# Kirsikka : Updated photos before and after replant and journal on post 45



## CLEVEsports420 (Apr 19, 2008)

I'm the first to say it, WOW! BTW are those Blum hinges? (I work for a cabinet company, Kraftmaid Cabinetry, go to lowes or home depot this weekend and order a kitchen!)


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## Sticky230 (Mar 30, 2008)

omg. its michael bey "awesome." do you get glare when you watch t.v. form the monster light in there?


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## jinx© (Oct 17, 2007)

Very nice set up. roud:

I would have went with bottom plumbed myself, but still looks great. Was there a particular reason for going back plumbed rather than bottom?


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## isu712 (Jan 11, 2008)

Your stand is gourgeous. I really like the curved top and you make it sound so easy to build. You could have nothing in the tank and it would still look great.


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## Ladykatze (Jan 13, 2008)

Echoing everyone elses comments - WOW! I love your tank and stand. You obviously put lots of thought, work and care into the planning and execution. I would say that it paid off. Totally wonderful!

Cheryl


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## YankyTexan (Mar 8, 2008)

The curved cherry canopy both functionally and visually is impressive to say the least. If this is your first woodworking project then I look forward to viewing your next one.

What type of finish did you opt to seal the cherry with?


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## original kuhli (Nov 28, 2006)

Thanks for all the kind words.

Clevesports420: dunno about the hinges, bought them from Lee Valley...they could be!

Sticky230: There's no glare on the TV at all, the angles just seem to work out.

Jinx: Initially I went with the plumbing in the back so that any nasty leaks while I'm away couldn't totally drain the tank. I hindsight I'd probably go through the bottom. In short, I was chicken.

YankyTexan: The stand was finished by:
1. Two coats of weak shellac to equalize absorption of the stain/dye into the cherry.
2. A mixed water based aniline dye built from these (http://www.leevalley.com/wood/page.aspx?c=1&p=20082&cat=1,190,42996)
3. Minwax wipe-on poly.

After building the cabinet and canopy I started testing finishes. I quickly realized how hard cherry is to finish evenly. Its resin rich and tends to get very blotchy, one approach is to use solvent to remove the resins on the surface of the wood, the other is to use an initial coating to control/limit the absorption of the dye/stain into the wood. I opted for the second method with shellac.


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## fshfanatic (Apr 20, 2006)

NICE JOB! You should be very proud of this tank.


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## PDX-PLT (Feb 14, 2007)

original kuhli said:


> After just over a year of research and work ...


That's nice to hear; it makes me feel better . 'still working on mine but it's getting close, and I started after you.

Very nice job on the stand, BTW.

P.S. - This is a woodworking project, not a carpentry project. Different things entirely.


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## original kuhli (Nov 28, 2006)

Funny piece of info, I accidentally put my fill water on the intended CO2 inlet (wtih diffusor behind the seal) and my CO2 onto a line without anything behind it. The CO2 is responsive and stable! 

Basically the intended chamber for diffusion is doing its job without a diffusor on the CO2 line.


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## CLEVEsports420 (Apr 19, 2008)

Kuhli,

One thing occured to me, I'm sure you already know what I'm about to tell you, just thought I would throw it out there as a just in case. As you may know with cherry, over the years it tends to naturally darken, which is one of the many reasons people choose cherry. BUT...

Direct sunlight will speed up the darkening process. Like I said, I work for Kraftmaid Cabinetry, and one of the woods we offer, is cherry. Often when people install cherry in thier kitchens, they dont take into account the sunlight. I.E. a window in the kitchen may catch the rising or setting sun, and direct it on a specific patch of thier cabinets, which will cause only those cabinets to darken much faster than the rest of the kitchen. It is one of our biggest complaints with our cherry cabinets. Just wanted to throw that out there in case there is a window near your tank with sunlight hitting only a portion of that beautiful stand you made. I would hate to see something bad happen to that. 

