# ADA 60p - "Oregon" - updated 5/10/2012



## U2Kent (Jul 28, 2011)

*5/10/2012*
still waiting for the Eleocharis Belem to spread some more, think I should probably start trimming it soon... still needing to get a backdrop of some sort to start taking better photos.



















*4/16/2012*
this photo is with the plant grow (reddish) tube turned off and some additional processing in lightroom beyond what I usually do... starting to play around with how I'd want to photograph the tank when I finally get a backdrop in place.


*4/06/2012*
waiting for the belem to fill in, starting to see some hair algae that I need to figure out how to get rid of. the java ferns are going crazy w/ baby plants about to drop off and the anubias have both had a few new leaves open up. More photos on page 6.


















*3/20/2012*
Added some Blyxa Japonica a week or so ago, then added some Vallisneria and a pair of German Blue Ram's just the other day. Here's what things are looking like at the moment.













*3/09/2012*
re-graded the substrate and planted the belem (which will hopefully live through USPS' 10-day priority mail adventure).










*3/07/2012*
I moved so I tore down/rescaped the tank and added co2 for the first time. I was battling hair algae for a long time and the baby tears were getting unwieldy so I decided it was time to restart. only plants so far are java fern and a few anubias coffeefolia's waiting for some eleocharis belem to arrive. (more photos on page 5)






*11/14/2011*
trimmed the plants way back, finally got around to hanging the light so I could get it up off the tank higher. looking into replacing some of the stem plants with something a little slower growing as well as adding co2 soon.


*11/12/2011*
blue ram died a few weeks ago due to nitrite levels I believe, tank is out of control with stem plant growth, still combating the spirogyra.


*10/23/2011*
been battling some spirogyra, pruned plants way back and cut ferts while dosing h202 and excel for 4 days. lost 1 rasbora last week, picked up 10 more this week as well as an electric blue ram. Added a cabomba caronliniana plant and a few blyxa japonica as well



*10/10/2011*
ammonia is finally down to a negligible level, I added 3 amano shrimp last week and some fish last night. Starting with 7 Rasbora Espei (porkchops) and 3 Otocinclus. I'll be adding 6 or so more rasbora down the road after things get a little more established.

Starting to see some hair algae so I'm dropping my photo period from 10 hours to 7 hours and starting up dosing Excel and ferts again after a 1 week break so I could make sure my water parameter readings were accurate. Here's hoping I can get it under control.










*10/2/2011*
Cal Aqua Labs inflow and outflow installed, water test today showed nitrites and nitrates at 0 but ammonia is still high for some reason.

Natural and artificial light shots. lots more photos on page 4.




*9/30/2011*
Baby Tears planted, Rotala cut and replanted, Wisteria on left removed, driftwood came out to tie Christmas moss on which resulted in having to rearrange things and rebuild the substrate back up.


*9/19/2011*
PH is still low (~5), Ammonia is still high (~5mg/l), nitrites are low (.3mg/l) seeing some good plant growth, wiped white slime off the driftwood yesterday when I did the second 25% waterchange. I just started dosing pfertz micros, pfertz nitrogen, and seachem excel today.


*9/14/2011* 
Tank is first filled, stem plants added, tons of ammonia in the water from the Aquasoil, did a ~30% water change after 12 hours, added some Seachem Prime. Lights are on for 10 hour photo period light yet to be hung, still sitting on top of the tank.


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## U2Kent (Jul 28, 2011)

_this was originally the first post, bumped it down so I could make the focus of the first post tank updates_

So I've been holding off on posting a journal because I'm still waiting on my tank to arrive but I've got my stand pretty much totally finished so I figured I'd share.

I took a lot of inspiration for building the tank from malaybiswas' thread here but with a few big tweaks. I built the whole stand out of MDF (for better or for worse, this is my first project, next time I'll use ply) then I laminated the sides and top, and finally I used some locally sourced reclaimed Oregon Black Walnut for the face of it. I'll do a full cost breakdown of the build when I get the tank in but as you can imagine for the stand the walnut was easily the most expensive component and probably tripled the cost of what it had been had I just gone with fully laminating it.

I'm calling this tank Oregon because the wood is Oregon Walnut and the rocks in the tank will be granite with quartz veins from the Oregon coast hopefully, still soaking them and going to test the water for hardness to see how they effect it.

The first thing I did was I taught myself how to use Google Sketch-up so I could render how I wanted the stand to be, unfortunately never having built anything like this before there were some minor allowances I had to make that I hadn't taken into consideration but in the end it all worked out.



The next thing I did was track down a nice piece of black walnut for the face, it was initially ~2" thick and I had it cut down the middle to be bookmatched then had it squared, cut across the top, and had it belt sanded which reduced the overall board thickness to less than 3/4"



I did a lot of reading on woodworking forums to figure out how I wanted to finish the wood, I landed on Danish Oil which is a blend of natural oil to stain it and a light varnish to seal the wood. I had to buy an orbital palm sander and a router (for the laminate) and then I was off and running. I started with 80 grit, then moved to 100, 120, 150, and finally 220 grit before rubbing it down with Watco Danish Oil. Each piece of the face got 3 coats of the Oil waiting about a day between each coat.



