# Treants - 155 Dirt build (56K) It's Flooded!



## Dutchworks (Feb 11, 2012)

Wood was placed and fitted, built up a hillside using old substrate and nylons.


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## Dutchworks (Feb 11, 2012)

Framed the tank with a 2 inch wall to hide the mud, sprinkled dolomite and potash down, and filled with ~80 pds pulverized top soil with 5 pds of red clay mud mix.

Shot of the mud pit:


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## Dutchworks (Feb 11, 2012)

On top of the mud I cut and placed some nylon mesh to help keep it in place.


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## Dutchworks (Feb 11, 2012)

For a cap i went with the black diamond blasting compound (20/40). I made this layer about 1.5 inches.


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## Dutchworks (Feb 11, 2012)

Planted the foreground this weekend, took a while, 14 hours I think. Plants were not in the best of shape, but they are starting to snap back. Ended up using 12 pots each of hc and glosso.


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## scapegoat (Jun 3, 2010)

that's gonna be one kick ass tank


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## Solid (Jul 19, 2009)

That looks like its going to be a really sweet tank! looking forward to see this scape mature.

Will the nylon mesh interfere with the root system and kind of defeat the purpose of a nutrient rich layer?


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## Dutchworks (Feb 11, 2012)

The nylon mesh is basically wedding veil material from a hobby store. Roots will have no problem growing through the stuff. I read here somewhere that using a mesh will help keep the soil in place if you ever have to uproot a plant, so i thought I'd give it a try.

ty for the feedback!


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## RipariumGuy (Aug 6, 2009)

Looks good. A little doubtful as to the driftwood piece on the left, but then again, a lot of things look weird in a dry tank. Have you thought of adding a background at all? Again, looks great, can't wait to see the finished product!


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## ChadRamsey (Nov 3, 2011)

this is going to be an amazing tank, i cant wait to see how you plant it and it fills in:thumbsup:


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## Dutchworks (Feb 11, 2012)

thanks for the feedback all.

Rip, what about the left piece looks out of sorts? It's actually two pieces of wood wrapped around each other. the topmost part is dry so it has a different coloring than the other. I will be adding a background in the near future, either black or blue.

Starting to think of plants to go on the backside of the tank, any ideas here would be appreciated.

tnx!


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## Daximus (Oct 19, 2011)

I like the driftwood on the left personally. The nylon is a neat idea too!


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## RipariumGuy (Aug 6, 2009)

Left is the new right...  Sorry about that, I meant that the right piece of driftwood looks a little off. It just seems to be in the middle of no where. The driftwood on the left has a solid base leading up to it, giving it a focal point. The right piece on the other makes my eye wander. That may just be me though.


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## Marconis (Nov 8, 2010)

This thing is freakin' sweet. Looking forward to it.


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## thefisherman (Oct 15, 2011)

Dutch! its awesome to see you in TPT...i responded to your e-mail, i'll try to post pics of the moss tonight. i'm sure all of the gurus in the forum would be able to ID my moss 

i'm totally excited about your project and will definitely subscribe ...welcome again! 


- thefisherman


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## LetThereBeFish (Dec 7, 2011)

Oh holy cow! This looks very VERY promising! Can't wait to see this in action!  There's only one thing of advice I would add. Follow these instructions: 1. Take out the driftwood. 2. Place driftwood in box. 3. Fill with bubblewrap of package peanuts (your choice). 4. Mail it to me. 5.....well...Thats the improvement....for me. :hihi:


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## wkndracer (Mar 14, 2009)

Thanks for posting the build!
Gonna be a kicker for sure.


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## Dutchworks (Feb 11, 2012)

Week #2 results
------------------
Everything seems to be growing in and getting greener! Added a bunch of Downoi (Pogostemon helferi) today and moved a few things around. Ty for all the feedback!


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## Dutchworks (Feb 11, 2012)

Week 4 results

I decided to name this week "Lessons learned".
I found out the hard way that I had too much water in the soil, started to see the hc and glosso turn yellow and die. After adjusting the water level to about 1 inch UNDER the top of the cap, things seems to be turning around. I no longer mist (except to squirt the moss on the wood) and I have turned the fogger off. 

The fact to impart with those of you wanting to try this method is that the DSM (dry start method) uses the humidity from the soil to keep things moist. You do not have to add water every day, you do not need to mist every day.

Because I had things TOO wet, I got root rot on some of the plants which caused the yellowing and die off. I expect that they will recover, I already see new growth in some of the affected areas.

