# "Finally" (DIY LED-lit 57g)



## sns26 (Mar 29, 2010)

* **RESTART*** Four years on the same hardscape was enough. My enthusiasm for it began to wane; the java fern in the middle always tried to dominate, and it was just time for something new. So I'm restarting.


----------



## NJAquaBarren (Sep 16, 2009)

I don't think it is too much driftwood. In fact it may be too little as it looks a little lonely. You may want to balance it with smaller driftwood or rocks on the other side of the tank.


----------



## sns26 (Mar 29, 2010)

Yes, that is my plan. This wood may be hard to match - I was coming down the Potomac after a flood and saw it from my kayak. I must have looked pretty funny paddling a teeny whitewater boat with a 25-lb stump on my deck.

Alternative #2 is to take this piece to the bandsaw and make it into two pieces...


----------



## Zerocon (Apr 14, 2011)

This looks like it's going to be really cool, Subscribed!


----------



## sns26 (Mar 29, 2010)

*Update 9-1-11*

Hi all. I've finally gotten around to getting started. My wife said if I didn't get this thing going soon she was going to put an iguana in it. And I hate reptiles. So here is the hardscape: COMMENTS WELCOME!

Here is the planting plan:
1. glosso foreground up to the white sand
2. java "trident" all over the base of the DIY "stump"
3. java moss on some of the branches
4. echinodorus tenellus just in front of the rock retaining wall
5. Crypts behind that.
6. stems behind that - rotala and some red stuff to provide some contrast. 
7. Still looking for an idea of how to plant something fun on the emersed bits of driftwood.


----------



## 2in10 (Feb 8, 2011)

Very good scape. Epiphytes would go on the emersed parts of the wood. They will need to be misted daily though.


----------



## sns26 (Mar 29, 2010)

*Finally got it planted.*

...god this took forever. Plants are java fern, regular and trident, some fissidens, java moss, a few small crypts, and a ton of green rotala and ludwigia arcuata in the back (that will hopefully grow up high above the trident).

Substrate is aquasoil, but I had absolutely NO problems with cloudiness. Obviously. This is without any water changes. I just trickled things in real slow through my plumbing system and it dribbled out the loc-line fittings over the course of a couple of hours.

My biggest worry is about the glosso. I got it online and the quality SUCKED. Though I bought four pots, I only got about one pot worth of teeny tiny plants. I'm hoping they root. Worst case scenario is that I just plant again, so no big deal.


----------



## 2in10 (Feb 8, 2011)

Great work, hope the glosso makes it.


----------



## 150EH (Dec 6, 2004)

A job well done, but I guess it's not over yet. Your tank is so nice from the light to the tank and cabinet it seems great care has been taken in every detail and I think you should post photos to show it from head to toe.

Is there going to be any fauna???

That always remends me of FZ, "hey fauna, ya wanna" lets see who knows?


----------



## DogFish (Jul 16, 2011)

REALLY NICE!

I like how you use the same type of rock, they are there but, understated.What a smart idea! 

:icon_mrgr


----------



## monk E (Sep 25, 2010)

wow looks great man, nice job!


----------



## sns26 (Mar 29, 2010)

DogFish said:


> I like how you use the same type of rock, they are there but, understated.What a smart idea!


Glad I thought of it. 

There will be fauna--shrimps and fish. Maybe some dwarf cichlids. And some corys--that's what the sand is there for. But I gather that with aquasoil I'm best off waiting a few weeks before I do any of that. Right? Also, I have some random fast-growing stems in the bottom right to help eat nutrients for the break-in period.

And for the person who wanted the "full length" shot: 

Yes. Still no knobs.


----------



## 150EH (Dec 6, 2004)

sns26, as the norm one thing here leads to the next, so I read the filter review. That said I can see you are a very neat person and it looks like you have an eye for nice things, plus the tools and skills to do it all.

With Eheim canisters at $129 for a 2217 the piece of mind alone over the Odessy is worth it, I read the Eheim noise post on the 2215 too, send it back they are silent. I wish you all the luck with this filter and the tank, light, & stand are a work of art.

BTW are you going to the GWAPA meeting??? Thanks for the shot, it looks nice all in the frame.


----------



## sns26 (Mar 29, 2010)

150EH said:


> With Eheim canisters at $129 for a 2217 the piece of mind alone over the Odyssea


Yeah, but I liked the higher flowrate of the Odyssea. I wanted to avoid having to put a powerhead in this tank.


