# Journal of a Mad Scientist: ADA 120-P (56K warning!)



## fresh_lynny

sounds great, Sergio...I look forward to seeing it in person!


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## ringram

Very nice start Sergio. What exactly is the size of the ADA 120P? Is it pretty much the same as a 90g? Anyway, I like the stand. I've never really seen a nice finished stand like that w/ handles and everything. Looks better than the flush look of the ADA stands. It's all in what your looking for I guess. You won't be disappointed with the Tek lighting. I just hooked up a 6x54w tek for my 90g and so far am impressed. Keep us updated!
-Ryan


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## SuRje1976

Lynn & Ryan - Thanks!

Ryan, the size is 120cm 45cm x 45 cm which equates to about 48"x18"x18". This works out to about 65G. The footprint is roughly the same as a 90 (the stand is actually built for a 75/90G tank. It's just not as tall. Oh, and I intend to keep this updated!


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## SuRje1976

Ryan, if you don't mind my asking, what's your photoperiod with the 6x54w?


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## SuRje1976

Well, today I was able to get another component for the tank setup:









I know - what is it?!? Well, its the contraption that's going to keep some instrumentation out of the tank. It will be plumbed into the outflow of the 2217. It is an adaptation inspired by Steve (scolley)

It starts here with a 1/2" barb x 1/2"MPT adapter:









Next to this, which is a 1/2" FPT x 3/4" slip cemented to a 3/4" slip x 1 & 1/4" slip cemented to a 1 & 1/4" x 1/2" FPT reducing "T." I went with this size to reduce or negate the flow reduction the instrumentation will cause - the other end is exactly the same, but reversed, and there is a "T" between them with no adapters. All are connected by the rubber clamps: 










The tops of two of the T's have this adapter. It's essentially a compressible rubber seal that gets smaller as you tighten it. One of these will accept the pH probe, and the other will accept the temp probe. Some of you may have seen them in Steve's threads...









_Continued below:_


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## SuRje1976

This is what it looks like tightened all the way ( Thanks for the heads up on these fittings Steve - they're great!):









The center "T" accepts a 3/8" JG x 1/2" MPT adapter. The ferts and feed water from the water changer will come in here:









This is what it looks like completely assembled: 










How it will work: The water will come in from the left, pass over the pH probe, this way ferts and potentially cold feed water won't contact the probe so directly. Then it will pass though the T where the ferts and feed water come in. The last T is the temp probe. Cold feed water will hit it during the water changes to ensure the heater in the 2128 kicks on. 

I'm expecting air to get trapped in the T's from time to time. I intend to deal with it by periodically loosening the "compressor" seals to vent the air out, similar to what is done with some CO2 reactors.

I think it will work well!!!


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## ringram

I just started my photo period within the last couple days. It's a brand new set up. I was thinking I'd start with 4 x 54w for 8-9 hrs and have the other 2 x 54w come on for 2-3 hrs in the afternoon. I could always increase or adjust it later if I need more/less. I think all 6 on for the whole time would be too much.



SuRje1976 said:


> Ryan, if you don't mind my asking, what's your photoperiod with the 6x54w?


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## SuRje1976

*Quick Update*

Ryan, Thanks - I'll keep an eye on your journal - I want to see how it works out for you!

I just got the balance of the RO parts that will make the "entry port" work. There are: 4 check valves (water,micros, macros, Equilibrium "slurry"), 3 splitters and 1 stem reducer:


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## dufus

What? You're thinking of covering teks?
A light with that kind of prestige can't be covered!
J/k, but i love the look of teks.


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## SuRje1976

dufus - I am actually going to try to hang the teks "naked." They are pretty sleek looking! The room the tank will be is full of pretty traditional furniture - heck, the stand itself it pretty traditional looking! I'll see how it works without covering them first. Might not "fit in." We'll see!


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## SuRje1976

Ok, I got the 4x54w Teklight yesterday. Small problem - It only had one plug! Truth is, I ordered it from a hydroponics company assuming it was the same one you get from the aquarium companies. But alas, it is not. I should have known something was different, it was almost $100 less expensive where I ordered it from. It DOES have two separate ballasts and two separate switches to turn the two separate banks of lights on and off independently - but MANUALLY. Now anyone who knows me knows that this just will not do! 

Upon inspection, it is obvious that Sunlight Supply uses the same housing for their hydroponic and aquarium versions, as there is a plug over what would have been the second cord grommet:












My solution to this problem:










Add a second cord of course!


I opened up the fixture to take a look inside and what I found was that on this particular version, they actually spliced the power cord to that it powers BOTH ballasts. It would be easy enough for me to add the second cord, and un-splice so that each ballast received power from it's own cord. 











I started by making a hole in the plug:












I actually had a black appliance extension cord (rated for a load greater than BOTH banks of lights) that I was not using - so OFF WITH ITS HEAD!












I fed the cord through the hole I made, and grounded it first:












Then I made all of the connections so that each ballast, and in turn each bank of lights was powered by its own cord:












I put a zip-tie around the new cord INSIDE the fixture, close to the "plug" in the housing that I drilled so the cord could not slip back through the hole, and closed everything up. 










I tested everything out and it works GREAT! I will probably be going to Home Depot this weekend to pick up a piece of Plexiglas that I will cut to fit over the bulbs/reflectors.


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## dufus

*Sweeeeeeeeeet!*


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## Betowess

Sergio, Looks terrific. Nice job on the RO/John Guest connection.

BTW, how did you get to the inside of the Tek. I had a terrible time getting mine apart to do the same thing - I too mistakenly ordered the hort version. 

Did you end upcoming in from the middle or through the end piece? Its been a while since I did that, but I do remember I wasn't too happy with my jury rig going through the little second unused power hole etc. I kind of feel the need to redo that again.


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## SuRje1976

Bob, Mine had 6 square head screws around each side of the fixture. and 2 Phillips head screws on one end holding what I believe is a piece of metal to act as a stop for your acrylic cover. I took ALL of them out. Then if you hold the fixture by the sides and push the end with your thumbs it should move just enough so that the opposite end "clears" the housing. Once that other end is "out," you push back on IT, and your initial end will be free as well. Mind the wiring while you do this. It's a little tough to explain - I hope this is clear!


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## jt20194

Sergio,

Have you thought about a sump? I know some are concerned about CO2 loss but I have not found that to be a problem. I have a 10 lb CO2 bottle and it has been going for 3 months now with very little drop. It doesn’t run at night. It’s just my opinion but I think the advantages far out weigh any disadvantages. Then of course, I don’t see any disadvantages…  It certainly made my automatic water changer solution easy to implement.

Regardless, so far you have been doing a great job!!!

JT


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## scolley

Sergio - great thread! Thanks for sharing this, and can't wait to see where this leads. And it's great that you documented how people can save a bit of cash with a DIY on a single cord 4-bulb Tek. Great work.

I'm intrigued with your novel John Guest fittings - kind of a manifold really. Very cool. But I'd think you might want a check valve where this enters the your 3-in-one contraption. Unless I'm missing something, without a check valve at the base of that 4-2-1 fert manifold, if you lose a connection at any point on any of those 4 lines, you are going to drain your tank. Something to think about.

Also, on the 3-in-1 contraption, why did you chose the black flexible hose instead of PVC? I'm sure there's a good reason.  Do share it with us please.

And as to those nifty little fittings for your probes, I see you have the kind that has the little sliding iris bits. There are two type out there - one does not have those, and they can (sometimes) work better. But their range of hole size is smaller. They just have a O-ring that gets compressed and expands. But sizing them can be tough. I use the kind you are showing too. But I have found that sometimes, depending on the fitting size and the probe size, that I can get a better fit if I wrap stretchy rubber pipe sealing tape around the probe (making it a bit thicker). The rubber tape gives the fitting something to bite into for a better seal.

Good luck! I really look forward to following your progress.:thumbsup:


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## SuRje1976

Steve - thanks for the kind words. As I've mentioned to you before, YOUR work and style of documentation has inspired many - myself included. 

I guess I never really thought about adding a check valve closer to the PVC unit because of the four I added slightly "upstream" to prevent the ferts from mixing up. I've never lost a JG connection - crap - I'd better knock on wood. I will see what adding one there will do to the back-pressure on the peristaltic pumps pushing the ferts into the tank. I'm a bit concerned about this already.

As far as the black rubber hose; nothing earth-shattering really. I figured the unit would be easier to clean if I could take it apart. If I used PVC, I would have had to cement it, because the T's weren't threaded on the ends. 