Full view:









left:
Downoi and Starougyne are really filling in nice.









middle:
Still have some yellow hc left over, but you can see the new growth. Starougyne is filling in and the mini-pennywort in the back is taking over! Fissidens are growing out on the wood.









right:
This was the biggest problem area, you can still see the glosso "dead spots", but it is starting to snap back. Started some xmas moss on the tree here that is taking off good, I have more xmas and mini xmas moss coming next week.









And yes, that is a fly strip in the tank. Seems that gnats love the conditions of a terrarium environment! Guess i could have thrown a frog or 2 in there  

Thanks for looking.


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## Dutchworks (Feb 11, 2012)

Light mods.

I had been toying around with going with LED lighting for this tank, after looking at what's available and what it would take to DIY, I decide to wait a while (not in the budget atm). The problem that I have with my current set up is that the tank is 72in long, and my lights are 60in long. This leaves some noticeable shady area on the ends of the tank.

I had some 48in CoralLife quad fixtures laying around, and had some new bulbs so I decided to adapt them to my setup. Since the tank is only 18in deep on the sides, I will have a little overlap since the lights are 21in. I plan on putting on a background sometime in the future before i flood it, so the overlap will not be too noticeable.

My first step was to cut the lights down to size. I took them all apart, stripped out the wiring and ballasts, and cut the reflectors in half. The lights come apart into two pieces, one for the bulb area and one for the wiring and electrical. I used just the bulb frame and cut this half as well.

To mount all this, I bought some 1/2in aluminum channel, some 10/24 threaded rods, nuts and washers from lowes. I used the channel to make the frame for the setup and drilled it so that I could use the hanging kit to attach the rails between the lights. The rest is self explaining in the pictures.

I did not wire in the fans from the fixtures, the ballasts are mounted on pieces of channel that act as heat sinks.

Each side is able to use 2 bulbs, but that was too much light (130 watts/side), so I'm only using 1 atm per side.

The bulbs are dual daylight\flora or 10K\6.5K in color. I also got some new bulbs for the main lights that I will put into play when I flood the tank. I was not really happy with the bulbs that came with the original fixtures (Aqualine plantgrow)they looked too pinkish, so this time I went with a combo of Geisemann midday and aquaflora powerchrome bulbs. 


















The addition of these lights really brightened up the ends of the tank. I will need to adjust them when I flood the tank to get the correct par settings.


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## Hyzer (Mar 9, 2010)

Excellent scape! Your choice of plants is great too.

What type of fish are you thinking?


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## Dutchworks (Feb 11, 2012)

Hyzer said:


> What type of fish are you thinking?


Initially going to go with lots of shrimp, cherrys and maybe some reds and some otos.

I'm thinking later perhaps 6 dozen or so cardinal tetras for some color. fish will need to get along with the shrimp, so smaller varieties for sure. 
I'm open to ideas if you have any.

Thanks!


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## 2in10 (Feb 8, 2011)

Great looking scape. Have you decide what will be in the back yet?


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## Dutchworks (Feb 11, 2012)

2in10 said:


> Have you decide what will be in the back yet?


I'm thinking of either a large clump of Rotala roundifolia in the middle or a combo of Rotala Magenta and Diandra. This would add a lot of red color to the tank.

On the right side, I have a large mass of needle leaf java fern that i will place behind that tree.

I'm still undecided on the left side, the scape suggests leaving it all as hc in the corner and filling the "hill" with larger mid and background plants.

I'm open to suggestions


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## Miles (Sep 9, 2011)

Wow that driftwood is absolutely stunning in and of itself!


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## kwheeler91 (May 26, 2009)

Thats gonna be awesome, well more awesome. looks similar to jeromeit's 72 bowfront. Hopefully you wont make us wait as long as him to fill it


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## Lil' Swimz$ (Jul 24, 2010)

It's exciting to see more and more people try the dry start method.  Looking forward to updates.


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## Dutchworks (Feb 11, 2012)

Ordered the rest of the plants today for the back, these will all grow emersed so will have a good start on the root system before the flood:

10 -Diandra (Didiplis diandra)
10 -Rotala Magenta (Rotala macrandra v. 'narrow leaf')
10 -Rotala Wallichii (Rotala wallichii)
10 -Mayaca (Mayaca fluviatilis)
5 -Rotala Indica (Rotala roundifolia)

lots of colors in these, reds, orange, greens.