----------



## Rockhoe14er (Jan 19, 2011)

great looking tank. And again great led build. I wish i had your carpentry talents.


----------



## Hoppy (Dec 24, 2005)

That is certainly one of the most beautiful total set-ups I have seen here. I don't see a thing I would want to change. (Other than the blue tape:icon_cool)


----------



## Wingsdlc (Dec 9, 2005)

I didn't notice the blue tape until you said something! It must be his hardware for opening the doors!! = )

Very nice setup! How is the flow rate with all the plants in there now?


----------



## malaybiswas (Nov 2, 2008)

Pretty setup. Not sure if there is enough light for glosso though.


----------



## redfishsc (Aug 29, 2010)

Yeah I have to agree with Hoppy, definitely some of the nicest execution of any setup on here. 


The awesome woodworking (esp the cherry and curly maple combo), the nice pendant, the rimless tank, and the great selection of driftwood make this a fantastic tank setup. 

Bravo.


----------



## sns26 (Mar 29, 2010)

Many many thanks for the very nice compliments, especially from those of you whose work I've admired and learned from. Redfish, hoppy and 150EH need not worry. I'll be switching to clear packing tape for the pulls very soon. (Actually, maybe redfish wants to turn two curly maple mushroom pulls for me?)

Three days after planting everything seems to be going as I should expect. Some of the stems are beginning to show a little growth. Some of the crypts are melting. The java fern looks distressed. The "glosso" that I ordered and planted turns out really to be HC, which as I said was in horrible condition. This is really annoying. I've contacted the company I ordered from (which also failed to send me the moss I ordered), and will be posting an unfavorable review if they don't take care of both problems.

I'm doing daily water changes but I'm already getting some "green water" issues. I've seeded the tank with some mulm from an established tank, but ammonia is still off the charts. 

Wingsdlc: Flowrate with the odyssea seems good, at least for now. But as I've noted elsewhere, I'm getting annoyed at the finickiness of the Odyssea, and am considering switching to something more...green and German. Any suggestions for the appropriate model--main issue being adequate flowrate for circulation?


----------



## 150EH (Dec 6, 2004)

I tell you my experience with Eheim is any thing under and including the 2215 has a fairly mild flow and the main differences are the amount of bio media each different size can hold, the 2217 has a very strong flow double the 2215 and this is where I see a big leap in filtration and flow.

You have a few things slowing the flow, reactor, heater, and you could always use the shut off valve on the exhaust side to slow the flow of a 2217.

What's the gph rating on your current filter???

I've never used the ADA AS but as I understand it the Ammonia spike comes with it and the green water as a result, hopefully it will pass quickly and your plants will rebound, start up is always the worst, good luck.


----------



## 150EH (Dec 6, 2004)

I meant to ask what did you use to finish your wood work, poly, oil, etc.?


----------



## sns26 (Mar 29, 2010)

150EH said:


> I meant to ask what did you use to finish your wood work, poly, oil, etc.?


4 coats of Arm-R-Seal by General Finishes and nothing else. It's a wipe-on poly, and it is just fantastic. It's 1.5 times as expensive as the big-name brands that home despot/lowe's sells, and about 50 times as good.


----------



## 150EH (Dec 6, 2004)

I've never tried that or even heard of it but it looks nice without changing the natural tone of the wood.


----------



## sns26 (Mar 29, 2010)

150EH said:


> What's the gph rating on your current filter???


The Odyssea ($55) claims 480 gph. (High flow rate is one reason people love this filter. Crappy lid design and cheesy manufacturing is one reason others don't.)

Eheim 2217 ($~130) claims 208 gph.
Eheim 2075 (~$210) claims 330 gph
Eheim 2080 (~$380, ouch) claims 450 gph
Rena XP4 is (~$250) claims 450 gph
Fluval FX5 (~$225) claims 925 gph

I'm going to try another mod on the Odyssea, and if it doesn't work, I'm likely to go with the 2075 or the XP4.


----------



## 150EH (Dec 6, 2004)

I've got the 2217 at 264 gph and it does put out a good flow, enough that I would be a little worried about creating a whirlpool effect. I've never used any of Eheim's Pro line filters but know they are mostly very good and folks seem to like the Rena & Fluval as well. 

