# Mott's ADA 120p "Pathway to nowhere"



## mott (Nov 23, 2006)

Hi all, I've been collecting stuff for this tank for two years now and FINALLY I have it together and planted :thumbsup:

First off I wanted to reinforce the stand because it's a little old and I just "feel" safer now 

Underneath:



















After a quick sanding and painting, I think it came out pretty good!











The Lights: 4X54 T5HO by Catalina during the modding for the hangers:



















Done 









Constructing & hanging of the Lights:




























Finally in place and ready to go!










Above shot:


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## VadimShevchuk (Sep 19, 2009)

oo that is look awesome! Is that the final placement of the driftwood?


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## mott (Nov 23, 2006)

Back with more 

First I got the Substrate in and divided parts with cardboard.

ADA Aquasoil for the planted sections and Nile sand EDIT Xingu sand for the foreground

Voila! Instant Hardscape!





































I just wanted to show my Maintenance hangers, I just lift the lamp and click done.
Simple and effective:



















Maintenance position: 











Ok on to the Planting:

UG: I have been growing UG emmersed for some time now, I hope it transistions well.

planting trays


















UG Planting:thumbsup:



















Now the right side, Erio's Australia type II (I believe) and Bylixa Auberti



















And finally some type of long flowing Crypt?? in the back left:
ID please



















Filling:











Filled::thumbsup:





























I just put some Sunset Hygro in the middle left next to the path and they are looking good!

I will update on the Weekend, Enjoy


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## mott (Nov 23, 2006)

VadimShevchuk said:


> oo that is look awesome! Is that the final placement of the driftwood?


Sorry, No, look below your original post:thumbsup:


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## VadimShevchuk (Sep 19, 2009)

mott said:


> Sorry, No, look below your original post:thumbsup:


 that looks amazing! cant wait for it to fill in because it looks awesome:thumbsup:


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## mott (Nov 23, 2006)

Thank you^^


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## Capsaicin_MFK (Nov 15, 2009)

Finally! I've been waiting to see what you did with your putting green :icon_cool

Nice layout and good luck with the UG.


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## rwong2k (Dec 24, 2004)

wow great looking tank, can't wait to see it filled in


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## mott (Nov 23, 2006)

Capsaicin_MFK said:


> Finally! I've been waiting to see what you did with your putting green :icon_cool
> 
> Nice layout and good luck with the UG.


How did yours turn out?


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## flwrbed (Apr 20, 2005)

any details on how you did the "putting green".

thanks


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## Gatekeeper (Feb 20, 2007)

Looks killer bro!


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## crf529 (Jul 24, 2010)

Great looking tank.


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## mott (Nov 23, 2006)

flwrbed said:


> any details on how you did the "putting green".
> 
> thanks


Sure no problem:thumbsup:

http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/plants/106687-my-immersed-ug-setup.html


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## Dan the Man (Sep 8, 2009)

looks great! **subscribed**


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## mott (Nov 23, 2006)

Gatekeeper said:


> Looks killer bro!


Thanks Glenn!


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## mott (Nov 23, 2006)

Under the hood:
Pressurized co2 #5 tank Milwaukee ma957, Hydor 200w inline heater and a AM1000 reactor Runnin through a Eheim 2026




















I'm going to put my 2217 with a surface skimmer, Hydor 200w inline heater and a 9watt turbotwist UV on the right side in a week or so when the livestock goes in.


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## flwrbed (Apr 20, 2005)

thanks for the link. that was a great read.

i might try that for kicks and giggles


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## mott (Nov 23, 2006)

flwrbed said:


> thanks for the link. that was a great read.
> 
> i might try that for kicks and giggles


Kool np, it was really easy with the AS and high light:thumbsup:


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## non_compliance (Dec 1, 2009)

Very nice... tank would have looked awesome even hardscape only! cant' wait to see it with livestock and a bit of growth.


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## FDNY911 (Dec 6, 2009)

Subscribed. This is really really damn nice! Good Luck!