Also got the mosses tied to the trees, I'll update with pics once everything is in this weekend.

I'm shooting for June 1 for the flood.


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## 2in10 (Feb 8, 2011)

Nice collection with a variety of color and leaves


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## Layout420 (Jan 26, 2012)

Looks good so far, that's a massive undertaking to carpet a tank with foreground. Can't wait to see it filled!


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## ikuzo (Jul 11, 2006)

wow 
a dry start for a tank this size
can't wait to see the mature state

14 hours of planting is awesome 
i've done 8 hours
but 14 man, what a tiring job


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## Dutchworks (Feb 11, 2012)

Ok, question time. I am starting to put together my filtration system and decided that going oversize was better than undersizing, so I bought a Reef Octopus OB300D overflow box. This one is rated at 2000 gallons/hr and has dual 1inch outlets.

The question now is the pump size. I am not going to try and push 2000 gallons through that tank, but want a good decent flow. I also am going with a fractioning impeller pump to use as my CO2 injection method.

I was looking at the Danner Model 18 supreme w/fractioning impeller, this one would push about 1200 gal/hr @ 5 ft head. I plan on splitting the outlet which is 1 inch into two feeds that are reduced down to 3/4 in lines, one for each side of the tank.

Does this sound like too much pump? 

Comments, suggestions?

Thanks.


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## Dutchworks (Feb 11, 2012)

Week 6
======

Things are still growing in nicely, moved a few things around, added moss to the trees. More plants coming on Friday for the rest of the tank, will update with pics:


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## Dutchworks (Feb 11, 2012)

Week 7.

Rest of the plants got here today, got them all in (one stem at a time) except a very large NL java plant in the right corner.

Pump is ordered, went with the Mag18 Fractioning, will be here next week. Time to put together the filter, plumbing, etc.


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## Lil' Swimz$ (Jul 24, 2010)

Very nice!


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## kwheeler91 (May 26, 2009)

You dry start guys have some serious patience. I would never last


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## CL (Mar 13, 2008)

Must be nice to have so much real-estate to work with. Solid start. That's a lot of glosso right off the bat!


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## Dutchworks (Feb 11, 2012)

ty for the feedback!

Put the background on last night, really makes the colors pop now (guess I should have also cleaned the inside of the glass b4 the shot)










mini xmas moss:









fissidens are really taking off now:


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## @[email protected] (Oct 24, 2007)

this tank is gonna sick. 
cant wait to see the stems grow to their full size.


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## aXio (May 29, 2011)

Looking really good.


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## Hadouken441 (Mar 19, 2010)

Wowowow. It looks better than most tanks and its not even flooded.


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## TWA (Jan 30, 2012)

Thank goodness you went with black John. In my opinion the best background is black. No question. 

Tank still looks great, What fish are planned?


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## Dutchworks (Feb 11, 2012)

Week 8-9

The last few weeks has seen an explosion of growth. The HC is almost fully carpeted now. I will say that the glosso has been quite a challenge, still having problems with sections dying off for no apparent reasons.




























The xmas moss on this tree has bloomed! really pleased with the spread and growth on it:


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## Dutchworks (Feb 11, 2012)

Time to start on the plumbing. With the great help from a fellow club member Jarrell, with access to some really neat equipment for cutting stuff, we put together the wet\dry sump this weekend. 

The tank is a 40 breeder. There are 2 one inch inlets (the bulkheads) that stick down into a noise reduction chamber on the sides, the water then flows up and over the filter sock plate, down through the socks and then out through an opening that is level with the diffuser plate for the bio chamber. It then flows through the bio balls, out the bottom and through a bubble reduction area before hitting the sump. The sump has a built-in float control that will be attached to a RO system to refill for evaporation. The sump also contains the Mag 18 fractioning pump and heater(s) not sure how many heaters I will need at this point but there is plenty of room to add more.

My thanks again go out to Jarrell for all his help with this build.




























Waiting on another bulkhead (in the mail) to finish it up. The really nice part of this filter is that top lid covers the entire sock and bio chambers to create a very tight seal to keep the CO2 in place.


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## TWA (Jan 30, 2012)

Beautiful filter, man that's nice. You'll love the auto fill, I've heard sometimes those malfunction and just keep filling, but hopefully that isn't an issue. Great looking build, if nothing else I cant wait until the bug tape is out of there.

Flood still coming next month?


