# 8g Custom Hex



## yashmack (May 20, 2013)

This is a custom tank made for me back in the 80s when I was like 8 or something
Right now it has Black Tahitian Moon Sand from Caribsea
Some random rock I found outside
A 13W CFL bulb
Dwarf Hair Grass

Is this lighting going to be enough to get this to start covering the bottom?
I dosed with a small amount of Flourish as well

What do you guys think??


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## Legot (Jun 29, 2013)

That's an incredible tank, custom made you say? How much do you think that cost back in the day? It really is an incredible design, the shape is one that's really not found anywhere, nature or otherwise.

Is this view the "front?" I think if you turn it so that one of the Hexagons looking down to the substrate was at the "front" it would be better suited for plants.

Onto plants... Most carpeting plants spread much faster if they're split up into little bunches. You need to do that if you want to see a full carpet in a short amount of time. There are plenty of resources on this site for planting dwarf hairgrass.

What color temperature is your light? If it's a light not specifically listed as daylight then it's probably 2700k. Plants tend to look better in daylight lights, which would be 5000k-~10000k+

It would also be safer if you put the tank on a solid, flat surface (as opposed to a blanket). It will stop uneven stress on the seams, which will probably cause leaks later on.


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## yashmack (May 20, 2013)

Legot said:


> That's an incredible tank, custom made you say? How much do you think that cost back in the day? It really is an incredible design, the shape is one that's really not found anywhere, nature or otherwise.
> 
> Is this view the "front?" I think if you turn it so that one of the Hexagons looking down to the substrate was at the "front" it would be better suited for plants.
> 
> ...


That is just the angle I chose for the pictures, its easy to position right now lol

it was given to my parents so i dont know a cost on it

I will search up info on dwarf hairgrass then
The light is just a screw in CFL bulb, no color temp listed

The tank has sat on a towel since the 80s with no problem, the silicone seems are very broad and thick so there should be no worry of leak, it has plenty of flexibility. on top of that the wood frame is built in such a way that it is extremely rigid. I cant tell you how many times ive knocked it against something and nearly died of freight thinking i had broken it only to find nothing had happened


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## yashmack (May 20, 2013)

Split it up into smaller clumps
Added a little sand to the front
I put a piece of saran wrap on the top to keep it humid too
Will be getting a spray bottle to spray in dechlorinated water with a bit of Flourish in it


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## jmf3460 (Aug 21, 2013)

how cool is that tank!!! will you be adding filtration?? it seems a little unpractical for maintenance but maybe you already have that worked out. I like it, totally something out of the 80s. looking good, needs a cooler stand than the bar stool though


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## yashmack (May 20, 2013)

The stand is a little cooler than you guys think 
The towel is only there until I get the plants going
I am going to find something else for it to sit on top of, just want to make sure I dont scratch the finish if I can avoid it 
Eventually I want to get a much larger stand, something to almost enclose it with and to hide all the wires and lighting and the eventual canister filter i plan for it


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## Legot (Jun 29, 2013)

A thin piece of foam rubber from a craft store cut to size would do it! Or even one of those foamy non-slip mesh pads from the dollar store.

In my earlier post I was hesitant on calling it a stool, looks like I mad the right choice, haha. I think if you add a custom enclosure that only covers two panels of the tank, and the top, to hide the equipment, it would be awesome. It might need to be professionally cut, but your tank is one of a kind and it absolutely deserves it.


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## yashmack (May 20, 2013)

the foam rubber is a good idea, I will have to see what my local craft stores have


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## devilduck (May 9, 2012)

It's a truncated octahedron tank, very cool! Shows some great woodworking and glass cutting skills!


