# 29g Setup - From the beginning - Lot's o' Pics-



## StaleyDaBear (Apr 15, 2010)

Cant wait to see more. Is the glass cover on your light . . . muddled some how? Kind of looks almost like a ceiling light cover. Might not be good for your PAR. But otherwise, like I said, cant wait to see more visual stimulation


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## lauraleellbp (Feb 3, 2008)

Welcome to TPT!

You'll need to be sure to adapt your sump setup to minimize CO2 loss. Closed loop canisters would be easier, but since you've already got the sump I'm assuming that's what you want to use?

You sure you want to run that much light over this tank? Go for it if you like high maintenance tanks, but it sure wouldn't be my cup of tea...


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## Holokai (Jan 10, 2007)

StaleyDaBear said:


> Cant wait to see more. Is the glass cover on your light . . . muddled some how? Kind of looks almost like a ceiling light cover. Might not be good for your PAR. But otherwise, like I said, cant wait to see more visual stimulation


Yes, it's like a textured glass. I currently plan to leave it on, but we'll see what happens. 

More stimulation coming tonight! I managed to get the whole lighting system up and running lad night, quite please with it. I took quite a few pictures, but I'm at work and they're at home


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## Holokai (Jan 10, 2007)

lauraleellbp said:


> Welcome to TPT!
> 
> You'll need to be sure to adapt your sump setup to minimize CO2 loss. Closed loop canisters would be easier, but since you've already got the sump I'm assuming that's what you want to use?
> 
> You sure you want to run that much light over this tank? Go for it if you like high maintenance tanks, but it sure wouldn't be my cup of tea...



Thanks!

Yeah, I'm pretty set on the sump for a few reasons - 
1) it gets the heater, diffuser, anything else outta the display
2) it gives me room to 'propagate' plants, or grow them out before going into the main display. I'm mulling over the idea of growing some of the more expensive mosses to support the hobby.

I'm not sure what you mean by minimizing CO2, but if it has anything to do with preventing splashing and extra evap caused by the overflow, I'm interested in hearing ideas. 

The lights ARE a bit much, I'll give you that. My layout for the tank though should allow me to only run one light on the right side of the tank for growing purposes. The left side I plan to leave just sand-ish with a nice slate centerpiece. So the dual 65w lights would only be on for displaying the tank, not on a regular, timed basis.

If I had to, I could convert the lights to dual 27 watts I believe, but then that would only be ~2 wpg, if that ratio even applies.

What other precautions would you take given the high lighting? 

Thanks!
-Chris


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## Holokai (Jan 10, 2007)

Ok, here's the promised update! Last night we got a lot of work done. Whenever I say we I'm referring to my friend Paul who just set up a little planted Nano himself. Maybe I'll post a pic of his tank some time soon.

Anyhow, we finished the lighting system last night. We started it last night too, so I Was pretty impressed.









The initial setup










This isn't the permanent solution to holding the conduit in place, but it works for now. we actually need to cut the height down about 5 inches, as you'll see in a few pictures. After I took this picture we drilled a screw into the wood, and the conduit sits on that.









Hey look, they do both fit. Good thing we remembered to measure before this point... :icon_roll









I was impressed at how easy the wires were to get through the conduit and out the holes we drilled.









Here you can see the modifications we made to the lights - the four holes to attach the light to the conduit, the larger hole between the bolt holes (right) for the wiring, and the big hole on the bottom right for the on/off switch.
turns out that location didn't work for the switch, as the reflector goes there :-x So we moved it towards the top some and covered the hole with electrical tape 









Easy Access for Wiring









Ta-Da!









*TA-DA! *









Finished product. As you can see, it's a little bit high, but I need to get some pipe cutters to cut the conduit now, as the wiring is now running through there.









This is the slick part - I can take the conduit out really easy for quick access to the entire tank. I just pull up, then lean it back.​
Whew. Productive evening if I do say so myself.