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## Dutchworks (Feb 11, 2012)

Thanks for the feedback!:biggrin:

I hear that there is rain in the forecast for this weekend, with the possibility of a "flood" watch...


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## Dutchworks (Feb 11, 2012)

Questions:

should I put the overflow box and pump returns on the same side of the tank (left), or would it be better to put the returns on the the opposite side (right) of the overflow? With ~1200 gallons\hr @5 ft head do you think this will be enough circulation for the tank, or should I throw a couple of Koralia 750's in there as well?

Also planning on dosing EI from the start, and blasting CO2 until I get some shrimp (how long to wait to add them?) into the tank. 

Dosing will be for about 180 gallons (tank + sump):
2 tsp KNO3 @3x week
1 tsp KH2PO4 @3x week
1 tsp trace @3x week
1 tsp iron chelate 13% @1x week (will need to check levels to see how much is consumed)

I will also be using RO water reconstituted with GH boost and baking soda to get around 3gH and 2-3kH.

Does this seem adequate for the tank?

I plan on 50% water changes 3x\week for the first 2-3 weeks and then 1\week after that.

Does this seem about right?

Thanks in advance for any feedback!


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## talontsiawd (Oct 19, 2008)

Looks great. Can't wait to see this come together.


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## Dutchworks (Feb 11, 2012)

more to come in the next few days...


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## wkndracer (Mar 14, 2009)

Dutchworks said:


> more to come in the next few days...


Bwahahaha! I've been reading and waiting!!!
Dry start and all that waiting would kill me LOL
Tanks get added here due to stock requirements.
Dirt AND a sump, great thread!


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## Dutchworks (Feb 11, 2012)

It's Flooded!

Wow, what a wait, 9-10 weeks. I ended up filling it with a mix of RO and tap water. Really pleased with the filter and pump, they are almost silent in the other room., still playing around with the overflow to get it to stop gurgling.



















Ended up putting the Korilia 750's back on the side with the pump outlet, that puts my circulation to about 2700 gallons/hr (pump is 1200).










The Mag 18 fractioning pump is killer, extremely tiny bubbles everywhere. Plants are pearling like crazy:



















Tomorrow, I change the bulbs over to the new ones, tie that java fern on the right to a rock to make it sink better, and try to quite the overflow down. Anyone know the trick for those? It's a reef octopus.

Dosing EI from the start, gonna do water changes every other day for about 2 weeks or so. Hope to start adding some livestock soon! Still have not decided on what fish to add, but I know there will be tons of shrimp.


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## 2in10 (Feb 8, 2011)

Beautiful tank. FW OF are hard to silence for some reason to do with the density of the water. Cover the OF body opening to baffle the sound. Use airline tubing rundown the OF lines to inject air to make the water run more smoothly and turn back the flow on the return pump as another option. This will allow the water to leave the OF without building as much pressure and prevent flushing.


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## ArchimedesTheDog (Apr 9, 2012)

Congrats, that is beautiful.


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## ophiophagus (Mar 5, 2012)

Wow man this system and scape are fantastic Great job


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## jkan0228 (Feb 6, 2011)

Wow, how come I've never seen this tank?! Job well done!

Could you explain to me how that overflow box works? Like how does it start siphoning the water? I don't get how it can get water over the water line. Thanks!

Any plans on Fauna?


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## wkndracer (Mar 14, 2009)

ahhh nicely done.
HOB OF used here also and a combination of flooded and safety drains was my only answer for the noise. Replacing the stock stand pipes with piping; 1st taller, 2nd shorter with a valve inline. I dialed the flow restriction to flood the active drain. Basically running a single drain tuned to the pumps return flow with the second for safety if a blockage happens at the valve.

HTH


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## kwheeler91 (May 26, 2009)

Great job! Now you just have to wait some more!


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## Marconis (Nov 8, 2010)

Beautiful!!!


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## Kathyy (Feb 22, 2010)

Tank looks great. Glad there wasn't a house flood, just a tank flood!



wkndracer said:


> ahhh nicely done.
> HOB OF used here also and a combination of flooded and safety drains was my only answer for the noise. Replacing the stock stand pipes with piping; 1st taller, 2nd shorter with a valve inline. I dialed the flow restriction to flood the active drain. Basically running a single drain tuned to the pumps return flow with the second for safety if a blockage happens at the valve.
> 
> HTH


Do it! You won't be sorry. I put a sponge over the full siphon and it catches most of the solid stuff. 