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## !shadow! (Jan 25, 2010)

very nice and clean set-up.


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## BradC (Dec 22, 2010)

Great tank so far!

What kind of fluid do you have in your bubble counter? It looks very milky in color.


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## Capsaicin_MFK (Nov 15, 2009)

mott said:


> How did yours turn out?


Grew like a weed, sold/donated most of it to people in Minnesota. I'm trying to get more of a diverse plant selection here...I brought it to a Minnesota Aquarium Society meeting and nobody knew what it was, but a lot of people want it now. Right now I have the UG growing in a 2.5g 

Your 120-P is so sleek looking. My next tank will definitely be rimless.


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## Betta Maniac (Dec 3, 2010)

Really beautiful layout (use of carabineers is brilliant!).


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## IWANNAGOFAST (Jan 14, 2008)

Very nice, love 120p's.


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## mott (Nov 23, 2006)

BradC said:


> Great tank so far!
> 
> What kind of fluid do you have in your bubble counter? It looks very milky in color.


I'm using mineral oil, it looks milky because I'm doing about 10 bps! No livestock yet so why not inject as much as possible


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## mott (Nov 23, 2006)

Thank you for the kind words everyone, means a lot!


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## Dan the Man (Sep 8, 2009)

> I'm using mineral oil, it looks milky because I'm doing about 10 bps! No livestock yet so why not inject as much as possible


Amen...


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## antbug (May 28, 2010)

Wow! Another 120p. I love it! You are making me want to set mine up and I still have to wait. Very nice start.

More pics please!


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## Da Plant Man (Apr 7, 2010)

I really want a 120p now...


I think you should have a picture of a golfball on the UG once it fills in submersed.


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## mott (Nov 23, 2006)

Caton said:


> I really want a 120p now...
> 
> 
> I think you should have a picture of a golfball on the UG once it fills in submersed.


I think the golfball would float I'm hoping the UG transition goes ok, I haven't tried going emerssed-submersed yet


How high would you guy's recommend the light be hung? right now they are about 9 inches from the surface, I'm running 2x54 for 7 hours right now.


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## rickztahone (Jul 20, 2009)

looks awesome! love the hard scape. Subscribed


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## F22 (Sep 21, 2008)

love it... 'nuff said.


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## semperfimrn1 (Jan 19, 2011)

wow looks great!


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## Da Plant Man (Apr 7, 2010)

I didn't think golfballs floated...I always thought they sunk at the bottom of the water hazards because I see people swimming for them...


Anyways, do you have a fauna list yet?


Edit: I would like to fully thank you for putting this journal here. Today is a day that will live on forever. I have officially reached the status of Planted Tank Guru, AKA 2,000 posts. I know I am nowhere near where lauraleellbp is, but I hope to strive toward where she is. Thank you for letting me take the time to give this speech. -Caton


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## mott (Nov 23, 2006)

Caton said:


> I didn't think golfballs floated...I always thought they sunk at the bottom of the water hazards because I see people swimming for them...
> 
> 
> Anyways, do you have a fauna list yet?
> ...


Congrats on the 2000 mark!

Fauna is Blue ram's, rummys, roseline sharks, chain loaches, ottos, bushy nose plec and amano & cherry shrimp.

Hmm ill have to tets the golfball


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## mott (Nov 23, 2006)

Caton said:


> I didn't think golfballs floated...I always thought they sunk at the bottom of the water hazards because I see people swimming for them...



Found out the average golfball does NOT float  unless made to so hopefully if the UG goes ok that'll be done for sureroud:


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## mott (Nov 23, 2006)

Can anyone ID this plant?


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## Cryptocoryne (Sep 3, 2010)

Looks like some type of narrow leaf crypto not sure of the specific name...


