# Etane's 60P



## acitydweller (Dec 28, 2011)

Nice setup... Quite a busy weekend for you.


----------



## deleted_user_17 (Jun 14, 2012)

I like this set up too. Good luck with the tank


----------



## GMYukonon24s (May 3, 2009)

You have a good start going there.


----------



## etane (May 14, 2012)

Ughmm ... fish lovers don't get mad at me. Sunday passed to Monday and nothing happened. Tuesday (today) morning, a few Brigittaes were swimming funny. Afterwork, I found all my Brigittaes dead except one. 

I don't know why they died as I can only assume that these fishes were being out competed food wise. The Gertrudeas ate all the food up top, and the CPDs and Corys ate all the food on the bottom. Not sure the Hikari micro pellet can even fit inside the Brigittae's mouth.

So, I took the lone fish out into a bowl and fed him some Hikari micro pellets. I came back after dinner, and he was dead too. 

I started out with 12 Brigittaes. 2 died even before I put them into the tank, and the rest died within 48 hours. And, they all died within about 8 hours of each other.

Water test here:










Ammonia: 0
Nitrate: 0
Nitrite: 0
PH: tough call but I think it's 6.8

ALL the other critters are doing fine except one of my two CRS died. He was a Mosura SSS, so I didn't expect him to make it anyways since they are so sensitive especially with the water just set up.


----------



## Sd760 (Apr 25, 2011)

Beautiful tank


----------



## etane (May 14, 2012)

Day 3 update. The tank's water has cleared up. But, don't worry, I will mess the water up again soon enough. Will make some edits to the tank over the weekend such as adding one more bag of shrimp sand to the back of the tank and adding some more plants. I got 15 more stems of True Rotola Indica coming. So, before I make any changes, here's some before photos.



























































I was a bit worried that the tank wasn't getting the right amount of circulation as the water was a bit hazy for the last few days and thought about getting some ADA metal pipes thinking the tank needed longer pipes. Also, I thought the Purigen had lost its prowess and needed to be replaced. I guess the Eheim just took a bit longer to get the tank clear on the 60P compared to the 60F. With the 60F, the water cleared usually in a day. 

So, I didn't do an obligatory detailed list of equipment used in my first post. So, here it is.

Tank: ADA 60P
Pipes: Cal Aqua Nano
Light: Brazo LED (18 High Power LED with focus lens and dimmer) I hated this light for reading but love it as an aquarium light.
Filter: Eheim 2236 w/ sintered glass and a 100ml bag of Purigen
Sand, UP Aqua Shrimp
Rocks: Yamaya
Plants: Anubias Nana, Round Pellia, True Rotola Indica
Animals: Cory Cat Trilineatus (4), Pseudomugil Gertrudae (8), Danio Margaritatus (11), Blue Velvet (3), Snowball (3), CRS (1)


----------



## Sd760 (Apr 25, 2011)

That's a beautiful Cory. Awesome tank


----------



## Green_Flash (Apr 15, 2012)

The tank is sparkling, what is that small cube I spot?


----------



## etane (May 14, 2012)

Thanks for the comments guys.

The green cube to the left stores a handful of Java moss. The critters love the Java moss, but I don't like it in the tank because it gets messy. 

Whenever I have critters to acclimate, I put Java moss into their bowls for them to hide under. Currently, a small shrimp fry resides in that cube. He's too small to go in the big cube. He might get eaten. 

The clear cube on the right just stores some miscellaneous loose plants. Got some Fissiden and Pelia in there.


----------



## etane (May 14, 2012)

3 fishes died by getting themselves trapped in a corner where I have a few rocks. I guess they went head first into the corner but couldn't back out. So, I was wondering where my cutest tiniest Cory went. Found him stuck in the corner and was too late to save him. While removing him, found a dead female Gertrudae and a handsome CPD too.

So, I had to do an impromptu rescape in that corner of the tank, so no more fishes will be stuck in that corner. I moved the rocks around and took the opportunity to add more shrimp sand. Now, I had already rinsed the sand, but lots of dust came up when I poured it into the tank to the point where I couldn't see anything in it. A few CPDs started gasping for air the next day. And, they both died a few days later. I guess the dust particles damaged their gills and they slowly suffocated to death.