My sister stayed the night this week and ended up sleeping in the room with the tank without so much as mentioning the tank. She has complained about the sump's noise even when we were just talking and such in the past.


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## Dutchworks (Feb 11, 2012)

> Could you explain to me how that overflow box works? Like how does it start siphoning the water? I don't get how it can get water over the water line. Thanks!
> 
> Any plans on Fauna?


The overflow box works via siphon, there is an aqualifter pump that sucks the air and water out of the "U" shaped channel creating a vacuum that allows the water to flow through the channel. The only bad design of HOB OF boxes is that this is the point of failure in the system. Pump goes out and, well you can get the picture...

I'm thinking of about 50 cherry shrimp to start, add a bunch of ottos, and then I'd like to add about 5-6 dozen small schooling fish, maybe tetras. I was thinking of Cardinals, but now I'm pondering a different coloring. Orange, Red? Ideas are welcome here.



> Cover the OF body opening to baffle the sound


The OF actually has a cover over the outlet tubes with a "silencer" thingy. I have taped this all up to seal it and that has helped quite a bit.



> Replacing the stock stand pipes with piping; 1st taller, 2nd shorter with a valve inline. I dialed the flow restriction to flood the active drain. Basically running a single drain tuned to the pumps return flow with the second for safety if a blockage happens at the valve.


I might try adding some pipe with drilled holes to bring the water level up some over the outlets. Thanks for the ideas!


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## Dutchworks (Feb 11, 2012)

Thanks for the Feedback! I can't wait to get some livestock in here.

Replaced the lights this morning, and like WOW, what a difference.

Old (AquaMedic PlantGrow):









New (Geisemann midday and aquaflora). These bulbs put out way more light!:









better start measuring the PAR and adjusting those, they look way too bright.

I also fixed the overflow. No more flushing and gurgling! Ended up drilling out a hole in some bulkhead strainers and using some RO hard plastic line to break the siphon effect. Constant flow and level with just a slight bubbling sound. Lots better than it was. Thanks for all the ideas on the HOB OF.


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## ArchimedesTheDog (Apr 9, 2012)

How did planting go with that mesh in there, btw?


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## Dutchworks (Feb 11, 2012)

ArchimedesTheDog said:


> How did planting go with that mesh in there, btw?


Worked great, kinda give you a sense of how far to poke the plants down into the cap. I replanted a few things and the roots were growing through the mesh just fine. You will need to cut the roots off once flooded if you ever move a plant though, those plant roots will really grab and hold onto that mesh. It holds the mud in place really well.


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## Dutchworks (Feb 11, 2012)

Ok, with these new bulbs, the pars levels are crazy. After raising the lights up to 32 inches above the substrate here are the results as measured from the substrate. Note that the back of the tank is about 3-4 inches higher than the front and sides:










Should I go higher yet? That's some pretty high par values. I have the CO2 cranked, drop checkers are yellow so no limitations there. Water parameters are:
dGH: 5
dKH: 4
N: 10 ppm
P: 1 ppm


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## 2in10 (Feb 8, 2011)

You definitely might want to a little bit. I would bump the K to 30 ppm as it does no harm and keep your N at 10 ppm.


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## Dutchworks (Feb 11, 2012)

Ok, raised the lights up another 4 inches. this puts it at 36 inches from the substrate:










This looks about right, Medium light in most all places except the back middle.


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## jkan0228 (Feb 6, 2011)

A school of maybe 100 cardinals would be nice considering how big your tank is. You can get them from Msjinkzd(Rachel) as they're tank-raised. Much hardier than wild ones and cheaper than most LFS's. I think she's out of stock though. 

Ever thought of roselines? Although they might do a little harm to the foreground when feeding.


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## Dutchworks (Feb 11, 2012)

Week 10-11

Things are starting to grow like crazy, still adjusting CO2 levels, adding circulation pumps, and doing 50% water changes every 2 days. I now have 3 ottos, 10 cherry shrimp and 1 amano shrimp in there. Starting to see a little bit of browning on some leaves, I'm adding Co2 every day just a bit until it settles down to the correct level.

The problem is getting the CO2 levels low enough before the lights come on for the day. Drop checker is lime green atm.


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## daobn24 (Apr 22, 2011)

Wow beautiful tank! I must say though, your old bulb really bring out the warm and color of the red plants.


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## Dutchworks (Feb 11, 2012)

Thanks for the feedback!