Hope that helps some.


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## ColeMan (Mar 9, 2008)

First of all...i remember you commenting on a canopy thread i started a long time ago, and man I loved your canopy...it looks even better on your tank!! Really unique, intelligent design. As far as the potential darkening that will occur, like all quality wood pieces, age can only add to its beauty. I guess it would look pretty odd to have a partially darkened cabinet though! Nice work...keep the updates coming!


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## original kuhli (Nov 28, 2006)

I experimented with accellerated aging/darkening of the stand/canopy using lye. It works beautifully although it does give a temporary slight orange tone. 

My goal had been to have the stand a fair bit darker right from the get go, so I've used a water based dye to darken the stand to about what a 100 year old cherry piece of furniture would look like. The stand will probably darken a fair bit more, its darkened a lot in the last 6 months and I welcome the change!

Coleman: thanks for the compliments!


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## Gad (Apr 6, 2008)

That is one sweet setup. :thumbsup:


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## original kuhli (Nov 28, 2006)

*Construction photos*

For those interested, here are the photos from the construction of the canopy and cabinet:

http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/diy/42684-83-gallon-stand-plumbing-ideas-updated.html


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## scada57 (Jan 20, 2008)

Hi *kuhli*,

Incredible cabinet, especially the curved canopy. Also interesting to see how someone else has managed the plumbing, especially the auto-change.

I'm also interested in how you did the redundant solenoid valves. I've got a paranoia about having a basement full of water, and was considering doing something similar. I'm assuming you put them in series. Do you have any mechanism in place to see if one of them has failed (is leaking)? 

Also, I'm assuming the DEMA valves are rated for indoor use? (until I saw your post I was planning to use irrigation valves, but noticed that the detailed spec sheets always mentioned 'for out door use/cold water only' 

-Steve


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## scolley (Apr 4, 2004)

Wow! That is really sweet. Great job on that stand and hood. Really. That is gorgeous! I am happy for you, but d*mn do I wish I had one like that for myself. :thumbsup: 

Your three pronged flow is really innovative. I'll be curious to see how you like it over time. But is does seem logically laid out.

One question... what's the purpose of that clear segment of PVC? I'm sure there's a reason, I just can't figure it out.

Great, great job! You're gonna love it I'm sure. Thanks for sharing this.


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## TheCryptKeeper (Mar 9, 2008)

That has to be the sickest setup I have ever seen! Great job on the woodwork!! I refinished an old antique hutch and buffet that was my great great grandmothers.. it took me 6 months of work and a ton of $$ but totally worth it! my hat is off to you for having the patience. Kudos!


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## original kuhli (Nov 28, 2006)

scada57: The dual solenoids are Dema 401P's connected together with a nipple a few inches long, coming out from the last solenoid there is a quick-connect to a 1/8 line that runs to the tank. They're wired in serial as well by the same power cord. Because all my distances are short, I cut a hole in the wall to pass the electrical cord through, this is also the same hole that the drain and fill line go through. 

I haven't done anything to enable me to be sure that they're both working. Basically, if either fails that will make itself very apparent by the tank being unable to fill itself. In the event that one fails in the open position a periodic inspection is the only thing that will catch it. If they both fail open I'd have a problem!

I chose 1/8 line rather than something large to limit the rate at which flooding could occur if it did. It takes the tank roughly twenty minutes to fill 15% (10 gallons). I've set the fills to occur while I'm generally home for now and will likely move it to the early morning once I'm 100% comfortable things are running well. In that case the tank may overfill for an hour or less (if its a float failure) and it would only be 30 gallons of water(still very bad).

Many people put the solenoid circuit on a timer, thats something I'll do once my setup finalizes.










http://www.demaeng.com/product.php?id=82&catid=8

I gather they're certified for indoor use, they certainly not the basic irrigation valve.

scolley: The clear PVC is really there because I was ordering the ball valves from savko, saw it and thought that it could be useful to get an idea of the flow rates when trying to balance flow through the UV and the CO2 chamber. I'd rather have a flowmeter inline that could tell me what was going through each of the three but I had to draw a line on the expenses somehwere!