So many fishes have already died at my hands. So, total body count since I got this tank is 12 rasbora brigittae, 3 Gertrudaes, 5 CPDs and 1 Cory. Now I have 6 CPDs, 5 Gertrudaes and 3 Corys left. Also, 3 Blue Velvets, 3 Snowballs and 1 CRS. 

The point of this post is to also get suggestions on plants. 










My latest additions are the True Rotala Indica you see bunched up in the left of the tank. I love them. They look great and so far is very low maintenance. I went and purchased 10 more. I want to fill up the empty space I created to the right of the tank with them as you can see with the dark green dots. But, I think I might not have enough stems to fill the space.

So, I can also bunch them up behind the two larger rocks as you can see with the bright green dots. Then, the middle portion will be wide open. What plant(s) can go there? Ideally, I wish to create some kind of shelter where peewee shrimps and/or fish eggs can hide safely. Originally, I wanted to create an Indica forest but don't think the ten stems I got is enough. Or, I can cut the stems in half, then I'd have 20 stems. Seller told me these stems will be around 5" each. So, if I cut them, they'd be 2" with some length in the substrate. And, just be patient and wait for it to grow out?

After I added the new shrimp sand, my clear hoses turned black within a few days. My lily pipes is brown. I had ordered a lily pipe sponge on a stick from a seller in HK about 10 days ago. Waiting for it to come in. After it does, I will replace the hose with OEM green hose and get new media for the Eheim. The clear hose is too loose. It already came apart for me today when I was adjusting the temperature on the inline heater and water splash all over. 

Anyways, I am a fish killer. Let me know what plants you'd suggest for me. I like them structured looking, no pruning, slow growth and not too demanding. I read the Rotala I got is fairly demanding, but they are growing tall and strong in my tank. I don't use any C02 and use just a drop of Flourish Comp. Oh, something that is red would be nice too. I am eyeing Rotala Macandra but it might be too demanding for my tank and not sure about its growth rate.


----------



## Green_Flash (Apr 15, 2012)

Hello, it is looking nice, sorry about your fish loss. 

For plants, some good choices are various java ferns, bolbitus is pretty cool, crypt wendtii, crypt parva and crypt balansae, rotala "green", rotala "butterfly", ludwiga needle leaf.


----------



## GMYukonon24s (May 3, 2009)

Sorry about your loss of fish.


----------



## etane (May 14, 2012)

My second batch of shrimps arrived yesterday, 4 CRS and 2 CBS. My sole CRS from my first batch will have some Bee company. Took some pictures of the CRS from the first batch, so I can keep track of it. The 2nd batch's color doesn't seem quite as nice to me. So, the pics help me make sure it's not all in my head.


























This sole CRS from the first batch is definitely my fave one.

I should probably invest in a macro lens. I did get the new Nikon 40mm f2.8 last week but returned it. Didn't think it's a very good macro lens.


----------



## etane (May 14, 2012)

Green_Flash said:


> Hello, it is looking nice, sorry about your fish loss.
> 
> For plants, some good choices are various java ferns, bolbitus is pretty cool, crypt wendtii, crypt parva and crypt balansae, rotala "green", rotala "butterfly", ludwiga needle leaf.


Thanks for the suggestions. Some of these were on my radar too. Also thinking about Rotala Macarndra Green.


----------



## etane (May 14, 2012)

I ordered a lily pipe cleaner a few weeks ago off an ebay seller in HK. It finally arrived yesterday. So, today is canister and lily pipe cleaning day. 










It's the first time I am cleaning these since I got my tank set up in May. I probably don't need to clean my canister yet as there's no resistance to the flow. However, I question how well it is keeping my water crystal clear since it's probably filled with shrimp sand especially the bag of Purigen. I stirred up quite a bit of sand during my transition from 60F to 60P a few weeks ago. Look at the black hoses. They were clear just a week ago.

Pipes are clean.










Hooked everything back up. The "black" opaque clear hose is replaced with Eheim OEM hose. The new hoses are still trying to curl up.










A few notes of observations. I have a total of 5 juvie CRS. One of them molted yesterday. Saw it today, and it's huge. Looks like it double or even tripled in size. Is that possible? It's probably as large or larger than my 6 months old Snowball mama shrimp. And, it seems the shell color gets a bit fainter after the molt. Maybe it's because of the extreme growth?

I replaced one bag worth of sintured glass media and replaced the Purigen bag today.


----------



## etane (May 14, 2012)

New tank shot.