I ended up unplugging the 2 CFL's on the ends of the lights. Way too much light for just starting out. maybe after the tank matures I'll turn them back on, but without the 2 lights on the end it dropped the Par quite a bit on those ends. Starting to see some melt on some of the HC, I contribute this to the CO2 levels still being tweaked. Started to add Florish Excel at normal dosing to act as a buffer until I get the levels corrected. I have the CO2 coming on now about 2 hours before the lighting period. PH starts out in the morning around 7.4 and will drop down to 6.4 when the lights come on. Over the course of the day, the PH will drop to it's lowest of 6.3. Drop checker is lime green to greenish yellow in the area with the least circulation. I'm also thinking that I should have added some bacteria to the filter to jump start it, will do that after I change out and clean the socks tomorrow. I'm also thinking of mowing the HC to get rid of some of the bad spots.


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## Walleye (May 14, 2012)

Your tank looks great! Truly an inspiration! I will be DSMing a 55 gal in a few weeks so I really enjoyed following your experience


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## 2in10 (Feb 8, 2011)

Beautiful looking start, sounds like the CO2 is dialed in just fine. You may need to adjust your dosing of micros and macros, including Ca, Fe and Mg to get it all to settle in.


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## Dutchworks (Feb 11, 2012)

Week 15

Trimmed twice now. I had some issues with CO2, but I think I have it dialed in correct now. I also put some aluminum screen over the top to diffuse the light, that dropped the PAR about 20% down to 45 on the sides and 65-70 in the middle. I've added quite a few more shrimp, now have 60-70 RCS, they are very happy and busy. Added 2 SAE's and a few more tetras. The moss on the trees is filling in nicely.


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## crazydaz (Mar 18, 2007)

I have to sheepishly admit that I hate all bowfront tanks. Except yours. It is truly magnificent, Dutch. It's a testament to your dedication.


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## 2in10 (Feb 8, 2011)

Your tank is looking fanastic


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## ArchimedesTheDog (Apr 9, 2012)

Breathtaking.


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## monkeyruler90 (Apr 13, 2008)

Wow everything filled in very nicely!!!


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## Dutchworks (Feb 11, 2012)

ty for the feedback. 
It's a labor of love (and sweat and cursing, and etc...)
Next step is to put some fish in there:icon_wink


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## Dutchworks (Feb 11, 2012)

Updated for August. Tank is now a little over 3 months along after flooding.
I trimmed the HC in front way back, got some bare spots now but they will fill back in a few weeks. My next task is to remove all of the ground cover on the right and replace with HC.


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## alkatraz (Jul 28, 2012)

Fantastic! 

I had to check back a page to see if you took the driftwood out, barely visible now.


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## Williak (Jun 26, 2012)

This tank is ridiculous... Excellent work.


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## flowerfishs (May 6, 2009)

excellent build. The scape is just so amazing beautiful! I love it so much! looks like it's time to trim.


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## wetbizquit (Jul 9, 2006)

well hey if your taking out any plants and want to give them away, i would gladly pay for them  and the tank is just breath taking seriously..... its sooooo gorgeous!! great work friend!


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## fnkxican (Oct 29, 2010)

Dutch, what makes you want to remove the ground cover from the right?


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## nonconductive (Jan 29, 2010)

wow!


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## tommypham (Jul 10, 2012)

Nice tank ... i like roud:


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## Dutchworks (Feb 11, 2012)

fnkxican said:


> Dutch, what makes you want to remove the ground cover from the right?


originally, the right was planted in glosso which did not do well for me during the dry start phase. I added a small clump of Hydrocotyle sibthorpioides which has taken over that side of the tank.

I want to use the HC as the single ground cover for this tank and make it uniform in appearance across the front.

Ty for looking and the feedback :icon_smil


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## Dutchworks (Feb 11, 2012)

September update. Tank is in need of a bad trim (this weekend). I'm really liking the red coloring that's starting to take shape, will be planting more of that this weekend from the trimmings and some stuff that I am picking up on Sunday.


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## flutterbug (Jan 8, 2012)

It's beautiful! Very inspiring. I love that foreground plant but I can see your vision of a solid foreground and it would be perfection! Someday I hope to have something as nice.


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## TheBigSleep (Aug 28, 2012)

Somehow missed this journal until now, but wow! Truly a gorgeous tank, I love the rooty feel of the wood - bravo!


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## Dutchworks (Feb 11, 2012)

November update

Totally overgrown and in need of a good trimming:


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## ikuzo (Jul 11, 2006)

i love the left side of this tank
the crypt (balansae?) mixed with stem plants (hygrophila?) in between looks awesome


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## mikeross (Nov 28, 2012)

wow great read and amazing tank.