Glad you had a chance to take a look!


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## SuRje1976

JT - Thanks! As for the sump, I haven't given it much thought. I know it can be done, but I've already invested quite a bit of time and money designing the system that will run on this tank around 2 canisters. It would make the water changer I use currently unusable without some serious reconfiguration - I think. Oh boy - the thought of it is making me dizzy...:eek5:


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## scolley

Sergio - Thanks pal. You are building something really cool here. And with a good bit of innovation! The extra wire for the Tek, and that manifold are way cool IMO.

In my testing at check valve adds no loss of flow to what you are doing - more work for the peristaltic pump to be sure - but the pressure can't get back to the source reservoir (due to the way the peristaltics work) so it doesn't slow it down. And IMO, if you have a peristaltic on the end of all 4 of those lines, you have no threat of draining your ferts if something slips. It's just that one connection to the main return line that has me worried.

I don't have a lot of experience with John Guest lines. They work great for me in my drain/fill solution, but I still have a solenoid on each of the lines so that any leak in a JG fitting (if it happens  ) won't drain my tank. Same issue IMO where your 1-2-4 fitting connects to the main return flow.

Thanks for sharing the reason for the rubber. Good solution. I put in a T with a great big screw cap so that I can unscrew it every year, shake out the bio balls, and wash them out. And guess what? I've done that twice now, and they were so clean, I kicked myself for not just making it a straight piece of PVC! Instead of having that big giant "T" on my diffuser. Here I thought I was being clever, but in fact it appears to me that cleaning the inside of a diffuser is completely unnecessary. Or so it seems. Maybe it's good to have that option, but is unnecessary unless something goes very, very wrong inside your lines.

Here's another thought you might not want to hear though... Will all that CO2 degrade that rubber? I dunno - could be safe. Clever solution anyway. :thumbsup:


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## scolley

SuRje1976 said:


> ...but I've already invested quite a bit of time and money designing the system that will run on this tank...


Ain't that the truth.


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## original kuhli

Where are you guys finding the probe fittings? Great work both of you!


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## scolley

original kuhli said:


> Where are you guys finding the probe fittings?


Look here.


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## Betowess

Sergio, Re: the Tek extra electric cord install - Thanks. Seeing is believing, So next time I add some new T5s, that's on my agenda to tidy mine up. The description is easy to visualize. The only thing that bums me on Teks is that I thought they don't have an easy way to mount some moonlights. BUT, now that it looks like its relatively easy to take them apart, I'm going to build some weird angled boxes to mount some Current-USA moonlights on the angled sides and put all the wiring inside the Tek. Out will go my faux hood with moonlights and up will go the very sleek and minimalist moonlit Tek. Thanks again for sharing the info!


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## SuRje1976

Betowess said:


> I'm going to build some weird angled boxes to mount some Current-USA moonlights on the angled sides and put all the wiring inside the Tek.


That's a great idea Bob. I'll have to think about it if I don't surround the fixture with the canopy :icon_roll


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## jt20194

SuRje1976 said:


> That's a great idea Bob. I'll have to think about it if I don't surround the fixture with the canopy :icon_roll


Sergio,

I have yet to cut out the slots on my canopy to mount my Tek fixture but definitely would give up the moon lights for having my canopy back on the aquarium. I’ll be doing that project in a few weeks. On the other hand, I am sure that between you and Bob you’ll be able to figure out how to have the best of both worlds.

JT


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## SuRje1976

Really JT? I have a canopy on my 45 currently, and I don't really like it! Not for aesthetic reasons so much as because I always have my arms in the tank and removing it and returning it to it's place is a pain in the butt! In either event, IF I do use the canopy on this tank, it will be suspended ABOVE the tank - simply to surround the Teks. Thinking that might look odd though...


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## jt20194

*Canopy*

My tank is a Tenecor with a canopy that is hinged and provides all the room I need. So in my case, I am looking forward to getting it back on… each situation has its own unique requirements. 

JT


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## kzr750r1

SuRje1976 said:


> Really JT? I have a canopy on my 45 currently, and I don't really like it! Not for aesthetic reasons so much as because I always have my arms in the tank and removing it and returning it to it's place is a pain in the butt! In either event, IF I do use the canopy on this tank, it will be suspended ABOVE the tank - simply to surround the Teks. Thinking that might look odd though...


Are you trying to contain the light over the tank? Depending on how high it's hung over the tank some room bleed could be contained by some sheet metal skirt instead of a whole cover. 

I like open top for the same reason. No need to remove a bunch of HW for maintenance. Just slide the lamp up on the cable hangers and your off.


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## SuRje1976

Ok! I decided on wood for this tank, and just ordered a few pieces of Mopani.

Here's some pics:









This is a 3 piece set, Biggest wood 8"Length x 6"Width x 6"Height, Smallest wood 7"Length x 3.5"Width x 4"Height










Another 3 piece set, Biggest wood 8"Length x 4.5"Width x 6"Height, Smallest wood 5"Length x 3"Width x 3.5"Height










11.5"Length x 8"Width x 7"Height










This is a pretty big piece - may break the surface of the water with this one!
22"Length x 14"Width x 10"Height










This is my favorite one! The picture below is a different view of the same piece.
15"Length x 7"Width x 7.5"Height











Now I know I'm not going to squeeze all of these into the 120. I just wanted to have some options to play around with!

Opinions?


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## nellis

#'s 3 and 4!


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## scolley

SuRje1976 said:


> Now I know I'm not going to squeeze all of these into the 120.


Of course you can. Just stack them up on top of each other and tie them up with anubias and moss!

It'll look great. :icon_wink


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## SuRje1976

kzr750r1 said:


> Are you trying to contain the light over the tank?


Nah. I was initially trying to mask the "modern" look of the Teks in a room with pretty traditional furniture, but the more I think about it, the less I think it necessary! We'll see once they're hung...



scolley said:


> Of course you can. Just stack them up on top of each other and tie them up with anubias and moss!
> 
> It'll look great. :icon_wink


You think Steve? I'll give it a dry run one everything gets here!


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## Ankit

Where did you order the Mopani?


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## scolley

SuRje1976 said:


> You think Steve? I'll give it a dry run one everything gets here!


You can't say really until you try Sergio. But I'd give it a try - stack them up and lash them together with brown or black twist ties. And see how it looks. You might be surprised. And you won't know if you don't try.:smile:


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## fresh_lynny

Sergio great work, nice wood too.
This is becoming quite the inspiration!


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## A Hill

scolley said:


> Of course you can. Just stack them up on top of each other and tie them up with anubias and moss!
> 
> It'll look great. :icon_wink


LMAO! Steve, thats one of those jokes here that only 30% gets usually:icon_roll 


I like some of that DW you got... I almost bought the first one with the three pieces but Don't have any use for them now so I didn't 

As for the lights... That is defiantly original!

This tank should be good!

-Andrew


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## SuRje1976

Thanks all! Ankit, I got the wood here. They've got quite a few nice pieces.


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## Betowess

My favs were the last shot and second favorite was the first. Really sweet pieces, Serg!
I think its nice to give them some room and not put too many in there. That way you can see their form better.


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## SuRje1976

Thanks Bob. I'll post pics of different arrangements as soon as I can. We'll decide on a nice setup I'm sure!


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## Architect1

Looking great so far. Hope to see the slow process of your tank being set up in pics.


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## SuRje1976

Got an email from Jeff yesterday. The tank should ship sometime next week! I hope I get it on Friday. Got a lot of work to do before then too. Since last time, I:

-Installed locks on the doors and drawers. (Will post pics when I get back home).
-Installed a fluorescent lamp in the stand.

Before the tank comes, I still need to:

-Mount power strips (cut MDF for this today).
-Move stand to final position (means moving the 45G out of the way).

Once the tank comes I'll have a LOT more to do!


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## SuRje1976

Ok, here's a couple of pics of the locks installed. These will keep my daughter from drinking the fertilizers:

On the drawers:











On the doors:












If you look closely, and know a bit about proper woodworking technique, you'll notice that Marineland broke one of the cardinal rules of frame and panel construction - they finished the doors AFTER assembly, and in a relatively humid environment.  Take a look at the right hand door. On the leftmost side of the panel, you'll notice that the the whole panel has shrunk, exposing an unfinished "stripe" of wood. I can fix this, but color-matching can be a pain. It is not at the top of my list of priorities, but will be done.