I think the Odyssea flows so good because of the media being non-restrictive, I am a Eheim fanboy I guess you would say but I just put a 2217 on my 150 galllon and it laid my Crinium & Aponogeton right over from too much flow.

I like quality and saving a buck, so without question I would go 2217 unless I could have anything I wanted then it would be the Eheim with the built in heater.

I think any of the filters you listed would give you more reliable service in the long run, the Odyssea just has too many quirks for my liking and by the time they fix it they will cost more.

Double check some of your flow rates and watch for with or without media, 2217 without 264 and your figure may be with, FX5 625? with and your figure without.


----------



## chris.rivera3 (Apr 15, 2008)

I like the wood layout :thumbsup: ....but you might have trouble keeping the playsand and aquasoil separate...i have a similar setup and my shrimp keep moving everything around


----------



## sns26 (Mar 29, 2010)

One month in: added some amanos, red crystal shrimp, and otos to give me a little movement while I think about what else will go in it. I put optics on my LEDs, which seems to reduce the light overspill if nothing else. 

The ludwigia arcuata is growing very nicely as is some of that rotala macandra(sp?). Crypts have melted and come back again. My main concern is the Java Fern which still seems to be in a state of shock--no real growth yet.

I replanted the glosso with some far better stems I got from a hobbyist. It is currently growing skyward, so I'll need to figure out how to stop that. Right now I'm happy it's growing at all.


----------



## 2in10 (Feb 8, 2011)

Looks good, Java Fern can grow very slow and may take a long time to adjust in my experience.


----------



## bsmith (Jan 8, 2007)

Again, what a beautiful setup!

I have many, many, many Eheims. they are truly a great product (Classics and the 2222 pro that I own, cant speak about other filter lines). I'm a notorious over filterer and have a 2213 (Eheim says good up to a 59g tank, what a joke) on a 5.5g ADA mini-m and a 2217 (Eheim says good up to 159g tank, no way) on a 17g ADA -p. That said they both work great on the tanks and with the Eheim quick disconnects and flow control/shut off valves you can decrease flow on the outflow if its needed. I think you would be just fine with a 2217 on this tank. One thing you have to take into consideration with Eheims advertised flow rates is that they re the ONLY manufacturer that has flow rates that were tested with the media in the filter. So in all reality the ~450gph of the Odyssea is much less with media in it (I assume you have media in it) and probably pretty close to the Eheims actual output. Most people don't know that. 

What is is about the current filter that you don't like? Like I said I own many Eheims. I actually have a 2217 I bought used on a forum that says "Made in East Germany" on the motor housing and it flows/pumps/filters just as well and silently as the 2217 I have in my 60-p that I purchased brand new!

I have no problem with someone trying to save a few bucks and am a pretty value minded person myself but when it comes to water and this hobby in general n every instance I purchased a cheaper/knock off product it had bit me in the a$$ and ended up costing me more $ in the long run and wasted countless precious hours I can ill afford to waste.


----------



## BoxxerBoyDrew (Oct 16, 2005)

TOTALLY BEAUTIFUL STAND, HOOD, and SETUP!!!

From 1 fellow Woodworker to another, You did a FREAKIN' AWESOME Job on the Stand and Hood! I LOVE the choices of wood too!!! You obviously have the correct tools for the job + the Skills to use them! Like it was said before I believe Your Cabinet and Hood are the best I have seen here Yet! With Wkndracer's coming in a close second!

The wood you found is AWESOME TOO! PERFECT for the size of the tank, and you laid out the tank perfectly too! I can't wait to see it grow in! I am fixing to go to the build link and check it out. 

AS for the Odyssea filter, I would REALLY, REALLY watch it! I was given one for some work I did at a buddies Aquarium Shop, and I got the SHAFT on that deal! It wasn't on purpose, as it was bought by the owner to Test out the filter when they first hit the market! It was the Eheim looking filter, but the input and output both came from the top. The filter itself was ok, but the quick disconnects were TERRIBLE!!! They leaked after a few weeks, and ruined a large section of the Parkay Flooring in our New to us Home! I was in the dog house for a while for that one! 

SO I would get rid of it ASAP, or AT LEAST put a lager pan under it and add a Water Leak Detector in the pan so you will know if it starts to leak! You can usually find the Leak Detector at Lowe's or HD around the Water Heaters. They run around 10-15 bucks, but they will save your butt!