G'night all!
- Chris


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## Da Plant Man (Apr 7, 2010)

Looks good! I will have to try those light out if you have success 

Good luck,
Caton


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## little_betta (May 12, 2010)

wow! That looks like a lot of fun!


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## VadimShevchuk (Sep 19, 2009)

i think you should run both lights if your gonna have pressurized co2. Lights are pretty high above and idk if the reflectors are decent but you should be perfect for lighting if you run co2. Cool journal!


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## RipariumGuy (Aug 6, 2009)

That is a slick lighting system! Makes me want to start a riparium with that type of lighting.


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## Holokai (Jan 10, 2007)

Caton said:


> Looks good! I will have to try those light out if you have success
> 
> Good luck,
> Caton


Thanks! I hope they work out well. I'm a little concerned that I couldn't find replacement bulbs for the fixtures at Home Depot. Cross your fingers!




little_betta said:


> wow! That looks like a lot of fun!


 sure was!





VadimShevchuk said:


> i think you should run both lights if your gonna have pressurized co2. Lights are pretty high above and idk if the reflectors are decent but you should be perfect for lighting if you run co2. Cool journal!


Thanks! I'm definitely planning to run a pressurized CO2 system. I'm currently looking at the Milwaukee CO2 regulator/solenoid combo at big Al's online. I was going to build a reactor as well, but for now have decided to go with a diffuser. I'll link up the stuff I ordered last night a little later. 




JakeJ said:


> That is a slick lighting system! Makes me want to start a riparium with that type of lighting.


Thanks Jake, it was actually not TOO bad to build, but my buddy is an experienced carpenter so I'm sure that helped somewhat. At least it wasn't a bank breaker, the whole thing was around $120.

Thanks!
- Chris


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## VadimShevchuk (Sep 19, 2009)

I would not get a milwauke regulator. Yikesjason can get you a nice one for about 130 shipped. I think you would rather spend 30 bucks more for a quality product right? I also have a 29 gallon and im setting up a co2 system and im tempted to go with a cheap azoo regulator but i think i rather spend 30-50 bucks more and get a regulator that i wont throw away in 6 months.


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## Holokai (Jan 10, 2007)

Vadim, does that price include a solenoid? The mke one includes it for $130. I don't like hearing that it's no good though. I assume yikesjason is a username here on the forum? I'll drop a line and see what he's got.

Thanks for the heads up.


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## Holokai (Jan 10, 2007)

Not too much progress this week, unless reading hours and hours of forum posts count, but the day is young. Yesterday I worked on some layouts and think I've settled on one I like. 

Living in Hawaii, we have unique ways of planning out fish tanks. 









We start with a blank canvas









Then find natural resources to assist in the visualizations. 
(My initial layout idea - heavily planted rear-right corner, with some manzinita poking out across the tank, HC running over to a nice piece of slate(which is the circle))









We have a nice area to test out our ideas as well.









We also have unique and easy ways to start over if we don't like our aquasqape ideas.









The final layout - I'm pretty happy with it. Basically, the two hills should look like they were a single hill, until they were cut in half by either a stream, glacier, or me. Take your pick. The angle of the cut will be at 45 degrees to the front glass, hoping to add some depth to the tank.​
Plants will be mostly HC covering the hills. the flat area in front and between the hills (which should actually be sloped slightly) will be a nice light sand, not planning to grow anything there. The back right corner might have a few smaller manzinita pieces poking out and some taller plants(Saw some Rotalis Pearl(sp?) I thought was pretty nice...).

The big problem I see is that I want the slopes of the hills to be fairly steep - something that I don't think the Aqua Soil Amazonia powder I plan to use will do very well. I'm looking for ideas for holding the slopes at a nice angle until the HC takes hold and holds the shape for me. I've been playing with the idea of some sort of net around the hills. 

I'd like to have some sharply angled pieces of slate just barely poking out of the hills too.