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## fresh_lynny

I am sure you can hide other things in there too Sergio hehehe


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## SuRje1976

I'm not sure what you mean Lynn


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## SuRje1976

*CalAqua Fluxus System*

Well the mailman just brought me a gift. The lily pipes for the 2217 came today. I ordered the CalAqua Labs Fluxus system for the second filter (ADA Lily Pipes on the 2128) to vary the flow of water a bit, and possibly avoid "dead spots."

They came in this box:











And look like this:











As you can see, the outflow looks just like the ADA outflow, but with the cone inverted. The inflow is a little different. It has 2 extra sets of openings a little higher up on the pipe. There is also a small hole at the very bottom of the pipe. CalAqua states that these improve water circulation. They have a bunch of pictures in their online gallery to attest to this. Whether there will be a noticeable difference in terms of their practical application, I don't know. I will report observations here!


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## SuRje1976

*ANOTHER Hardware Update!*

Ok, I was able to get the power strips mounted and the stand light installed today. I've got some pics:

Power Strips mounted to MDF:











MDF Mounted to stand's back apron:











The strips installed:











The light went in front of the power strips, leaving enough room to get plugs in and out:











These shots give me an opportunity to describe how I intend to place the balance of the equipment in the stand. 

The Eheim 2217 will be in the front on the left. It's inflow will be come from the *left front* of the tank. It's outflow will run across the *front* of the stand, through the instrumentation unit, and terminate in the *right front* of the tank.

The CO2 canister will be placed behind the 2217. It is too tall to fit toward the front once the drawers are in place.

The Eheim 2128 will be located on the right hand side of the stand. It's intake will come from the *right rear* of the tank. It's outflow will run across the *back* of the stand, through the UVS, T'ed to the Auto Water Changer, and terminate at the *left rear* of the tank.

The pH controller, air pump, and fertilizer system will stay where they are in these pics. I think that about sums it up! :icon_roll Suggestions?


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## Nightshop

Simply Amazing. I'm assuming the tank has yet to arrive, right?


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## SuRje1976

Nightshop said:


> Simply Amazing. I'm assuming the tank has yet to arrive, right?


Nope - no tank yet. I may have it by early next week though!


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## Nightshop

Haha, I can only imagine how excited you must be. I know I would be!


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## logan

i think your wood stain abberation isn't from shrinkage, but more because they hired some new guy that used too much wood glue when putting in that moulding. he didn't wipe it up with a wet cloth, but got lazy with a dry cloth. stain doesn't go so good with wood glue.


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## SuRje1976

logan said:


> i think your wood stain abberation isn't from shrinkage, but more because they hired some new guy that used too much wood glue when putting in that moulding. he didn't wipe it up with a wet cloth, but got lazy with a dry cloth. stain doesn't go so good with wood glue.


Goodness, I hope that isn't the case! Panels should NEVER be glued in on the edges with frame and panel construction - defeates the purpose. It's on the inside as well. It doesn't look/feel like glue though. I'll know for sure when I get the right stain/dye in my hands. If it's glue, the stain/dye won't take. Then I'll have to get fancy with the Dremel. :icon_wink


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## logan

you don't really have to get fancy, you can just use some sand paper... the problem is getting the stain to match the existing stain, which will be next to impossible. i'm also assuming that they used a polyurathane coating on top, which you'll definitely not be able to stain unless you sand... i'd say take it back if it bothers you, or paint the whole damn thing. on the quick cheap side, i would actually just find some colored pens and try to match it by 'drawing' on the sealant with some browns/greens/blues until you hit it.


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## sNApple

those power bars are pimp, that beaker set up is intense too


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## esarkipato

Great thread, you are an exremely thorough aquarists  I especially love the looks of your dosing system. Is it based on a timed pump or what?


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## jt20194

*Dosing*

Sergio, please document your dosing system. It looks very interesting. I know that you are using RO/DI water and wanted to see what you decided on in so far as dosing. Thanks for keeping us posted.

JT


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## SuRje1976

*Logan* - Thanks for the tips! I WILL be able to match the color closely enough, I've done quite a bit of woodworking and refinishing, and remember the issue is right at a shadow line, so if it is off by a hair, it won't be detectable. :icon_wink

*sNApple* - Thanks! I originally intended to display the fertilization setup, so I went overboard with the "containers." I have since decided to put them in the stand so as to not divert attention from the tank itself.

*esarkipato* - Thank you for the kind words. The dosing system is on 3 timed peristaltic pumps and 1 timed magnetic stirrer. The design was inspired by a handful of people here, like Bill (bharada), and Steve (scolley).

*JT* - I intend to document the fert dosing system in detail once it is completely integrated into the new tank, I promise. I've been testing the system on my old setup for a couple months and it worked great, but there are a couple of issues I'm anticipating, specifically the back pressure the pumps will be working against. In the old setup, they just dripped directly into the tank. They'll be plumbed inline on the new setup. I'm not using RO anymore, as I had issues with the Equlibrium dosing that I couldn't overcome (well, I could, but it would require me to either get an industrial magnetic stirrer and a much larger reservoir, OR refill the current setup every 10 days, which is not really inline with the level of automation I'm after!).


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## dufus

Mad scientist!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
that dosing system looks freakin awesome!
the powerbars are definatley bad ass. this is gonna be an iced out tank, i can tell.(yes, i used metal, rock, and Gangsta terms in one post!)


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## Betowess

Wow, I missed a few of these posts. So is that a two set up fert with PO4 on the left and traces NO3 and K on the right? Can't wait to read the write up. Those beakers, well, it looks positively 19th century/Darwinian. LOL I really like the stand and hardware too. You'll have to describe your whole setup. Are you using an Aqua Controler like Steve? Great Thread!roud:


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## fresh_lynny

wow, Sergio, you are taking me back to organic chem lab with those glass dispensers....wooohoo love it.
so far so great~


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## SuRje1976

dufus - Here's another shot for you!











Bob - The Nitrate & Phosphate come from the left funnel, the Trace and Fe come from the right funnel. The center flask will contain the Equilibrium "slurry." It is sitting on a magnetic stirrer. I am not using the AquaController *yet* Maybe I'll shoot Steve a PM and see what we can see!

Lynn - Thanks! If you aren't already aware, you are welcome to stop by anytime to see it!


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## dufus

That's nuts!
I love the magnetic stirrers though, they can entertain me almost as long as TPT!


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## dufus

I alos see you've changed your status to- MAd scientest!


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## SuRje1976

dufus said:


> I alos see you've changed your status to- MAd scientest!


LOL...it's actually been that way for many months now


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## dufus

Huh, well it's true!!!


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## Betowess

OK, I can see the peristaltics. Are those boxes underneath them part of the delivery? Well, I'll wait for the write-up! That's pretty interesting outflow on those beakers or what ever they are called. It does look ala "Mad Scientist" laboritorish.:eek5: 

I decided to mix my trace, K and KNO3 together and dose PO4 separately for now. Apparently, the trace (well, Flourish or TMG) is pretty stable with everything except PO4 which makes it nasty fast, right? At least that's what I read on Wasserpest's cheap auto dosing thread.. Didn't want to pop for four peristaltic setups so am doing the Aqar.Systems 606 pump dosing method. I may pop for a couple of peristaltics for the PO4 eventually.


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## fresh_lynny

You actually have a magnetic stir bar and plate set up too...I love it. You have to come over my house. I have a freaking lab set up as well. I even use my hood as a laminar flow...hahahaha ya freak. I can't wait to see it.


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## jt20194

*Dosing*

Sergio,

So… if you are going to us a magnetic stir bar and plate then are you going back to RO water. Also, depending on your water source, you might be able to blend the RO/DI with the sediment/carbon block filtered water to arrive at the macro levels you need. Using a needle valve on the pre RO/DI water allows you to set the flow very accurately. Your union joints can blend the two sources that you can then test and adjust until you have what you need. With respect to the back pressure you mentioned, are you referring to the peristaltic pumps? If so, take a look at the LiterMeter III. I purchased this recently and absolutely would recommend it. It is almost silent (the latest release) and has a draw height of 25ft and a delivery height of 60ft!!! Further, you can add two additional pumps that are controlled by the main microprocessors in the base unit. Last but not least, I would look into the AquaController, since I saw some X10 controllers in your power strips I know that you are using X10. By blending the best of the best of these technologies, I can tell you that you’ll have complete control of the various elements you need to adjust. Whatever you decide, I know it will be a great solution and I look forward to seeing your posts! 

