# Aussies 240g build journal (high tech) PHOTO HEAVY



## AussieDIYFK (Aug 13, 2012)

hello fellow fishkeepers,
well im very happy to work out photobucket and can now share my experiances building my dream tank! a 240gallon 8x2x2 fully planted tank
here are some pics along the way of this long journey to planted paradise please enjoy and keep green from troy

8x2x2 custom made starfire front + sides 


starfire visability shown 


twin cabinet i made from hmr white and stainless 


tank on raw cabinet


----------



## AussieDIYFK (Aug 13, 2012)

here are some more pictures of the process of sanding sealing and spraying the mdf satin panels 

sanding satin mdf with orbital sander @ (240p) grit paper


mirotone sealer on panels


hand sanding sealer with superfine 3m scotchpad


sprayed panel with base coat black


panels drying on rack


doors,gables and trim on rack


----------



## AussieDIYFK (Aug 13, 2012)

ok now onto fitting the sprayed panels to the carcass note the bottom trim is not on
the whole process took me no more than 3 days from start to finish with a lot of drinking in-between



now onto applying the 3d background and drilling the intake/outlet holes, 
i used aquaone 3d limestone finish backgrounds as they look sick and really do merge together nicely 



using go-bars and some cloth to prevent scratching on the starfire


drilling holes with diamond holesaw @ 32mm dia


eheim installation set with adj nozzel for co2 (1700plh) and custom 25mm spraybar for main outflow (2400lph)


----------



## AussieDIYFK (Aug 13, 2012)

next step is lighting, im going all dupla gear on this beast and not skimpin on anything
the hanging pendant style is a dupla electra combi II with 2x150w hqi and 2x24w hpc in the middle. bulbs are 8000k  


illuminated


----------



## AussieDIYFK (Aug 13, 2012)

now its time to place this bad boy on location, i litterally had to move house to find a suitable place to home this aquarium
my previous place was an old queenslander with stillts and not worth risking putting over 1.5 ton on the bearings.lol

kicker panel i made becouse the floor was out by nearly 1inch from end to end.


with kick now level the aquarium is placed on and should be dead level. with 2.4 meters of length you need to spot on or it will show


with the aquarium in place its now time to get dirty and start the hardscape and layering the substrate with flourite fertilizer
heres some pics of the process enjoy 

60kgs of playsand for the front and 30kgs of flourite mixed with around 40kgs of 3mm red river gravel


some driftwood pieces that were laying around in the garden collected from 1770 (agnes)


----------



## AussieDIYFK (Aug 13, 2012)

ok guys now on to the fun part the aquascape  i had an overall idea in my head for the lay out and wanted a big piece of driftwood hanging over like tree limb and the rest just filling in, i used the golden ration for the focal point and made my tree limb with the pieces of driftwood that i collected.

layering the flourite in dedicated areas that root plants will be placed


fts of substrate in place


final config of main driftwood creation that is nearly 4ft long and over 2ft high coming out of aquarium (open top)


Lts of the terrace


scaped terrace with the plants in place, sorry i hadnt taken more shots of planting but i forgot and was having to much fun  overall scape had taken less than 1hr


tank took 1hr to fill and this is a shot straight after, easylife added too (hense clouding)


fts


----------



## joey24dirt (Jan 2, 2013)

Looking forward to updates on this &#55357;&#56835;


----------



## AussieDIYFK (Aug 13, 2012)

after the sand storm had cleared in 5 days the water is left crystal


lts (left tank shot)


mts (middle tank shot)


rts (right tank shot)


fts (full tank shot)


i appolgize the camera i had used to take these pics wasnt very good at picking up light so it appears dimmly litt in the corners of the tank, not the case in real time viewing


----------



## AussieDIYFK (Aug 13, 2012)

BEER TIME!! after a hard 9 months of planning and savings and not to mention execution


ok back to business and and time to get the dupla halides hung and install the surround sound  this is starting to sound like pimp my fishtank,lol.
the speakers are bose passive radiator monitors that create some nice base considering there only 2inch 


hear you can see the air port that the back passive speaker is and the front is opposed


i made a custom sliding rail so the halides and both speakers can be adjusted when doing major maintenance


the finished unit and ready to rock out some soothing tunes


----------



## bbqthis (Nov 7, 2012)

Subscribed


----------



## AussieDIYFK (Aug 13, 2012)

now what to stock it with? to tell you guys the truth the main reason i went all out and decided to get an 8fter is my red line torpedo barbs that i hated to see cramped in my old 70g, they needed to swim and i felt so sorry for them i just had to do it. i also had discus at the time and put them also in but at the end there really not suited for high flow planted. ive been through many of fish combinations since inc 50 rummynose and 30 cardinals, congos ect.. but ive finally found a balance and its not overstocked and too busy that it once was. i can finally sit down and enjoy a few coopers and indulge what this project has become, it wasnt easy and caused many headaches,backaches,cuts,bruises,yelling and fustration that only now is getting the results i craved for. you learn from your mistakes and once you make it its like climbing mt tibrogaran and having a beer on top of it, cheers and hope you've enjoyed the build and many more updates to come with growth and wellbeing of the fish  Aussie 