Thanks very much everyone for the compliments!


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## TubaTime1010 (Nov 7, 2007)

I like.


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## 20 20 (Feb 7, 2008)

*Should I keep or scrap the initial hard-scape?*

If I answer yes, am I answering yes to 'keep the scape', or to 'scrap the scape'? 






:tongue:


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## original kuhli (Nov 28, 2006)

20_20, damn you're right and there's no way for me to edit the poll, does anyone know how to modify/end the poll? I can't see the edit functionality.

I've asked a moderator to help out, in the mean-time, lets go with "yes" means keep, no means scrap the existing hardscape.


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## fshfanatic (Apr 20, 2006)

I have an FX5 and was considering altering the plumbing a bit. How much flow did you lose?


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## fshfanatic (Apr 20, 2006)

original kuhli said:


> 20_20, damn you're right and there's no way for me to edit the poll, does anyone know how to modify/end the poll? I can't see the edit functionality.


Ask a moderator to do it for you.


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## original kuhli (Nov 28, 2006)

fshfanatic: The FX5 provides adequate flow for the tank, without the plumbing it was something that you'd want to limit the flow on, now its about right. Basically, alll the longer leaves on plants move a little bit with the flow, the fish swim counter to the current and for me its close to right. 

I can't really give you a good proportion of flow that I've lost, I hadn't tested it with media in prior to building the plumbing. Maybe if I get some time I'll be able to shoot a little video of the flow with the booster on and without it.

The reason I went with the booster is that I wanted the ability to move the detritus in the tank about with current. My hope is that this will help with keeping maintenance down.


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## original kuhli (Nov 28, 2006)

*Gulp...costs*

Here's the really ugly part, a rough guideline of the cost of things I've put into the project. Some of these prices will seem higher than usual because of shipping/duty to Canada. I decided early on that I'd had my last tank for 12 years and have had tanks since I was 4 so I surmised that I'd probably have this tank for quite some time. I didn't really scrimp anywhere...

$600.00 Custom Tank and FX5
$400.00 Tek 4*54 fixture
$350.00 Cherry wood 
$50.00 Cabinet hardware
$80.00 Cabinet Finishing supplies
$225.00 Poseidon PS4 pump
$75.00 used UV sterilizer
$340.00 Aquacontroller Jr. 
$200.00 Milwaukee CO2 reg., paintball cylinders and adapter
$450.00 plumbing parts including Sched 40 PVC and bulkheads
$65.00 Autotopoff.com autofill kit
$230.00 7 bags of Fluorite
$200.00 Petrified wood
$170.00 Drain and fill solenoids
$80.00 Fertilizer injectors 
$40.00 Booster pump for auto-drain
__________________________________

$3655.00 (not less than)


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## Adhlc (May 4, 2008)

I think the tank looks great. Keep the scape as it is, just add more plants!


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## original kuhli (Nov 28, 2006)

Thanks, I've retained a bunch of plants from my old setup but I'm resisting using them unless absolutely necessary to balance the tank. I had MTS in my old tank and don't want them again!


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## macclellan (Dec 22, 2006)

That curved canopy is the tits!


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## original kuhli (Nov 28, 2006)

Things are settling in nicely with the tank, the water changes have been predictable and faultless. I'm getting a fair bit of green dust algae and have added 15 Otto's to the tank, did they ever go to work last night! I think they may be able to single handedly solve the problems.

In response to the algae I've reduced my photo period to about 5 hours for one set of lights and killed the other ones for now. Also, I've pushed the CO2 up to about 45ppm with no signs of stress in the fish, interestingly I still haven't moved the CO2 to the plumbing inlet that has a diffusor behind it and I'm having no problems maintaining 45 ppm. This setup is using very little CO2 compared to my old limewood into a powerhead intake method that I was using on the previous tank.