I said this before but posts like yours and the others provide a great source of info that helps all of us. This post lead me to the check valves I need to blend my water sources. Also, this weekend I am adding a second float switch to my sump that serves as a safety stop on my automatic water drain system. This enables me to remove the ball valve I had on my drain line that I used to synchronize my drain and fill rates. I am beginning to really enjoy this hobby!:icon_lol: 

Jim


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## AaronT

That's one crazy high tech setup you've got there.  I think you made the right choice going with wood for a hardscape. In my experience, the larger the tank, the harder it becomes to scape using rocks. 

If you haven't already gotten the acrylic for the Tek light sheild I would shy away from Home Depot. Their prices tend to be outrageous for acrylic. Check your local listings for a plastics shop. Most all of them have scrap bins that they sell from by the pound for next to nothing.


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## SuRje1976

*Jim* - My tap GH is just under 2. I'm able to use the stirrer to homogenize enough Equilibrium in 1L so that dosing 30mL daily will keep my GH between 4 & 5. What I'm trying to say is that though trial and error, I've been able to determine the limits of the stirrer and pump combo. It doesn't work too well when I add much more than 50g of Equilibrium to a liter of water. The stirrer can't agitate ALL of the Equilibrium in the volumetric flask, and it "clumps" up. I need to dose about 1.5g of Eq daily, so if I use tap and a 50g/L "slurry," then dosing 30mL daily keeps me at my desired GH. My liter lasts a month this way. If I was to use RO, I'd need 4.5g of Equilibrium daily, so 90mL of the "slurry." I'd have to refill it more frequently than every 2 weeks. Call me lazy, but that's not long enough!

As far an the pumps, The micro and macro pumps have a draw height of 12ft., and 25ft. for the "slurry" pump. Not sure what the delivery head is - the manufacturer doesn't list it in their spec. sheets, but I think they'll do the trick. I will definitely look into both the LiterMeter and the AquaController, thanks for the suggestions! As soon as everything is set in stone, I'll post a separate thread on the dosing. Thanks for the kind words. Like you stated - I was able to put this together only because of the fantastic documentation by others here of their own solutions!


----------



## SuRje1976

*Aaron* - Thanks for the suggestion. I will see if there is such a shop around here!


----------



## SuRje1976

*I got wood!*

So the Mopani that I ordered came this morning, and I spend a good bit of time trying different orientations. Turns out the pieces are a bit smaller than I anticipated, so I may actually wind up using the whole lot of them! Now I don't have the tank yet, but to give perspective I used my kitchen table. The *tiled* part of the table is the same length as the tank, left to right. The tank is as deep front to back as *three* (of the four) tiles. The tallest wood (on the left) will likely protrude about an inch, maybe two from the water once the substrate is in. Here's what I came up with.

Head On:











Left Side:











Left Diagonal:











Right Diagonal:











Right Side:











Slightly Above:











*
Ok, FIRE AWAY!*


----------



## jeffboyarrdee

i like it so far...im sure when you put it in your tank with the substrate in place...and when the plants are grown in...im sure it would look great! you can never fully tell in the beginning, but i do like the arrangement that you have... i also have some wood arrangements that need some criticism...soon.


----------



## fresh_lynny

SuRje1976 said:


> *Aaron* - Thanks for the suggestion. I will see if there is such a shop around here!


Sergio...Canal Plastics over here in Manhattan if you need acrylic. If y ou can't make it out, give me the dimensions and specs and I will pick it up for you~


----------



## fish_lover0591

wow this is going to be one nice setup i'm going to be watching this thread for now


----------



## dufus

Love the DW setup, i can't wait till the tank gets there!


----------



## SuRje1976

Talk about crappy luck...I'm sitting in the dark right now typing this on my phone because my power went out an hour ago! I was "seeding" the filters for this tank on my 45 for the past month, and now all may be lost with the tank arriving in just a few days. Well I suppose that's a bit dramatic, but come on! Im going out and getting a UPS for the new setup in the morning...


----------



## fresh_lynny

Why is your power out Sergio???


----------



## Betowess

That rough. Hopefully it will come back on pretty quick. You could check out a car battery and inverter too. We had some nasty storms this year and power out over a day. A small battery and inverter kept some air stones going to all four tanks for over a day, no problem. Luckily, I have heat in the fish room which is passive LP, so I can keep the ambient temp up, if power is out.


----------



## SuRje1976

Lynn, I have no idea! I tried calling PSE&G, but "due to power outages, we are experiencing a high call volume. Please try your call again later. Goodbye!" 

Bob, the power came back after about 2 and 1/2 hours. I decided to restart the filters without breaking them down. The fish seem ok this morning - hopefully that lasts. I just hope I don't get a diatom outbreak or something from this...


----------



## dufus

That stinks. Weirdest thing, i have never had a power outage last longer than a few minutes, maybe i'm lucky?
well, anyway, keep us updated as the tank comes in!


----------



## Zulu

This thread makes my wallet quiver with fear.


----------



## kzr750r1

Zulu said:


> This thread makes my wallet quiver with fear.


Your not the only one.  These build threads are awesome inspiration and great reference points. Keep it up I can't wait for setup day!


----------



## SuRje1976

dufus said:


> i have never had a power outage last longer than a few minutes, maybe i'm lucky?


dufus, you'd better go find some wood to knock on :icon_wink 



Zulu said:


> This thread makes my wallet quiver with fear.


Shhh! My wife will hear you!  



kzr750r1 said:


> Keep it up I can't wait for setup day!


Neither can I :icon_bigg


----------



## SuRje1976

I'm looking at this UPS - was on sale for $229 last week, but I missed it!

According to the manufacturer's website, it will power a 40W load (Eheim 2128 (without heater) and 2217) for about 7 & 1/2 hours. According to one of the reviews, it can be used in a power outage without beeping!

Does anyone know where I can find the wattage for Rena's airpumps?


----------



## SuRje1976

Got a call today - the tank will be delivered DAY AFTER TOMORROW!!! :biggrin:


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## SuRje1976

*It's HERE!*

ALRIGHT! Tank got here this morning. Just wanted to post a picture of it unwrapped, and on it's stand. I've got the driftwood in the way it will likely be placed. This gives a much better perspective on the hardscape layout than the previous pictures on my kitchen table! One thing to keep in mind is that when the substrate is in, thing will move up about 2 or 3 inches. I may actually be able to grow some emersed epiphytes on the tops of the driftwood.

So what do you think?


----------



## SuRje1976

*One more shot for good measure...*


----------



## dufus

_It_ *Looks* Great*!*
Can't wait for the substrate!


----------



## Steven_Chong

Put in the aquasoil and foreground sand, tie some moss, bolbitis and maybe some microsorum, plant some val nana or eleocharis vivipara (and maybe some e. tenellus in the midground), and call it a day. 

The wood sets the pace for this layout. It could be a beautiful ADA style moss-wood layout I think, but nothing creative IMO.


----------



## scolley

Sergio, this whole thread is major league eye-candy. Thank you! I'm loving it!!!

But I've got a question... What's that black flat sheet on top of your stand, and under the 120P? IMO that make a MAJOR difference in the whole visual... letting the tank rest ON TOP of a flat surface, rather than having the bottom hidden by the some trim at the top of the stand.

What is that? And how did you build it up to support the weight? It looks great. roud:


----------



## dufus

Steve- it looks like a mat to me. 
I like the way it looks ,really, sergio. It makes the tank look more "modern", but i don't know if that's the look you're going for.


----------



## Jason Baliban

That is interesting wood you have there. Each piece is very powerful and almost needs to be used by itself. I think the strength(in subtlety) of that wood is the beautiful curves. Your last layout you have there seems to showcase the pointy(slightly awkward) ends.

I would look at each piece and try to look for the subtle beauty in each piece and then try to lay that piece in there to show that. It will help smooth things out and improve the flow.

Once again, very challenging pieces of wood. I think you are very creative to attempt to use them.

jB


----------



## spypet

I like the arrangement on the left very much, the one on the right, not so much... perhaps try it at another position.


----------



## SuRje1976

*dufus* - Thanks! Neither can I - but not a grain of sand is going into the tank before NEXT Saturday!!!


*Steven Chong* - the intent is to have a substrate setup as you describe, but I'm afraid the plant content will likely deviate from your suggestion. Nothing is carved in stone yet though!