This is what the face pieces looked like after they were all finished:




At the same time I was working on finishing the wood I was working on the stand with the help of my dad who used to be a carpenter years ago.



note our expert use of Ikea storage containers in place of a real workbench 



adding 2x2's for support:


scoring the laminate:


laminate glued on the sides w/ contact cement:


flush-routing the laminate:




after the laminate was applied to the top and routed we cut hand/hose holes in the sides with a jigsaw. I ordered some cable trap grommet's for routing wires on a desk from this company Mold Rite My desk at work has these same grommets so I tested my 1/2" eheim hoses in the holes and it fit perfectly.







The part I don't have any photos of that probably caused us the most grief of the entire project was mounting the euro-style hinges. Because the thickness of the walnut doors was a little thinner than the thickness of the 3/4" MDF sides the hinges weren't aligning properly. We ended up having to route out the hinges on one side of it at unequal depths to get it lined up properly... all said and done though there's just a little bit of unevenness in the gaps above the doors but I'm totally alright with it.











I also ended up coating all of the exposed mdf I could get to with a few coats of polyurethane varnish after reading how terrible mdf is around moisture, hopefully this will protect it from swelling well enough if it gets some drips here and there.

That's it for now, I'll do a write-up of all of the gear I'm using once my tank arrives. I'm also trying to figure out the best way to mount some 3/4" square-tubing to the back of the cabinet so I can hang my light fixture.

Thanks for taking a look, please keep checking back


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## 150EH (Dec 6, 2004)

SWEET book match and the finish looks great, details, details, details, get all those gaps straight and in line. Those hinges should make easy work of any adjustments.

Can't wait to see with a tank on top!!!


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## U2Kent (Jul 28, 2011)

150EH said:


> SWEET book match and the finish looks great, details, details, details, get all those gaps straight and in line. Those hinges should make easy work of any adjustments.
> 
> Can't wait to see with a tank on top!!!


really?? I can't figure out how to adjust the hinges for the life of me, we've messed with them for a good long while and this is the closest we came. The left door is actually bowed just ever so slightly so you can see from the side view that it's pulling away a bit at the top.


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## 150EH (Dec 6, 2004)

There should be screws that moves the hinge in or out. I can't see all that well in the photo, close up needed.


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## GitMoe (Aug 30, 2010)

Man, thats a really nice stand. Cant wait to see the whole thing put together.


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## jkan0228 (Feb 6, 2011)

You should make one for me.  hahaha very nice.


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## SteveMcQueen (Apr 29, 2009)

Oh man, that stand is easily one of the best I've seen. Nice.


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## doubleott05 (Mar 16, 2010)

you should give that walnut a tung/poly finish .... looks fantastic


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## londonloco (Aug 25, 2005)

Very different stand, nicest stand I've seen in awhile. WTG!


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## dinosaurodon (Jun 1, 2011)

So simple, yet so friggin awesoome!


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## ADAtank (Jul 26, 2011)

that wood you used on the front pannel is nice love the grain but with that laminate it throws me off. why not do the complete stand using the same wood? It still looks good


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## U2Kent (Jul 28, 2011)

doubleott05 said:


> you should give that walnut a tung/poly finish .... looks fantastic


I'm going to make a coffee table out of the same wood and I think I'm starting to experiment with doing a satin poly finish but I'm a little worried the poly is going to be way too glossy (even in satin) for my liking. I'm still considering it, I just don't know how well the wood would take to tung oil after already sealing it with Danish oil... have to do some experimenting but I'm not ruling out trying to do that while it's in place at a later date.



ADAtank said:


> that wood you used on the front pannel is nice love the grain but with that laminate it throws me off. why not do the complete stand using the same wood? It still looks good


Hopefully it will make more sense once you see it in place. It's going in the corner of the living room sort of behind the end of our sectional so the sides won't be as visible as the front of it. Honestly not making the whole thing out of it was mostly a matter of cost and not wanting to screw up badly on my first project and waste a bunch of walnut. For perspective, the MDF sheet was ~$30, the laminate was another ~$30, and the black walnut board for the face was $90 + $50 to have it book matched + $~40 to have it squared and belt-sanded.... It was going over budget pretty quickly, still far far cheaper than an ADA stand and much more rewarding building it myself.


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## 2in10 (Feb 8, 2011)

Beautiful stand, love the walnut board and book matching


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## U2Kent (Jul 28, 2011)

This is the stand in the corner of the room...





150EH, here's what the hinges look like... I can't find anywhere to adjust them


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## hydrophyte (Mar 1, 2009)

Wow! That walnut is awesome.


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## Uptown193 (Apr 25, 2011)

Love the walnut grain look.


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## mcqueenesq (Aug 29, 2011)

Beautiful! One of the best stands I've seen too.