My buddy thought the aquascape would look too pristine, almost unnatural. So he added some hardscape to increase the believability







M. Litus in it's late life form might add some realism and some depth to the tank. Does anyone know how easy these are too keep? Water params, lighting, etc?​


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## Holokai (Jan 10, 2007)

One thing I plan to do regardless of the aquascape, but that might assist in my steep hills is to grow the HC emersed. I read this really awesome thread about it, and think it's a great idea.


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## farmhand (Jun 25, 2009)

Holokai said:


> Living in Hawaii, we have unique ways of planning out fish tanks.


There has to be a show off in every crowd.:icon_roll


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## Holokai (Jan 10, 2007)

farmhand said:


> There has to be a show off in every crowd.:icon_roll


Aaaaand that'd be this guy 

Actually I thought it was hilarious my friend and I were at a beach and planning a fish tank rather than snorkeling, swimming, whatever.


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## Holokai (Jan 10, 2007)

Ok, got a lot done tonight. First off, got the background on the tank. I went with a piece of PVC Foam as the background. It looks dirty, but believe me, between the glass and the foam there is NOTHING. (I hope!) I did find a scratch on the glass once I put the piece up though.









The back glass could use a good cleaning, on the inside.



























I caulked around the edges too, so no liquid could get in. Hopefully this stays nice.​
Next we started the plumbing, but missing two parts kept us from completing the plumbing this evening. Damn 3/4 inch threaded to slip PVC pieces!









This is the return. it's 1/2 PVC most of the way, but due to the semi complex route it needs to go, once it's below the stand top, it will run through 3/4OD flexible tubing to the return pump. The pump itself is a 1300gph or 1800gph pump, forget which. Those Neon's are in for a wild ride! Nah, it'll be toned down significantly with a ball valve. 









The beginning of the stand pipes. 









This is the only plumbing you'll see from the top of the tank.









Under the stand. Not sure what I'll be doing with that aqua clear, it's there just to ensure I have space for it should I ever want to run it.









we're running the PVC straight to the bottom of the tank to help with the weight of the plumbing. The bottom three pieces from each return will be drilled to almost nothing so water can freely leave the pipes, despite the bottoms being flush to the tank bottom.

The elbows you can half see sticking out of the return and angled down are kind of an emergency exit, not sure if it's really needed, but we had the parts so whatever. 

Where the water enters the sump, I'll be placing a piece of acrylic from about the bottom of the tank to halfway up the tank, so the flow doesn't disturb the substrate in the sump. (I'm not planning to have substrate in there just yet, but it's kind of a just in case.)

Whew. If I can get those parts from Home Depot tomorrow, I might be able to do a water test this week! Whoooooo!

- Chris​


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## lasutaku (Jun 15, 2007)

Cool set up! Where in Hawaii do you live? I'm in Kahala


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## nemosreef (Oct 19, 2007)

Very cool setup. Looking forward to more updates.


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## Holokai (Jan 10, 2007)

lasutaku said:


> Cool set up! Where in Hawaii do you live? I'm in Kahala


Aloha! I live in Waikiki... Trying to get out to Kapahulu area but kinda stuck at the moment.

Nice to see a fellow hobbiest, we'll have to compare LFS. I just recently found Aquascapes, other than that I'm not too impressed with any of them.


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## Holokai (Jan 10, 2007)

nemosreef said:


> Very cool setup. Looking forward to more updates.


Thanks! The plan is to water test tonight, so hopefully there will be something to share later.


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## Holokai (Jan 10, 2007)

Oi, what a week. Managed to get the tank plumbed and water tested, and while it still needs a little more work in the sump, I'm really pleased with where we're at. On with the pictures!










Plumbing the return. This was pretty tough, it had to line up with two holes in the tank, and go exactly 9 inches back, and then straight down or else the overflows wouldn't have room. Fortunately, we measured 14 times and cut once. 









Here you can see where the return pops out behind the overflows, and the flexible hose near the bottom right that will eventually be placed into the 45 on the return.









WATER! In Hindsight, filling it this way was not the best idea. Well, I thought it was cool but my monitor and laptop next to the tank... not so much. No harm no foul?









