your tank called, asked me to tell you it wanted a background.


LOL. Tell my tank it can go take a long walk off a short pier. It won't need a background once I'm done planting it, since there will be stem plants all over the place. If for some reason that doesn't pan out, _then_ I will put a background up.



demonbreedr16 said:


> I'm not sure about the Rotala doing doing well....despite previous attempts at having it thrive...mine died...
> 
> My Narrow-Leaf Ludwigia is thriving in my no-c02 10gal as does Blyxa...but I have 3 WPG in there...so, that's something to think about...


That's promising, about the ludwigia! I really think rotala should give me no problems, as I've had nothing but good luck and good experiences with it, in the 6 years I've been doing planted tanks... but you never can tell sometimes... I certainly don't expect it to get pink, but I think it will do just fine. I may actually go ahead and try some Blyxa in here. I'm slightly less than 3 wpg, but at the same time the tank is so shallow that I'm sure there is plenty of light penetration.



houstonhobby said:


> I prefer the wood in it's new alignment. If the size of the eco-complete bothers you you could sift some playsand over the top of it. I do that anyway because I like corys and they like soft playsand. Playsand over eco-complete seems to be good for hairgrass, it would probably be good for other small plants.
> 
> Where are the fish?


Thanks for the suggestion, but I don't want to deal with the eventual sinking of the sand beneath the eco-complete. As far as the fish... be patient with me brutha!! I don't want to add fish until I get all the plants in there, because it's kind of a small tank, and I don't want to freak any fish out as I'm planting things. I figure in the next 2 to 3 weeks, I'll finally get the fish.

I'm thinking either T. espei or T. hengeli. Not sure, and will probably depend more on availability than anything else.

Thanks for hanging out with me, guys!


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## Takedakai (Jan 4, 2010)

> I would probably do it to the dried pieces of wood, since I normally sit around and float the wood, waiting for it to sink. Wouldn't have to do that anymore!


Since I'm rapidly approaching the time for my rescape I feel the same way you do about waiting for my new wood to sink  I was just a bit concerned about having to really be sure the wood was the way I wanted it before it ever sat in a filled tank


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## problemman (Aug 19, 2005)

this tank looks like a 20 gallon long not no 6.6


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## adrianng1996 (Dec 1, 2009)

+1 to problemman
that looks alot bigger than a 6.6g
and btw,i have a moss foreground too XD


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## cjacob316 (Jan 20, 2010)

i love these tanks, nice job scaping it, i have wanted one since i first saw them, but never could come up with something to put in it. just a little too small for the fish i like (all my tanks must have cichlids) thought about tanganyikan shell dwellers though

and it's a petco exclusive, petco all over the box


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## Church (Sep 14, 2004)

Yes, I actually think these would be suitable for some multies or even a pair of occies. Finding livestock for these smaller tanks is definitely the hardest part of working with them. Well, that, and the fact that they are small! But yeah, I think ideally I would go with a small school of tiny microrasbora or boraras in this tank, to keep with the sense of scale that I've got going. But the truth is, my girlfriend just LOVES the rasbora of the Trigonostigma genus, and that's what has to go in here. I think espei are the smallest ones, so I'll probably go with those.



Takedakai said:
 

> Since I'm rapidly approaching the time for my rescape I feel the same way you do about waiting for my new wood to sink I was just a bit concerned about having to really be sure the wood was the way I wanted it before it ever sat in a filled tank


Yeah I have every reason to believe that supergluing wood underwater would be very successful, so don't worry. Just float your wood til it sinks, arrange it the way you want, put a few dollops of superglue in a few strategic locations, including on the bottom pane of glass, and make sure you break the watertight seal on the bead of superglue. This practice is very common in saltwater, and causes no problems. The glue definitely cures and hardens underwater, don't worry.

As usual, thanks everyone, for the kind comments! :biggrin:


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## Briebob (Apr 12, 2010)

Hey Church,

did you ever figure out where to get a better bulb for the tank? I can't find anything that'll fit it! :-(


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## Church (Sep 14, 2004)

I haven't replaced the bulb yet, no. I still will, eventually. But there are bulbs out there that will will work. It just uses a standard 18" 15 watt T12 tube. All you have to do is find one in a better kelvin spectrum, like 6500k. I think I remember seeing them at Home Depot, but it's probably cheaper to order them from 1000bulbs.com or something like that.

I think, though, that eventually I'll just put a coralife t5no fixture over this tank, instead of replacing the stock bulb. I'd like to see this tank with high-light parameters!


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## casperca (Apr 2, 2011)

Updates? I know its been a while, but I've got the itch to start up one of these 6.6's. I think it'd be perfect for some cherry shrimp. Curious to see how yours is progressing.


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## sandytank (Apr 5, 2011)

I too want to see an update if possible - I also have a question: is the back cat proof? Do you think a cat might break the lid? I've been looking for a tank that can withstand the barrages of a kitty, but none of them are long enough for me.


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