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## kcirtappatrick (Mar 16, 2009)

Gorgeous stand! I can't wait to see how the setup turns out. Keep us posted!


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## oldbonehead (Jul 18, 2011)

Great choice on the stand's finish. Very beautiful like a high-end furniture or speakers. Simply lovely.


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## The_Finglonger (Jun 21, 2010)

love the finish, really awesome!


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## oldpunk78 (Nov 1, 2008)

You weren't supposed to use the router for those hinges. That's probably why you don't have adjustment. Nice stand.


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## malaybiswas (Nov 2, 2008)

The stand is too good. You really did not need the gray laminate. Something closer to the walnut door color would have been so much better. But they do not show from front anyways. Looking forward for the next developments.


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## 150EH (Dec 6, 2004)

No that type has no adjustment other than to loosen the screws and move the door a little. The cabinet looks great as it is but you could always upgrade to a european type adjustable style hinge later if you want. Just make sure you get the correct one if you deceide to go that route.

But it looks good and can't wait to see a tank on top of it with plants and fish!!


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## U2Kent (Jul 28, 2011)

oldpunk78 said:


> You weren't supposed to use the router for those hinges. That's probably why you don't have adjustment. Nice stand.


we only routed out room for the hinges on one side because that door lining up flush with the side, it was just to pull the door out 1/8" or so. little sloppy but it was the fix we decided we needed to make to clean up the lines.

Next time around I'll definitely research my hinges a little better and get some adjustable ones.

I agree in hindsight that I could have built the sides out of another solid wood and just stained to match but I'm still happy with how it looks with the laminate and it was a good learning experience to find out how to apply and flush-trim laminate.

At the moment I'm still waiting on my 60p to arrive at the LFS, they placed the order with the distributors a week and a half ago I believe and it was supposed to have arrived by the end of this week but alas, it didn't 

I bought 6 stem plants to kick off the cycle hopefully and just have them waiting in a 5 gallon bucket until the tank shows up. Thinking I'm just going to follow this to the T more or less to hopefully avoid an ammonia spike: http://www.rexgrigg.com/cycle.htm


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## 150EH (Dec 6, 2004)

It's still a very nice cabinet and if your happy, plus I like the laminate sides it makes it look a little lighter, I'm affraid to ask what the wood for those doors cost.

I've been doing carpentry for years, tons of tools, air compresser, nail guns, etc., but I built an oak valance for my tank to hide the lighting, etc. I make the first one out of scrap pine or what ever I have, nice wood is really expensive now and with a prototype you can fix all your mistakes and not worry about beating it up.


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## U2Kent (Jul 28, 2011)

150EH said:


> It's still a very nice cabinet and if your happy, plus I like the laminate sides it makes it look a little lighter, I'm affraid to ask what the wood for those doors cost.
> 
> I've been doing carpentry for years, tons of tools, air compresser, nail guns, etc., but I built an oak valance for my tank to hide the lighting, etc. I make the first one out of scrap pine or what ever I have, nice wood is really expensive now and with a prototype you can fix all your mistakes and not worry about beating it up.


The board was $90, 8/4ths thick, bookmatching it cost another $50, then having it squared and belt-sanded (I don't have a table saw) cost another $30... so yeah, the wood wasn't cheap, and my first rookie mistake was leaving one of the boards in my car for a day in 90 degree weather after applying the first coat of danish oil to only one side.... definitely warped it a good amount, I had to set weight in the middle of it for a few days to get it back to nearly straight. Using prototype wood is definitely a solid idea  I figured in this case since it was only straight doors I would be pretty safe but I still made my share of f-ups.


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## madness (Jul 31, 2011)

The Walnut on the front is gorgeous and probably worth every penny.

If not for the high quality wood on the front I don't think that the misalignment would be so glaring.

Normally I would say "who cares if it doesn't fit perfectly" but in this case it sort of feels like a little kid took a crayon to masterpiece or something.

If it was just pine or something it wouldn't even matter (and the stand is still incredible) but hopefully someone can provide a tip or trick to help you line it all up eventually.


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## aquaquang (Jun 17, 2008)

Beautiful DIY Walnut stand and work!
Really cOOL dude 

Can't wait to see you add ADA tank and equipments


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## U2Kent (Jul 28, 2011)

The tank finally arrived!

messing around with how to scape it right now, I've got these two nice pieces of ADA manzanita and I was hoping to make a bit of a valley between them... not trying to make them look like trees or anything necessarily, just liked the way they looked like this after messing with placement for a while. Several of the rocks in these photos are just to weigh the branches down.

I'm trying to decide if the slopes are steep enough to give it the kind of depth I want, hard to visualize what it'll look like once it's planted but I'm thinking stem plants in the back corners, glosso or another ground cover in the middle, and some blyxa japonica and other plants under the branches on the slopes.


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## zachary908 (Feb 12, 2011)

Scape looks nice, glad the tank finally arrived. That stand is simply amazing.


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## madness (Jul 31, 2011)

I like the scape.

Different than normal but interesting.