This is the original sump layout. I'm not sure if I'm happy with the overflow on the right. I don't think I really need it, and it is the source of a few (but not many) micro bubbles. I'm debating about removing it. The stand pipes on the left have been completely re-done.









The water level in the display is adjusted by rotating the 90 degree PVC elbows. As you can see, it was initially set quite high. 









The top 45 degree elbow is the return. I'm impressed with the flow I can achieve through the tank, there's no way debris would settle if I left the return running unrestricted. 









This is what you will see looking directly at the tank - pretty much nothing. I'm considering painting the PVC black as well, if I can find any tank safe paint. I'm in no rush to do that though. I love how clean it looks. No air line, heaters, pumps, nada.









Here's the semi final stand pipe design. this cut the noise volume in half, and reduced the micro bubbles to almost nothing. The stand pipe goes all the way to the bottom for support, then with 2x90 degree elbows, returns to just out of the water. This disperses most of the air in the stand pipe before it has a chance to form micro bubbles. The middle one is the only one that is complete at the moment, I need about 18 more inches of 3/4 PVC to wrap this up. Good thing they only sell it in 10 foot pieces...
​
So far I'm pretty pleased with the tank. It was so noisy the first night I had to turn it off (It's about 3 feet from my bed). I've resolved that issue and you can now barely hear anything at all. 

I had a giant "Oh $%#@" moment when we first started the system up, it never occurred to me that once we finished I would have ~49 gallons of water running through two tanks that we'd drilled holes through, PVC pipes we'd plumbed, etc. All of a sudden it hit me - What something breaks?! So I haven't brought myself to leave it running when I'm not home - yet. Maybe this afternoon.

Anyhow, lots of progress has been made. I'm hoping to start working on the scape by Monday. Stay tuned!

-Chris


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## Holokai (Jan 10, 2007)

I take it back - that overflow on the right has to stay or else the entire sump could conceivably be dumped onto the floor. The smaller the compartment, the less water gets pumped into a tank with clogged overflows. if anything, I will probably shrink that compartment some more.

I just did a clog test on it and it would have failed,except that there wasn't enough water on the low side of the overflow to flood the display.

- Chris


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## FSM (Jan 13, 2009)

How large are the drains?

If you want it to be completely silent, one drain should be at a full siphon and the other two should pick up the excess. If there isn't any excess, use a ball valve to limit one drain so the other two are draining as little as possible.


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## VadimShevchuk (Sep 19, 2009)

sorry that i didint get back to your qquestion.... Yikesjason is a username on here and i was gonna buy a regulator off him before i bought a GLA one of SnS. He orders parts and bulk and the price comes out cheaper or something like that. just email him and tell him that you need a regulator.

The tank is good and i like the clean look of it. Why did you go with a sump other then looks?


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## Holokai (Jan 10, 2007)

FSM said:


> How large are the drains?
> 
> If you want it to be completely silent, one drain should be at a full siphon and the other two should pick up the excess. If there isn't any excess, use a ball valve to limit one drain so the other two are draining as little as possible.


I've played around with the full siphon, but I don't think I want that much flow in the tank. if it was a reef.... then hell yeah 

The pump I use is a 1300 gph sump and it can't keep up with a full 3/4 inch PVC pipe at full siphon anyways. My next reef will be done with a siphon, excess, and backup overflow, I've seen some nice designs for that.

Just re-read and saw you mentioned a ball valve to slow the siphon. that's an idea I can sink my teeth into... Home Depot here I come....

Thanks,
Chris


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## Holokai (Jan 10, 2007)

VadimShevchuk said:


> sorry that i didint get back to your qquestion.... Yikesjason is a username on here and i was gonna buy a regulator off him before i bought a GLA one of SnS. He orders parts and bulk and the price comes out cheaper or something like that. just email him and tell him that you need a regulator.
> 
> The tank is good and i like the clean look of it. Why did you go with a sump other then looks?