*Steve* - Thanks! There is an ADA Garden Mat under the tank. It seems like thick neoprene to me. I really wanted the tank level with the top of the stand, so I built up the opening with 2" (2 x 3/4" and 1 x 1/2") MDF, "glued and screwed." It is not going anywhere. To be safe however, I intend to VERY carefully measure for deflection from underneath when I SLOWLY fill the tank for the first time. If there is anything measurable, you can bet some "support columns" will be added in the stand! I really don't expect there to be. You can see the stand before the Garden Mat went down, here:











*Jason* - I'm glad you caught this thread. Your 75 setup was actually a bit of an inspiration for the driftwood layout I setup. It's quite obvious to me from reading your post here that you are MUCH more in-tune with this sort of thing than I am. I didn't want to mix woods, and I really liked the look of the Mopani, but it seems that every piece of Mopani I looked at is very powerful, and I feel like I need this much wood in the tank. Any advice on how to accomplish what you're suggesting?


*spypet* - Thanks for the suggestion. Like I said, nothing is set in stone yet! If I come up with another possible arrangement, I'll post it here!


----------



## plasko

Surje - looking great! The 120p on that stand is a great combo, I know 'cause I have it. You will love the way it looks on there. roud:


----------



## Steven_Chong

Yeah, there's a few different ways to plant. I think that it's going to look really good though. roud:


----------



## fresh_lynny

Yeah Sergio....Walter is threatening me with you guys coming over and drilling holes in my neighbor's ceiling to get an autochager set up lolol
I love the wood...where did you get it from BTW?


----------



## SuRje1976

LOL! I've got one word for you Lynn....


----------



## SuRje1976

Oh... and the wood came from here!


----------



## Jason Baliban

SuRje1976 said:


> *Jason* - I'm glad you caught this thread. Your 75 setup was actually a bit of an inspiration for the driftwood layout I setup. It's quite obvious to me from reading your post here that you are MUCH more in-tune with this sort of thing than I am. I didn't want to mix woods, and I really liked the look of the Mopani, but it seems that every piece of Mopani I looked at is very powerful, and I feel like I need this much wood in the tank. Any advice on how to accomplish what you're suggesting?


Thank you very much for kind words

The pieces of wood you have are challanging to use. In the layout I had, i was lucky enough to have a ton of wood!!! I was also lucky that no individual piece was a "star", so i could use them all to create flow. With you pieces, each piece is beautiful and demands attention itself. I might try to put them all together in one larger piece, or get some more wood, or try to use rocks. I dont think that amount/type of wood is going to do well with a two sided (valley type) layout. Of course, as alway, a few twists or the wood and we could see exactly what needs to be there. 

As im sure you are finding out, hardscape on a 75 is a challange.....there is a lot of land there. HAHAHAHA

I hope I helped a little. It is tough to sort of scape via forum.....hahaha

jB


----------



## SuRje1976

Jason - I actually have some Shou Stone on the way. I hope I can use it the way you describe. And yes, there is a LOT more "land" in this tank than I've been accustomed to with the 45H I've been running up to this point. Thanks for the advice! If this tank winds up looking half as good as your 75, I'll be very happy


----------



## David Hui

Sergio,

That separatory funnels set up could easily cost more than the tank. You are mad  Good job!!

David


----------



## SuRje1976

You guys are really going to get me in trouble with the wife! :hihi: 

David - Hmmm...I'd have to think about that for a second...Yup - it did cost more than the tank. If you include the pumps, magnetic stirrer & volumetric flask in the setup, about twice the cost of the tank - shipping included! :icon_eek: 

Oh my...I hadn't thought about it that way before...


----------



## fresh_lynny

SuRje1976 said:


> LOL! I've got one word for you Lynn....


you are one EVIL man!!!
I love how your tank is shaping up. I am drawing a lot of inspiration from this as I stare at that ADA box in my living room~


----------



## tazcrash69

SuRje1976 said:


> You guys are really going to get me in trouble with the wife! :hihi:
> 
> David - Hmmm...I'd have to think about that for a second...Yup - it did cost more than the tank. If you include the pumps, magnetic stirrer & volumetric flask in the setup, about twice the cost of the tank - shipping included! :icon_eek:
> 
> Oh my...I hadn't thought about it that way before...


Listen if the Mrs. corners you on the cost, don't forgot to tell her to factor in the extra time you will be able to spend with the family! Now it's paying for itself.

And for yourself, factor in the "Man that is sooooo Cool" factor.


----------



## SuRje1976

An attempt to visualize what I might like the substrate to look like. Kindof corny looking, but you can get the point...


----------



## dufus

gonna look awesome.


----------



## Wingsdlc

Does look a little funny but it gives us the idea. I had to look at it a few seconds do figgure it out.

Can't wait to see more!


----------



## scolley

SuRje1976 said:


> There is an ADA Garden Mat under the tank. It seems like thick neoprene to me. I really wanted the tank level with the top of the stand, so I built up the opening with 2" (2 x 3/4" and 1 x 1/2") MDF, "glued and screwed." It is not going anywhere. To be safe however, I intend to VERY carefully measure for deflection from underneath when I SLOWLY fill the tank for the first time. If there is anything measurable, you can bet some "support columns" will be added in the stand! I really don't expect there to be. You can see the stand before the Garden Mat went down, here:


Serjio - in your supplied pic (thanks) the MDF shows clearly - and is it within the borders of the upper lip of the stand. But in other pics the ADA Garden Mat seems to extend over, and possibly beyond, that lip. Is the Garden Mat rigid? I always assumed is was a soft rubber that would droop down if it extended beyond the stand's lip.


----------



## SuRje1976

Steve - the Garden Mat IS soft rubber, but it is also about 8mm thick which affords it some rigidity. The MDF does wind up about 1/16" ABOVE the lip on the stand, so it is of course important that the tank in centered on the top of it. The Garden Mat is actually about 1/4" longer than the entire top (left to right) and 1/4" shorter than the entire top (front to back), but I've heard there is some variability between individual mats. They are always larger than the tank footprint however and can be cut if necessary. I will not cut it. I'm not confident enough in my ability to cut a straight line in material like this!


----------



## kzr750r1

SuRje1976 said:


> Steve - the Garden Mat IS soft rubber, but it is also about 8mm thick which affords it some rigidity. The MDF does wind up about 1/16" ABOVE the lip on the stand, so it is of course important that the tank in centered on the top of it. The Garden Mat is actually about 1/4" longer than the entire top (left to right) and 1/4" shorter than the entire top (front to back), but I've heard there is some variability between individual mats. They are always larger than the tank footprint however and can be cut if necessary. I will not cut it. I'm not confident enough in my ability to cut a straight line in material like this!


Seems strange that it's .25 under the width.

Will it spread under pressure to .125 on either side if it's on center of the tank?

Your concern on how to trim this material is understood. A good heavy duty sharp pair of scissors can do the trick after you mark your cut with a straight edge.

I have a pair of fiskers from my graphic art days that are awesome cutting strange materials such as this. Main thing is go slow and keep it from stretching on you while making a pass. My thought is you'll never see your cut after the tank compresses the mat.

How has your daughter handled the new addition. My baby is 2 and I've really been considering my next upgrade to be an acrylic tank... But then again she'll only be two for this year. 

Thanks for the wood link. You guys are not kidding about this wood having distinct personality. Every piece on the page could stand on it's own IMO.


----------



## logan

not to jump in so late, but... if you want to cut that mat, just get an x-acto knife and run it along the edge after the tank is on top. that way, you'll get a clean straight line and it will perfectly match the tank dimensions... in other words, use the tank as the straight edge... scissors will never cut that thing straight enough, at that thickness...


----------



## logan

wait my bad - i see you're trying to get the mat to match the STAND and not the TANK... back to eating chili....


----------



## xcooperx

what kind of ferts are you using? is that ADA ferts


----------



## SuRje1976

*kzr750r1* - The mat is actually quite a bit larger than the tank itself in both dimensions. It's just a bit smaller than the entire top of the stand, which is NOT an ADA stand. I can tell you that that stuff is quite hard to cut. I ordered many months ago to use under my 5.5G. I ordered the large one so I'd have plenty left over in case I "needed" to add any other tanks. It was quite the pain to cut straight. It IS possible, but pretty much a pain. 

So far my daughter is handling the tank just fine. She was a little upset at first when she was no longer able to open the doors and drawers at will. My primary concern however is going to be the filter hoses. The inflows and outflows are going to be on the SIDES of this tank, not the back - and all four of them are glass. I'll keep you posted on this.


*logan* - I do agree with you that if you want to cut this material, a blade would be better than scissors. Scissors can give you a "choppy" edge.