Moved some stuff around. Added Eleocharis Acicularis. I bought a few pots but never ended up using them. Had these in a vase for the last 5 months. 

Moved all the pelia behind the larger rocks. I think eventually the pelia will get kind of big, so I don't want them in plain view. They are there for the shrimps.

I think I am getting a line for more True Rotala Indicas. When I get them, I will put them behind that rock that is behind the Eleocharis.

THEN, I think I will be done with this aquascaping thing for at least 6 months and get my sanity back.


----------



## andrewss (Oct 17, 2012)

looking good


----------



## etane (May 14, 2012)

Do I have hair algae? I just moved this plant into my tank today. It was in a small vase for the last five months with partial direct sunlight hitting it. So, I am not surprised if it did have hair algae. Can't see it with my naked eyes.


----------



## etane (May 14, 2012)

andrewss said:


> looking good


Thanks!


----------



## etane (May 14, 2012)

About a month ago, I picked up some fishes and shrimps the same time I bought the 60P. I think that was a mistake. The tank water and filter was from a used tank, so the water was cycled but only half of it was as the new tank's volume is larger than my old one, a 60F. So, 2 of 3 CRS, 3 of 8 Gertrudae and 12 of 12 Brigittae died all within 3 days of setting up the tank. Since then, I've not lost a fish. I also added 6 more shrimps a few weeks ago,. And, I've not lost a single livestock. My tank must be fully cycled.

To test, I went to the store I picked up the 60P and bought some more Brigittae and see whether they will make it. I only picked up 4 just in case they don't. I brought the fishes home and used my new TDS meter to test the water. The store's tank water was at 600 TDS. I didn't know they can get that high. 

My tank water now is about 140 TDS and was probably at below 50TDS when I first set the tank up. Back then, I didn't have the meter, so, although I acclimated the fishes before dumping them into the tank, I couldn't have acclimated the fishes with such a high variance between the tank waters' TDS. 

This time around, with my TDS in hand, I carefully lowered the 600 TDS tank water down to 170ish before dumping the fishes into my tank. Took me half a day. At first, I was replacing the LFS' tank water with my tank water, 140 TDS replacing 600 TDS. After about 4 hours of replacing water, I could only get it down to 400. So, I then put the bowl directly under the RO filter faucet and turned it on just enough, so it was dripping a drop per second. My RO water is 18 TDS, so this would get the TDS lower faster.

After about an hour, I finally got the TDS down to 170. Then, I dumped the fish into the water. That was Saturday. Today is Monday, so it's been a good 48 hours. No fatalities so far. The fishes look fine. They are swimming and competing for food with the resident fishes fairly well. The Brigittaes I had before were not competing for food.

Dunno why the LFS' water's TDS is so friggin high. And, I found out another thing. The fishes I got is not Brigittae. Turns out they are Boraras Urophthalmoides. 

While at the store, I also picked up a few bunches of Rotala Butterfly and a few stems of Staurogyne Repens. The Staurogyne was named Tropica 49. Never heard of it, but thought the plant is pretty as the stem is long and leaves are structured. Only learned after I got home that what I bought is Staurogyne Repens which is what people on this forum use as foreground "lawn" plant. I intend to grow it taller like I do with my Bonsai plants.

Another update is I've been searching for a macro photography solution. I don't want to buy a macro lens because I won't use it anywhere else except for the tank. And, my tank isn't interesting enough to warrant a $1k purchase of a stellar macro lens. I picked up a vintage macro lens on ebay for $12 which is a good lens but is noisy if pic is enlarged. So, I guess this is what they mean when they say a lens is not good for "digital".

So, I bought a diopter for my 17-55mm f2.8 lens. Got the B+W 77mm +5 version. Now, I can get my lens up to about 4" away from the subject. And, with a 55mm plus 1.5x crop factor, I now have a decent macro lens. I experimented with it yesterday, but I couldn't get too any satisfactory photos with it. Just when I was about to give up, I randomly took a few shots at about 8-10" distance from the subject.

When I was closer to the subject between 4"-6", the subject appears to be in focus through the eye piece and the camera was able to auto focus on the subject with no effort. The image looks great on the camera's screen too. But, when viewing on my 32" 1080p monitor, they all look blurry. Then, when I was shooting at between 8"-10" from the subject, I then got a few decent shots. The shots are not as close up but it's good enough for me. 