Anyway keep up the AWESOME WORK, and best of luck to You! 
Drew

P.S. I have found when Glosso is growing toward the light the light is not strong enough! When I went from 2-55w CFL to 2-54w T5HOs my Glosso started growing along the substrate and not to the top!


----------



## sns26 (Mar 29, 2010)

*Latest Update - October 15*

Some new pictures and tank parameters:

ph: 6.4, KH: 1-2, GH 7, Ammonia and nitrite = 0
I've started dosing macros and micros. 

I did the first major trim last weekend. I went nuts, and you can see the results. The regrowth was not as fast as I would have liked, but then I started dosing and it has been pearling city. The glosso is starting to grow along the substrate now after I pruned it back heavily. As you can see in the pix below, the java fern is finally starting to send out some new fronds. Once I saw that, I cut out most of the old nasty leaves. The rotalas are doing fine too. Everything is pearling by the end of the day. The fissidens looks like it's in soda water.

There have been two annoying developments. One is that this tank is turning into the death chamber for Amano shrimp. NO idea why. They get twitchy and back-archy, then start darting about, then turn red and then...shrimp cocktail. The CRS are totally fine. The fish are fine too. There is no ammonia and no nitrite. My amanos in the upstairs tank are peachy...I have no clue what is happening here.

Without a crew of amanos helping me out, I'm starting to get hair algae all over the place, along with something nasty that may or may not be algae. IT is whitish and fuzzy, looks sort of like a tiny cotton ball. It mostly grows in out-of-the-way places, underneath driftwood branches etc. It doesn't scrape off the wood all that easily, but when it does it retains its shape. It is definitely NOT BBA, and I'm not even sure it's an algae since it grows largely in the darker areas.

Anyway, more pictures:


----------



## sns26 (Mar 29, 2010)

*November 2011*

More pictures...generally I'm happy with things. I swapped out four neutral white LEDs for blue, and the color became much more crisp and more to my taste. The light overspill is a bit blue, but it's worth it. Growth has been good but not super fast. I get solid pearling by evening, so I think I'm fine. I have noticed these issues:

1) I still don't think my shrimp are happy. The Amanos are pretty listless. They aren't dying in droves any more, but they seem to be molting too often and they are NOT very active. They spend most of their time clinging upside down to the driftwood.

2) I'm getting some algae growth and some weird fuzz on the driftwood (picture below).

3) some brown spots on new java fern growth. Pictures below. Any ideas?


----------



## sns26 (Mar 29, 2010)

*Damselfly Hatch*

A couple of weeks ago I caught a little critter scuttling around my gravel. Looked like a tiny version of a dragonfly larva, and indeed it turned out to be a damselfly larva. I know they're predatory, but they're cool too, so I figured "live and let live." Then, a few days ago, I noticed a little leftover husk of a larva on one of the emergent pieces of wood in my tank. My kids thought that was pretty cool too.

But today...I caught this shot of a newly hatched damselfly sitting on my driftwood. I have been fuming about the noisier-than-expected Eheim 2028 I installed yesterday, but this...made it all worthwhile.


----------



## jeremyblevins (Aug 14, 2010)

well it seems you really have captured nature in your aquarium. haha Very nice setup.


----------



## jmrmotorhead (Sep 27, 2011)

Beautiful tank, I love your hardscape. The wood reaching up and out is something I have always liked, and I think you have executed this so well. The damselfly is awesome by the way!


----------



## Dollface (Sep 30, 2008)

This tank is gorgeous, I can't wait to see it when it's fully grown in.


----------



## 150EH (Dec 6, 2004)

I've seen this happen to to a couple of people and you are taking it well, I would be running around the house with a flyswatter and a can of Raid.

Is the new filter going to calm down, it could just be some air in the system, I hope.


----------



## sns26 (Mar 29, 2010)

*Some new pictures.*

Things are growing in. Amano die-off has stopped. But the surface scum problem is very persistent. I've started a DIY thread looking for a way to deal with it in a minimally obtrusive manner. 

To think I was worried about getting my glosso to carpet! Everything is now growing so fast that I've turned the lights down. 

Why do my pictures of my tank suck so bad? Everything comes out looking horribly contrasty and I can't get the white balance correct.


----------



## doncityz (May 17, 2011)

I hate your tank. It's too beautiful. Felt like putting my hands in there and uprooting those pretty weeds. ;P


----------



## sns26 (Mar 29, 2010)

*January 28 2012*

I hosted our local club meeting today and got some tips on taking better pictures. I installed a surface skimmer about a six weeks ago--I hard-plumbed it into my eheim intake, which is hidden behind my stump. That saved me yet again from having to run any ugly plumbing over my rim.

