# 300 cube build



## skanderson (Jul 25, 2010)

as the thread title states this will be the build thread on my 300 gal. cube. its dimensions are 48x48x30 with a corner overflow. the tank was set up as a reef for a few years but now will be my fw tank. i plan on making a diy background to look , i hope, like an erroded river bank with roots and rocks and a couple tree trunks. i am strongly considering making a led fixture to light the tank. it was previously lit with 4 250 w mhs and 3 vho actinics. i considered a 400 watt mh high above the center but am leaning toward leds as i have been pleased with their performance over my vivs. i am planning on using mineralized topsoil and have it covered with safetsorb. has anyone ever put some sort of screen between the layers or is that not ever needed. the tank will run co2 using my kalkreactor from my reef with plastic media. the co2 will be controlled using a controller. i plan on keeping my sump running on a inverted lighting schedual to help stablize o2 levels in the tank but keeping the overflow slow and mild without a ton of flowthrough.i havent settled entirely on the stocking list but it will be predominantly smaller peaceful fish. i was toying with the idea of trying a biome approach but i couldnt decide btwn se asia, africa, and s america so i think i will just do a mix. 
a couple of pics of the tank when i was rinsing it out. in these pics it is lit by a cheap 6 bulb t5ho fixture. with a mix of 3k and 6.5 k bulbs.
























the water is a bit cloudy from all the coraline algae that was scraped off the glass.


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## skanderson (Jul 25, 2010)

one quick question. if anyone has a good source of manzanita driftwood for a tank of this size i would love to know it. i picked out about 10 pieces on manzanita-driftwood. but i havent heard back from an email i sent a week ago. looking for some nice sized pieces to run along the back 2 sides as roots. and either a large centerpiece that reaches up and out for the center or a few smaller pieces that can be combined to get that effect. the driftwood will make or break the scape from my point of view so i want to get some great pieces. ive been to 4 petstores in madison and milwaukee and cant find anything even close.


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## hydrophyte (Mar 1, 2009)

Lordy, how do you fit all this stuff in your house, Steve?


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## lamiskool (Jul 1, 2011)

not sure but I hear Tom Barr has a ton of manzanita driftwood over at barrreport


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## skanderson (Jul 25, 2010)

a couple more pics with the skeleton for the background with the spray bars in place. i put a couple pieces of wood i had in there with some local stone just to see how the colors look. 
























any questions or comments are always welcome.


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## skanderson (Jul 25, 2010)

hydro, it is a rather large house and i am completely free range in the basement. my wife has a difficult time on the stairs so i just keep adding things. also starting to finish off a 45 gallon viv for some banded imis and then will start assembly on my 100 vert riparium with a bornean biotype, except for a few vanzolinis.


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## skanderson (Jul 25, 2010)

i was hoping for delivery in a week or so on the wood but i read here that tom isnt posting pics until sometime in april. would love to hear from him and see the new stuff or work out a package.


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## Brich999 (Mar 17, 2013)

Go big or go home, I love it.
Manzanita-driftwood.com has some big pieces


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## blink (Feb 22, 2012)

I love the cabinetry, the corner joints are boss, some detail pics of the woooood please?

Looking forward to watching this monster come together.


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## skanderson (Jul 25, 2010)

here are some better pics of the stand and canopy. i am lucky to have a really talented woodworker near me. he does all my projects.
























































obviously need to clean up the woodwork some more but want to hold off until im done making a mess by putting things in the tank. the last pic is the desk im sitting at now. it is in front of my vivarium and soon to be reef tank. too many projects not enough time.


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## Idrankwhat (Mar 20, 2013)

That last pics defines obsession! LOL Amazing. I thought my house was bad.


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## lamiskool (Jul 1, 2011)

Wow im so jealous...


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## JEden8 (Jan 5, 2011)

Wow! Subscribed to this!


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## ua hua (Oct 30, 2009)

Very nice stand, you can tell that is some quality craftsmanship. I would like to see some more pictures of the other tanks in the room. I will be watching this one for sure.


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## rustbucket (Oct 15, 2011)

Very nice, but how do you get any work done?  
Would love to see the vivarium as well, looks awesome.


