# 120planted+120reef in progress Beginning build pics 03/30/10



## jargonchipmunk (Dec 8, 2008)

In the process of building a dual in wall setup. 

120g reef
2x250w Mogul base Mh w/ t5ho supplementation
sumps, blah blah blah 

120g planted tank
4x54w T5HO lighting
sump (naughty word?)
20lb Co2 tank (deciding between inline reactor and misting into the tank)
EI ferts
most likely going to be MTS w/ river sand/gravel top and petrified wood scape (definitely not final)
plants I know I'll have: B. Japonica, Downoi, some low lying grass-type ground cover, Limno Aromatica, at least one rotala (indica?), always wanted to include a blood red tiger lotus in a scape, but we'll see if it fits

Both tanks will be controlled with an APEX controller. (getting an extra Ph/temp module for the planted tank)


Drilling tanks.... (don't have beer around most of the time so protocol will have to be Dr. Pepper in this build) :thumbsup:
































aaaand the destruction of a wall...








and the stands done (one painted) and in place.








What has two thumbs and likes having his stands done?

THIS GUY!








Breaking the Dr. Pepper protocol for this snapshot.








This is sitting waiting to show me its awesome power!
















I have lots more pictures, but they're on the laptop that's on the fritz at the moment, so they'll have to wait.


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## lauraleellbp (Feb 3, 2008)

I'm so subscribed. :thumbsup:


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## jargonchipmunk (Dec 8, 2008)

lauraleellbp said:


> I'm so subscribed. :thumbsup:


good thing too! I'll be stealing plants from you for this lol. You have a few goodies in your tanks I might have to purchase when the time comes if you have any snippin's. :thumbsup:


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## PROX (Oct 20, 2009)

2 tanks at once? wow!


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## lauraleellbp (Feb 3, 2008)

jargonchipmunk said:


> good thing too! I'll be stealing plants from you for this lol. You have a few goodies in your tanks I might have to purchase when the time comes if you have any snippin's. :thumbsup:


Oh yeah? Well I'll be happy to share... might be a long wait though, since all my tanks are low tech so pretty slow growing. :icon_mrgr


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## jargonchipmunk (Dec 8, 2008)

it'll be a long wait regardless. I still have to paint the second stand, build up the wall, get the sumps cut (more on this later) plumb everything up, run wiring, drywall, get/make a batch of MTS, deal with finding a hardscape, etc, etc, etc lol

This'll be a journey before it even sees water lol


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## jargonchipmunk (Dec 8, 2008)

PROX said:


> 2 tanks at once? wow!


that's almost exactly what Jamie said, only the last word was a three word phrase... at least it started with a "w".


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## lauraleellbp (Feb 3, 2008)

Hey- you neglected to mention what FISH are going in the tank? :fish:


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## jargonchipmunk (Dec 8, 2008)

lauraleellbp said:


> Hey- you neglected to mention what FISH are going in the tank? :fish:


secondary :icon_mrgr

I'm not sure yet. There are lots of options, obviously, but I like my tiny little inverts too much to have fish that'll outright eat the adults. I'm ok with a few crystal red babies being picked off here and there, but I can't have anything large enough to mutilate my amano shrimp. Hence, it'll most likely be a rather large school of something rather small. I've always been a fan of rummynose. 

The purpose of the scape in the planted side will be forced perspective. (google that because I'm not a design or art major and cannot explain it) Hence, I'll need very small fauna regardless. I've seen very few aquascapes that take advantage of a forced perspective style setup, and even fewer that actually pulled it off well. (I have no delusions of being one of those lucky few, but I'm gonna try lol)

Everything from the hardscape to the fish/inverts to the different species of plants in regards to leaf size and texture will be chosen specifically for their purpose in regards to forced perspective. (basically, it'll be completely backwards from what we normally do with plants; I.E. larger leaves in front, and tiny plants way in the back)


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## lauraleellbp (Feb 3, 2008)

Can't wait to see it! I love big schools of small fish...

A huge school of Embers might be a good choice, too.

I've recently fallen in love with Ruby tetras (Axelrodia riesei) and they're gorgeous.

I'm always all about the fish... :bounce:


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## Big Dog (Nov 4, 2009)

Sweet looking set up so far. Keep going.


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## jargonchipmunk (Dec 8, 2008)

Went to the store last night and picked up more goodies. 

Panworld 150px return pump for the reef
Panworld 100px return pump for the planted tank
2 300w unbreakable stealth heaters
1 BIG OL' SKIMMER (Octopus 200X cone skimmer)
Preordered 2 boxes of salt for the reef as well.