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## yashmack (May 20, 2013)

ive never heard of that term before
Thanks for pointing that out!
If i ever plan to make one on my own I know what to call it now, lol


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## yashmack (May 20, 2013)

Well Ive added a new light
The DHG toward the front of the tank has browned and may have something growing on it
Im giving it a few more days with the new light to see what happens
If it doesnt improve im going to remove the brown grass and make some root tabs, i might just uproot whats in there and trim it down and split it up a bit more as well

I upgraded my light to a 25 Watt GE Daylight CFL, its rated at 6500k and 1500 lumens and is now pointed down rather than being laid horizontally


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## Scottyhorse (Mar 13, 2013)

Wow, that is a very neat tank!


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## lochaber (Jan 23, 2012)

I had to googleimage polyhedrons to find the name, and devilduck beat me to it. 

but, yeah, truncated octohedron - think of those roleplaying 8sided dice, and cut the corners off, and you'd end up with a shape like your tank (or if the hexagons expanded past the squares, so they formed triangles...)

Really interesting looking tank. What do you plan on doing with heating/filtration? It might be worth running a small canister with an in-line heater, just to keep stuff out of the tank. and instead of walling off the 'back', you might be able to make a stand for the light (some version of the bent conduit type for pendants), and use one of those coiled/ribbed tube-like 'cord organizers' to keep tubes, hoses, cords, etc. out of sight. You could pretty easily incorporate it into a stand fairly easily, keeping the filter in the stand with a powerstrip, so you only have one plug leaving the stand.

As to cushioning, you could get some of the craft foam (I think they use it for scrapbooks and stuff) from a craft store - maybe like a buck a sheet or so, and somewhere from 1/8" - 1/4" thick, all kinds of colors. I've been using some for a 20XH set up for about a year, and it worked pretty well (I had to use 3 different pieces, but you might be able to fit your tank on one solid piece, depending on what the dimensions are). Looks a lot better then styrofoam, and less mess. 

I don't have any personal experience with the dry-start method, but I think people generally advise against having standing water, so it might be worth trying to remove some of the excess, and just make sure it's moist. Someone else on here probably knows what to do better and can chip in.

Really cool, thanks for sharing pics, and I hope to see more as you get the tank set up.


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## yashmack (May 20, 2013)

Judging by the DHG it looks like im gonna have to scrap whats in there and start over
Im going to switch over to organic miracle grow with the tahitia sand to cap it off and we will see how that goes

the DHG is just about dead now and there is white fluffy stuff on it, so i think im going to abandon the dry start method and just fill the tank

At first I will just be using a large sponge filter for filtration
I want an open stand for it, probably some type of pedestal with a pendant light like you said, thats what I was planning to do in my most recent plans, hehehe


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## yashmack (May 20, 2013)

so most of the DHG wound up with fungus on it, i think it was due to the standing water in there
Ive removed over half the DHG and have a few small clumps left with new green growth so ive got some i can save
A few clumps were moved to my 10 gallon tank as well

Now, Im going to be removing everything in this tank and adding Miracle Gro Organic Choice Potting Mix I purchased yesterday
It will most likely be capped by the tahitian moon sand

What advise can you give me for this? lol
My only plan is to plunk down a couple inches of miracle grow with a half inch or less of moon sand on top
I will be planting all DHG again and this time it will be filled with water

For the substrate, is there anything im missing? should I add anything else?

also, Im going to get the Fluval 20G CO2 system as I plan to add more plants later
Any advice?

This is really my first serious attempt at a planted tank
Any advice is appreciated 

for filtration I will just have a air drive sponge filter for now, its rated for 20 gallons with a 60 gallon air pump on it


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## Matt.radich (Jun 6, 2012)

I would not get the fluval 20g system for your tank. I was on the fence about purchasing that co2 system when I was purchasing equipment for my 8.7 gallon tank, and I read that those tanks will only last you about a week. I would advise the fluval 88g if you have the money. If you don't have the money and still want to get the fluval 20g kit, I read that the 16g bicycle tire cartridges fit the thread of the fluval and you can get around 20 for $20 shipped on [Ebay Link Removed] 

Also another option could be a paintball co2 setup. Nilocg I believe is his user name sells inexpensive setup where all you need to buy is the co2 tank. Look him up in the for sale thread and search "paintball co2" and he'll come up. 