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## mountaindew (Dec 10, 2008)

Talented woodworker would be a major understatement. 
It would be safe to say 99% of people looking at those pictures have no idea what they are looking at or how much time it take to do detailed types of joinery.
Fun stuff, More pictures please and turn your reef tank light on 
md


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## tomfromstlouis (Apr 2, 2012)

Your woodworker does do fine work. His Greene and Greene style not only takes from a pinnacle of the craft, but he does it beautifully. 

What an awesome space. I agree though, we need another pictgure or two of the space with all the tanks lit.


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## skanderson (Jul 25, 2010)

only one light on on the reef right now. that project is on hold until after i finish up the 300 and all my vivs. the reef has been waiting for 2 years now and i just havent had the fire to start it up yet. i did fill it with water this january so i could move my rock over from the 300. all my corals are in my frag tank in the back. i will dig up some nice viv pics to post in a day or so.


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## lamiskool (Jul 1, 2011)

cant wait to see the rest of your tank!


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## skanderson (Jul 25, 2010)

ok i finally got my order of manzanita in and am trying to arrange it in the tank. my goal is to have a background with the manzanita draping down the front looking like exposed roots on a erroded bank with a largish rootmass in tank with a few rocks. im not set on the rock type yet. i was planning on using local quartzite buy im a bit worried that it will look too purplish under the lights that i will be using. btw the one piece that is leaning up against the glass will not be staying there. i am using it as a placeholder for a nicer looking piece that i havent found yet to balance the larger central piece. please let me know any suggestions for scaping you may have i really want to get the look right as once the background is set it wont be moveable. and moving the central pieces is a massive pain is this sized tank. now for a few pics.


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## jamntoast (Apr 16, 2012)

I really love where this tank is going do you have any ideas of what plants you are wanting to use? I like the river bank plan, I can totally see tufts of valiserna and cabomba along the edge in and around the "roots" with moss or something draping off the back walls. The middle/front would be a challenge to me, I'm thinking maybe a carpet of dwarf sag or chain sword? Awesome set up you have there, I'm super jealous of that desk area


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## shift (Jan 7, 2013)

Looks like a pretty good start! i love the root look.

What will you be covering the side walls with?(white diffuser)


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## binbin9 (Jan 31, 2012)

amazing stand subbed!


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## vincenz (Jan 29, 2012)

That workstation is just awesome. I can only imagine how maintenance must be like, but it looks to be well worth it. Thumbs up!


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## clunkified (Sep 10, 2011)

Awesome.


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## shift (Jan 7, 2013)

Beautiful and awesome office!


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## bitFUUL (May 14, 2010)

Super sweet! Can't wait to see more.


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## EngineChauffer (Apr 3, 2013)

My avatar says it all about this journal...


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## skanderson (Jul 25, 2010)

havent gotten time to get anything done in the tank since the last post. really hitting the crunch time in the veggie and flower gardens. i plan on using foam and coating it with some embedded rocks to get the look of the muddy bank with roots and rocks eroding out. i wont put any aggressive spreading plants in the tank as it will be too hard to maintain to do a ton of plant removal. i plan on having alot of moss and some ferns on the sides. i am still deciding on what tall plants to use for background use. i am considering one of the more permanent apontigons or a tall crypt. i want to make use of alot of color without getting it too ragged looking. but im way too much of a collector to do one of the japanese looking scapes.


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## skanderson (Jul 25, 2010)

just a quick couple of pics from the garden to show i do actually have an excuse for slow tank progress.


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## BHolmes (Aug 23, 2012)

You should do a journal on your house! This is awesome!


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## MrAlmostWrong (Jul 16, 2012)

Any updates on this wonderful creation?


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## snakeskin (Jul 28, 2005)

I want to be you when I grow up haha.


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## lamiskool (Jul 1, 2011)

stunning!


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## Scottyhorse (Mar 13, 2013)

Woah.


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## tomfromstlouis (Apr 2, 2012)

I hear you skanderson about terrestrial gardening taking priority at this time of year. What a nice rock garden and pond you have!

As for the scape, I love the roots looking stuff along the walls and the stump in the middle is nicely situated. I am counting on your plants to somehow pull the two elements together. As much as I love the look of many of the aponogetons, I gave up on them because of the seasonal dormancy thing. If there is one that does not do that at all let me know, but even if it only happens every few years, that would be a tough thing to go through if the scape depends of them. I consider them to be useful as single focal points and not background; I lean on crypt balansae for a tall wrinkley background. Mine is just beginning to assert itself after one year (may have had it too acidic at first), and it will look very nice when filled in.