Looking forward to seeing it with plants in it.


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## 150EH (Dec 6, 2004)

Sweeeeeet, nice fit with not an cm to spare and the tank looks great on the cabinet with the substrate matching the walnut, maybe ADA should change the name to walnut AS.

It definitely makes it look like one peice and there's no doubt they were made for each other, I really like it and can't wait to see more.


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## U2Kent (Jul 28, 2011)

so after running the filter for 12 hours it's still pretty cloudy, I tested Ammonia this morning and it's true that the amazonia puts off a ton of it... tonight when I get home I was planning on doing a 50% water change initially, then unfortunately I'm going out of town Thursday-Sunday so I won't be able to do another change until then, I figure I'll do 25% changes like every other day when I get back.

Does this sound like a decent plan?


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## U2Kent (Jul 28, 2011)

Here are some photos of my ammonia filled tank with the stem plants in.







I learned pretty quickly that putting a bushy plant directly in front of the intake is, the thing was totally clogged with debris. I'm still skimming a bunch of random floaties from the aquasoil off the surface.


also, here's a quick teaser from my "real" camera. these were handheld at f/1.4 so there's a little bit of shake from the long exposure... just wanted to get an idea of what I can pull off with the moonlights on. I'll put it on a tripod the next time I take shots like this so I can get some better depth of focus.


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## 150EH (Dec 6, 2004)

It should be clear by now, time for pics and a water change!


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## Gatekeeper (Feb 20, 2007)

Lovely stand. Subscribed.


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## U2Kent (Jul 28, 2011)

150EH said:


> It should be clear by now, time for pics and a water change!


that third photo is actually after 24 hours running the filters and a 30% water change, was still surprisingly cloudy. It looks like this morning it's clearer though.


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## U2Kent (Jul 28, 2011)

I can't remember what the red pipe-cleaner looking guys are, I know the other two are red ludwigia and wisteria but the red ones in the middle have seen a noticeable amount of new growth over the weekend.

this is what the plants look like today, compare with the above photo from 4 days ago



I just started dosing pfertz micros and nitrogen today as well as flourish excel. My PH is still very low ~5 and my Ammonia levels are still very high >5.0mg/l. My nitrites seem to be low for now at .3mg/l

I've only done two 25% water changes since setting it up, wondering if I shouldn't be doing more. 

A question for anyone that's familiar with amazonia (more like amoniazonia amirite?) can I expect my PH levels to raise back up a bit after things calm down or should I be trying to correct for it somehow?


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## aquaquang (Jun 17, 2008)

Nice start!
But your rock arrangement doesn't look natural, doesn't give any depth.


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## U2Kent (Jul 28, 2011)

aquaquang said:


> Nice start!
> But your rock arrangement doesn't look natural, doesn't give any depth.


I'm hoping when I start planting mid-ground plants it will help with that, they'll be up on the banks under the driftwood while the foreground and center will be reserved for (likely) glosso.

This is my next project by the way, building a simple coffee table out of black walnut as well to sit in front of the couch the tank is at the end of.


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## TickleMyElmo (Aug 13, 2009)

Awesome tank! W00t for being in the 60-P club! lol....


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## ReluctantHippy (Jun 23, 2011)

Gorgeous piece of wood - I'm a bit jealous. Love the tank and stand - looking forward to see how everything grows in.


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## U2Kent (Jul 28, 2011)

So last week I cut some of my rotala in half and replanted them as well as planted some baby tears, last night I pulled my driftwood out to tie Christmas moss on it which ended up turning into a partial rescape where I had to replant most of the baby tears and decided to pull out my Wisteria on the left because it was looking really scraggly and I figured I have plenty of stem plants for now.

I tried to reposition things as best as possible but definitely lost some of the banks I'd built up with the substrate. I like that it opened up the left side a lot pulling out the Wisteria though, wasn't a big fan of it blocking the driftwood.


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## 2in10 (Feb 8, 2011)

Looking good, growing in nicely


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## JRMott (Jul 30, 2010)

The stand is amazing and the tank's not to shabby either!


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## U2Kent (Jul 28, 2011)

Thanks guys.

I'm figuring I should let the baby's tears get established a bit before I start trimming them down to train them to spread out. Is generally the right approach with carpeting plants? They're definitely longer than I'd like them at the moment but I don't want to start cutting them down to size until the roots have had a chance to take hold.


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## U2Kent (Jul 28, 2011)

Got a package in the mail from GLA yesterday... have to say, Cal Aqua Labs has some great packaging.





unfortunately I ordered the wrong diameter thermometer, going to have to see if I can do an exchange without shipping cost as much as the thermometer itself is worth.

Here's the aquarium in the corner of the living room:


couple of the new glass:




Here's one earlier in the day with daylight through the window and one a little later with the T5HO on.





and a closeup:


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## jkan0228 (Feb 6, 2011)

What size is the thermometer?


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## U2Kent (Jul 28, 2011)

jkan0228 said:


> What size is the thermometer?


it's a 6mm, I need an 8mm apparently.