*xcooperx* - The macros are GW KNO3 and KH2PO4 in solution. The micros are Flourish/Flourish Iron. I may switch over to TPN, or mix them together in the funnel. Still deciding.


----------



## SuRje1976

Ok, so today, I moved the tank & stand into position, leveled it, and filled it with water to test for leaks. So far so good! I've got the wood in the tank too, turns out one of the pieces floats. Wonder how long before it sinks?


Me, moving the 45G out of the way:


----------



## SuRje1976

*Got Tannins?*

Woke up this morning to an expected tank full of tea!

This is what it looked like after filling (about 8pm):











This is what it looked like this morning (about 8am):











This is the final placement in the room.


----------



## jeffboyarrdee

just put some carbon or charcoal in your filter and it should take those tanins out faster over time


----------



## SuRje1976

Thanks Jeff! I intend to do that, once the tank has a filter in it :hihi:


----------



## kzr750r1

About the mat I get ya.

I'm nervous about side exposed hoses with my toddler. To top it off your using the glass units so any little tinkering could cause issues...I'm keeping my fingers crossed for you here. The worse mine could do right now is flip a shut off valve on the quick disconnects. Since she is distracted by so much else in the front she hasn't "discovered" what they do yet.
The things our kids teach us about curiosity...

The wood looks great. Plus the floating unit looks to be sunk, eh?

Nice stack of ADA boxes.  I just have one at the moment. :icon_roll


----------



## eklikewhoa

Is it me or is the tank placed too far to the right on the stand?


----------



## SuRje1976

kzr750r1 - I'm hoping my daughter is distracted the same way. I'd really not like to get THAT phone call while I'm at work! Please KEEP your fingers crossed for me!

The floating piece has sunk, but it's "bottom" is still a bit more buoyant than the "top," so it won't sit correctly - yet.

The ADA boxes have 5x 9L AS Amazonia, 1x 6L PS Special M, and 2x 15kG Bright Sand in them - come to think of it, it may not have been a good idea to level the tank with them sitting right there :icon_roll


----------



## SuRje1976

eklikewhoa said:


> Is it me or is the tank placed too far to the right on the stand?


Good eye - it is actually about 3/4 inches off to the right, still sitting on the MDF, and of course this will be corrected before the substrate goes in.


----------



## kzr750r1

eklikewhoa said:


> Is it me or is the tank placed too far to the right on the stand?


 I noticed the same but figured the amount of detail going into this was an optical illusion due to camera angle. 

Toes are now crossed too. Your a brave man.

It sounds like in a coupe of days that wood will sit where ever you want. It's going to leach tannins for a while though. You have allot of wood in there compared to the volume of water...


----------



## kzr750r1

SuRje1976 said:


> The ADA boxes have 5x 9L AS Amazonia, 1x 6L PS Special M, and 2x 15kG Bright Sand in them - come to think of it, it may not have been a good idea to level the tank with them sitting right there :icon_roll


Excellent point. Are you on a slab or have crawl space? Don't remember if we covered this in the beginning.


----------



## SuRje1976

kzr750r1 - the tank is on the second floor, across the floor joists.


----------



## crisps

I had a very large piece of Malaysian Driftwood in a 20G. This leached like anything. The only thing I found to clear it up is Purigen. You might want to try that if normal AC doesn't work.

Not sure how it will affect ferts etc.


----------



## SuRje1976

Crisps - good to know! I actually have both onhand - thanks


----------



## SuRje1976

*Substrate Setup*

The substrate and hardscape were set up at the NJAGC Meeting on Saturday, February 17th. It was pretty much a complete ADA system, using PowerSand Special-M, Tourmaline BC, AquaSoil Amazonia, and BrightSand. Thanks so much Mike (Momotaro) & Jay Luto for your help with this!

Poster board (to separate the sand from the rest of the substrate) was cut into strips and propped into position using rocks. First, in went a thin layer of the PowerSand Special M, only into the sections that will also receive the AquaSoil, but away from the side glass:










Tourmaline BC was "dusted" over the PowerSand (only because I forgot to add it first). The BrightSand was added next. We had to do this slowly, manipulating the rocks as we went along so the posterboard (which we decided was too thin) would behave the way we wanted it to:











The AquaSoil was then added slowly, sloping up slightly toward the back corners of the tank:











Once we got the sand and soil as close to even as we could, be carefully removed the posterboard:










Details of hardscape to follow!


_Photos by Joe Hoetzl_


----------



## Finch_man

Thats some nice stones you got their!!:icon_smil


----------



## SuRje1976

Thanks Finch - got them from AquaForest. They're Shou Stone.


----------



## kzr750r1

SuRje1976 said:


> Thanks Finch - got them from AquaForest. They're Shou Stone.


I find it interesting you guys on the east coast are buying from Aquaforest. I could see HW but rocks too. Makes me feel a bit lucky the brothers are out here...I just have to burn some fossil fuel to get to the store.

Nice start on the substrate.


----------



## mnsnowdaboy

Dam that's it!!! Oh man you guys gotta work faster, everyone is just waiting to see the results..ha ha. I tried that layout once and I messed up pretty bad.


----------



## Nightshop

kzr750r1 said:


> I find it interesting you guys on the east coast are buying from Aquaforest. I could see HW but rocks too. Makes me feel a bit lucky the brothers are out here...I just have to burn some fossil fuel to get to the store.
> 
> Nice start on the substrate.


Heh, same here. Some people are willing to go all sorts of lengths to get what they want.


----------



## SuRje1976

But I didn't have to get up from the couch to get the rocks!


----------



## Finch_man

Thats right!! Also its pretty cheap for shipping too.:icon_smil


----------



## kzr750r1

SuRje1976 said:


> But I didn't have to get up from the couch to get the rocks!


True that. Look foward to see how you intend to use them.


----------



## SuRje1976

*Hardscape Setup*

The hardscape setup did not deviate from my original intentions except for 2 small pieces of driftwood added to the front right. Rock (Shou Stones) were also added. Thanks again Mike and Jay! Well, they say a picture is worth a thousand words, so:












_Photo by Joe Hoetzl_


----------



## SuRje1976

*A Couple More*

Left Side Detail:











Right Side Detail:












_Photos by Joe Hoetzl_


----------



## Finch_man

Looks very nice. What plant you planing to use?


----------



## SuRje1976

For now - "fast" growers. Will have Cyperus helferi, Tonina belem, T.fluviatilis, Cryptocoryne undulata, C. willisii "lucens", some mosses/fissidens & anubias petite, *maybe* a Crinium calamistratum.


----------



## A Hill

Looks really nice!!

Keep them photos coming!

-Andrew


----------



## SuRje1976

*You Asked for It!!!*

Alright, you asked for it! Here goes...


The tank starting to get water - SLOWLY!











About to drown the hairy dragon...











Planting started, just filled, starting H.O.T. Magnum charged with D.E.











Next morning...











More planting done, carbon added to filter, water changed...










Left diagonal...










Left detail...










"Down the river"...










Right detail...










Right diagonal...










Obligatory overhead shot!


----------



## Moe

very nice!


----------



## PasD

Cool start to your tank. How'd you get your water so clear? I'm using AS and bright sand and it took about 3 days for my water to clear up. Do you have blyxa japonica in the right side of your tank?


----------



## fresh_lynny

Yes that is blyxa...


Sergio wooohoo how excited are you? It looks great~!

I will need to pick your brain when I get the new 120P started here.... Maybe I should have a pizza/beer party to get the thing started 

The balance is great, and I can't wait to see it grown out~
I would love to do the sandy beach, but I know in my heart of hearts, that picking black bits out of that will make me nuts.


Where did you get that hose from that you have your lillies on?
That looks like the hose that came with my old Filstar filters but I think I need some more~


----------



## SuRje1976

*Replies*

*Moe *- Thanks! 

*PasD *- I used a H.O.T. Magnum with it's micron filter cartridge charged with diatomaceous earth to get the water clear.

*Lynn *- This is very exciting! The sand - only a week in the tank, and already driving me nuts. Used the python to siphon out AquaSoil from sand area - filled up kitchen sink - dropped about 4 gallons on the kitchen floor before I realized what was happening, and nearly broke the garbage disposal in the process! All at 3am - good stuff. The 5/8" hose came from Drs F&S, the 1/2" hose came from ADG. They've both taken on that "haze" that clear tubing tends to take on. I've found that Tygon tubing doesn't share this property. It remains pretty clear. Maybe I'll switch to that if I can find it without "Tygon" stamped on the side every 6 inches!