Please tell me that you will be able to reach all corners of tank when up and running. Your idea of low maintenance makes sense but you will want to get to any part of the scape sooner or later....


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## ua hua (Oct 30, 2009)

That is a very beautiful pond. I just spent the last 45 minutes looking through all your pictures of your flowers on photobucket and I have never seen such a huge collection of plants. You have a special talent and most definitely a green thumb. I was so impressed with all the different plants you keep that I had to show the pictures to my dad as he is the one that got me involved in gardening and fish keeping back when I was a young kid.


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## skanderson (Jul 25, 2010)

missed a bunch of posts. sorry to not reply. i can reach anywhere in the tank but i need to use a 3 foot tong/grabber to get to the bottom or back. i have now cleaned out the back room behind the tank which was brutal. i plan on using the 180 sump, 40 gallon frag tank, and 60 gallon hex that are plumbed into the system as plant grow out tanks on an opposite lighting schedual to help keep the system stable. i am going dirted for the substrate of the tank and think i am using sts for the substrate over that if i like the look. i currently have a 6 bulb 54 watt t5ho light over the tank now just so i can see things to help design. i will be lighting this tank with a diy led. i am planning on using 5 six inch makers heatsinks and making small light cannons using 30 watt bxra 4000 k leds with some 3 watters around it for extra color. i have the same color leds over my borneo paludarium and like the color of the light but want some added pop over this tank. i am almost certain i am going for an african stream biotype on this tank. 2 or 3 small schools of tetras or maybe even barbs, if they wont destroy the plants; a couple pairs of small west african cichlids; a couple species of small syndontis cats, and probably a few killifish. for plants i am trying to stay with african species as well although im cheating and using a few from madigascar and maybe one from sri lanka. if anyone have experience with the species i mentioned and has dire warnings i would love to hear them. also i am trying to figure what to use for algae control in the tank. i would like to avoid south american catfish just on general principle so i am thinking of african hillstream catfish if they are ever available. if i have to resort to non african species i was considering using some of the hillstream loaches from asia or a more unusual looking cat like a farowella sp. a quick pic of todays look with water and floating dw in the tank and of a nearly finished borneo paludarium that only needs a couple more plants and a few fish.


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## Phil Edwards (Jul 18, 2003)

I love you mammoth projects, they're great! Please tell me that you're going to foam and cover the egg crate. That'll make a killer natural looking setup.


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## SmittyInFla (May 3, 2013)

Between you and Don B., large cube tanks now haunt my dreams. Fantastic workspace, and the cabinet guy deserves a raise.

Anxious to see this cube come together!


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## skanderson (Jul 25, 2010)

backgrounds are all in. i didnt like the color on the buttress stump covering the overflow so i am painting it to improve the color. driftwood is in. i think the 2 main pieces are pretty much in the right spot but i will be raising the 2 smaller front pieces. i still will be about a week until i can finish off the leds for this tank. ive decided to add some 3 watt colored leds to the 30 watt bridgelux to make for a bit more controllability over the color temp and add "pop" to the look. i will show the tank from the right, angle, and then front.


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## skanderson (Jul 25, 2010)

a few pics from the room behind the tank. the sump and frag tank are really starting to grow some hair algae. suggestions for controll would be appreciated. i wont have my co2 up and running until next weekend at the earliest.




the last pic is just to show some extra dw to my friend cliff who is also starting up a palnted fw tank.
http://i1097.photobucket.com/albums/g357/skanderson2/nov16backroom008_zps07914f99.jpg


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## skanderson (Jul 25, 2010)

hmmm lets try that dw pic again.


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## ADAtank (Jul 26, 2011)

Does bill gates live next door?


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## skanderson (Jul 25, 2010)

i dont think so but if he is his wife has really gone downhill.


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## skanderson (Jul 25, 2010)

ok finally able to climb a ladder again which means I can make more progress on this build. first couple of shots just show the eggcrate and mesh that im using as a barrier between my soil and the safetysorb. then a couple of pics with the sts and a few rocks in place. the lighting is terrible because I didn't put the led pendants up yet so its just one t5ho.