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## 2wheelsx2 (Jan 27, 2006)

Interested to see how this turns out. I want to sump my 125 gallon which is running pressurized CO2 and want to see how you deal with it. I'm currently running 3 big canister filters in it.


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## jargonchipmunk (Dec 8, 2008)

Still working at it. Projects elsewhere in the house, an upcoming vacation, and the dentist (ugh) have gotten in the way of my progress here a little. I've made some headway on the canopy portion above the tanks. Hopefully I can get it installed and tied into the studs soon so I can look at drywall and what I'm going to do for a canopy door.


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## VadimShevchuk (Sep 19, 2009)

this is getting crazy. A reef and a planted tank at the same time? Good luck because im subscribed!~ =D


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## g33tar (Jan 8, 2010)

Ive actually been into a petstore and seen a dog for sale inside a fishtank like that.


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## VadimShevchuk (Sep 19, 2009)

updates?


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## jargonchipmunk (Dec 8, 2008)

Things are progressing slowly at the moment, mostly because I'm far better at growing aquatic plants than I am at constructing walls. I'm going to be finishing up the canopy portion (top of the wall) tonight and hopefully installing it. (if my friend doesn't flake out) If I get as far as I'd like tonight I'll definitely take some pictures.

still on the search for that inspiring hardscape, but I haven't gotten it locked in yet.


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## jargonchipmunk (Dec 8, 2008)

woot. got my sumps cut in half! now to clean em out, plug a couple holes, and drill holes for bulkheads and... and... lol

heading out now to pick up my buddy to finish up the canopies and install them.

I'll have pics of everything tomorrow (or tonight if I can't sleep)


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## lauraleellbp (Feb 3, 2008)

*hands jc a cup of coffee* :flick:


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## jargonchipmunk (Dec 8, 2008)

no pics tonight. too tired. heading to bed. back hurts. some other short sentence.

got the top wall section of the planted tank side done, got all the old wood, panelling, etc etc cleaned out of the fish room and ready to haul away, pulled the carpet in there and cleaned everything up. Just gotta finish the top side of the wall on the reef side and I can finally start plumbing something. pics incoming tomorrow sometime.


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## jargonchipmunk (Dec 8, 2008)

okay a few pics are in order I guess. doesn't look like a lot of progress. I guess that's because I'm not very good with this construction stuff lol

Jamie snuck a picture while I was spraying out the newly cut in half sumps...










Here's the new "canopy" which I guess is just the top part of the wall










and here's how things sit right now. (notice the room behind the stands is VERY much cleaner than it was lol)


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## tcampbell (Jun 8, 2006)

jargonchipmunk said:


> okay a few pics are in order I guess. doesn't look like a lot of progress. I guess that's because I'm not very good with this construction stuff lol
> 
> Jamie snuck a picture while I was spraying out the newly cut in half sumps...
> 
> ...


From the pictures it appears that the tank stands are different heights. Is there a reason for this?

As well, I realize one will be freshwater and one reef, but the stand construction is different. What was the reason for this?

Thanks


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## jargonchipmunk (Dec 8, 2008)

the reason is that my entire floor is graded to drain to the laundry room about 15 feet away. The stand on the right is shimmed to be level which brought the left side of that stand up about 1.5". I've since shimmed the entire left stand to be level and even with the right stand. (the left side of the left stand was off by more like 3" lol) all is well now though and I SHOULD be getting the other canopy done very soon. Then I can actually look at PLUMBING! finally lol


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## VadimShevchuk (Sep 19, 2009)

What substrate are you using on the planted tank?

NVM i found its MTS


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## lauraleellbp (Feb 3, 2008)

Where are those sumps going?


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## kdogg (Apr 12, 2010)

Can't believe I stumbled on this thread! I just finished viewing your last biuld and the next thread I find is this one. 

Looking forward to watching the progress of this biuld

Those sumps are massive what a great use for those totes though. 

I am currently slowly aquiring the equipment needed to biuld a 120 planted tank as well. Are you going with the mineralized soil and quartz substrate again. Substrate is one big question on my list yet


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## jargonchipmunk (Dec 8, 2008)

lauraleellbp said:


> Where are those sumps going?


they're going in the fish room behind the wall. The room is bigger than it looks in the pics. (although it'll still be fairly full after those sumps are in there :hihi:



> Are you going with the mineralized soil and quartz substrate again. Substrate is one big question on my list yet


I'm going to try out worm castings in leiu of MTS. Along with EI dosing.

I won't be using the colorquartz sand, as I want a natural color substrate in this tank rather than black.