You mentioned in previous post about your PH fluctuations. How does a huge drop in PH not affect your fish. I am a complete noob to planted tanks but why does your PH drop so much over a period of hours and what was your solution to this issue.

How much does your ph fluctuate now? I am planning on a large planted tank and adding an asian arowana to the tank. It will not thrive with ph fluctuations so I wanted to know what I need to do to avoid this. still doing lots of research and have no yet come across PH fluctuations in my research.

Again, awesome looking tank and will be checking in for further updates.


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## Sd760 (Apr 25, 2011)

Amazing job.


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## Cardinal's Keeper (May 19, 2012)

Beatiful tank Dutch, great watching a tank of this size come together. 

Any chance to get some shots of the under belly of the beast? That is a great custom sump build and would like to see more of it in action if possible.


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## kwheeler91 (May 26, 2009)

All I have to say is this: NAILED IT!


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## marioman72 (Jan 22, 2010)

just read through all of the pages, cool to see a tank of this size come together over time! very nice work beautiful tank.


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## FrstTmr (Dec 2, 2012)

*Awesome Tank*

This is a really, really cool tank. I am brand new to the hobby and hope to be able to construct a masterpiece like this some day. Nice job.


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## ua hua (Oct 30, 2009)

I don't know how I missed this one but very beautiful tank and nice sump build.


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## Dutchworks (Feb 11, 2012)

Ty for the feedback!

Here is December's update. Just spent 8 hours trimming and pruning today and here are the initial results:










Still have some plants to put back in, but needed a break. That being said, I now have a ton of moss to get rid of.

I am also wondering if the needle leaf java ferns need to go. I am either going to remove them, or move them to the corners. They really shade a lot of area that could be put to better use (like growing plants).

I went ahead and rescaped the right side. Going with the "plug" method to fill that area in with HC. That should give the tank a consistent look and feel for the foreground across the entire tank front.


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## Lil' Swimz$ (Jul 24, 2010)

I would agree with moving out the java fern. It looks like it's taking up alot space!


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## Dutchworks (Feb 11, 2012)

Update for Jan, 2013.
Going to remove that big NLJF in the next few weeks.
ET is filling in nicely on the right


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## jamntoast (Apr 16, 2012)

this thread is awesome, great work.


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## Aquaticus (Jan 7, 2013)

Very awesome job!


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## pirayaman (Mar 30, 2008)

for what its worth i love the different gc in the front. the gc in the front right was an awesome green. that gigantic fern on the left however must go its drowning out that awesome plant in back left plus wheres the wood on the left. you had a not over powering hardscape which was great but its gone due to plants.

everyone has taught me so much thats why i am studing plant growth habits before i plunge into a scape like yours u had it all. work with it


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## Dutchworks (Feb 11, 2012)

ty for the feedback, yes that large fern has to go, will be broken up and sold at our next fish club auction this month. 

My Plan is to keep the hc in the very front, then a layer of ET and Starogyne. Will fill in the spots left behind under the fern with Starogyne as well. The right side is now dedicated to red plants with a NLJF growing inside them, I like the look of those two colors together. The left side will be rescaped in the back, haven't decided yet whether to go with more red there, or just bring the Ludwigia inclinata, Mayacs and Rotala from the middle across. I have been slowly attaching fissidens to the trees to replace the moss that was there.


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## Allentan97 (Jul 1, 2012)

$&%#@$#%#!!!!!!!!! holy cow man! this tank is AMAZING!! one of the best iv seen in a long time! when you do a big trim on the hc, can you sell me the trimmings? ahh i cant get over how good this tank looks... truly truly an amazing job! wish i can afford a setup like that, sucks being 15 and not having a job.. lol


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## HybridHerp (May 24, 2012)

Impressive tank Dutch, I really like it a whole ton.

Any updates? Its been a while lol


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## Dutchworks (Feb 11, 2012)

So I started a new project last month. I basically got tired of the blinding light that was spilling out into the living room so...
I built a canopy. My goal was to keep this very light (in weight) but sturdy. I used 1 x 2's for the framing and skinned it with 1/4 inch sanded plywood.











I will be using these for my ventilation:


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## Dutchworks (Feb 11, 2012)

And the finished product:


















Really cuts out the light in the room, can actually sit in there now without sun glasses 
Just pop the front up on the hinge, and plenty of room to work.