Here's a few of the good ones:



















Finally, here's a FTS. The glass is getting a little fuzzy so will be needing a good glass scraper. Been using a toothbrush which works well on the 60F but too short for the 60P.


----------



## Green_Flash (Apr 15, 2012)

looking clear, how do you like the cal aqua nano pipes?


----------



## etane (May 14, 2012)

Green_Flash said:


> looking clear, how do you like the cal aqua nano pipes?


They work! 

I got them for the 60F. I was afraid that I wouldn't get good water circulation with the 60P as the nano pipes isn't designed for it, but it seems like the water is circulating just fine. I can see the plants in the far corner moving gently with the water current. So, there shouldn't be any standing water anywhere in the tank.

Plus, the shorter form factor is an advantage aesthetically as it takes up less tank space hence block less of the view.

Lastly, I now really appreciate the shorter pipes as it solves one of my problems. The Gertrudaes are better at hunting for food as they pick the food off the water surface. Whereas, the Danios wait for the food to come down to them. So, I was overfeeding the Gertrudaes and underfeeding the Danios when I merely drop the pellets on top of the water's surface.

The shorter output pipes is shooting out closer to the water's surface. This means, if I put the pellet food at the mouth of the pipe's output, it then shoots the food directly to where the Danios are. So, now I put half the food on the far side of the tank from the tubes, and the other half directly at the mouth of the output tube, and all the fishes will get their fair share.


----------



## etane (May 14, 2012)

We were casualty free for many weeks straight but the streak is finally broken. One CRS died a few days ago and a cory cat died yesterday. Who knows why the CRS died. But, the cory cat was suffering from signs of gill burns. Few days before he died, he was hitting the surface for air quite a bit and totally lost appetite. Then, I saw the gills were turning red. 

Did a water test and found the PH to be around 8 but everything else is in zero range. Dunno why the PH is so high. Previous water tests had the PH under 7. So, I ordered a PH meter off amazon which took a few days to arrive with prime. In the mean time, I did a water change and found that the small rocks I bought at Joanne's that I used at the bottom of the tank is actually leaching lime. So, I removed as many of the rocks as I could without disturbing the rest of the tank which is about 3 hand full.

Finally got the meter yesterday night and used it this morning to find my PH is actually at 6.5. So, it seems my water parameter is fine. I also got the Seachem ammonia alert, and it says my water is "safe" (yes, I've read this product is iffy but only using it to confirm my other tests). So, it's a mystery why the cory cat got gill burn.

Anyways I got a new lens, Rokinon 85mm 1.4. Here's a FTS with the new lens. Tele is too high with the 1.5x crop factor on the D90, so parts of the tank is cropped. Here's a sample at f1.4:


----------



## Green_Flash (Apr 15, 2012)

mystery indeed.

for a foreground plant I am going to suggest C.Parva or MM.


----------



## sayurasem (Jun 17, 2011)

Wow the water is super clear!


----------



## etane (May 14, 2012)

Update time.

Tank shot:










Added more Anubias Nana mini. So, my wife actually bought the first two pots of Anubias Nana from an ebay seller in Taiwan back in May when we both started our glass vase planted tanks. All this time I thought her plant is regular Anubias Nana instead of the mini variety. Then again, I've not found any information about Anubias Nana mini from any other source. But, it's definitely a lot more compact and shorter than the Anubias Nana I bought from Petco. Since my wife accidentally shattered her vase, I've welcomed her Anubias into my tank. The plant proved to be bullet proof as even I have kept it alive all this time. 

Actually, for some crazy reason, all my plants are doing quite well in my tank and I don't even use any CO2 or ferts. Well, I did add some Seachem Comp when I first started this tank but only a few drops. I think the fishes are providing enough ferts, so I've stopped using the Comp. 

Now, my CRS seems to love eating the Staurogyne Repens that I bought about a month ago. All the bottom leaves are chewed up.










I guess I can just put a bunch of Staurogyne Repens in the tank for feeding the shrimps incase I go on a trip. BTW, the pic is taken with a Rokinon 85mm 1.4 with a B+W +5 diopter. I can't seem to get a handle on the focus.