I may want to move the one small vertical piece of dw out of the back corner and put it into the open area, but im not sure if that would clutter it up too much. I will be placing a lot of smaller stones in around the current ones and a few others scattered about as well. I then need to add about 30 gallons of water so I can get the level up and start planting. how long do people do the dry start method and can you gradually fill it of what is the transition like?


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## skanderson (Jul 25, 2010)

made a little progress with my lighting. all the pendants are hung and the 30 watt 4k bridgelux emitters are running. I still need to debug and wire up my other colored 3watt emitters. I made a significant error in the power of the leds. I was shooting for a par of around 50 at the substrate with all my led up and running with a good color. when I checked the par at the substrate, 36 inches below the emitters the max par was 137. on the edges it ranged from around 80 to mid 20s depending on what was shading it. this means I will probably be significantly dimming all the leds, but will extend the life of the units and add versatility. now some pics.
first is just the pendants hanging over the tank. they hang from sliding rails so I can move them all out of the way and adjust their position in 3 dimensions as well as angle them.

next are some pics with all 5 or just 4 of the pendants lit up.


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## Down_Shift (Sep 20, 2008)

Wow. Subscribed. You just took number one setup in my book


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## AquaAurora (Jul 10, 2013)

I want that huge tank for my pleco (and the driftwood)! Can't wait to see future progress ^^ Are you still not settled on specific flora/fauna? With such a huge tank you get a lot of options, I'd end up doing a monster fish theme like datnoid, but that doesn't really allow for smaller fish as they tend to eat them lol.


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## jmf3460 (Aug 21, 2013)

freaking awesome. Is this going to be an aquarium?


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## The draft (Feb 21, 2006)

Looking great!!!
Like to see the filtration system set up again.


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## skanderson (Jul 25, 2010)

this tank will be an African biotype display to the best of my ability and control. I plan on a couple groups of African tetras and barbs, a few small west African cichlids, some syndontis cats and maybe a few killifish if they can handle the other fish. plants will again be from Africa with the exception of the mosses. will probably be using a few ottos and maybe a couple smaller plecos since African algae eating fish that are plant safe are apparently unavailable. I have a few new pics to put up but my other computer is having connectivity trouble tonight for some reason so hopefully can get them up later or tomorrow.


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## rustbucket (Oct 15, 2011)

African is my fav!! What tetras are you getting?


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## skanderson (Jul 25, 2010)

I have a bunch of congos and im not sure what other species I will be adding. finally moved my pics onto photobucket so here comes the updated pics and the requested back room pics. first 2 show what I have place so far. as you can tell it is more of a moist start than a dry start. going to try to get the moss glued on and the anubias firmly attached tomorrow.


im running the system with my old dart pump. still working after 5 years. can anyone tell that I may have spilled some saltwater on the concrete over the years.

the next few pics are of the upper frag tank and the lower sump. I don't really have a filter on this yet. not decided what I will do for that I may try something as simple as floss in the baffles of the sump at first and see how it goes.




the sump is a 6x2x2 acrylic tank with a central baffle so the water travels the length twice to help with bubbles from flow. the last pic is the kalkreactor that I will try as a co2 reactor and see how it works.


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## ua hua (Oct 30, 2009)

By far one of my favorite journals on this site, so every time there is a new post I get a little excited. Your skills amaze me from your diy to green thumb is something you should be proud of. These displays you set up are superior to many of the displays that I have seen in some zoos across the country. Can't wait to see it all come together.

What about some African butterfly fish? They would fit into your theme nice as long as the tetras and killis you choose are of the larger size.


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## sophieydg (Nov 19, 2013)

Wow that last photo is amazing!


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## zetvi (Jun 12, 2013)

Add 1k of black king kong shrimps in there to have the biggest king kong shrimp tank in the world may be?


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## Romalex (Jan 11, 2014)

wow that is really cool. I'd love to have a room like that someday.


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## skanderson (Jul 25, 2010)

ok tank is filled and water is circulating throughout the system. I moved 5 upside down cats into the tank along with 7 congo tetras. I still need more plants added and a lot of growth of what is currently in there. on with the pics.




as you can see the pendants are still only running the 4 k emitters and the back corner pendant is off at the moment. I will post pics of all the leds on if I can figure where the short is on the lines. I will also post some par numbers with the tank filled.