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## Dutchworks (Feb 11, 2012)

Flora update for April.
Getting ready to do another rescape, more to come...


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## Dutchworks (Feb 11, 2012)

And last but not least, I added an LSM module to my apex system, makes a nice night light in the room


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## EngineChauffer (Apr 3, 2013)

You sir, are talented. The tank looks phenominal and what skills building that canopy! Very nice job indeed, definitely gonna keep an eye on this one. Keep up the great work!


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## rballi (Mar 4, 2010)

I might have missed it on here somewhere, by you said you were going to be using a needle wheel in your sump? Has that been successful and what equipment did you use for it?


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## tylergvolk (Jun 17, 2012)

*substrate*

Tell us more about the substrate you used for this build.

"Substrate:
Soil\Clay with dolomite and potash underneath. Cap will be using Black Diamond blasting compound."

What type of soil? How did you prepare it?

Beautiful tank btw.


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## Dutchworks (Feb 11, 2012)

rballi said:


> I might have missed it on here somewhere, by you said you were going to be using a needle wheel in your sump? Has that been successful and what equipment did you use for it?


I used a mag 18 fractioning pump initially, but ended up going with a custom build cerges reactor. Still using the pump though not dumping co2 directly into it.


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## Dutchworks (Feb 11, 2012)

tylergvolk said:


> Tell us more about the substrate you used for this build.
> 
> "Substrate:
> Soil\Clay with dolomite and potash underneath. Cap will be using Black Diamond blasting compound."
> ...


Thanks!
The substrate is just pulverized top soil that I mixed with red pottery clay mixed into a mud paste . Since it was done using a dry start method for the first 10 weeks, I did not need to mineralize it. It cycled during that time. On top of the mud I placed some nylon mesh to help hold it in place and then capped it all with about 2 inches of back diamond blasting compound.


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## rballi (Mar 4, 2010)

Dutchworks said:


> I used a mag 18 fractioning pump initially, but ended up going with a custom build cerges reactor. Still using the pump though not dumping co2 directly into it.


Would you mind showing a picture of how you set it up?


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## Dutchworks (Feb 11, 2012)

Here is the sump and CO2 reactor in action:
http://youtu.be/0aBheBBPyMw


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## Dutchworks (Feb 11, 2012)

and here is a thread on my CO2 reactor build, sump and overflow mods:
http://www.barrreport.com/showthread.php/10438-Sump-mods-for-CO2-effeciency


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## ChadRamsey (Nov 3, 2011)

again, beautiful tank!

but could you tell me why you changed your inside the tank plumbing to the PVC? And why you moved the PVC output around from side to side? 

I have a 125g that i am trying to get a grip on the plumbing myself.

thx


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## Dutchworks (Feb 11, 2012)

When I added the canopy, the only opening is now on the back left side of the tank by the overflow box. I moved the plumbing to the left side back corner to accommodate the hood.

Changing the water flow in the tank was not a problem as I also repositioned the koralias inside the tank. The water circulation is now a circle pattern.

The plumbing inside the tank has always been pvc.


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## Dutchworks (Feb 11, 2012)

Update for June.
as you can see I have done a bit of rescaping, sorry for the glare, will try for a better shot later at night.


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## Black Hills Tj (Jul 19, 2008)

Gorgeous tank. Hard works pays off, and this looks awesome.


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## rballi (Mar 4, 2010)

Since adjusting your sump configuration, how often are you having to refill your 20# co2 tank?


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## Dutchworks (Feb 11, 2012)

rballi said:


> Since adjusting your sump configuration, how often are you having to refill your 20# co2 tank?


I refill it every 60 days or so. The tank and regulator is now feeding 3 different tanks, the 155 and 2-30 grow out tanks so my consumption is up.


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## Dutchworks (Feb 11, 2012)

Some better shots for June:


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## nonconductive (Jan 29, 2010)

this tank is just sickening


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## CL (Mar 13, 2008)

The tank looks great :thumbsup:


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## Lil' Swimz$ (Jul 24, 2010)

How are the glowlight tetras? They contrast well with the cardinals! I was thinking of getting some.


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## Dutchworks (Feb 11, 2012)

Lil' Swimz$ said:


> How are the glowlight tetras? They contrast well with the cardinals! I was thinking of getting some.


They are some of the hardiest fish that I have had. Had them for going on 2 years now. Wanted to add some red color to the tank


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