I actually did get in contact with Yikesjason, and he sent me some info I never replied though :-x 

My buddy is selling me his complete CO2 system (sans solenoid) since he's upgrading his. Thanks for the information though.

As for why the sump, I hate seeing equipment in the tank. Lilly pipes, Glass diffusers, Drop checkers, no matter how nice they look... they look better in a sump  And the other reason is I'm hoping I can use the sump to grow out some rarer/pricier plants to help pay for the hobby. I did it with corals, worked ok.

- Chris


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## VadimShevchuk (Sep 19, 2009)

Good idea on growing plants in the sump. I think iwould rather have lilly pipes then pvp in the tank but thats my opion. Are you gonna run both of the bulbs at the same time?


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## Beeya (Mar 29, 2010)

Shrinking the return compartment will make topping off the water level a real pain. A small volume there can mean that a liter or two of evaporation a day becomes an ordeal and makes an auto top-off almost 100% necessary. With such a strong return pump as the water level decreases during the day you may end up having cavitation issues too. Bubbles everywhere.

Also, make sure those pipes are supported along the back, I learned the hard way that bulkheads plus unsupported plumbing is a really quick way to crack a tank :icon_smil

Your system is looking sweet. Grab some krylon fusion and paint that PVC black. I've used it for years and never had any problems with it at all, just let it dry well and you'll really have to try hard to even scratch the finish. You'll be glad you did.


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## Holokai (Jan 10, 2007)

VadimShevchuk said:


> Good idea on growing plants in the sump. I think iwould rather have lilly pipes then pvp in the tank but thats my opion. Are you gonna run both of the bulbs at the same time?


Well, my point was that I'd rather have nothing in the tank but the fish and plants, but you're right the PVC is ugly...



Beeya said:


> Shrinking the return compartment will make topping off the water level a real pain. A small volume there can mean that a liter or two of evaporation a day becomes an ordeal and makes an auto top-off almost 100% necessary. With such a strong return pump as the water level decreases during the day you may end up having cavitation issues too. Bubbles everywhere.
> 
> Also, make sure those pipes are supported along the back, I learned the hard way that bulkheads plus unsupported plumbing is a really quick way to crack a tank :icon_smil
> 
> Your system is looking sweet. Grab some krylon fusion and paint that PVC black. I've used it for years and never had any problems with it at all, just let it dry well and you'll really have to try hard to even scratch the finish. You'll be glad you did.


The support issue is one I am concerned about. The pipes run right down to the bottom, so theres some support there but I'd love to find a way to make them more secure. I'll have to look around at HD.

That Fusion stuff is what I was thinking about using. How many coats did you do?

Also, your reef looks nice. Tubastrea is my favorite, Those are what I used to "rescue" from LFS on the cheap because they were dying, nurse them back to health and sell for a nice profit. 

Thanks,
Chris


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## Beeya (Mar 29, 2010)

A piece of ply sized to sit vertically under the plumbing between the back of the tank and the downturns would do the trick. 

Not sure on the exact number of coats. I do quite a few light ones to avoid drips and keep going until I'm happy with the coverage. 

The black tubastrea was a rescue. It had quite a few polyps but many were just barely holding on, took some work to get it eating again.


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## Holokai (Jan 10, 2007)

Beeya said:


> The black tubastrea was a rescue. It had quite a few polyps but many were just barely holding on, took some work to get it eating again.


Yeah that's one no one seems to realize - you gotta feed them, they're not photosynthetic creatures. Usually when I see them in the ocean here they're in caves or on the underside of rocks. Nice work on the rescue roud:

So I set up the siphon tonight - holy crap is it quiet. It's so quiet I didn't realize the tank was loud prior. Now I can hear the pump, I just assumed it was super quiet (I guess it still is, but now it's the only noise!)

I had always planned to do a siphon on my next reef, it just never occured to me I could control the flow with a valve and use it in a planted tank. That said, I'm not happy with the level of control these cheap-o PVC ball valves give me. 