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## lamiskool (Jul 1, 2011)

looking good! cant wait to see how this will turn out once the plants fill in. Are you planning on adding any more fish?


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## skanderson (Jul 25, 2010)

im starting to contemplate what fertilization scheme to use on this tank. I ran earlier tanks on ppd but that was 15 years ago and it seems that a lot of people are now using EI or PPD pro type systems with a phosphate input. I just ordered the kpo4 so I will have all the ingredients for either system. my system volume is probably right around 450 gallons. I do plan on a heavy fish load in the display tank but the back room tanks will only have a few ottos, shrimp, and snails in them. im not trying to weasel out of water changes, but I am trying to wrap my brain around the logistics of a weekly 225 gallon water change. my current thought is to drill an overflow onto the sump, which I need in any event so any overflows go to the drain. then to pump in either 60 or 120 gallons of fresh water once a week and allow the sump to overflow out the overage. I know that that is not as efficient a way of removing pollutants and adding new water but it does have the advantage of being simple and I could completely automate the entire process. I would appreciate opinions and suggestions on this before I get too much further along. thanks, steve


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## farrenator (May 11, 2011)

Food for thought on your fertilization scheme and the need for water changes:

Since you have experience with PPS Pro, you know that once you have it dialed in, you minimize the need for large scale water changes. This requires a lot of patience and testing in the beginning until growth stabilizes and you figure out the needs of the tank. Many times you start from a nutrient 'lean' environment and keep adding ferts until you reach the sweet spot.

EI, as you probably know, provides non-limiting nutrients and you mitigate nutrient build up by making regular water changes. Tom Barr has written about the following many times, and it makes sense: Start with EI and keep for a month or so to get a good idea of what good plant growth looks like. This also allows you to dial in lights and CO2. Once you have an idea of what good plant growth looks like, start to dial down ferts until you notice a decrease in plant growth/health. Then bump ferts back up to the last known value that provided ideal growth/health.

In theory, both methods should get you to the same place where large scale water changes are minimized. With the latter approach, you start by knowing what good plant growth/health looks like whereas with the former you are not sure; at least at the beginning. 

In any case, beautiful setup.


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## skanderson (Jul 25, 2010)

thanks for the quick reply. I am hoping for not too rampant of growth in there. it will be a pain to get to the stuff in the back which is why im relying heavily on anubias in the back. I did not use pps pro in the past, just pmd.


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## farrenator (May 11, 2011)

From what I can remember, PPS Pro is very similar to PMD but with added phosphates. 

Read the stickies here for PPS Pro: http://www.aquaticplantcentral.com/forumapc/fertilizing/

Essentially, you end up just adding the ferts your plants need on a daily/weekly basis. You can achieve the same by starting with EI and then adjusting down. Both methods require extensive testing in the beginning, but after that it is autopilot as long as your plant mass doesn't change drastically.



skanderson said:


> thanks for the quick reply. I am hoping for not too rampant of growth in there. it will be a pain to get to the stuff in the back which is why im relying heavily on anubias in the back. I did not use pps pro in the past, just pmd.


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## Aquaticaquariums (Jan 16, 2014)

Looks incredible, one of the biggest aquariums ive ever seen, what a great journal to have for this website !


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## HybridHerp (May 24, 2012)

Subbed.

At the very least, if my 75 can have 9 congas, your 300 should have more than 7 
And you're doing co2 on this? You're going to have some nice stuff going on here. What plants and stock are you aiming for/have now?


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## rustbucket (Oct 15, 2011)

Wow that Congo looks tiny in there, really gives the tank some perspective. 
And of course you are planning to add more right?? I had a school of 7 and found the little buggers were still shy and my tank is only 125 gallons


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## skanderson (Jul 25, 2010)

im up to 10 congos in the tank now. I still have 3 more to catch from the sump so I will be up to 13. im not sure if I want many more than that as I do want at least 2 more groups of shoaling fish. I have a complete fish list drawn up but I left it at my inlaws and wont get it back until Saturday. I will also be picking up a group of synodontis lucipinnis on Saturday and maybe some other fish. I programmed my new led controller tonight so once it is hooked up I will have to see if I like the sunrise, sunset, cloud, and lightning effects. still need to get the other colored lights working so I can balance out the appearance. I did retest the par with the slightly discolored/cloudy water in the tank. in the center where the empty reading was 137 the reading was 54 with 4 of the pendants on so I may have lucked into just the right amount of light.