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## 00nothing (Apr 1, 2010)

Looks like a sick setup jargon I dont know if i am mental or something but one thing i always loved was drilling tanks the stress of it all and then the reward of finishing with the tank in one piece always gave me a warm fuzzy feeling on the inside lol


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## catchandrelease (Feb 12, 2010)

Im in the process of setting up a reef as well, I wanted so bad to have a 75 reef and 75 planted tank side by side like you, but it just wasnt feasable in my house. So you may sense a slight amount of jealousy from my general direction over the course of your build.
Good luck, cant wait to see the progress.


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## jargonchipmunk (Dec 8, 2008)

quick. first reaction without knowing what these placements are for exactly. Do these points look contrived, or "off" in any way? Hint: the one that's towards the front about 1/3 in from the left will be the main focus. (no I won't be using wood and to go containers for my scape lol, but I'm too much of a perfectionist to just go with the flow (sadly)

front view:










Side:










angled:










lemme know what you think (or if you think I'm insane for asking what people think of my to go containers without any more details.


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## 2wheelsx2 (Jan 27, 2006)

I think the randomly placed, but organized heights on the left with the open area to the right looks about right.


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## Jeb (Dec 28, 2009)

agreed with wheels


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## chris.rivera3 (Apr 15, 2008)

how are the tanks doing?


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## jargonchipmunk (Dec 8, 2008)

they're in stasis until the basement gets "finished". I didn't want to be doing the drywall down there with running tanks and have to deal with dust, etc. I hate waiting, but I'm doin it.


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## jargonchipmunk (Dec 8, 2008)

well I'm no good at updates. I'm having my basement worked on at the moment. It's going well, so I should finally be able to start real work on these tanks in a few weeks. I think I might be just doing two planted tanks, as the more I researched, the more I figured having the reef running was going to outpace my budget. I could adjust for it... or I could hope to retire someday lol.


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## 2wheelsx2 (Jan 27, 2006)

Do the 2 planted tanks, but on different themes. If you can put them end to end so it's a like one big tank with a changing biotope that would be even cooler.


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## jargonchipmunk (Dec 8, 2008)

the physical setup of the tanks is already done. I think people will like it, even if everyone I know keeps calling me a wannabe aquatic Frank Lloyd Wright when they see how I have the basement setup for the fish wall. Admittedly, it looks a little funny without the tanks in, but I think it'll be awesome when the whole wall is actually up. Right now it's just a vision in my head though lol.

I was thinking of doing one structured, tightly "scaped" tank and one collectoritis jungle so I can have the best of both worlds. (especially since all the best scapes I've done people aren't satisfied with, but when they see my random jungle tanks, they go oooh that's AWESOME! lol)


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## SafaditM3 (Aug 26, 2010)

Awesome work! do you have any pics of the recent work you've done?


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## VadimShevchuk (Sep 19, 2009)

i would do 2 planted instead of a reef and a planted. Are you gonna put them together so it looks like one tank?


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## jargonchipmunk (Dec 8, 2008)

im no good at making up my mind. im back to reef + planted. ill post pics up if i remember of the basements status.


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## jargonchipmunk (Dec 8, 2008)

wow was this thread started 6 friggin months ago? lol well it's almost time to set up tanks down there lol. (sort of) the basement guy is doing the last coats on the mudding and sanding now. Then it's just up to doing the facade in front of the tanks, a few final wiring tweaks for the fish room, and I can START working on plumbing hahaha. Seems like it's going at a snail's pace, but that's okay.

STILL not fully decided on what's going in the tanks yet. I am loving the reef I have set up in the living room now. I bought a used setup just to see what it's like and hooboy It's nifty. I can see all sorts of awesome little critters and corals, etc and don't have to trim every three days! I've almost convinced myself to go with two reefs lol. I guess I'd better make up my mind soon before the basement's complete and I have to start plumbing things together!


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## lauraleellbp (Feb 3, 2008)

You could always do a low tech planted if you don't like all the work... :hihi:


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## jargonchipmunk (Dec 8, 2008)

or.... marine planted tank! Been thinking about that one too. /shrug I don't know. I'll figure it out. The basement stuff should be done this weekend or next, so it'll be go time with the deciding then.


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## FDNY911 (Dec 6, 2009)

Updates?


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## gt turbo (Sep 13, 2012)

I know it's been a really long time but are they any updates to these tanks?


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## rininger85 (Jun 30, 2013)

ambitious =) I like it... I have just a little tank envy that I don't have the space to do this myself...


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## jargonchipmunk (Dec 8, 2008)

sorry. I should delete this thread. My fiancé and I split up and I left that house and, consequently, the hope for those tanks as well.

edit. I also just noticed it's in my sig still too lol


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