Here's one out of maybe a hundred shots that I am somewhat happy with:










I purchased 3 Blue Velvets from Nick about 2 months ago. When I received the shrimps and placed them in a bowl to acclimate, I found a very rambunctious 4th shrimp that came along for the ride. He was too small to be placed in the tank or at least I feared he'd be eaten as he was maybe half a centimeter small at the time. He was placed in a glass vase that's filled with Java moss for about 2 months. I had no idea whether he was still alive as he's too small to be seen in the vase. One day I got curious, so I took all the Java moss out to find him. At first he was no where to be found. I thought he died and started to give up trying to find him. Just as I was about to put the Java moss back, he jumped out from under a rock and started swimming around. By this time he's about 2/3 the size of a juvie, and I have more plants for him to hide, so I dropped him into the big tank. But, afterwards, he's no where to be seen again for a few weeks. Then, a few days ago, he popped out and maybe 30% bigger than when I put him in the tank a few weeks ago:










I thought this baby shrimp would grow up to be blue since he was found in the same bag as the Blue Velvets. But, he looks to be a Snowball. The pic up top is of the kid shrimp and of an older Snowball shrimp.

Oh, I added some Ranunculus Inundatus a few weeks ago. I planted about 6 nodes (bought 10 but planted only 6), and they've already exploded to what you see behind the Anubias. I am happy that they are growing very compact as I think this looks better. I've read that if they don't get enough light and nutrients, then they will grow tall and far apart from one another as well as close up their leaves. The few tall ones were already tall when I received them.

I was walking around PetSmart with my wife today and found they have a new shipment of Otocinclus Affinis (I think). Really wanted to get some Zebra or Cocama Otos from MzJinkz (sp) but don't wanna only buy a few fishes from her as shipping to CA will be a lot, and I only want 2 or 3 more fishes. All the employees were busy helping Santa and the rescue dogs, so I had to go without the Otos today.


----------



## Green_Flash (Apr 15, 2012)

Yes, the tank is looking great and super clean, I don't see a spot of algae! The new inhabitants look cool!


----------



## etane (May 14, 2012)

Green_Flash said:


> Yes, the tank is looking great and super clean, I don't see a spot of algae! The new inhabitants look cool!


I got the TOM aquarium scraper and have been doing weekly cleaning on the glass. Otherwise, you'd see plenty of algae. There's plenty on my rocks as you can see in some of the pics above. Love the TOM btw. 

Have been wondering whether I have too many or not enough fishes. I suppose algae grow because there's too much fert and O2 in the tank. If I have more fishes, there'd be more CO2 but more fert too...


----------



## Sd760 (Apr 25, 2011)

Awesome thread. Still following. Awesome tank


----------



## orchidman (Dec 15, 2010)

i really like the clean look of this! its simpe and effective, and the way the rocks and plants play off each other on the left side in genius!


----------



## etane (May 14, 2012)

Thanks for the comments guys. 

Been away from the site for a while.

Bought a Fugeray to experiment with but didn't have such good results. Lots of my plants started melting. Returned it and went back to my LED desk lamp.

So, the snowball shrimps been berried a few times but never saw any of the kids that is until a few days ago. However, they don't look like snowballs. The blue velvets must have impregnated the snowball mommy.

Here's a pic of the snowball and blue velvet hybrid. Looks like a carbon rilli? One can dream.










Too bad the shrimp is taking a dump in the pic.

I actually read somewhere that these two shrimps are unlikely to mate. Well, I saw the blue velvet rape the snowball. It just locked onto her back and didn't let go no matter how hard the snowball mommy tried to kick him off. Didn't matter that the snowball is about 3 times the blue velvet's size.


----------



## tizzite (Mar 28, 2010)

Love the tank- very clean. I think you have the same passion for expensive hardware I do.


----------



## etane (May 14, 2012)

tizzite said:


> Love the tank- very clean. I think you have the same passion for expensive hardware I do.


Thanks! Hobby wise, I recently transitioned from hifi stereo to fish tanks. $ wise is more sane.

I love using the Pablo LED desk lamp as aquarium light. Brightness, color temp, dim-able, and form factor is perfect. However, I am in the process of moving my tank onto a cabinet that is only about 36" wide, so the Pablo can no longer sit next to the tank.

Hence, I am on the hunt for a new LED light...


----------



## etane (May 14, 2012)

Got lots of stuff going on here, so I will try to write as concisely as possible.

Got baby girl coming.

Lost office where I kept my tank.

Office is nicer and cooler, so wanted to keep tank with kid but then decided against it.

Living room is the only other place but room gets hot during summer.

Decided to put shrimp and cool water fish in vase to keep in kid's room.