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## HybridHerp (May 24, 2012)

random post suggesting you consider candy cane tetras as they are awesome and not done enough *cough cough*

I love the synodontis species you plan though, never kept a synodontis myself but I want to one of these days.


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## skanderson (Jul 25, 2010)

those are south American tetras. I will be using only African fish with the exception of a couple of types of fish to control algae.


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## HybridHerp (May 24, 2012)

skanderson said:


> those are south American tetras. I will be using only African fish with the exception of a couple of types of fish to control algae.



Ooh, makes sense then. Going for the whole biotope thing?
What other African fish are you thinking in this behemoth?


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## Betta132 (Nov 29, 2012)

This tank is incredible. I can't think of a single thing to change about it!
And that has to be one of the biggest vivariums I've ever seen, including at zoos! Are there any animals in there?
I noticed you were contemplating twig catfish a page or two back... Go for one or two! They get at least 6" long, but they're very skinny and mostly tail, so not much bio-load, plus they're good algae eaters and they'll happily take nori when that runs out. They aren't the most active fish, but they tend to sit out in the open looking neat, and watching them swim is like watching a muscle car on ice! Hilarious! 
They're really really stiff, probably because of all that armor, so they can't really turn around very well. I used to have a twig cat who would let me scoop him into my hand as long as I kept him in the water... He'd just sit there and suck on my fingertip. 
Apparently I taste good to twig catfish. And it seems I also taste good to this one maniac female betta I had, but she was a lunatic... Nearly killed a zebra danio when I tried to put her in my community. And those things are fast! I didn't even know she'd be able to catch one!


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## skanderson (Jul 25, 2010)

yes the large viv has a mix of dartfrogs in there. I am now up to 12 congos in the tank and also caught 3 of my panda garras. love their look. other wanted fish are ansorgii ctenopomas, a couple different killis and lampeyes,, hopefully 3 or 4 pairs of smaller more peaceful west African cichlids, and maybe a school of west African barbs. just started my co2 system so I will need to keep an eye on the tank and make sure im not killing it. I hooked the valve on the tank to my ph sensor and it should 
close if the pH drops below 6.5 im also doing less than a bubble per minute for the time being. I plan to ramp it up when the plant mass increases and I start fert dosing. I will try to get some new pics up later tonight. btw I found a thread on a UK planted forum from a guy doing a west African tank that is largely killis. it is an incredible tank. http://www.ukaps.org/forum/threads/giant-tank-for-killis.21368/
it is a beautifully thought out and executed build with amazing fish.


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## HybridHerp (May 24, 2012)

skanderson said:


> yes the large viv has a mix of dartfrogs in there. I am now up to 12 congos in the tank and also caught 3 of my panda garras. love their look. other wanted fish are ansorgii ctenopomas, a couple different killis and lampeyes,, hopefully 3 or 4 pairs of smaller more peaceful west African cichlids, and maybe a school of west African barbs. just started my co2 system so I will need to keep an eye on the tank and make sure im not killing it. I hooked the valve on the tank to my ph sensor and it should
> close if the pH drops below 6.5 im also doing less than a bubble per minute for the time being. I plan to ramp it up when the plant mass increases and I start fert dosing. I will try to get some new pics up later tonight. btw I found a thread on a UK planted forum from a guy doing a west African tank that is largely killis. it is an incredible tank. http://www.ukaps.org/forum/threads/giant-tank-for-killis.21368/
> it is a beautifully thought out and executed build with amazing fish.


Never heard of an ansorgii ctenopoma before...now, I'm just in awe.


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## skanderson (Jul 25, 2010)

ctenopoma is the genus the species i want is ansorgii, although there is at least one more small attractive species. they are an african relative of gouramis and bettas.


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## HybridHerp (May 24, 2012)

skanderson said:


> ctenopoma is the genus the species i want is ansorgii, although there is at least one more small attractive species. they are an african relative of gouramis and bettas.