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## deleted_user_16 (Jan 20, 2008)

mott said:


> Can anyone ID this plant?


is that growing from a stem? if so i think i know the plant

EDIT: you said it's a crypt so i'm guessing that means it's not from a stem


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## ZooTycoonMaster (Jan 2, 2008)

Crypt Retrospiralis?


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## mott (Nov 23, 2006)

ZooTycoonMaster said:


> Crypt Retrospiralis?


I think you nailed it!


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## zyn1 (Aug 26, 2010)

nice setup.....digging the light


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## mott (Nov 23, 2006)

Back with an update:

Things are going pretty good, I noticed some burned leaves so I raised my lights another three inches.
They now are at 11 inches from the surface. Dose that sound about right? 
I'm running 2x54 for 6 1/2 hour photo period.

Following the Ei method as it's easy and did me good in the past, doing a 50%WC every other day 
I'm not bothering to even test the parameters until this weekend, I did this with AS on my mini-m so I know ammo is high for two weeks at least.




So I have this fungus stuff growing on the DW, I kind of thought it might happen, I've seen it before, H2o2 kills it nice so if it gets outta hand I'll attack it.





















I peeked under some UG and the roots seem to be sending runners so thats a good thing
I'm getting some melting which was expected with emerssed UG..Bad shot but you get it:thumbsup: 











I added some Anubias nana and Bolbitis between the rocks.











and finally some Sunset Hygro











Some shots:




























Some nana petite I shoved in the holes of the DW










Above shot: I like the Hygro:thumbsup:









Comments, suggestions?


Oh, I threw in the Cascade internal filter just for some extra flow until I throw the 2217 in.
I like this little filter, filled it with floss just for mech, comes with a spray bar and it was really cheap like 12 bucks I think.


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## 02redz28 (Jan 16, 2011)

Comment: I love this look.

Suggestion: More pics! 

Do you have any fish or plan to add any fish to this?


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## 02redz28 (Jan 16, 2011)

NM... found the "fish list" up farther.


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## !shadow! (Jan 25, 2010)

very nice tank. Why don't you fill the water to the top? l think it might improve the water cube look. Do you have any plans in the future to cover the division line of soil and sand or do you plan on leaving it the way it is until ug grows in? Also xingu sand is awesome, love the color of it and how naturalistic it looks. will be using it more often in my upcoming projects.


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## mott (Nov 23, 2006)

!shadow! said:


> very nice tank. Why don't you fill the water to the top? l think it might improve the water cube look. Do you have any plans in the future to cover the division line of soil and sand or do you plan on leaving it the way it is until ug grows in? Also xingu sand is awesome, love the color of it and how naturalistic it looks. will be using it more often in my upcoming projects.


To be honest, I'm scared Sh**les to fill it to the top
For the next update I'll try it::thumbsup:

I plan on leaving the line the way it is and see how it goes.

The Xingu is awesome, I love the stuff, up close there is a lot of different shades to the substrate.


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## kat (Feb 2, 2011)

this is really beautiful. if i was infront of this aquarium i think i'd be starring at it all day


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## Centromochlus (May 19, 2008)

Beautiful tank!


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## Da Plant Man (Apr 7, 2010)

Not sure on the sunset hygro, it looks like normal hygro and not "sunset", grows great emersed (and invasive submersed).


Loving the tank though.


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## mott (Nov 23, 2006)

Caton said:


> Not sure on the sunset hygro, it looks like normal hygro and not "sunset", grows great emersed (and invasive submersed).
> 
> 
> Loving the tank though.


Hmm, whats the difference? I always thought this was sunset cause it gets pink on top.


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## Da Plant Man (Apr 7, 2010)

It is pink on top? My always has pink veins and pink leaves under high light. All I saw was a green hygro in your pictures.


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## Aquahollics (Feb 1, 2011)

Beautiful tank, the aquascape is gorgeous... Look forward to seeing the growth.


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## Dempsey (Oct 27, 2009)

Your tank is looking awesome! I have always wondered though.....  Not just you, other folks too.... Why not fill the water level up a little bit more?