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## 2in10 (Feb 8, 2011)

Beautiful tank


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## Uptown193 (Apr 25, 2011)

Nice setup. It is coming along. I was not going to go with the glass inflow and outflow yet but I think I am going to pull the trigger sooner rather than later on them. I have the same Catalina Solar light, are you getting any algae with the light so close to the tank. I have mine raised about 6" over the tank and I am told I might get an algae bloom.

BTW. I love receiving new toys in the mail for example:

















:bounce:


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## jkan0228 (Feb 6, 2011)

What tweezers are those?!?!


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## U2Kent (Jul 28, 2011)

Uptown193 said:


> Nice setup. It is coming along. I was not going to go with the glass inflow and outflow yet but I think I am going to pull the trigger sooner rather than later on them. I have the same Catalina Solar light, are you getting any algae with the light so close to the tank. I have mine raised about 6" over the tank and I am told I might get an algae bloom.
> 
> :bounce:


niiiice, no algae yet, I'm going to hang the light as soon as I can find someone to weld aluminum for me. I'm hoping that it's heavily enough planted for now that the plants are sucking up any nutrients the algae would need, I've seen some pretty crazy growth from the Rotala and Ludwigia. This is at 3 weeks so I could be in for some algae soon but hopefully I'll have shrimps and snails in there by then to help combat anything that might spring up.

I still need to do a cost breakdown and photos of all of my supplies. I'm using pfertz as well but only the micro's and nitrogen at the moment. I took a break from dosing the fertz and excel though as I think it was skewing my nitrite/nitrate readings and I want to be able to tell when my cycle has finished.

The Catalina light I ordered is modified slightly, I have moonlights on a separate power cord so I can have them on their own timer and then I have each of the bulbs on it's own switch so I can turn one off for a few weeks if I do run into an algae bloom or something.

I figure I'll want to add some co2 in a few months here, but so far I'm seeing enough plant growth that I don't need to accelerate it any further yet.

One thing with the new outflow is it doesn't seem to create nearly as much surface ripple as the eheim spray bar I replaced it with. I tried raising it up above the water surface more but that just created an irritating gurgle, hoping there's still enough oxygen transfer going on with less ripple but I'm sure it's doing a much better job of circulating the water lower in the tank.


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## aquaquang (Jun 17, 2008)

Very nice and clean tank! Congrat DIY stand!

What is your ADA tank size?

I think the Cal Lily pipes in-out are too big for your tank size. You should get the nano pipes instead for its cost.


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## U2Kent (Jul 28, 2011)

aquaquang said:


> Very nice and clean tank! Congrat DIY stand!
> 
> What is your ADA tank size?
> 
> I think the Cal Lily pipes in-out are too big for your tank size. You should get the nano pipes instead for its cost.


It's the 60p so size is 24"x12"x14", I was looking at the nano's but feel like they'd be too short... it's kind of an odd size for lily pipes unfortunately. I don't think it would be as much of a problem if my substrate wasn't built up so high in the back, when I hang the light I was planning on moving the inflow pipe to the rear of the tank but it'd likely be hitting the substrate.

I'd be curious to hear what size lily pipes other people are running, guess I was just afraid the nano's would be too short.


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## U2Kent (Jul 28, 2011)

Yesterday I checked my levels and my ammonia is finally down to a negligible level so I decided to go fish shopping.

picked up 7 Rasbora Espei (porkchop rasboras) and 3 Otocinclus










You can see all 3 of the oto's in this photo... I really need a macro lens to shoot fauna.









Unfortunately I'm also starting to see some string algae, hoping I can control this in time. I dropped my photo period from 10 hours to 7 hours and have started dosing excel, micro ferts, and nitrogen again. I had been holding off on dosing the ferts while waiting for the water parameters to level out.

I'm hoping 3 oto's doesn't end up being too much in this tank, initially I had wanted to get pygmy corydora's rather than oto's but I'm hoping the oto's will help me maintain a cleaner tank... will see.

I'll probably add 6 or so more rasbora's in a few weeks as well, the school looks pretty small so far but seem pretty happy.

also hoping to ask some experts for aquascaping advice. I feel like the tank is already starting to get crowded with how fast the plants are growing, wondering if I shouldn't just pull out a few of the stem plants altogether or how I can best trim them to improve the aesthetic against the rear wall... I'll post another thread in the aquascaping forum.


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## 2in10 (Feb 8, 2011)

Looks good, don't hold out on the phosphate it will make defeating the algae tougher.


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## jkan0228 (Feb 6, 2011)

And switch the excel to pressurized co2. Worth a lot less in the long run. You picked them up at the anniversary sale at the Wet Spot right?


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## chad320 (Mar 7, 2010)

Looks good. If you want some aquascaping advice...A spool of cotton thread is .99 at Walmart. Retie your moss. I spotted your thread before anything else in the tank. It looks good but the moss will never hide that thread bro.


