# Impulse buy 5.5 Project!



## karatekid14 (Jan 16, 2011)

Good job! The 501 filter isn't the strongest, but it might work for a 5 gal. I don't know about flora max, but ADA Amazonia is great.


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## Raw2 (Mar 2, 2011)

Alright, a little update! 

I decided to go ahead and completely derim the tank, my dad and I made the surround today out of some extra 1/2" MDF we had laying around. I made sure to take pictures of as we made some progress.









I have two choices for filtration, an AC30 or the Turtle 501. I decided to go with Flora Max because it was the most readily available. As for lighting, I am just going to use 2 60watt daylight CFL's for now, I'll probably upgrade them eventually!

Let me know what you think!

-Ryan


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## jcgd (Feb 18, 2004)

I think that's slick. How hard was it to de-rim? Would it be possible to do the top while the tank is planted but empty as a dry start?


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## hockey9999 (Nov 21, 2010)

Looks awesome! Any de-riming tips?


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## Raw2 (Mar 2, 2011)

justincgdick said:


> I think that's slick. How hard was it to de-rim? Would it be possible to do the top while the tank is planted but empty as a dry start?


What do you mean by "do the top?" 

De-rimming took a total of maybe 10 minutes (besides scraping silicone) and was very easy. My dad has a very flexible putty knife that he has sharpened. He just slid it up under the rim and worked it side to side, it is so sharp that it cut the rim at the corners making it very easy to just pop off.


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## jcgd (Feb 18, 2004)

Raw2 said:


> What do you mean by "do the top?"
> 
> De-rimming took a total of maybe 10 minutes (besides scraping silicone) and was very easy. My dad has a very flexible putty knife that he has sharpened. He just slid it up under the rim and worked it side to side, it is so sharp that it cut the rim at the corners making it very easy to just pop off.


Sorry, I just meant I want to de-rim the top rim only.


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## Raw2 (Mar 2, 2011)

OH! haha yeah you should be able to take the top rim off while its planted, especially if you go get a super bendable sharp putty knife.


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## jcgd (Feb 18, 2004)

Sweet. I'm going to try it. Thanks for the how-to.


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## Raw2 (Mar 2, 2011)

Your welcome! What level of lighting is 2 60 watt CFL's considered??


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## PinoyBoy (Mar 14, 2008)

I'm no light expert, but I'm sure 120 watts of CFL over a 5.5g is too much light. In case I didn't get what you mean, the light output of those bulbs doesn't matter from what I've read. The actual wattage of the bulb is what matters.

Also, hopefully you waterproof your MDF board. Moisture + MDF board = not pretty. Good luck with the build, it looks very nice.


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## Karackle (Dec 11, 2007)

very cool enclosure you made for the tank! How do you access the top of the tank? is the top panel of the enclosure hinged?

This is a very cool project!


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## gordonrichards (Jun 20, 2009)

Waterproof that mdf!!!


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## Raw2 (Mar 2, 2011)

Karakle- the top just lifts off mdf isn't the strongest so I doubt it would hold screws to be able to put hinges on :/ 

Gordon- I am doing 3-4 thick coats of interior/ exterior primer and spray painting it gloss black. I know a lot if jeep guys use mdf for different things and seal it with a clear epoxy or fiberglass resin- still haven't decided if this is something I'm going to do, it couldn't hurt but idk if primer and paint will suffice as long as no water sits directly on the mdf... Hmmm??


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## JamesHockey (Nov 10, 2010)

PinoyBoy said:


> I'm no light expert, but I'm sure 120 watts of CFL over a 5.5g is too much light. In case I didn't get what you mean, the light output of those bulbs doesn't matter from what I've read. The actual wattage of the bulb is what matters.
> 
> Also, hopefully you waterproof your MDF board. Moisture + MDF board = not pretty. Good luck with the build, it looks very nice.


 he prob meant that they are 60 watt equivalents


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## Raw2 (Mar 2, 2011)

Yeah, I don't think they are actually 60 watts if they're CFL's .


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## Raw2 (Mar 2, 2011)

All painted up, should be ready for the tank tonight!


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## JamesHockey (Nov 10, 2010)

Raw2 said:


> All painted up, should be ready for the tank tonight!


Looks awesome


Sent from my iPod touch using Tapatalk


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## HolyAngel (Oct 18, 2010)

Nice!

