# 54 gallon corner "slice of nature" (flooded 11/2/2013)



## Sethjohnson30 (Jan 16, 2012)

I had a 54g corner tank it was a nightmare to scape I eventually sold it and went back to my 55g long corner tanks suck. Good luck I hope yours turns out better than mine did. Here's a pic


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## FriendsNotFood (Sep 21, 2010)

36 gallon corner in better days when my plants weren't dying


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## carpalstunna (Mar 22, 2012)

ya well, I mean I am not going for an amano style tank or some fancy aquascape. I guess I just want something that I can enjoy looking at my fish and plants in. The 55 long just isnt getting it. Also I like the idea of the added depth. I think its hard to get good layering in the 55 long, it just isnt deep enough.


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## carpalstunna (Mar 22, 2012)

I have been looking more at the backgrounds and I think If use one to block of the back corner it will make the tank easier to scape as well because I wont have that back corner that I feel is an issue with many corner tanks, it will almost turn it into a bowfront in a way since the corner wont be planted.


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## carpalstunna (Mar 22, 2012)

Decided to do a customer foam background after seeing some good results on the web. Here is what I have so far.









Also took some old soap bottles and relabeled for my fertilizer mixes. 









Turned my old tank basically into a plant farm. I stuck trimmings everywhere basically to try and grow as much plants I can for the new tank.


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## carpalstunna (Mar 22, 2012)

Added another canister so that when I go to cycle the new tank, I can leave the old tank running and use a filter with established media. The background is coming along, I will have to take some more pictures. 










Plants and fish are doing well in the farm.


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## mattrt09 (Jun 12, 2010)

i think that corner tank looks great! and if your using established equipment and plants im sure it will be a cakewalk


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## Algae Beater (Jun 3, 2011)

i prefer cube tanks to corners, much easier to work with


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## carpalstunna (Mar 22, 2012)

I think I will enjoy the challenge of corner. I really think I can make it work and have some ideas, it will be something different. Everyone has cubes, not many corners. I have seen a few done well. Now I need to come up with a clever name for it, like "slice of nature". Get it because its shaped like a piece of pie. HA.


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## indigo (Aug 1, 2011)

carpalstunna said:


> "slice of nature"


hahaha I like it you should totally name it that.

Hows that background going?


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## carpalstunna (Mar 22, 2012)

good I have two coats of mortar on. Its hard to get different colors layered without totally coloring over the first. We will see. Its a litte more brown that I want right now. I will take some pictures. I just keep layering on until it looks like I want.


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## vincenz (Jan 29, 2012)

I can only imagine scaping a corner tank..

I wouldn't layer the brown and black substrates, to be honest. I did that once and regretted it, both of them eventually get mixed in with each other when you start to move things around. Looked awful.


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## carpalstunna (Mar 22, 2012)

There was a store aquarium adventure in columbus that had a really well scaped corner tank. I mean its not going to fall in line with a style but I feel good about how it will turn out.

Ya I decided to go all eco complete for that reason and the amazonia is nearly impossible to find right now. I will upload some more pics this weekend.


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## carpalstunna (Mar 22, 2012)

Still a work in progress I think I am going to add some darker color to it either a blackish brown or dark gray.


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## 2in10 (Feb 8, 2011)

I think a corner tank can be a great set up for depth as you have stated. The background it looking good.


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## wrangler (Oct 14, 2007)

I have a 70g corner bow. I used Eco complete and Eco cichlid sand in the front. It is hard to come up with a scape...... But I still love my tank. Also you will prolly want several water circulators to push water around, ESP if you are growing live plants and using co2. Jmho


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## carpalstunna (Mar 22, 2012)

Ya I have 2 canister filters one with a spray bar and a koralia power head if I need. 

The corner tank will free up alot of space in the living room. Happy wife=happy life


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## carpalstunna (Mar 22, 2012)

the background is almost done


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## wrangler (Oct 14, 2007)

While I only run 1 canister on mine I have 3 water circulators on mine to push the water around and ensure no dead spots. Your background is coming along nicely!