----------



## danepatrick

your floor is the same as in my bedroom. ha. oh yea! nice tank! 

AWESOME TANK! i can't wait to see it when things start to fill in.


----------



## dufus

Sweet, water!
can't wait to see it grow in. Nice job.


----------



## Nightshop

Sweet . . . very impressing.

How are the water parameters? Ammonia spiking yet?


----------



## SuRje1976

Thanks guys! I just tested the ammonia for the first time tonight - got close to 3ppm...more than I expected actually. I've got quite a decent plant mass in there, along with an established filter. I'll be keeping an eye on it!


----------



## Wingsdlc

Very nice!

I saw all the set up pictures from the NJAGC site. Nice to see the tank with some plants in it.


----------



## jt20194

*Beautiful*

Sergio,

I have to say your tank looks great! Thanks for keeping us all in the loop. I have been so busy lately that I haven’t had much time to do anything but look at the forum threads. I am hoping in the next couple of months to start a new tank project and will document everything when I get started on this project. Until then, I’ll enjoy threads like this and the future Scolley incarnation.

Jim


----------



## Betowess

Whooo! That looks fantastic. I love the beach front and driftwood/plant layout! 5 Stars for sure.


----------



## SuRje1976

*Wingsdlc* - Glad to see you got over to the NJAGC site! Joe did a great job writing up the substrate/hardscape setup.

*Jim* - Thanks for taking the time to post! I really intend to keep this thread updated. I'm glad you like it so far. 

*Bob* - Whooo! Thank you. I love sitting here and looking at this tank!


----------



## SuRje1976

*Purigen*

Just figured I'd post this quick update. My water was beginning to turn tea colored again, even with the carbon in the filter. I decided to throw in a bag of Purigen to see what would happen, and I have to say, I'm pretty impressed! 

This is the tank yesterday, before Purigen:











This is the tank this afternoon, not even 24 hours later:












I used the exact same camera settings (white balance, EV Shift, etc.) to take both pictures. Pretty noticeable difference.


----------



## scolley

Your tank is looking really nice Sergio! roud: Gonna look great as it grows in, and I really like that open foreground.

Be careful with the Purigen though. I didn't see your fert schedule, but Purigen sucks ALL kinds of stuff out of the water, including things you want I believe. That said, I've used it with great success on a new tank also. Looks great!


----------



## Jessica

Wow. You win.

What an inspiration. How beautiful!


----------



## Betowess

Sergio, Your carbon was all spent, if the tea color came back, but I'm sure you know that. I really, really like this tank. I'm about to do a re-start, and I'm having a hard time talking myself out of a sandy foreground, mainly thanks to this tank.


----------



## wood

Awesome setup Sergio. The automation setup you have created is very impressive, especially that "multi-injectional-probe-fert-fluxcapacitor"  I have a feeling that this tank is going to develop into something truly awesome. 

The only qualm that I have is the CO2 diffuser in the front right corner. Is that its permanent position or just there for setup purposes? 

Great journal dude! I love it when a journal is very detailed with a lot of pictures, helps all of us learn more. 

Purigen is SUPERB for water clarity. I will never use carbon ever again! Purigen is absolutely PERFECT for removing tannins. If anyone out there has tannin issues, get purigen and you will be extremely happy. It is also able to be regenerated so you don't have to keep buying new bags. The regeneration works, I have done it a handful of times with good results. 

Oh, one more thing... Please post a full front shot of the tank, un-angled. You are giving me vertigo or something with all the side angled shots 

Thanks for the awesome journal. Can't wait to see the next update. 

-Ryan


----------



## Ankit

I had the same results with Purigen - check out the Purigen bag in a while and you'll see just how much it changed color.


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## fresh_lynny

Great progress Sergio! I love it! I know that with a new setup and with wood/ADA AS, you get that tannic color for a while. I used Purigen in the past with great success. I know it does take out some nutrients, but with AS and on a temporary basis you will be fine using it. Your journal and progress are an inspiration for me....
I also love your sandy beach front, but I will likely not go that route because with things so busy I can't see picking out tiny bits of as bits, fish poop and detritus. Any insight as to how difficult that particular issue is woudl be appreciated since I am still contemplating whether ot not to skip it or not.
Wow..I had more to drink than I thougt..lol


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## retoid

Wow I am super impressed with this tank and your knowledge!
You are a big inspiration. Looks like you are having alot of fun with this.


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## SuRje1976

*Steve *- Thanks! I've heard that about Purigen too. I'm going to keep up on dosing and check macros in a few days. It will only be in there for another 2 weeks or so.

*Jessica *- :icon_smil 

*Bob *- The sandy foreground is great! It has proven to be a bit of work so far though. Almost broke the garbage disposal siphoning Aquasoil from the sand! Would I do it again? Yup!

*Ryan *- I'll make sure the next tank picture I post is head on! :hihi: As far as the CO2 diffuser - I'll be putting another filter on the tank in a few weeks. It's placement will be based on the water flow. I'm not sure where it will wind up yet. It does have to go in a corner though!

*Ankit *- I'm going to take the Purigen bag out in 2 weeks or so - I'll post a before and after picture of it...

*Lynn *- I think once the planting is done and things are allowed to settle it isn't much work at all. If you have bottom dwellers, it might be a different story. You can use your hardscape as a "barrier" as well. Well worth it to me, but aesthetics are subjective.

*retoid *- Thank you! I'm having TOO MUCH fun - it should be illegal...


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## fresh_lynny

Maybe I will try a plastic ribbon-like barrier then use some hardscape on top. I have 2 corys and 4 kuhlis so they might make a mess of it, but who knows. It will be interesting but I definitely like the look for sure. Great job, as you well know. I will be checking in on this for sure as you progress~


----------



## SuRje1976

*A Big Step*

Thanks Lynn!

I was initially a bit surprised to find that the tank had a fair amount of ammonia two weeks ago, with the established filter and plant mass. It was probably from the Aquasoil. Well, ammonia was decreasing last week, and nitrite this week. Today NH3 tested at less than 0.2ppm (down from a high tested at 2.0 with pH of 5.5), and nitrite at about 0.1ppm (down from 0.3). I noticed the first sign of diatoms, so I decided to acclimate the 9 Oto's over from the 45G:











First the tank got a quick 30% water change, and a double dose of Prime. The Oto's are on a slow drip acclimation - they will be in there for a few hours before they make it into the ADA tank. In my experience, they can be pretty sensitive to changes in water condition. They will not be fed until the diatoms have been eradicated. Wish me (and them) luck!


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## kzr750r1

Hopefully they will focus on the diatoms and not that tasty wood. Looks like a healthy group.


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## styxx

yeah, those boys are *big* for ottos! what have they been eating?!?!


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## unirdna

Just read through the whole thing.... Man, I love tech savy folks . Consider me subscribed, Sergio!


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## danepatrick

c'mon mike. they're not THAT big! the tank may be nothing more than a 5g or 10 at most.  it's sitting on a chair for christ's sake!


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## styxx

Well I know that but they look like tadpoles with those thick little bodies...not like those frail, on the verge of death, ottos you've got! No wonder I have to buy 20 @ a time!!! lol!


----------



## SuRje1976

Play nice children  

Well, I'm about finished with another acclimation. I've got 30+ Amano shrimp (Caridina multidentata) in the 5.5 on a drip acclimation for going on 6 hours now.











Tomorrow I will be removing a small stand of Didiplis diandra that's all but melted (left side of the tank) and just expand the stand of Tonina belem that's next to them. I've also got several stems of Ludwigia glandulosa that melting as well. Anyone have any input as to why this is happening with these 2 plants? I'm thinking it's because I'm not running a full photoperiod yet. For kicks:

Water parameters:

KH 2.7
GH 6.7 (will be reduced - slipped a bit with the Equilibrium)
NH3 < 0.2
NO2 < 0.1
NO3 - 20ppm
PO4 - 4ppm
pH = 5.5
CO2 over 30ppm


Anyway, got some Java Fern in, several Anubias barteri "coffeefolia", a few Anubias barteri "nana" and quite a few Anubias barteri "nana petite" (MANY more on the way! I also removed the stand of Limnophila aromatica from the back right and replaced it with a pretty dense stand of Rotala rotunindicafolia . The Rotala on the left hand side got a haircut last night:











Here's a couple of pictures of some nana petite, tied to the tallest driftwood:

















.