Tank will now be strictly amazonian fish as living room can get up to 100 degrees while tank will hover around 80 degrees F during summer months.

Living room is small, so gotta build a tank stand that doesn't take much space. Found some inspirations on ikeahack.com. And, found member "trenton" here at plantedtank to use the expedit stand. 

Bought the expedit stand:



Notice the bracing. Also, the granite plate will be used at the bottom shelf to keep center of gravity low. Each one is 40lbs. I will be using two.

Painted the expedit stand:



Cut some holes in the expedit stand:



Stuffed it with tank equipment stuff:



Even got a UV light tube thingy:


----------



## etane (May 14, 2012)

In case you're interested as most are not, here's the vases I used to house some CPDs, Boraras U. and some mutt BV/SB shrimps.





Each has a TOM internal filter with used sintured glass balls from the Eheim filter, so they are "matured". 

I think these fishes prefer closer "living quarters". They were always kind of skittish in the larger tanks.


----------



## etane (May 14, 2012)

FTS:



Closer:



Side shot with view of Tived LED light attached to stand:



Closer:



Even closer:



The other side:



One more:


----------



## etane (May 14, 2012)

Last pic today. Added Balloon Rams over the weekend. I think they are gold when they are calm but get darker and start to look like blue when I turn the light on which startles them. 



During the last few months, also added 4 panda corys and 12 hastatus corys.

I am only down to 2 hastatus though. They arrived in fry form. I should have pampered them in a vase first before putting them in the tank right away I suppose.


----------



## etane (May 14, 2012)

Other notes:

I am keeping the hydor heater at 76 degrees.

UV light tube is timed to be on 2 hrs a day.

I am doing weekly water changes between 2 to 3 gallons each time depending on much time I have. What I do is dump all the water in my eheim canister and then fill it up with tank water from the top. I then take out 1 to 2 gallons of water from the tank then fill it back up with kitchen RO water treated with Prime and Stressguard. I don't think I need much since my water is RO, so I use maybe 10% of recommended amount.

The sand is Caribsea Supernatural white fine. I got sick of using soil as it makes the filter equipment dirty quickly. So, my choice of plants reflect that. Plus, I think white is much more calming looking.

TDS is about 160
pH is about 6.5
Temp 76 f


----------



## EngineChauffer (Apr 3, 2013)

Dude I really loved reading the story of this tank. When I saw "Too bad the shrimp is taking a dump in the pic." I almost spit my drink out....lol And the shrimp mating story was a close second. The tank is friggin' awesome, love the look. So clean!


----------



## SomeCanuck (Mar 25, 2012)

I know you said no one cares, but I've gotta say, I love the look of the little vases for the CPD and others. Very clean and esthetically pleasing to me.


----------



## melanotaenia (Mar 26, 2013)

those little vases are awesome! Where did you find them?

The 60P is looking very nice as well.


----------



## shawnleon (Dec 10, 2012)

The stand choice and colors are awesome. Love the vases too.


----------



## etane (May 14, 2012)

Thank you for all the comments guys.

I got the tall vase from room and board and the other one from emonili.com.

What sort of frustrates me is that my new balloon rams look great when they are not stressed. But, once I get home, they start getting stressed.

Here's a pic before this bugger starts turning dark and hiding in the plants.



I got two of them and not even the LFS can tell me their gender. I am guessing this one is female.


----------



## tizzite (Mar 28, 2010)

Hey Etane. I bought the satellite freshwater + and must say, it's a cool little light. I took it apart to see if I could manage some more elegant lighting options but the fixture is one giant molded piece of aluminum. I have decided against making an acrylic stand for it. I had experimented with bending it and rounding the edges of a piece of acrylic and found that I could get a semi professional look, but it was just more trouble than it was worth. After seeing some other great planted tanks in person, I realized that the only way to go was to suspend the light over the tank. Like you, I want to minimize visible equipment and I don't like the idea of the fixture laying on the top of the tank.

I like your tank stand and scape- you have a good eye for design I'd say. I'm wondering what happened to your other tank- did you put the satellite freshwater + on it?

Also, earlier you mentioned that you were into stereo equipment. i'm not planning on getting one but I am interested in getting a decent vinyl record setup one day. I have KRK studio monitors for my computer speakers and now I can't live with anything worse than those haha. Do you have any suggestions for a good home theater setup? Mind sharing details on yours?