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## mott (Nov 23, 2006)

Caton said:


> It is pink on top? My always has pink veins and pink leaves under high light. All I saw was a green hygro in your pictures.


They will get pink I think, they came from my 55 floating and severely neglected.


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## boon (Mar 29, 2006)

Awesome tank. That is a lot of $and. I like the scape. I'm with you on the filling to the top. Even on my rimless I don't fill it all the way to the top also, just this fear of the seams splitting.


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## Hobbes1911 (Mar 2, 2009)

That is an absolutely superb setup. I especially like the anubias and DW/stones combination. I feel like currently you don't see that a lot anymore. Rather a leafy plant like blyxa in it's place. I like the stark contrast of the left to the right side. Great idea, can't wait to see how it fills in. - keep up the good work


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## mott (Nov 23, 2006)

Thanks guy's! 

Anyone want to chime in on the light height?
I have it at roughly 11 inches above the surface, sound about right for t5ho or should I go higher?


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## rickztahone (Jul 20, 2009)

mott said:


> Thanks guy's!
> 
> Anyone want to chime in on the light height?
> I have it at roughly 11 inches above the surface, sound about right for t5ho or should I go higher?


keep it at that height and see how the plants react to it.


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## mott (Nov 23, 2006)

rickztahone said:


> keep it at that height and see how the plants react to it.


Ok thanks, I was gonna go with that but I see some peeps go as high as 16 inches:icon_eek:

I finally tested the parameters and the ammo was at 5 ugh dark green, I haven't even begun to introduce fish food yet. You can cycle a tank with AS and not need any fish or anything! 

Today I noticed a lot of diatoms kicking in, hopefully the tank will cycle soon and I can put my clean up crew in which will include 8 ottos,maybe the Bn plec 6 or 7 amano shrimp and a bunch of cherry shrimproud:


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## Betta Maniac (Dec 3, 2010)

mott said:


> I finally tested the parameters and the ammo was at 5 ugh dark green, I haven't even begun to introduce fish food yet. You can cycle a tank with AS and not need any fish or anything!


Yep. I never need to add anything because of all the ammonia thrown off by the AS.


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## mott (Nov 23, 2006)

So it's been 3 weeks since setup and Finally the ammo is coming down! Probably won't be able to put Fauna in until next weekend or whenever it's safe, gonna start with a crapload of Chery's and maybe 8 otto's.
You guy's think I should put in a few of my rummies in also to start?


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## mott (Nov 23, 2006)

Update!

So I put in 8 ottos,15 RCS on Saturday, Lost one Otto but he was just a lil thing and didn't look too healthy:icon_frow Parameters are good plus I've been doing 3+ Water changes a week but I'm adding fish slowly.

Rummies and Plec in a few days:hihi:

I still have my lights on for a seven hour photo period and dosing EI, getting some staghorn and bba algae on the melting leaves of which I have a LOT on every single plant. 

Every plant is shedding off the old neglected and growing new in it's place. I'm hoping no new algae will show on the new growth. 
None so far...:icon_eek: 

On to the pix:


FTS












My favorite view!






















Notice the Erio's in the bottom right how green the new growth isroud:











The UG is transferring just GREAT!!!
This stuff is super easy growing emerssed, going emerssed-submersed is just as easy it seems!











You can't tell from the pic but the ERIO's are doing great also! new growth is super green but the old nodes are dying and algae ridden.


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## speedie408 (Jan 15, 2009)

Hey look! It's my twin! Haha 

I like it man. Give it a few months and it'll be cherry!


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## problemman (Aug 19, 2005)

i love that picture from your loft!


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## mott (Nov 23, 2006)

Thanks!
Hey speedie, how high are you hanging your tek lights?


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## speedie408 (Jan 15, 2009)

mott said:


> Hey speedie, how high are you hanging your tek lights?


14.5" from rim to fixture.


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## mott (Nov 23, 2006)

Hmm I wonder if I should raise mine to 14?