I've also picked up some utricularia graminifolia to produce a carpet along with the hairgrass that I have. The stuff is amazingly bright green and I'll be very happy if I can get a carpet going.

At this point the hairgrass has settled in and is starting to grow quite well. Also, my Cherry's were decimated in the last tank and I'm down to 3 so 15 more are coming.


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## fshfanatic (Apr 20, 2006)

How long is that 24oz paintball canister lasting you? I use the same one (24 oz) on my 29 and it lasts 2-3weeks.


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## original kuhli (Nov 28, 2006)

My paintball cylinders are 20 Oz(I don't think you can import 24Oz), on my 130 gallon they were lasting me around 3 to 5 weeks depending on how well the powerhead was operating and the number of plants in the tank. The tank was stocked with Saggitaria, Anubias and a few swords. The Sag. was growing like crazy and was consuming the majority of the CO2. 

One of the cylinders was at about 70% (I filled on March 25th) when I put it into this setup and it still hasn't run out 10 days later. I was expecting that with a 15% water change daily that I should experience increased CO2 use but it doesn't look like thats going to happen. 

I think it will be a while till I know for sure how much CO2 this setup will go through but the initial indication is that its reduced. As I get more plants going that may change.


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## @[email protected] (Oct 24, 2007)

"carniverous plants"? is that a joke?

awesome stand and canopy btw.


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## original kuhli (Nov 28, 2006)

Nope, Utriculara Gram. is a carnivore, catches real small organisms(<2mm) and uses the nitrogen from breakdown.

Here's an article describing it better:
http://www.tropica.dk/article.asp?type=aquaristic&id=731


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## @[email protected] (Oct 24, 2007)

wow thats cool. i never knew there were carnivorous plants underwater. what do you feed it?


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## original kuhli (Nov 28, 2006)

Dunno for sure, I know they're capable of feeding carniverously in nutrient poor environments, from the limited reading I've done it looks as though they'll grow just fine with CO2 and high light with fertilization. 

What I am wondering is if UV sterilization will be negative or have any effect on the plant.


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## original kuhli (Nov 28, 2006)

*May 13th replanting*

Here's the replanting I did last night. I split up the hairgrass clumps and divided 3 pots of Tropica Utriculara Graminifolia around the front right .


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## fshfanatic (Apr 20, 2006)

I like it.


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## deleted_user_16 (Jan 20, 2008)

looks nice, add a little more vertical hardscape in my opinion, u have like 1/2 a tank of water left to hardscape and aquascape.


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## original kuhli (Nov 28, 2006)

You're right, problem is thats all the petrified wood I have...getting more will involve another trip to Moab...darn!


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## sick lid (Jan 13, 2008)

You suck! I was happy with my set-up until I saw your's. Now I have this overwhelming urge to rip mine apart and start over. Very nicely done. The woodwork is gorgeous, and the mechanicals of the system seem well thought out. Way to go.

EDIT: The only thing I might suggest is to put your FX5 in a rubbermaid bin of some type. It'd be criminal to spill any water in your stand when you disconnect it for maintenance.


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## NstyN8 (May 9, 2008)

Impressive!
It looks like a REAL piece of furniture. Good choice of lacquer/stain and the hood is very sleek; not bulky.


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## original kuhli (Nov 28, 2006)

Thanks for the kind words. Unfortunately putting the FX5 into anything that's thicker than a nylon will make it even more difficult to get out of the cabinet for maintenance. 

I've sealed inside the cabinet fairly well for the eventuality of water leaks/spills. A small towel takes care of the very small volume of water that does escape during maintenance.


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## original kuhli (Nov 28, 2006)

*Change Log: CO2 ran out*

I thought I'd keep a post/log of changes/tank conditions for future reference. As it stands now I'm still only running 1 of the 2 lights till I get enough growth going to hold the algae at bay.