(serenity now)


recent pics shot from canon d5 mkIII (9 months from setup)
fts


fts(fisheye)


Lts


barbs at play


community school


rts


Video of fish room tour (low res)





thats all folks  until then keep green and peace to all


----------



## CobraGuppy (Sep 23, 2007)

Wow beautiful tank! Your barbs and the rest of your fish really must be loving it :icon_bigg


----------



## CTet (Mar 28, 2013)

Really cool tank! Maintenance must be tough! Those water changes!


----------



## farrenator (May 11, 2011)

Congratulations on a spectacular tank! I am glad to see someone else who subscribes to 'more is not always better' when it comes to stocking a tank. You have done a great job and should be very proud. I hope you get to enjoy many a beer in front of that wonderful scenery.


----------



## AussieDIYFK (Aug 13, 2012)

thanks guys for the positive feedback 
ive taken some recent pics from last time to show the growth over 12 months plus changed the front substrate to 3mm red river  hope you all enjoy

DTS


FTS


left


middle


right


barbs and rainbows


bolivian and fw mussel


blue betta


upside down rainbow (thought it would be funny)


bananananananaa mananana




dupla halide on custom sliding rail with bose mounted monitors, 2x150w hqi (8k bulbs) 2x24w (6.5k) compacts


Equipment down below in the galley 


left side (eheim 2180) dupla co2 cyl-reg-mvalve , ista inline reactor, switchboard




right side (eheim 2180) 70ltr siphon bucket+eheim gravel cleaner, custom fert stand with full ferts and buffers



test kits, don't mind the high range its for my marine tanks


----------



## AussieDIYFK (Aug 13, 2012)

more pics to come


----------



## plecostomouse (Jun 9, 2011)

dispite this not being my kind of tank im sure you could sit and watch it for a long time.
really good work everything looks so clean and well organised, something i need abit more discipline in.

good job man


----------



## AussieDIYFK (Aug 13, 2012)

FTS


FTS


----------



## Hedgie (Jan 7, 2008)

Beautiful tank.

How long does that little CO2 bottle last?


----------



## AussieDIYFK (Aug 13, 2012)

thank you hedgie
about 6 weeks @ 2 bps


----------



## Phil Edwards (Jul 18, 2003)

That's amazing! As exciting and dynamic as high intensity stem systems can be, my favorite will always been tanks like yours. The deep greens and serene feel of systems that are mostly ferns and aroids is very appealing to me. You've done a great job using the tank's depth and varieties of plants to their best advantage. :thumbsup:


----------



## jbig (Jul 13, 2012)

this tank is just as awesome as the pink floyd poster above it. 

awesome, awesome set up.


----------



## xmas_one (Feb 5, 2010)

Very nice! I like it much better with the lights up high.


----------



## The Dude (Feb 8, 2011)

That's amazing. Just awesome all the way around


----------



## JEFF9922 (May 8, 2013)

Dude that is so awsome cant wait till I can do a huge tank


----------



## AussieDIYFK (Aug 13, 2012)

thank you all for the positive comments  
i just picked up my sera co2 reactor today and very excited to install it to the system,
the old ista reactor was terrible at diffusing and i would get heaps of micro bubbles so hopefully the sera pulls through with 100% diffusion


----------



## etk300ex (May 1, 2013)

Very nice!


----------



## kwheeler91 (May 26, 2009)

Dude... this is sweet


----------



## Landmines (Aug 19, 2013)

absolutely stunning


----------



## AussieDIYFK (Aug 13, 2012)

cheers guys  heres a pic of the sera reactor 1000 and is designed very-well and built strong with thick smoke grey plastics





the last shots of the tank is only a few weeks ago when i moved it into my new man cave, the tank hasnt had any co2 for at least 2 months and cant wait to finally boost it back to life again


----------



## oldskool559 (Aug 19, 2013)

wow awesome tank!