It may be time now to dial down the LEDs and see if I can bring the tank to steady state. The only two scaping issues I'm still thinking about are (a) getting rid of the white sand beach, and (b) replacing the clump of stems on the right with a lower growing crypt.

Oh...and stocking. The tank is now 100% cycled. It has about a dozen amanos, 8 espey's rasboras, 8 rummynoses, and a half-dozen otos. I added a pair of lyretail killies and they are pretty. Maybe a pair of rams too?


----------



## oldpunk78 (Nov 1, 2008)

This is an awesome tank!


----------



## seahunter (Nov 29, 2011)

Wow love your tank! Great job.


----------



## sketch804 (Mar 2, 2011)

My goodness that tank is absolutely GORGEOUS! reminds me of some Amano tank or something like that..someone said it right, you have def.ly captured nature in one beautiful cube! keep it up, i wanna see more of this one! also quick question...the plant the dragon fly is on..is that water sprite? either way this is one of the best tanks I have seen in a LONG time!


----------



## bsmith (Jan 8, 2007)

I think the tank looks great!

I also agree with your feeling that the beach needs to go. Every time I see someone doing one of those or is thinking about it I think 'why'. Not only because I just think its way to unnatural (if thats what someone is going for then prefect, but more times than not, on this site at least, thats opposite of their vision), but also because the maintenance trying to keep the white clean and free of any other substrate/plants/fish poop/etc would be maddening. 

I obviously posted in this thread earlier as I got notification when you updated and cant remember what I commented on but, im assuming you have co2 on this tank (by the lighting you have and also your pearling comment). IMO, co2 is the only substance other than Flourish Excel that can wreak havoc on a population of invertebrates (any since they are such o2 sensitive creatures, CRS especially) and perhaps that was the cause of your shrimp deaths.


----------



## inareverie85 (Jul 26, 2008)

That tank is beautiful!

I also agree with your two proposed changes.


----------



## allknighter (Feb 26, 2010)

Subscribed! I'm getting a lot of inspiration from your layout - I think I'll go hunting driftwood today for my new setup. Did you ever figure out what was killing your amanos? 

I have 2 theories:

1. Too much copper / heavy metals in your water. My local town water allows up to 5ppm of copper which is enough to be toxic to inverts - I've killed off three shipments of shrimp before figuring this out. Seachem makes a filter insert called cuprisorb which adsorbs heavy metals from the water column. I would check your local water report.

2. Could your water be too acidic? My 5.5 fluval sits at 6.0 ph which I think is fine but may require a gh booster to mineralize the water. Your shrimps need to grow new shells - could the water column be dissolving their shells?


----------



## kwheeler91 (May 26, 2009)

How about temperature? Getting too warn in there maybe? Ive never kept amanos before but I did lose a whole lot of crs when I first started out because it was too warm in the tank.


----------



## sns26 (Mar 29, 2010)

I haven't lost any amanos in months now. My theory is that the tank was not fully cycled yet. Seems wierd, but nothing else has changed, and my shrimp now seem fine.


----------



## markle (Dec 30, 2011)

Thats a serious tank  I really like the end result, emergent plants and insects = double win! Awesome work (and great pics to boot)


----------



## sns26 (Mar 29, 2010)

Thanks! The tank looks pretty denuded now because it all got overgrown. I need to figure out how to get it to a good spot and then turn the lighting down to keep it there.


----------



## sundragon (Jan 10, 2011)

Gorgeous tank! I love the stand - fantastic wood work!
What mods did you put on your Odyssea?


----------



## bsmith (Jan 8, 2007)

Now that I have skimmed from beginning to now I feel the need to let you know a little secret (not really it's labeled on the equip listings) that Eheim rates their frets with the canister full of media. They are the only ones that do that. So even thought the xp4 may look a lot more powerful on paper, real life says otherwise.

I haven't done this test but I'll be that if I got some buckets and tested between my 2217 and xp3, which one would fill the bucket faster. My hunch would be that the 2217 would mop the floor with my xp3 and be close if not fill faster than a xp4.


----------



## sns26 (Mar 29, 2010)

sundragon said:


> Gorgeous tank! I love the stand - fantastic wood work!
> What mods did you put on your Odyssea?