May 20/08 - CO2 cylinder ran out - (filled on March 25th/08, lasted 8 weeks between the two tanks), currently running target pH of 6.73 with a kH of 12.

May 28/08 - Added two hours per day of the second light to the programming. Hoping to get hairgrass to grow shorter and plants to be more compact in general.

June 01/08 - Hairgrass is going crazy sending out runners/roots after the adding the two hours of light on the second set of bulbs

June 09/08 - Had first hair algae, one leaf on a background plant than I'm going to assume was an old weak leaf. I removed the leaf and no signs of it elsewhere.

July 01/08 - Continued hair algae trouble, consistent ferts address problem. Massive replant and the second CO2 tank ran out, lasted 5 weeks versus 8 for previous tank.


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## original kuhli (Nov 28, 2006)

Here she is two weeks later, the Utricularia Gram. is growing nicely. Also, the hairgrass is growing very tall, something like 8 inches. This photo is after being away 7 of the last 12 or so days. The tank is maintaining itself nicely and I have decided its time to go for both lights running for two hours per day. Hopefully this will keep the hairgrass a bit more compact. 










Here's the May 13th photo for reference:


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## original kuhli (Nov 28, 2006)

The hairgrass is going crazy sending out runners/roots after only four days of running both lights. The long whispy plant in the midground is pearling regularily as well. I'm not sure what its called, need to resolve that.


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## @[email protected] (Oct 24, 2007)

the plants are filling in nicely. i can already get a good idea fo what the tank will look like when full, and i think it will look great.


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## original kuhli (Nov 28, 2006)

The hairgrass is getting gangly at about 8 inches tall though...creating a problem...hopefully the extra light will keep the new growth down.


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## CobraGuppy (Sep 23, 2007)

How do you trim hairgrass?

Do you just cut off the top like you do with "hair"


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## ikuzo (Jul 11, 2006)

the scape looks good with lots of swimming space for those black neons. you gotta do something soon to limit the hairgrass from invading the UG space.


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## original kuhli (Nov 28, 2006)

Ikuzo, you're right, its beginning to, do you have any ideas? 

Cobraguppy, I'm not sure I'd do that, having said that I don't know that it won't work...


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## original kuhli (Nov 28, 2006)

The growth has been very good over the last week, the hairgrass is going wild and everything else is accelerating. Problem is, I'm not sure the design is really going to work out. Time will tell if the hairgrass's new growth will be a bit shorter or not.

I did have the first bit of algae that the otto's couldn't handle, one leaf on the background plant had some hair algae, removed it and haven't seen any in 5 or so days.

June 9th:









May 28th:










May 13th:


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## ikuzo (Jul 11, 2006)

i'm sorry i missed your post. you can prevent the runner to spread by placing a plastic boundary burried around the hairgrass area


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## KatjaT (Jan 14, 2008)

Nice name, A cherry in Finnish:thumbsup:


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## original kuhli (Nov 28, 2006)

Haha, that's quicker than I thought anyone would figure the name out!

Can anyone say if there's a shorter version of hairgrass out there?


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## ColeMan (Mar 9, 2008)

eleocharis parvula is the true dwarf hairgrass, but I've had no luck finding it...


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## mott (Nov 23, 2006)

WOW those tetras LOVE that spot hehe
Looks great!


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## @m[email protected] (Oct 24, 2007)

that amount of growth is amzing in under a month. the hairgrass really like it there.


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## original kuhli (Nov 28, 2006)

I wouldn't be surprised if the hairgrass doubles this week, it more than doubled last week! I did some pruning back to keep it from growing to the front of the tank as well.

I noticed that, the fish are congregating in the same spot in all three pics.


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## original kuhli (Nov 28, 2006)

I've done a massive replant of the tank, the hairgrass was growing far taller than my plan had been for, so I've moved it to the back of the tank where its more constrained by the aquascape.