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## U2Kent (Jul 28, 2011)

2in10 said:


> Looks good, don't hold out on the phosphate it will make defeating the algae tougher.


ahhh, good to know, didn't realize phosphates helped combat algae growth. I'll make sure I order some from pfertz, I hadn't purchased macro's yet.



jkan0228 said:


> And switch the excel to pressurized co2. Worth a lot less in the long run. You picked them up at the anniversary sale at the Wet Spot right?


no co2 yet, still shopping around to see what kind of setup I want to go with  seems like it'd definitely help combat the algae though I'm sure... wondering what kind of rig I can get into for $100-150. My plants seem to be growing just fine sans co2 but I definitely don't want to be battling algae.

anniversary sale at the wetspot indeed  although I didn't really see anything on sale, I was sort of focused on grabbing my fish and heading out... don't suppose you know of any shop in town that has blyxa japonica and/or assassin snails. I've got a snail outbreak from the plants and they're not MTS so as far as I can tell I want to get rid of them, just saw some eggs yesterday and I'm not to thrilled about that.



chad320 said:


> Looks good. If you want some aquascaping advice...A spool of cotton thread is .99 at Walmart. Retie your moss. I spotted your thread before anything else in the tank. It looks good but the moss will never hide that thread bro.


haha, I'm planning on removing that twine in a week or two when it looks like the moss has established itself. definitely didn't count on it hiding the twine, it's pretty thick.


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## jkan0228 (Feb 6, 2011)

When I checked on Friday, they had plenty of blyxa at their store. I'll have some in a few weeks if you want.


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## U2Kent (Jul 28, 2011)

jkan0228 said:


> When I checked on Friday, they had plenty of blyxa at their store. I'll have some in a few weeks if you want.


d'oh, I totally forgot to check when I got my fish... the previous two weeks they didn't have any.

I might take you up on that if you're up for a trade. I'll have plenty of ludwigia or rotala if you'd like some


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## U2Kent (Jul 28, 2011)

So I've been battling this Spirogyra by cutting all ferts and only dosing excel and H2O2. I've also reduced the photo period to 5 hours a day. The first 3 days I dosed 20ml h2O2 and 10ml excel. today was the 4th day and I dosed 10ml h2O2 and 10ml excel. trying to figure out how much the spirogyra should recede before I resume dosing ferts. Also I have potassium and phosphorous now which I didn't have before so I can start dosing all nutrients. I'm also ready to get CO2 so I'm going to start researching it this week and see what kind of setup I can get for ~$150.

I have some new additions to the tank. I pulled out some of the rotala and added a Cabomba Caroliniana and a few Blyxa Japonica's to green things up. I also added 10 rasbora espei to the 6 I had (had purchased 7 originally, one disappeared) and got an electric blue ram as well... really loving his personality so far, here's hoping he doesn't wreck my substrate.





Here're all of my oto's lined up nicely for a group shot... who's that photo-bombing it?






Here he is terrorizing some moss:


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## rountreesj (Jun 12, 2007)

i saw where the doors looked a little off, abnd dont know if you fixed it, but with those hinges...

on the low door. loosen the screws on the cabinet side of the hinge on the top and bottom hinge. push up on the door and hold, then retighten the screws. do the same on the door side. NOW BE CAREFUL!!! the screws can break...so i'd get some replacements and put new screws in one at a time then lift the door/tighten the new screws.

on the higher door, do the opposite, this will align the doors a bit.

i use the same type hinges so thats hw i know...


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## rountreesj (Jun 12, 2007)

also, so close to the window? thats asking for algae...


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## CmLaracy (Jan 7, 2007)

*I love the book matched cabinet!!* I'm a fan of exotic woods and thats nice, heres a piture of my "book matched" maple topped guitar (PRS) 










The scape is a nice attempt, the wood is an odd color but well placed. The rocks would work if it were for one thing. 

Sometimes people don't realize this until their 2nd or 3rd scapes, some people never realize it. These ADA style of nature scapes require a LOT of depth, which means very sloped soil. The soil in the back of my tanks is usually 4-5x higher than in the front. Is usually keep the front at about an inch or lower, with the back quite high, 4+ inches minimum. I'll be making an Iwagumi journal in 2 or 3 weeks and I'll make sure to post pictures of how drastic the slope is.


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## jkan0228 (Feb 6, 2011)

I wanna see this in person someday.


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## U2Kent (Jul 28, 2011)

quite a bit to update, unfortunately my ram died a week or so ago. He seemed fine one day then the next I saw him doing the whole gasping for air thing so I checked the nitrite levels. Sure enough, there were trace amounts, just one step above zero on my test but they were definitely detectable. I did a 30% water change then waited 2 days then did another 30% water change but apparently it was too little too late, on the 5th day or so I found him dead. I think I'll wait a little while longer before I try rams again. I'm glad I started with just one rather than buy two like I'd initially intended.