I know, I got the leopard ctenopoma growin out


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## The draft (Feb 21, 2006)

skanderson said:


> ok tank is filled and water is circulating throughout the system. I moved 5 upside down cats into the tank along with 7 congo tetras. I still need more plants added and a lot of growth of what is currently in there. on with the pics.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Looking great! I like this view, it looks like a bowl how it wraps up on both sides. Dont loose that look by to many tall plants in the middle.


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## vvDO (Oct 18, 2010)

Betta132 said:


> This tank is incredible. I can't think of a single thing to change about it!


I can.... it should be sitting in my living room!!


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## SinisterSheltie (May 28, 2013)

Absolutely gorgeous tank! It's on par with a professional display at a zoo or aquarium!


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## skanderson (Jul 25, 2010)

2 updates today. the first will be the pics I took in the last week or so that my computer hid from me.


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## Phil Edwards (Jul 18, 2003)

That's really really prett. I'm getting inspired to get started on a native tank looking at that. The subdued (appearing) lighting sets off the walls and roots nicely. I can't wait to see those Aponogeton and Crinum grown out into their full glory!


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## skanderson (Jul 25, 2010)

a few new pics from today. the mad lace is way too tall but I will keep it at that size until some of the other growth takes off I need some growth to keep algae down. first 3 full tank shots.



then a few pics of inhabitants. most amazing is the Pelvichromis taeniatus 'Nigerian red' they have amazing color and are only about an inch long. I picked them up from teds fish room along with the congos, ember barbs, and Nannochromis transvestitus.


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## skanderson (Jul 25, 2010)

its been a while because i had to have back surgery last month which has kept me from doing anything in the tank for almost 2 months. now that im starting to recover i cleaned it out a bit and took a few pics.



i must have pulled a couple pounds of madagascar lace leaves and hair alge out of the tank. hair alge seems to be growing quite fast in the display tank but not at all in the planted sump which has higher lighting that is on for a longer time. this has me confused as the only difference other than lighting is a few saes and ottos in the sump that arent in the display which has panda garras and nerites. i have been slowly upping my co2 to try to get this under control but it is tricky because i have such a fast flow it is impossible to count bubbles. i think i will split the output of my co2 tank so i have one flow go into my current reactor, an old kalkreactor from my reef filled with bioballs for turbulence, and the other going to a diffuser right in front of my return pump for the display. any other suggestions would be appreciated. i have been ei dosing and cant seem to get the no3 reading up over 5ppm and the po4 has been around 0.5. gH around 160 kH 80 with a pH of around 7. i do 60 gallon distilled water changes weekly on this system.


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## lauraleellbp (Feb 3, 2008)

Did you ever measure the PAR?


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## skanderson (Jul 25, 2010)

the numbers are in there a couple of pages back. I am going to try to debug the colored led strands this weekend. ive been busy outside all summer and am really trying to get this tank back in shape. my back is finally healing up and letting me do work at odd angles without pain. ive added a pair of enigmatochromis lucanusi, and as soon as I redesign my overflow protector and jump guard I will be moving about 20 fish back into the main tank out of the sump where they spent the winter. new pics soon.


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## NotCousteau (Sep 25, 2014)

Wow, beautiful tank!


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## skoram (Aug 9, 2012)

You sir, are my idol. Now I have a concrete idea of what I want to do when I retire.


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## skanderson (Jul 25, 2010)

ok have a few pics of the tank from today. started to clean out the hair algae that is the result of a summer with not ferts and no co2 plus same light. also moved most of the fish that had spent the summer in the sump back up into the main tank last night. I still need to find some clumps of stem plants from Africa like ammania and to debug my colored led strings so pardon the overly warm color temp from the pics but it is the way it looks right now. also it is a bit stirred up from all the clean up yesterday.




Bump: I am beginning to think that I should have called this the chromis tank given the number of species it contains with that in their genus names. the first pic is my male Enigmatochromis lucanusi that is the most aggressive fish in the tank.

next is my male Pelvichromis taeniatus 'Nigerian red'

then the female niger red with the male enigmatochromis.

my pair of nanochromis transvestitus

I still haven't added the young anomalochromis thomasi that I have in a tank behind the system right now. I have 5 of them and I think I have 2 pair but I cant decide whether to add all of them or just try to get one pair moved up to the big tank. the last chromis im still looking for is a pair of hemichromis 'lillafi' or whatever species it is that has passed under that name recently.