----------



## ua hua (Oct 30, 2009)

Beautiful tank. I'm glad to see you raised your lights, not only does it give it better coverage but more importantly it's not blocking the bottoms of your beautiful piece of artwork.:thumbsup:


----------



## AussieDIYFK (Aug 13, 2012)

hhaha yeah i didnt want the ladies to be neglected.
are you a tool fan ? if so you would love my old 70g (disposition) most of the stock and plants when in the 240


----------



## ua hua (Oct 30, 2009)

AussieDIYFK said:


> hhaha yeah i didnt want the ladies to be neglected.
> are you a tool fan ? if so you would love my old 70g (disposition) most of the stock and plants when in the 240
> Non co2 Semi planted Aquarium - 70 gallon - YouTube


Yes I am a huge Tool fan. I was hooked after the first time I saw them live back in 1993. Did you get to see them this last year when they made it back down under? That 70 gal is a really nice looking tank also.


----------



## teddo10 (Nov 9, 2004)

Which Nymphaea is that? (on page 1)


----------



## AussieDIYFK (Aug 13, 2012)

yes saw them at Brisbane entertainment center and were amazing as always, its just sad that maynard's voice is starting to weaken a little and were limited to the songs they could play that night.

hey tedd its a red tiger lotus


----------



## Whiskey (Feb 15, 2005)

What a great tank!!! Excellent work, and the wood work in the other thread I saw today was amazing as well.

Do you happen to know how much PAR you are getting at tank bottom?
What CO2 level are you trying to maintain? Do you shoot for 30ppm? Or just put a little in for a plant boost?

Thank you!
Whiskey


----------



## AussieDIYFK (Aug 13, 2012)

hey whiskey, im not to sure on what par or co2 levels I have, I should really invest in a par meter and measure my ph & kh to find out what co2 levels I have, Im just going of a dupla drop checker and its solid green. how do you find the co2 ppms?


----------



## Whiskey (Feb 15, 2005)

AussieDIYFK said:


> hey whiskey, im not to sure on what par or co2 levels I have, I should really invest in a par meter and measure my ph & kh to find out what co2 levels I have, Im just going of a dupla drop checker and its solid green. how do you find the co2 ppms?


There are a couple of ways, One is to measure KH and PH then use a CO2 chart like here:
http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/showthread.php?t=23531

There is some argument about the accuracy of this though, especially in tanks with little or no water changes because acids unrelated to CO2 will build up and throw off the calculation. 

A more accurate way it to precisely measure PH of the water in the tank, then put it in a cup overnight to off gas all the CO2 and measure again, the overnight sample will have about 2-4 PPM then use the chart at that KH level, and scoot over to where you were with the first measurement.

HTH,
Whiskey


----------



## AussieDIYFK (Aug 13, 2012)

thank you whisky for the link. im going to do some test on the co2 and have dropped my lighting periods and lowered the bps on the regulator, cheers


----------



## Down_Shift (Sep 20, 2008)

Wow. The length of the tank. And the halides. Intrnsr


----------



## LB79 (Nov 18, 2011)

...wow...


----------



## AussieDIYFK (Aug 13, 2012)

torpedo barbs sold and 12 discus coming your way, keep tuned


----------



## HunterX (May 19, 2012)

Come on brother! Time for an update!


----------



## andyl9063 (Oct 22, 2010)

AussieDIYFK said:


> torpedo barbs sold and 12 discus coming your way, keep tuned


great decision.
Discus would look great in that tank. I have 12 myself in a 220g.


----------



## CannaBrain (Oct 3, 2008)

Gorgeous, man. You really hammered out all the fine details, paid off.


----------



## AussieDIYFK (Aug 13, 2012)

i hate moving house :-( and 240g of planted tank with it


----------



## AussieDIYFK (Aug 13, 2012)

some old pics i found around 1 year from the start of the setup
note theres been no c02,ferts or waterchanges for 2 months 



Bump: right side through


left side through


java on branch


----------



## AussieDIYFK (Aug 13, 2012)

fast forward another 1 year and here it is before the 3rd move to the new house


----------



## Undertow (Dec 21, 2012)

Sweet tank!!!!!!


----------



## wootlaws (Feb 25, 2011)

Beautiful tank and nice update!


----------



## AussieDIYFK (Aug 13, 2012)

thanks guys, 
heres a quick pic of the tank setup now at the house.
sorry for the spare of the moment pic taken during the day


----------



## TheGreatOne (Nov 7, 2014)

Great Work, very interesting to look and read through the thread!!! Awesome Tank!!!


----------



## TheGrinch (Nov 13, 2014)

I really like this tank! im debating on high tech or low tech and this tank is just amazing!


----------



## second (Jan 31, 2005)

Fascinating


----------