I'd say the only thing about floramax is if you plan to use root tabs, either make it pretty deep at 2-3" or cap it with sand of some sort. I used root tabs in plain floramax about 1-1/2" deep in a cycled tank and had an ammonia spike at 5+ppm for a week and a half despite 100% WC's daily, it continued until I capped it with tahitian moon sand and within a day it was perfect again.


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## Raw2 (Mar 2, 2011)

Oh wow! That's news to me! I wonder why that happened? I have flour max in my edge too, but didn't watch the levels. I don't know when I'm going to put fish in this tank I want to be able to gas it hard and grow out for a while before I do anything.


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## Raw2 (Mar 2, 2011)

Alright! It's been a while, so I figure I'll give everyone an update- 

I got the tank stand all done, setup and tossed some random things in the tank, fought with my Asa paintball valve, and left for a weeks vacation, this was quite detrimental to the tank, it was ugly. I mean I think I had every kind of algae under the sun in that tank when I got home. The Asa valve lost pressure but still managed to leak allllll the co2 out, thus algae took over. 

The stand hasn't fared well with the moisture seeing as we built it out of mdf because we had enough laying around to make it with- so tonight I began a whole new adventure-

I took everything out of the tank besides the Eco complete, drained the tank and pulled it out of the stand, set the stand aside and got to work. I was lucky enough to get a 3x5" patch of HC via raok today (thanks cboss!!) and planted away, all torn apart the HC was almost enough to cover everywhere I want it to grow, I am going to give. Dry start my best American try and see if I can't be a little more successful! 

Specs:
5.5g 
Will use turtle 501 
Catalina aq. 26w pc lighting 
(they sent 10k bulbs, I'll be getting 6500 soon) 
Eco complete
Paintball co2 once it's filled


I decided to use a beverage factory reg with the paintball tank, if anyone has any ideas about a seal between the tank and reg let me know, the nylon o ring they sent is too thick to allow the threads to grasp. All I need now is a needle valve, I found a place locally that has clippard MNV-4K2 needle valves for like $11- hopefully that's all I'll need. 

Now for the pictures!! 

This is while the tank was still in the stand and it was looking haggard. 









Front shot of the new layout in progress. 









top edge shot. 









The leftovers from the tank, hooked up my filter and heater to keep the bacteria alive and well (hopefully)









Question- is there such thing as too much light with a dry start? I am doing the 26w for 14hrs a day but I've also got a cfl I can add. 

Thanks for looking! Sorry it's a little lengthy. Questions, comments? 

-Ryan


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## chonhzilla (Apr 22, 2008)

the surround looks cool. More pics?


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## Raw2 (Mar 2, 2011)

Well, I think I am ditching the surround sadly it is already super bubbled and the paint is popped so I do think I am going to use it anymore.


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## sampster5000 (Oct 30, 2010)

Looks great! Too bad on the canopy. It looked awesome.


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## Raw2 (Mar 2, 2011)

Alright just a little update-

I bought some "glass stone" only one of which actually looks like a hunk of glass, the others are actually pretty cool! Put them in and also some more HC in more detailed spots, I'm impatient so the faster I get it to fill in the better  

FTS








Above the left side








Above the right side


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## Bree (Dec 17, 2010)

Very nice start, i can't wait to see it all grown in, your HC is doing great and i love the simple (yet VERY effective) scape!!


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## Raw2 (Mar 2, 2011)

Alright so I flooded the tank a couple weeks ago and have been fighting a leaky co2 setup so it's kind of an algea bomb right now, kind of looks like Frankenstein...


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## gnod (Mar 24, 2011)

how's this tank doing? were those 2 lights enough for h.c. to grow? do you think 1 light will be enough?


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## Aphyosemion (Oct 15, 2004)

As soon as I saw you were using MDF for the canopy, I was like, uh oh. MDF can't even be touched by moisture or it bubbles, rots, and just generally comes apart. When you remake that canopy try going with real wood and, whatever you do, throw a couple layers of polyurethane on there! Polyurethane is basically like adding a layer of plastic on the outside so you get a completely waterproof project as long as you don't miss any spots. It is easy to apply, you just brush it on, like paint, basically.
I made a handle for a poof for the shower out of oak with 4 layers of polyurethane and that puppy is waterproof even under water.


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## kamikazi (Sep 3, 2010)

what is the actual wattage of your bulbs, most likely they are either 13, 15 or 23 watts.

For that tank using the socket you showed I would put two 13 watt 6500K CFLs in there.


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