Thanks for the compliments on the stand. I've learned a lot from it; if I make another one I will use a truly rimless tank (mine has a bottom rim) and have a stone cabinet top. So much easier than worrying about every drip and dribble.

On the Odyssea, I replaced the o-rings on the intake and outflow fittings, make a plywood reinforcing ring for the lid, and did various tricks to improve upon the internal filter media. But as 150EH eventually persuaded me, the end product was still a finicky and leak-prone PITA. So the final modification was to sell the Odyssea and buy an Eheim. Fortunately, the Odyssea was very cheap so I didn't lose much.


----------



## sundragon (Jan 10, 2011)

How much do you charge to make another? I can have the money ready at the next GWAPA meeting  You could make $$$$ selling these, haha


----------



## sns26 (Mar 29, 2010)

sundragon said:


> How much do you charge to make another? I can have the money ready at the next GWAPA meeting  You could make $$$$ selling these, haha


My problem isn't finding the motivation to make these things--it's finding the time!


----------



## sundragon (Jan 10, 2011)

With a little marketing, I bet your could quit you job and make a living selling people beautiful stands


----------



## Kosey929 (Mar 27, 2011)

Loooove your tank! I so wish I trusted my cats not to take a swim in a rimless larger than my 12...


----------



## madness (Jul 31, 2011)

This is a stand that I could actually stomach spending $300-500 on - unlike any of the available stands that cost that much (or more).

I had followed the DIY thread but hadn't seen pics of the tank stocked. Nice scape.


----------



## bpb (Mar 8, 2011)

This is one of my top 5 favorite tanks I've seen on here. It's like my tank only executed properly. I wish I had taken my time!


----------



## sns26 (Mar 29, 2010)

madness said:


> This is a stand that I could actually stomach spending $300-500 on - unlike any of the available stands that cost that much (or more).


Thanks! I too couldn't stomach spending big bucks on a P.O.S. made out of pine. But materials alone for this build--a full sheet of 1/2" cherry ply, heatsink, LEDs etc--were easily over $700. There's $60 in hinges alone. (They're great hinges. You'd like them.) So whatever else I did, I didn't save any money.

I may be taking a job soon that will require a ton of travel and will probably prevent me from having an aquarium. I don't have any storage space, so I'll probably have to put this whole rig up for sale...then we'll find out what it's worth!


----------



## sns26 (Mar 29, 2010)

bpb said:


> This is one of my top 5 favorite tanks I've seen on here. It's like my tank only executed properly. I wish I had taken my time!


I think that's the secret. Patience. I really tried to research everything and think it through before I did it. But it's still imperfect--the tank got overgrown and the necessary teardown made it all a mess again. It's a process, I suppose.


----------



## sundragon (Jan 10, 2011)

A fellow GWAPA member and fan of your "imperfect, overgrown tank" - I also have an Illuminata 57G - Let me know when you are getting rid of it 

Cheers!


----------



## sketch804 (Mar 2, 2011)

Well if you do decide to get rid of it, PLZ TAKE SOME FINAL PIX! I love this tank and would like to see some more pix of it some time! good luck to you!


----------



## sundragon (Jan 10, 2011)

In one of your pictures you had a powerhead stuck to the side of your tank. Do you use that for water movement, or was it a temporary thing to reduce the surface film?


----------



## sns26 (Mar 29, 2010)

sundragon said:


> In one of your pictures you had a powerhead stuck to the side of your tank. Do you use that for water movement, or was it a temporary thing to reduce the surface film?


Water movement. When the tank grew in it really needed it. It never did squat to address the film. I really need to take some pictures of my hard-plumbed surface skimmer for you. It's the bees knees, and once I painted it driftwood brown, you hardly see it.


----------



## sundragon (Jan 10, 2011)

sns26 said:


> Water movement. When the tank grew in it really needed it. It never did squat to address the film. I really need to take some pictures of my hard-plumbed surface skimmer for you. It's the bees knees, and once I painted it driftwood brown, you hardly see it.


Please do. :thumbsup:

It's gotten a bit better recently but still there.

I didn't have a surface film issue when my old Aquaclear 50 was on the side of the tank helping cycle it for the first week or two. I actually didn't have an issue till I placed the intake and output on the same side per instructions for Lily pipes. I'm seriously considering putting it back across the tank to see if that makes a difference.