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## carpalstunna (Mar 22, 2012)

Here it is soaking, any suggestions for how long? I was thinking a couple weeks.


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## Fortheloveofplants (Apr 15, 2012)

Like your tanks


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## Werdna (Nov 3, 2006)

What kind of mortar did you use?

How is the foam performing after a year in the water?


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## Sajacobs (Aug 24, 2012)

Your background looks great. Looking forward to seeing your slice of pie develop.


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## carpalstunna (Mar 22, 2012)

THREAD REVIVE!!!!! so that last picture was about as far as I made it. Life happened and I never finished my project, so the tank and all the goodies have been in the basement. I think over the next few months I will get it up and running. Fall project. 

Right now I am just shopping lights. Wanting to go all LED. Right now either finnex ray2 or ecoxotic panorama strips. I think I have given up on doing a DIY led fixture. It doesnt seem like the cost savings is really there looking at the price of these new LED fixtures.


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## carpalstunna (Mar 22, 2012)

Ordered a ray 2 today will likely add a monster ray but I will take some par readings first. I siliconed in the background tonight


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## loveflying (May 18, 2011)

I like the background.


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## carpalstunna (Mar 22, 2012)

Do you all think the silicone will be enough to secure it. I used it on the bottom, 1 side and the back. I tried to apply it as heavily as possible. even with cement its still pretty buoyant.

In other news, goodies arrived when I went home for lunch today.


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## FlyingHellFish (Nov 5, 2011)

Hey Carpal, was wondering if you could do me a favour. You have a par meter right? Could you get some reading on a normal 23w CFL bulb? Thanks!


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## carpalstunna (Mar 22, 2012)

FlyingHellFish said:


> Hey Carpal, was wondering if you could do me a favour. You have a par meter right? Could you get some reading on a normal 23w CFL bulb? Thanks!


Ya I do, want me to try it at some different distances? Underwater?


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## FlyingHellFish (Nov 5, 2011)

Awesome, thank you so much! I would absolutely love to find out how much PAR they give under water on at 12"-16" distance. 

Would you happen to have a desktop lamp with dome reflectors? A while back, I brought a T5HO fixture and it was not as bright. My plants never pearl under the dim light, which I found strange considering the cost. 

Oh and I dig that background you made, it looks identical to the one my LFS sells.


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## carpalstunna (Mar 22, 2012)

FlyingHellFish said:


> Awesome, thank you so much! I would absolutely love to find out how much PAR they give under water on at 12"-16" distance.
> 
> Would you happen to have a desktop lamp with dome reflectors? A while back, I brought a T5HO fixture and it was not as bright. My plants never pearl under the dim light, which I found strange considering the cost.
> 
> Oh and I dig that background you made, it looks identical to the one my LFS sells.


Hmm not sure I have a desk lamp. However my house has these for flood lights and they have a reflector built into the glass lamp, I was going to use those for experiment


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## HSA1255 (Apr 2, 2013)

I like think it's cool you want to take on the challenge of a corner tank. It's a nice looking set up! Just an opinion; the best scapes on corner tanks that I have seen always have a few common elements; a very central focal point and a triangular display when it comes to plants/rocks/wood. These are just two examples that I'm talking about... Good luck with this, interested to see how it turns out.


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## carpalstunna (Mar 22, 2012)

Good examples!! Ya I'm waiting on a few pieces of driftwood but I was planning on leaving the corners pretty open. Almost like treating it more like a square bow front in layout. I'm excited to see what kind of depth I can get in the center


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## carpalstunna (Mar 22, 2012)

Quick update, waiting a week for my silicone to cure. I need to figure out a way to mount my lights. Since the tank is not a square that rules out using the legs on the lights. Im thinking two pieces of conduit bent to hang the lights over the tank. Any ideas?

Also got a few GLA tools yesterday, very nice.


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## zetvi (Jun 12, 2013)

Glasstop would help but i like the hanging and open top


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## carpalstunna (Mar 22, 2012)

zetvi said:


> Glasstop would help but i like the hanging and open top


I have a glass top but here is why I dont wanna use it. 