Anyone have a suggestion for a better ball valve?

As for extreme circumstances being covered - In a power outage, the tank will drain to the sump and leave me about 3/4 of an inch clearance. The siphon will self start as well, when the power comes back on thanks to some holes I drilled in the elbow.

If the siphon gets clogged, the other two overflows pick up the slack just fine. I plan to use a filter(Filter isn't the right word - it's a hard plastic grate piece.. forget the name) over the PVC elbow, which should help avoid clogs even if a fish were to die and get sucked up to it. 

I wish I could post a sound clip of how quiet this is. *Thanks Beeya*!!

- Chris


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## Holokai (Jan 10, 2007)

Oh man, what have I done... I got my paycheck for a job I'm doing and headed straight to Aquascapes in Aiea. Got me some Amazonia II($60) and two pieces of Manzanita ($60 each) arg...

But the wood is amazing. I had no intentions of buying anything but the Aqua Soil(of course) but these two pieces were hidden away on top of the fish tanks and I spotted them and had to have 'em.

It's late so I haven't messed with them much but the big piece is (unfortunately) too big to fit in the tank except for some very awkward angles. 









Configuration A - Very tall and doesn't use up much of the width of the tank. Not a huge fan of this one.









Configuration B - Utilizes much more space, I think it puts some of the more interesting wood characteristics on display. 









Configuration B - Close up.

More to come. 

- Chris​


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## Holokai (Jan 10, 2007)

Ok, we have a new front runner in the Aquascaping department... Actually I think we have a winner. May I present to you "$190 and All I Got Were These Sticks and Some Dirt" (Working title)


















View from my Desk, where I Spend 70% of my time at home


















And now I'm soaking the wood, running carbon and cranking the heater to 93 degrees F. 

- Chris​ 


​


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## Nate McFin (Mar 19, 2009)

Wow, Great set up! Love the lights and the plumbing.
LOL, "paying for dirt and sticks" Reminds me of a buddy of mine when I was a kid, who got caught shoplifting potting soil from the front of a grocery store when he was really drunk. He stole something that was basically free in his yard and he didn't even garden. HE wasn't the brightest. HEHE.
I am VERY jealous of your tank planning laboratory as well.


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## Holokai (Jan 10, 2007)

Nate McFin said:


> Wow, Great set up! Love the lights and the plumbing.
> LOL, "paying for dirt and sticks" Reminds me of a buddy of mine when I was a kid, who got caught shoplifting potting soil from the front of a grocery store when he was really drunk. He stole something that was basically free in his yard and he didn't even garden. HE wasn't the brightest. HEHE.
> I am VERY jealous of your tank planning laboratory as well.


Haha! That's awesome. Everyone needs a good 'I was drunk at the time' story. No, I'm not sharing mine 

So, quick question - I found half a bag of Eco-complete last night, and I'm wondering if that stuff is any good. If it is, I'll use it in my sump rather than buying more AS. As it stands, I need at least another small bag of AS for the tank. The low sections are only 1/2 inch deep right now.

Thanks, 
Chris


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## lasutaku (Jun 15, 2007)

That's some nice wood man!


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## Holokai (Jan 10, 2007)

*About time...*

Wow, so it's been a crazy hectic month. Somewhere in there, about 2.5 weeks ago, I managed to get some water in my tank and plant some plants. 

Without Further Ado, the pictures!









Started with planting the HC. Man what a headache. I bought fully half of the store's supply of it, and it turned out to be just the right amount.









Then we moved on to the Lilaeopsis which I bought 6 pots of. In the back you can see some... I forget actually. I'll update with the name.









We'd just finished the rest of the HC, and some unknown crypts in the center, under the overhang of the wood. I'd love to have these identified, I think they're wonderful looking. 









I was quite worried about filling the tank, as the hill in the back right was quite steep, and the large grain of the amazonia was making me nervous. Fortunately, patience paid off and we filled the tank using a single air hose, and there was no shifting. I think having 6 pots of Lilaeopsis on the hill helped.