I'm a bit disappointed by the growth rate of the Utricularia Gram., I'd hoped it would carpet. I've managed to get a sizeable chunk of HC, so I've planted it on the right portion of the tank and moved all the Utric. Gram. to the left.

Also, the 20 Oz CO2 tank finally ran out, my last full tank was put in May 20th so this one lasted 5 weeks. The one before lasted 8 weeks so it looks like the increasing biomass is showing up quite clearly in CO2 use.

Also, I've been fertilizing by hand and have been a bit delinquent in my fert routine, the result...hair algae. I've pulled it all out, but my automated fert system based on an Iwaki fert pump definitely needs to be installed! (http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/diy/67437-piston-gear-pumps-alternative-peristaltic.html).


July 1st after replant:









July 1st before replant:









June 9th:









May 28th:










May 13th:


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## @[email protected] (Oct 24, 2007)

the tetras really like that spot, a LOT. lol

yeah if the hairgrass grows like that then it is the perfect background plant for that tank.


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## finfan (Jun 16, 2008)

looks nice, as far as the initial hardscape, i think it depends on what you want the tank to look like, if you want a scape that looks like a grass meadow with some rocky outcrops, then this is fine with maybe a few larger pieces that will peek out of the grass, if not, then of course you can get into different driftwoods and other plans, its funny how in almost all pix the black neons are in the same spot, do they go around the tank ever or stay in that one corner?


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## original kuhli (Nov 28, 2006)

It makes me laugh every time I take a photo that the Tetra's all go there in defence! They spend all day schooling back and forth.

I am thinking grassy meadow for the first setup of the tank, I really like the lawn look and I'm hoping I can get either the Utric. or the HC to grow up the 'valleys' between the petrified wood. The Utric. really grew well at first and then just stopped, seems it couldn't compete with the hairgrass. Having said that, there's always adequate nutrient so I'm a bit confused as to the lack of growth.


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## leoslizards (Feb 2, 2007)

looking great kuhli. Keep up the good work!


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## original kuhli (Nov 28, 2006)

Thought I'd provide a bit of a report:

1. Water change is working perfectly, very pleased
2. I've not yet automated ferts, thus I've a bit of algae from inconsistent fert routines, mainly GDA but a bit of thread algae. Have purchased a dual bellows pump for $25 on ebay, haven't installed it yet though. (http://cgi.ebay.ca/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...sid=m37&satitle=150262789967&category0=&fvi=1)
3. Introduced snails, did bad things to my carpet after the replant. Big mistake.
4. Started a short variety of Lilaeopsis Bras., optimistic it'll stay very short.
5. Have upped the light a fair bit, but still only running both sets for about 3.5 hours per day.
6. A bit disappointed in plant growth, I think automating the ferts for some consistency will help a lot.
7. Fish are exceptionally healthy with 15% daily water changes...can't wait for Discus!
8. Hemianthus carpet is finally starting to take hold in small areas.


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## original kuhli (Nov 28, 2006)

Changed the filter last night for the first time since setting the tank up. The FX5 didn't load up or loose circulation after nearly six months! Very unlike the Rena Filstar I had on my previous tank...I'm very happy with the filter. Obviously the filter has more than enough capacity to process the waste from my 83 gallon.


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## prjct92eh2 (Apr 8, 2008)

Nice. Now how about some updated pics?


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## ka NUK (Nov 29, 2008)

Did I hear you mention that stand was your FIRST major carpentry project? :eek5: That is incredibly well done!

Puts my "curved canopy" to shame! Nowhere near as fancy as yours, but in my defense I built it with recycled cedar siding for the cedar strip canopy. (and recycled fir skids for the rest). Please ignore the tacky plastic seahorse and angel fish door pulls ...the kids picked those out.










It's an African cichlid tank (no plants) ...but it does have a 20 gal sump inside the cabinet.