Here's what the tank looked like on Friday before pruning. As you can see the light is still sitting right on top of the tank and I'm still fighting the spirogyra algae.









and here is the tank this morning after finally figuring out how to suspend the light over the weekend (although not as pretty as I'd hoped, still want to figure out how to do it more subtly, I don't like the wire I used.) I also trimmed things back considerably last night, pulled out the rotala in the back right completely so I could move the intake pipe further towards the back without plants clogging it.















So that's where I'm at now... at this point I'm ready to add co2, I'll probably be asking about it in the equipment thread. I'm going to see if I can't get a decent starter setup w/ a regulator for $150-200 and would love advice. I'm hoping it'll help me better combat the spirogyra.

I'd also love some aquascaping advice. I'm about ready to just pull out a bunch of the stem plants and plant something else that doesn't grow in so densely. I'm concerned about pulling up the wisteria though because it's roots are super thick now and spread across pretty much the whole back of the tank... thinking maybe I would just want to cut it all the way back and let the roots decompose on their own but I feel like it'd keep sprouting up. If anyone wants to offer advice on what kinds of plants I should consider or how I can better prune what I do have to be more balanced I'd appreciate it.

I'm thinking if I get any more fish anytime soon it'll be something like pygmy or dwarf cories to work on eating any food that falls to the bottom before the rasbora's get to it.

Let me know what you think!


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## U2Kent (Jul 28, 2011)

oh yeah, plants from left to right along the back are... red ludwigia, rotala walichii, cabomba caroliniana, another rotala, then the wisteria taking up the entire back left now that I've pulled out the third rotala clump. My baby tears are looking really healthy on the left where all of the light from the window falls and not so healthy on the right. I had my photo cycle cut way back due to the algae and the height of the light so I'm going to ramp it back up again now from ~5 hours to more like 7 hours I think since the light is a good 10+" off the top now.


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## U2Kent (Jul 28, 2011)

So I just moved and tore-down my tank completely in the process. I also just added co2 for the first time and am ready to try out some new plants.

What I was sort of hoping to accomplish this time around was just stripping back a bit, I felt like with the two pieces of driftwood things were a little too crowded so I took one piece out and flipped the other on it's side. I also replaced the rocks I was using with some lace rock I picked up.

not a lot of setup photos unfortunately since I was in a hurry.







am I doing this right??? 










the Amano's seem to like this rock a lot as I suspected they would.




so... that's what I've got so far, all that's planted is java fern and a couple of anubias coffeefolia. I'm waiting on my eleocharis belem hairgrass and I'll probably let it go with just those for a little while while I figure out what else I want to plant. I definitely have a raised area in the back left corner set aside for something taller... maybe another type of grass? open to suggestions. I think it needs something taller back there to balance out the long branch pushing right.

In retrospect I probably would have cut a few inches off the long branch to open up the right side a little more but I'm okay with it and am not about to tear it all down again to do that. 

I definitely don't feel settled with how I've got the rocks placed on the right-hand side. I want to leave plenty of room for planting some interesting things but I think I can re-arrange the rocks to be a little more interesting. 

Again, I'm totally open to suggestions on how I should contour the substrate, what I should do with the rocks, and what else I should plant for some variety plant.

I also could use some advice on how I should start off the co2 since this is my first time using it. I think initially I had it up too high as the rasbora's looked to be gasping for breath (opening/closing their mouths quickly). I had it at probably 1-2 bubbles/second so I've decreased it to more like 1 bubble every 2-3 seconds. I guess I should probably get a co2 drop checker sooner rather than later.

Thoughts? suggestions?


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## jkan0228 (Feb 6, 2011)

Where did you move to?


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## U2Kent (Jul 28, 2011)

jkan0228 said:


> Where did you move to?


just from NE Portland to NoPo, Overlook neighborhood. so not long of a move.


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## U2Kent (Jul 28, 2011)

so, thanks to USPS my Priority Mail package of Eleocharis Belem from California took 10 days to arrive. I just moved and they sent it out for delivery to the old address (which is only 1 mile from the new) then realized the address change (I was still picking up mail at both locations) and sent the package up to a sorting facility by Seattle where it sat for the whole weekend before finally getting back to Portland on Thursday the week after. durf.

well, here's hoping it can bounce back, it's pretty yellow.


this is what I did to the grade of the substrate:


post-planting:


mr. nerite goes for a stroll in the grass:


mr. oto chills on the freshly anchored anubias coffeefolia:


few more angles:




spot the amanos:




bonus long exposure moonlight shot:


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## GMYukonon24s (May 3, 2009)

I like the shape of the driftwood and the moonlight shot.


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## Uptown193 (Apr 25, 2011)

U2Kent said:


> am I doing this right???


Dude, make sure that hose from the filter to the heater and to the tank is not being pinched or it will cause a problem with water flow. roud:


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## U2Kent (Jul 28, 2011)

Uptown193 said:


> Dude, make sure that hose from the filter to the heater and to the tank is not being pinched or it will cause a problem with water flow. roud:


yeah, it was working alright before I added the co2 and inline diffuser but now I'm thinking I need to take it off and add a longer bit of hose before the quick disconnects... canister newbie lesson learned I guess.