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk


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## yashmack (May 20, 2013)

If there are inexpensive refills for the 20g I might just get that, otherwise I'm going to look into the paintball option.


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## lochaber (Jan 23, 2012)

as to the dirt/sand, I'd probably go with an inch or so of MGOCPM, and at least an inch or two cap.

I recently set up a tank with sifted MGOCPM and flourite sand. Before that I had set up a tank with unsifted MGOCPM and flourite. The unsifted tank had some bits of wood/bark show up after a couple months. Didn't really bother me, but it might be worth sifting.


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## Chrisinator (Jun 5, 2008)

Whoa! That's awesome!!!


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## yashmack (May 20, 2013)

lochaber said:


> as to the dirt/sand, I'd probably go with an inch or so of MGOCPM, and at least an inch or two cap.
> 
> I recently set up a tank with sifted MGOCPM and flourite sand. Before that I had set up a tank with unsifted MGOCPM and flourite. The unsifted tank had some bits of wood/bark show up after a couple months. Didn't really bother me, but it might be worth sifting.


ok sounds reasonable, I was thinking of sifting it anyway
I need to get some screens...

Was there anything else special you did with your miracle grow mix before putting it in the tank?
I was thinking of sifting and then just adding it to the tank (around 2 inches or so) with about an inch of tahitian sand
Did you wait before adding fish to the tank and if so how long?


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## lochaber (Jan 23, 2012)

I wouldn't stress too much about getting screens or anything, see if there is something you can use around the house. I just used some spare plastic canvas I had (stuff used for needlepoint).

Also, for a tank that small, you probably won't need much, so you might even be able to just rifle through it with your hands and pick out the big chunks.

That's about all I did. The morning of the set up, or the day before, I tossed the MGOCPM (sifted) in a bucket and threw in a couple glasses of water and let it sit. Just to get it rehydrated, since mine had been in an open bag for about a year and mostly dried out. New stuff is probably still moist.

I added the dirt, the cap, and sprayed everything pretty heavily with a misting bottle before/during planting. In addition to keeping the plants moist while I'm working, I think it helps wash the fines down into the substrate and lessens clouding. 

I didn't add fish till later, since I did a fishless cycle, but if you are either heavily planted to start, or going with a really small bioload, you might be able to add something right away.


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## yashmack (May 20, 2013)

well ive added the miracle grow and capped it with the tahitian sand, so far im not too impressed with it
I dont like how mushy the substate it, kinda hard to plant in with just the sand as the cap
The miracle grow is extremely pliable, its easy to move around and has a very gummy kind of texture
Not exactly what im looking for in this tank
Might work in my larger tank with gravel as a cap though


I like the look of the fluval plant and shrimp stratum, i might switch to one of those since its such a small tank


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## Menace (Jan 15, 2014)

I have some left over DHG in a bowl with some of the Aquarium sand I used in my tank and I put it on the window sill 8hrs a day. I have the DHG submerged minus the very tips and I left it in clumps. Just experimenting to see how it'll grow if at all. It's going on 4 days and no signs of growth or browning/melting.

Very cool tank though!


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## yashmack (May 20, 2013)

so after a couple days there is a weird fluffy white goop coming up from the substrate
I dont know if this is a fungus of some kind or something else but im going to be tearing this tank down again this weekend and using something else for substrate
Since this is going to house shrimp at some point im going to go ahead and get a good quality substrate and stop experimenting with this one for now
will probably get fluval shrimp stratum or maybe the plant substrate, we shall see


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## yashmack (May 20, 2013)

alright, so i removed the miracle gro and moon sand, my goodness that smelled awful
I think there was way too much fertilizer in the mix, it smelled like a chicken coop :icon_redf

Ive now replaced it all with a couple inches of flourite 
Ive got the dwarf hair grass planted and its all moist and not filled yet
Im going to give the har grass a few days to root and then start filling it


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