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## skanderson (Jul 25, 2010)

a few new pics with all the colored leds at full power. of course now one of the 4k bxras in the back corner isn't lighting so now I need to debug that. in person I think the tank looks a bit too blue. but in the pics it looks nice.
lots of glare in the first pic because the lights are now on on the the adjacent reef tank.


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## Canis (Jun 4, 2014)

O-O That looks awesome!


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## bk. (Sep 27, 2014)

Just saw this for the first time. Awesome build and glad to see it still up and running!

Would love to see pics of the reef as well. From the office pic on pg1 it looked like a monster tank!


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## xxUnRaTeDxxRkOxx (Jul 12, 2011)

WOW!!! Such a beautiful handcrafted setup!!! But I do have one question... Can I move in?!?! LOL

I wish I had the space, and money to get some big tanks like that!!!


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## skanderson (Jul 25, 2010)

thanks for the kind words. things are still going well in there. getting a few Micorctenopoma ansorgii this week and my Hemichromis sp. moanda are almost big enough to pair up and put in the tank as well. I will post new pics soon and show the reef as well. just spent the entire day yesterday stacking rock so the reef is getting presentable.


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## skanderson (Jul 25, 2010)

a few updated pics sorry for the reflections from the reef.





the back of the tank is a bit dark because 2 of the pendants have the 30 watt warm white leds out. need to wiggle the wires and fix the problem.


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## knm<>< (Mar 18, 2010)

My favorite thing of yours is that monster Vivarium!


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## skoram (Aug 9, 2012)

this tank keeps getting better and better . I'm curious what the little blue eyed fish are in some of your photos.


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## skanderson (Jul 25, 2010)

normans lampeye. ive been looking for a couple of other species but they keep not showing up when the import orders come into teds fishroom.


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## skanderson (Jul 25, 2010)

a few new pics showing a bit of a cleaned up look. cut back the Madagascar lace to make space. also the leds are now all on. also put a couple of pics of the fish. I need to increase my co2 because the plants are really pulling it out and growing fast. im probably at 15 bubbles per second which is the max for my co2 reactor. I think I am going to split the feed and put a diffuser under my main return pump and see if it makes it too fizzy looking. anyway here are the pics.
front view

side view

and from the corner

a view showing the pair of Nigerian red Pelvichromis and the yellow Pelvichromis sp.


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## Watever (Aug 16, 2015)

that tank is just large and insanely nice !


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## skanderson (Jul 25, 2010)

a few quick update pics after a bit of a clean up after a summer of neglect.

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## skanderson (Jul 25, 2010)

a few new pictures of the tank to show some of the newer fish.

upside down upside down cat.

I love my barbs. color here is close to how nice they look.

the congos have gotten too big for my macro lens.

I can never remember the name of these little guys, but Ted assures me they are very cool and no one here has them so they must me cool.


I have really liked a goby I got from ted a year or so ago and now I have a nice group of them.

I thought I lost this killi but apparently he is doing well.


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## trailsnale (Dec 2, 2009)

what are those barbs? how big do they get? agree, very cool looking.

tank is amazing!!!


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## Freemananana (Jan 2, 2015)

Goby is the best part! I do love the desk arrangement.


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## aja31 (May 25, 2013)

Love how this tank has developed. It finally looks mature now that your fish are bigger and can actually be seen in the pictures of the full tank! It's hard to understand the scale from the pictures but i'm sure it is impressive in person.


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## skanderson (Jul 25, 2010)

the barbs are barbus fasciolatus. the seem to max out at under 2 inches and haven't bothered any plants or fish in the tank. they are also active but not frenetic and stay in the bottom foot of the tank for the most part. I bought mine from teds fish room.


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## skanderson (Jul 25, 2010)

a small update. I had the camera out so I took a couple pics of the tank today. it is pretty much on autopilot at this point but I will be adding a few new plants once I have grown them up and out a bit in the sump.


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## anfield (Dec 1, 2013)

need video to do this tank justice


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## skanderson (Jul 25, 2010)

just a couple update pics since I had the camera out. no big changes in anything other that the hemichromis spawning every couple weeks.


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## Jamo33 (Feb 18, 2014)

This is a truly amazing fish tank.
But also everything you seem to own and have shown are amazingly well scaped and set up!
Truly jealous and well done


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