Oh, and nice tank too, Eh!

ka NUK


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## BradH (May 15, 2008)

Awesome tank and setup!! This actually just gave an idea. Thanks.


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## original kuhli (Nov 28, 2006)

Ka Nuk, love the old school look! Thanks for the complements.

Bradh...do tell, what idea did it give you?


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## BradH (May 15, 2008)

I like the way you had the substrate built up in the left corner with the big rocks in it. It made me want to do something similar, but add little caves in there as well, for a new tank I wanna setup with bumblebee gobies.


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## plchacker (Jan 30, 2009)

CLEVEsports420 said:


> I'm the first to say it, WOW! BTW are those Blum hinges? (I work for a cabinet company, Kraftmaid Cabinetry, go to lowes or home depot this weekend and order a kitchen!)


Not Blum, I worked for Blum years ago. I was part of the control group for the technology transfer team.. Basically, I was in controls and went to Austria several times to help build and make sure the production machines would run in NC. Lots of fun. Great company.

Great set up btw.


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## Cactus Bastard (Jun 5, 2007)

original kuhli said:


> You're right, problem is thats all the petrified wood I have...getting more will involve another trip to Moab...darn!


If you're still interested in more petrified wood, the Big Al's (in Calgary) has a nice selection. Their prices are reasonable also, $3/lb IIRC
How is your UG doing? Has it spread out much? I know you planted it in clumps as per Tropica's recommendations, but I think they were mostly just trying to sell more plants! A lot of people spread it out very thinly, into individual leaves, and that seems to work quite well for forming a carpet (lot of work though).
It could be our hard water too , I've read that graminifolia does best in very soft water.


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## original kuhli (Nov 28, 2006)

The UG grew great once and then shut down never to be seen again, just withered away. Couldn't really make sense of it, nearly had a carpet then it won't grow again. Seemed like the clumps that were larger grew better.

I just did a major replant, should post a pic...


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## funkyfish (Mar 16, 2009)

Wow your tank looks awesome :thumbsup::thumbsup:


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## original kuhli (Nov 28, 2006)

Thanks, struggling to get the plants to do what I want...but that's why I built it!


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## Cactus Bastard (Jun 5, 2007)

original kuhli said:


> The UG grew great once and then shut down never to be seen again, just withered away.


Ouch! That scares me, I'm about to attempt UG myself (I've planted it, but it's growing emersed atm) Have you given up on it then? What do you have planned for your carpet?


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## original kuhli (Nov 28, 2006)

Yep, gave up on it. Struggling quite badly at the moment, only a large species of lilaeopsis brasilensis seems to be able to take hold.


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## original kuhli (Nov 28, 2006)

Been growing some lower light plants to get things grown in a bit...have a look at the size of the sword plant here:

http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/plants/90349-aquarium-horrors-sword-going-nuts.html#post876837


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## bigd603 (May 10, 2011)

you dont happen to have any pictures of the building of that stand do you? it is absolutely beautiful and would love to see how you did it.


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## bigd603 (May 10, 2011)

Woops, my bad, just reread the OP and saw that you built the Hood (which looks great), and had the stand built for you. So...ignore that last post.


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## original kuhli (Nov 28, 2006)

Gulp, just logged in to see how the forum is going and realized the tank is now 6 years old! Wow, I guess it's time to replace some diaphrams in the solenoids!


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## Mizuhuman (Mar 16, 2013)

Hey! Welcome back, kuhli. So what does your tank look like now?


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## original kuhli (Nov 28, 2006)

So after seven years I'm finally doing the maintenance I should have done back in April last year. No biggie but my fill selonoids that are redundant in a serial way are leaking a tiny bit, daily water changes mean that it doesn't amount to anything so far as a problem is concerned. The drain solenoid also failed open for only the second time ever, again, not much of an issue but it did result in a slow drain from the tank.

Anyway, while knocking on wood I've nothing but good things to say about the Dema solenoids I used!


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