----------



## jcgd (Feb 18, 2004)

And.... bumpity bump bump bump.

What's going on?


----------



## sns26 (Mar 29, 2010)

Still going! I killed all my fish with a Prime fail (I forgot to add it) but the shrimp population exploded. I now have tons of rcs in there and a few CRS. How can I improve CRS reproduction and suppress the RCS?

The tank routinely produces a baseball of fissidens and a bucket of trident every two months. Free for the taking if you help me strain shrimp out of the eheim canister. (Is there an easy way to do that)?

Oh crap. Forgot to mention that I installed some plant-leaf shaped door pulls. Small and understated...


----------



## 12345arah (Oct 10, 2012)

awesome tank setup!


----------



## sundragon (Jan 10, 2011)

ahem, pictures please


----------



## Green_Flash (Apr 15, 2012)

Very cool setup, love the Betta.


----------



## boxhead1990 (Aug 29, 2011)

Damn that is a nice tank i like how its drilled and that nice simple and would never no it was there toooo

I myself have lilypipes on a shalower version of your tank

Sent from my GT-S5830 using Tapatalk 2


----------



## sns26 (Mar 29, 2010)

Okay, more pix. You can now see the leaf-shaped door pulls and the surface skimmer intake. And the new rats nest of electronics including a reef keeper lite and two peristaltic dosing pumps. All of this was an attempt to increase automation to facilitate a newly intense travel schedule at my new job. It's working--this tank can go and has gone on autopilot for up to a week at a time. I think it could go two no problem. Nice to have sunset and sunrise...and led moonlights. All dimmable...of course😉


----------



## sns26 (Mar 29, 2010)

And a full tank shot...


----------



## sundragon (Jan 10, 2011)

I love your tank - It was one of the tanks that inspired me to buy my own 57G  

I had asked you this a while ago, but I can't remember which surface skimmer are you using?


----------



## sns26 (Mar 29, 2010)

The skimmer is one of the standard cheap ones you find online. It's meant for installation on a canister filter intake and has an adjustment to control the ratio of water taken from surface to water taken from the bottom inlet. 

http://www.wag.com/fish/p/tom-aquar...pla&ca_sku=QXA-010&ca_gpa=pla&ca_kw={keyword}


----------



## sageblade24 (Jan 3, 2014)

Love this tank.

What is that plant growing out of the water on the right on your driftwood?


----------



## sns26 (Mar 29, 2010)

sageblade24 said:


> What is that plant growing out of the water on the right on your driftwood?


In 2012, it was water sprite. Now it's 2014 and it's bolbitis. 

And in two weeks I'm going to nuke this tank and start a completely new scape. I went three years with the same basic scape--lots of planting and replanting, but the hardscape was the same. I'm a bit chicken to toss out something that has worked so well for so long, but I've gotten bored with the old wood.


----------



## sns26 (Mar 29, 2010)

Like I said at the top; I got bored. So I emptied the tank, made some long-needed plumbing changes. Same tank, mostly the same hardware. I long ago went to peristaltic pump autodosers controlled by a Reefkeeper Lite (which also handles dimming the LEDs.) The surface skimmer DIY I'd done had worked great, but always required tweaking to keep the flow rate right. So I switched to an Eheim Skim 350. But the concept stays the same: almost nothing goes over the rim (no cords, no hoses) and plumbing is invisible in the tank. Helps to keep the natural feel.

I did the hardscape with some rocks collected by a local GWAPA club member. Driftwood by Tom Barr. Agonizingly slow hardscape placement by me. Once again, my wife said "finally"--that name will always stick! So you'll see some hardscape ideas I played with, then the final. We'll see if this one lasts for four years too.


----------



## sns26 (Mar 29, 2010)

*10 months later...*

This is what things look like now. The tank is very stable--I keep the lights down low, the CO2 up high, and it all stays clean.


----------



## AquaAurora (Jul 10, 2013)

Wow O.O


----------



## monkeyruler90 (Apr 13, 2008)

old tank thread but I absolutely love the idea of a rimless tank with nothing hanging over the edge. 

I really wonder how he was able to do the dosing underneath the cabinet. I like the drilled intake/outlet that is hidden from behind the sump

The LEDs look great as well, I'm actually going to add some blues to my LEDs to give it a more crisp color spectrum. 

curious if the reefkeeper lite controls the LEDs via pwm or pot


----------