FULL!!! Things were quite ugly at this point - all the equipment in the tank exactly where I didn't want it, plus the aquaclear sitting on the back was bothering me. I did this to keep the flow as low as possible while the plants settled in. ​
It looks like waiting 2 weeks before turning on the overflow system, and starting to use the sump paid off - not a single plant was uprooted. I'm gradually upping the flow rate, but I'm planning to keep it low. I discovered a leak in my siphon PVC, so I need to patch that. it's shooting air bubbles into the siphon near the bottom, and it's making a sucking noise. Other than that, the set up is wonderful.










Close(ish) up of the lilaeopsis









I picked up three stones as an impulse buy when I purchased the plants. I ended up only really liking one. 









Here's a really crummy shot I took today - my apologies for the junk photo! I will update with a better one soon I promise. 









Closer picture of the crypts... I can't tell if they're doing ok or not. In the top right, one of them melted, but in the center, there's several new shoots coming in. At top, see the brown spots? They look like algae balls on the leaf, they aren't just flat spots. Not sure what to do about them.









Lilaeopsis! Man I love this stuff.​
Thanks for looking!
- Chris


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## fishyjoe24 (Dec 10, 2009)

sweet looking tank, makes me want to work on mine, but I'm tired been up and now need to sleep.


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## Holokai (Jan 10, 2007)

Thanks Joe! 

The tank has been overrun by brown stringy algae that takes only about 8 hours to literally fill the tank. I use some tubing to suck it out, but it's so dense it actually pulls plants out with it (ugh). 

I'm planning to keep up the water changes and just wait it out, I believe this is an expected phase... But is there anything else I could try? 

Thanks! 
-Chris


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## Reginald2 (Mar 10, 2009)

I've had some stringy algae (still got some) in my fifty. It isn't gone, but backing off the lights and upping the CO2 has seems to help. I did notice that 2x's the dose of excel turned it all pink and then white. It took a few days to work and I only dosed it once, but I think it helped me get a leg up on the algae.

This is such a cool build, I can't believe I've missed this one. 

Let me know if you find something that works better.


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## Holokai (Jan 10, 2007)

Reginald2 said:


> I've had some stringy algae (still got some) in my fifty. It isn't gone, but backing off the lights and upping the CO2 has seems to help. I did notice that 2x's the dose of excel turned it all pink and then white. It took a few days to work and I only dosed it once, but I think it helped me get a leg up on the algae.
> 
> This is such a cool build, I can't believe I've missed this one.
> 
> Let me know if you find something that works better.


Thanks for the kind words Reginald! Unfortunately the algae haas gotten significantly worse.

It's thick enough now that I can't siphon it out, or else it pulls out plants with it. I'm going to try cutting it with my scissors, who knows how that will go. 

I'm planning to leave the lights entirely off this weekend. I don't have any excel but I'll try to grab some as well. Does excel actually have an effect on algae, or does it just provide the plants with what they need to out grow the algae?

Ugh algae.


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## ADA (Dec 31, 2010)

That's a really great looking setup.

Any updates?


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## fishyjoe24 (Dec 10, 2009)

any updates?


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## Holokai (Jan 10, 2007)

fishyjoe24 said:


> any updates?


Sorry I've been absent so long - Unfortunately I had to take the tank down. I sold most of it off to local hobbyists. 

I couldn't control the heat in the tank enough, and I think the high heat was harming... everything in it. On top of that, my energy bill monthly jumped ~$70, which was too much for me. 

I was able to transfer my favorite plants over to my friends tank though, so I can still see my crypts flourishing there. 

Bah! thinking about it pisses me off!  

Have a good weekend!
- Chris


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## shrimpNewbie (May 6, 2011)

a way to quiet your overflow would be to turn 2 of the elbows pointing down, and raised the one you leave unturned to the MAX water level you want, incase the other two block, the two that are facing down will be active siphons, while the third is just a safety, my favorite overflow is the beananimal, however I love your setup.


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