1. I will have to clean it eventually
2. It will reduce my light intensity
3. I will have to remove all the lights and the top just to clean/prune/do water change. 

My thoughts on floating would be I can make a way to easily reposition them while working in the tank and still have light and not have alot to move.


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## carpalstunna (Mar 22, 2012)

Ok well it took all day but I finally got this thing up and running. The hard scape is basically how I showed it pre flood I moved the one branch. Also I got a medium amount of plant in. I have more but I got tired of panting maybe I'll put more in tomorrow. Also the stem plants are very haphazard. I will tidy things up into groupings once it starts to take off


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## carpalstunna (Mar 22, 2012)

I have 2 ray IIs on this tank and am getting par readings of 40-50 at the substrate. Think it would be overkill to add a planted plus? I want those moonlights


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## FlyingHellFish (Nov 5, 2011)

^ Naw, I don't think it would be over kill. Wait a bit longer, I'm thinking of upgrading to an LED system too. There is a new Current USA LED for plants but under a different name, Brian sent me a vid but I don't have the link anymore.


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## carpalstunna (Mar 22, 2012)

Alright I just preordered the new planted plus. That plus the 2 ray IIs I'm running should give me interesting par numbers. Ill report them when it comes


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## carpalstunna (Mar 22, 2012)

Water has cleared up considerably, seeing some new growth on the dhg


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## carpalstunna (Mar 22, 2012)

Well it's been a week since flood. I have been taking things slow while cycling, and growth is starting to pick up. No algae


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## starfire12 (Aug 13, 2009)

How come you only made a background for one part of the back. I would have done both parts. Other than that I think it looks cool.


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## carpalstunna (Mar 22, 2012)

starfire12 said:


> How come you only made a background for one part of the back. I would have done both parts. Other than that I think it looks cool.


Well it kind of eats up tank space so I didn't want anymore than I had to hide my equipment. Once the stem plants fill in the open side it will be less noticeable


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## carpalstunna (Mar 22, 2012)

Is it just mre or does anyone else question the accuracy of these drop tests? I feel like its hard to differentiate the colors on the charts sometimes. Is there more accurate ways of testing nitrates and phosphates? Im not really worried about amonia. I never test that after a tank is cycled.


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## EndlerGame (Oct 19, 2013)

Drop tests for water quality are used for everything from testing pollutant levels in lakes and rivers to testing the output of water treatment plants, so I think that drop tests are likely the most accurate method available to the average aquarist. Test strips are also available, but they can be even more difficult to interpret the results, and in my experience, they can give readings that are way different than with the drop test kits (maybe the strips just went bad, I dunno). It can be difficult to tell what colors are showing up in the tubes, it's important to observe them in bright light. Your reading will at least be close, maybe off by a point or two, but it's about as close as you can get without expensive research equipment and a lab.


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## carpalstunna (Mar 22, 2012)

Plants are pearling and here is an under tank shot


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## Veritas (Aug 9, 2013)

looking great! Definitely getting some inspiration from reading over your posts. I think i've decided to redo my lighting after seeing your build. A couple of LED fixutres seem to be better than my single 36" Quad T5HO one i'm currently using.


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## carpalstunna (Mar 22, 2012)

So my planted + came today. I just started getting a little algae a few days ago so instead of running all 3 lights I am swapping out 1 ray. Still getting good par readings per my hoppi par meter


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## carpalstunna (Mar 22, 2012)

Getting good new growth, probably almost time for a trim on the stem plants.


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## zetvi (Jun 12, 2013)

Thats lot of rays on one tank


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## carpalstunna (Mar 22, 2012)

zetvi said:


> Thats lot of rays on one tank


Ya I backed it down to 2, 3 is too much.


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## Veritas (Aug 9, 2013)

Yo! got any updates?


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## JBeehler (Feb 25, 2013)

Looking forward to updates on this! Just picked up the same tank and hope to set it up over my break from work for the holidays!


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## thadius65 (Sep 15, 2006)

Your tank looks great. I also have a 54 bow/corner and getting ready to get it back up with LEDs. So you were getting PAR of 75 with ray 2 and planted? Are they both 24"?

Thanks!

Ted


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