Do you run into problems any lower? It's my first foray into t5ho


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## speedie408 (Jan 15, 2009)

I get bad BBA if lights are too intense. I've cut back to running 2 bulbs at this level and the ground level plants have slowed down in growth, but the BBA has receded.


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## mott (Nov 23, 2006)

Hehe, I thought I'd be able to run 4x54 for a short period but it's looking like I won't


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## speedie408 (Jan 15, 2009)

mott said:


> Hehe, I thought I'd be able to run 4x54 for a short period but it's looking like I won't


Every tank is different in it's own nature so what works for me may not exactly work for you. Play with the height and find that sweet spot. Honestly, I'm still looking for mine so don't take my measurements whole heartedly. Haha 

Important part is getting your CO2 dialed in.


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## Gatekeeper (Feb 20, 2007)

speedie408 said:


> Every tank is different in it's own nature so what works for me may not exactly work for you. Play with the height and find that sweet spot. Honestly, I'm still looking for mine so don't take my measurements whole heartedly. Haha
> 
> Important part is getting your CO2 dialed in.


Don't forget too that certain plants will react differently to certain light levels which could ultimatly affect the "health" of the aquarium. I concur with the CO2 part, but believe that there is a proportion of CO2 requirement per light intensity.

My reccomendation would be to set the light height to your liking and adjust everything else around it, including the CO2, ferts, light duration, etc.

Just a thought. YMMV.


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## mott (Nov 23, 2006)

Thanks, I think I will stay at this height, I don't want to go much higher because I think the UG and Erio's might suffer.
I would still like to try a burst at some point, the tank looks great with all four bulbs shining!

YMMV? You make me vomit? lol that's all I can think of


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## Ben Belton (Dec 12, 2008)

Awesome tank. I'm looking forward to seeing how it grows in.


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## mott (Nov 23, 2006)

So I am back with a long overdue update, I have had my up's and downs with this tank the past year. the downs being mostly due to the dreaded BBA and the latest power outage.

I have been battling BBA for a good year now never seeming to win until recently when I started cleaning my canisters regularly.
I really believe having a clean canister helps curb BBA tremendously. It is now under control at least in my estimation.

With the last power outage I lost all of my Rummies. When I got home from work the house was down to 40 degrees and the tank water had gone down to 50! When I walked in I noticed all of the rummies were scattered around the tank floating upside down not moving. 
My ram was floating almost upside down with her fins barley moving. I immediately did a big waterchange with warm water to bring the tank up to about 65 slowly. The ram came back to life in front of my eyes as the warm water entered the tank! I was happy to say the least.
All others seemed to fair just fine, 6 Chain loaches, 4 ottos about 10 amano's and a dozen cherry shrimp.
Now I'm looking for some new fish and I have my eye of about 50 green neon tetra's! I really like em, they stay real small and look fantastic in a big school.

I added some rotala magenta, Camboba, true DHG and an unidentified plant I grabbed from my shrimp tank(next to the rotala) 
which was barley an inch tall and almost dead! now I have stalks shooting to the top of the tank and reproducing very quick!
Most of my Erio's didn't make it due to BBA  but I still have one and it's looking super healthy. Actually I started with one and split them until I had around eight!

Oh and I added a Black background!

Onto the pic's.
These were taken before the outage and nothing has changed except some of the livestock





























































Side shot








DHG and my pretty single Ram 































Just wanted to show how I hooked up a Fluval skimmer with the Eheim install intake


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## Cottagewitch (Oct 22, 2009)

Very nicely done! Its a beautiful tank.


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## Uptown193 (Apr 25, 2011)

8 months. Welcome back. Nice tank and scape. Is that a German Ram or an Electric Blue Ram?


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## mott (Nov 23, 2006)

Uptown193 said:


> 8 months. Welcome back. Nice tank and scape. Is that a German Ram or an Electric Blue Ram?


Thanks! As far as I know she's a GBR


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