----------



## etane (May 14, 2012)

Hey Tiz: Sorry haven't been back here for awhile. 

Thanks for your compliments and sorry the satellite didn't work out the way you planned it to. My other tank is now a temporary planter. The satellite is not being used now and will be for sale as soon as i get off my lazy butt to do so.

Yah i was a bonafide audiophile. Regarding the audio, what do you want to do? PC stereo? PC Home theater? Analog front end into traditional amp? 

Here's my system before I tore it down.


----------



## TexasCichlid (Jul 12, 2011)

I like what you did with the stand. What did you use for the doors and how do you feel about the rimless tank and stand combination with a little one running around soon? Mine is 4 months old so I have been weighing the options.


----------



## etane (May 14, 2012)

Hey Tex: the stand is from ikea. the doors are options you can buy separately from the stand/shelf. 

The stand is very stable because of a few modifications i did to the stand that you can see in the pics. Also, i use a couple of granite surface plates placed at the bottom of the stand to lower the center of gravity. lastly, the aquarium pretty much sticks to the stand because of the aquarium mat. 

i have a hard time tilting the stand/aquarium, so I don't think a kid will be able to tilt it over. Water can spill out if I rock it back and forth hard enough I guess.


----------



## jargonchipmunk (Dec 8, 2008)

do you happen to have a link to the doors you found? Been looking for the doors for a while and can't find them on their site.


----------



## etane (May 14, 2012)

Here you go:

http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/40198202/


----------



## jargonchipmunk (Dec 8, 2008)

oh so it IS the inserts. ok. I thought you found just doors with the hinges. Thanks. How many gallons is the tank? (judging weight. vs the 160lbs of a standard 20gal long)


----------



## etane (May 14, 2012)

an ADA 60p is 17 gallons which is about 130lbs i think (8lb per gallon?).


----------



## jargonchipmunk (Dec 8, 2008)

yeah ~8 / gal. Thanks!


----------



## etane (May 14, 2012)

Quick update:

ordered a few SA cichilids from matt and received them about 1.5 months ago.

plus the balloon cichlids i got from lfs about 2 months ago, i got a total of 8 cichlids with about 5 corys in the tank now.

yes, i got 8 in the 17 gallon tank. other than a few shoves and darts, all the cichlids are doing fine. i sorta worry whether the corys are getting enough to eat though. 

when i got the first two balloon cichlids, they were painfully shy. after i added the 6 other cichlids, the balloon cichlids started acting bossy. first they shoved around the smaller younger cichlids then started bossing around the corys too. 

but, overall, they are getting along. no real violence.


----------



## etane (May 14, 2012)

Fish update: It's been over 100 degrees for like 2 weeks straight. The water in the tank probably got over 85 degrees. I THINK this is why 3 of my cichlids died this past week or so. A panda cory died too but not sure why. I found his body stuck under the driftwood but not sure whether he died because he was stuck or his body is stuck after he died.

All three died in sort of the same way. Before they croaked, their eyes bulge out and body gets bloated.

Mebe I can add some more fish now. ...


----------



## tizzite (Mar 28, 2010)

Hey, long time no see. Sorry to hear about your fish- I'm the same way. Many a fish have died at my hands, either from my impatience, or jumping out, or just plain stubborn stupidity of not having the right cover for my filter. I think you have a knack for honesty- I don't think that most people publicize their failures. I have cheap taste in fish anyway.

Your audio system is insane- I don't think I have ever heard music played on equipment of that quality. Ever since I bought studio monitors as computer speakers I have wanted a good vinyl record system. I went back to school, so I probably won't see that in my near future.

Your tanks are lookin good, I'd like to see some updates on your shallow one.

My tank is cycling, I'll send you some pics when it starts looking good- remember I was playing around with mounting the Satellite? I decided to suspend it from a book shelf with fishing line- that turned out to be the cleanest look I could achieve.


----------



## tizzite (Mar 28, 2010)

I just saw your turntables and how much they go for used. Good lord, it'll be a while before I can afford music of that quality. This hobby is so cheap compared to the system you put together.

Any updates?


----------



## etane (May 14, 2012)

tizzite said:


> I just saw your turntables and how much they go for used. Good lord, it'll be a while before I can afford music of that quality. This hobby is so cheap compared to the system you put together.
> 
> Any updates?


No updates really. Added an office tank. A 2 gallon.


----------