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## jkan0228 (Feb 6, 2011)

Is that aquasoil? Do you plan to attach any moss to that wood?


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## U2Kent (Jul 28, 2011)

jkan0228 said:


> Is that aquasoil? Do you plan to attach any moss to that wood?


it is aquasoil... and while I would like some moss the results with my last tank have me a little reluctant. the christmas moss I had before trapped a ton of dirt and pieces of it were constantly falling off and decaying in the foreground making a big mess. Also the driftwood is anchored to a rock so I can't very well take it out to tie moss on, I'd have to do it all in the tank.


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## jkan0228 (Feb 6, 2011)

I think the reason of dirt getting trapped in moss would be inadequate flow or too much disruption of the substrate. With the moss falling off, you just gotta tie it really nice. Go around the wood multiple multiple times so the moss has many threads of cotton or whatnot tying it down. The rock I don't know what to do about. Do you have it like zip tied or glued together?


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## U2Kent (Jul 28, 2011)

well, there're a few pieces of moss left stuck to the manzy from before, I'd say the likelihood of them growing is slim but it'd be nice if it started back up again without me having to do anything.

The rock anchor is tied to the wood with a wire actually :/ I'd literally have to tear down and redo that whole corner mound of substrate to take it out. definitely going to try to avoid doing that if at all possible. The reason I anchored it was because I was tired of bumping the wood everytime I did any maintenance and having it fall over and kick up clouds of mulm (probably why the moss was dirty) meh, maybe next time.


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## Uptown193 (Apr 25, 2011)

U2Kent said:


> yeah, it was working alright before I added the co2 and inline diffuser but now I'm thinking I need to take it off and add a longer bit of hose before the quick disconnects... canister newbie lesson learned I guess.


Or cut the longer green tube from the heater to the canister.


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## U2Kent (Jul 28, 2011)

Added some Blyxa Japonica a week or so ago, then added some Vallisneria and a pair of German Blue Ram's just the other day. Here's what things are looking like at the moment.


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## U2Kent (Jul 28, 2011)

no photo updates but the GBR's that I got last week seem to be pretty happy with my low PH, they're already beating the hell out of each other and seem to be looking for a suitable nest. This video was taken 3 days after getting them so I guess it didn't take long for them to pair up.

http://vimeo.com/39116321


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## Uptown193 (Apr 25, 2011)

Kool vid, but whats with all that leaky water noise in the background? That would drive me crazy hearing that all day and night, lol


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## U2Kent (Jul 28, 2011)

Uptown193 said:


> Kool vid, but whats with all that leaky water noise in the background? That would drive me crazy hearing that all day and night, lol


ahhh, I just had the lily pipe elevated to get rid of the surface film, I usually have it up at night (we sleep on a different level of the house) and down during the day.


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## U2Kent (Jul 28, 2011)

New photos from 4/4





































the rams are looking healthy









starting to see some hair algae, thinking it's time to get a drop checker so I can up my CO2 bubble count safely. I cut out all of my fertilizers a few weeks ago when I first started to see algae appearing, really hoping I can catch this before it gets out of control but not sure what the solution is, if it's shorter photo period, more co2, or adding some ferts without adding others.


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## U2Kent (Jul 28, 2011)

this photo is with the plant grow (reddish) tube turned off and some additional processing in lightroom beyond what I usually do... starting to play around with how I'd want to photograph the tank when I finally get a backdrop in place.


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## U2Kent (Jul 28, 2011)

few new photos, thinking I should start trimming the Eleocharis Belem soon to promote growth hopefully. I'd really like to see it fill in more.

the java ferns have been going crazy, I pulled off about 40 baby ferns last night. dunno if the LFS will buy them or I should just dump them.


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## FlyingGiraffes (Jan 30, 2011)

Looks really good. Not sure about the single rock on the right side, but everything else is excellent.  

Good choice of fish too!


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## Jayme (Nov 27, 2011)

Beautiful! I love the Rasboras. I want to pick up some pork chops from The Wet Spot when I get a better tank set up. It always amazes me when I see such clear water and no algae growing everywhere, I have a lot to learn, heh.

I like the rock on the right, it does look very "Oregon". 



U2Kent said:


> few new photos, thinking I should start trimming the Eleocharis Belem soon to promote growth hopefully. I'd really like to see it fill in more.
> 
> the java ferns have been going crazy, I pulled off about 40 baby ferns last night. dunno if the LFS will buy them or I should just dump them.


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## Gatekeeper (Feb 20, 2007)

Looks great!


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## sonofall (Aug 22, 2011)

Wow looks awesome!

Sent from my SCH-I500 using Tapatalk


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## CorrinaCorrina (Jul 1, 2010)

This tank is gorgeous. You should totally enter it in an aquascape contest. The harmony is brilliant. I wish I could achieve something like this. Your hard work has really paid off here 

How are the rams doing? I have been thinking of adding some to my tank...


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## 2in10 (Feb 8, 2011)

Tank looks fantastic


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