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## fresh_lynny

Sergio nice job! Grow those petite nana so I can get some rhizome clipping one day! What is your KH normally out of the tap? I heard from many that when they switch over to AS after having hard water, the delta of KH causes some species to go into shock and melt. Perhaps this is happening to you. The Tonina love the chaange to acidic/soft so perhaps that one is less sensitive.


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## FelixAvery

sweet thread sergio! wish i had that much money, know-how and understanding wifery 
really cool tank!


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## SuRje1976

Thanks Lynn - I've actually got a lot more nana petite on the way! KH from the tap lat time I checked it was just under 2.0. The tank is actually at 2.7. A little unexpected actually, I don't dose anything for KH - maybe the bright sand?



FelixAvery said:


> and understanding wifery


Felix thank you. One thing though - I hope I haven't given the impression that my wife is understanding of all this!  She barely *tolerates* it!


----------



## SuRje1976

*Update - One Month Pictures*

Well, these were taken today, 30 days after planting. The tank needs a bit of maintenance currently, so this is not the best the tank has/will look, but it is how it happens to look today.  

I've got to remove some Aquasoil from the sand area as can be seen. The R. rotundifolia needs a trim, and I'd really love for the diatoms to go away already. :icon_conf Well, it's keeping the Otos busy & full for now.

Any suggestions are, as always, appreciated.


----------



## Betowess

Looking terrific Sergio. I got a kick out of re-reading about acclimating the Otos and just now noticed you used 1/4 RO poly with a John Guest ball valve to do the drip. :icon_wink 

And about your wife "tolerating" the hobby. Same here, though I think after many years, mine has started to finally come around. She almost bought me a Discus for a birthday present this year, 'till I got wind.

I see you have some Rams in there! Anyhow, I think this is the best tank on the forum today.


----------



## PeteyPob

Wow, looks great! Your plants are looking like they love the place 

Just out of curiousity, is there a reason why your drop checker is so low?


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## unirdna

I have a suggestion :bounce: .....remove that $1.29 themometer from your beautiful tank . 

Kidding aside, I have my eyes glued to your thread. I'm starting a similar tank soon, and I appreciate every piece of info I can get. I look forward to the day that center piece of wood is smothered in moss.

Let us knwo how you clean up the aquasoil. Amano uses a siphon via a piece of vinyl tubing. The tedium of cleaning up the substrate border is one of the things weighing heavy on my lazy mind. Although I purchased sand and aquasoil, I bought _enough_ aquasoil in case the sand drives me nuts.

Keep the updates coming roud:


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## dufus

i see no thermometer, i see the glass diffuser and co2 drop check.

sergio, the tank looks awesome!


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## SuRje1976

*Bob* - Wow! Not sure I deserve that, but it sure felt nice reading it - Thank you!


*PeteyPob* - Thanks.  The Drop Checker is low because I don't want it to "catch" any of the little CO2 bubbles that are being shot around the tank by the outflow above the Beetle, on the right side of the tank. By the time the mist reaches the left side, it's floated up higher than the drop checker. 


*Ted* - The thermometer is out! LOL I've tried a few ways to separate the soil from the sand. When I come up with something _great_, I'll let you know. Pretty tedious work, but it does look nice when it's done.


*Devin* - Thanks! The thermometer was there (back left) :icon_redf but it's gone now!



*Some changes I'm pondering...*

I'm thinking of removing 2 stems of Blyxa from the RIGHT REAR section of the stand, and add more R. rotundifolia to _that_ stand, trimming them low in the front, sloping up toward the back and around to the left behind the wood, then sloping back down as it approached the "river." Nothing carved in stone yet!

I was also thinking about removing the Toninas, to the left (belem) and right (fluviatilis) of the _left_ R. rotundifolia stand. I'd expand _that _stand of rotundifolia to match the slope made by the Toninas. From left front, a quick-sharp slope up, and around the wood towards the right, "peaking" just about behind the high point of the wood, then a much more gradual slope down toward the river and the front of the tank where the C. lucens are.

This would overlap nicely I think with the stand of rotundifolia on the _right_ side of the river, leaving a slight "gap" or negative space where the two stands cross, above the river just to the right of the center of the tank. There may be a little tricky trimming there, but I think it will look great!


Thanks for looking guys!


----------



## LondonDragon

SuRje1976 said:


> dufus - Here's another shot for you!


Wow that looks pretty impressive, never seen anything like it, would a proper diagram detailing what you use and how everything connects be too much to ask for?

Great work, will keep monitoring your progress, congrats


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## SuRje1976

*Quick Update*

LondonDragon - I will get a thread started on the dosing system as soon as possible. 



Made a few small changes...the pictures are a bit bigger too!


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## FelixAvery

thats really nice!
one thing though the change from sand to planted area is to abrupt, find some small flat stones in your garden and wrap them in riccia and tie it with some cotton or riccia line, then place them along the divide and it will look beutifull and so very natural, like one of amanos!


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## SuRje1976

*Felix* - You're right. I will be working on this! I won't likely use riccia - the stuff gets into everything, but the tank could use more of a mid-ground. Thanks!

*LondonDragon (& anyone else interested)* - I just put together a thread on the Automatic Fert Doser as promised. Check it out if you'd like!


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## PasD

I'm a big fan of your journal, and I've learned a lot from it. Instead of riccia, maybe use some sort of moss as a border between the sand and AS.


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## dufus

how about pellia? or some taiwan moss.


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## scolley

*Outstanding!*

Sergio - Wow! So few people here could do something so good looking 30 days in! You should be very proud! I, for one, could not do that. Your balance and sense of flow is beyond the vast majority of what you see in tanks here. Congratulations!

Now, with those deep and sincere comments out of the way (and they are completely deserved), I'd like to make a few suggestions. Back seat driving is always easy... but there are few tanks around here that I feel are truly worth detail commentary on. Yours is. So here goes...

1) Lose the middle "dragon headed" looking piece of drift wood in the middle. It looked really interesting when you had just driftwood. But now it obstructs a potentially beautiful balanced right/left/open toward the center design.

2) Split the lotus and move them to the far right and left back corners. That will emphasize that open middle with an increasing plant height - culminating in the lotus at the water surface at the back two corners.

3) Here's the painful one... just saw the big driftwood knot (sticking half way up on the right) off. It's just distracting, and IMO anything at that point in your aquascape will never look right. If you cover it in moss, it will only be a big moss covered lump half way up the water column on the right side of the tank. Sorry.

That's enough for starters. But IMO it would turn a really nicely balanced tank into an incredibly balanced tank.

Looks great Sergio!

Only 30 days... Wow.


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## SuRje1976

*PasD & Devin* - thanks for your ideas! I was thinking some moss too, but I need to wait until the diatoms subside. I pulled a bunch of moss out this past week - it was a mess! I'll give it another shot once things settle in a bit.

*Steve* - My wife and I were sitting here thinking about your suggestions. The dragon's head is actually a small piece tied on with wood tight. It would be very easy to remove. I messed around a bit with PhotoShop to try and visualize:










When I look past my terrible photoshop skills, I like it. The rotundifolia can be trimmed to look quite nice I think. The lump piece can be taken out, or possibly rotated 90 degrees in one direction or the other to reduce its height. This is what that particular piece looks like "dry:"










Thanks for taking the time to post the detail commentary. I really appreciate it! roud:


----------



## King's_Blend

Are you planning on adding more fish and how much pounds of shou stones did you order from Aqua Forest?


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## SuRje1976

King's Blend - There will be a large school of cardinals added to the tank within the next 2 weeks or so. There is 10lbs of Shou stone in the tank.


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## styxx

SuRje1976,
I have a similar set up but I'm torn between the Seiryu Stone and the Ohko (which they're out of) have you considered the Seiryu stone or do you not like the gray color? Also, how in the **** do you keep your anubias free of algae? I've got that brown diatom issue too but no other algae to speak of, yet they simply won't remain clear of it and my ottos are working overtime, lol...I'm using an 8 hour photo period to minimize that issue too...otherwise everything is growing exceptionally well...


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## ebichu

Surje,

Those plants you got there on the bottom right corner (next to your diffuser), above the driftwood, are they echinodorus tenellus ?

Your tank looks very very good :thumbsup: 

When doing borders between AS and sand, you can use some moss ball or some riccia to blur the edge. It doesnt look natural to see black soil meets sand abruptly. Just my opinion.

Thanks


----------



## SuRje1976

*styxx1* - I like the texture of the Ohko stone, but I like the color of the Seiryu stone. I think it depends on how you use them more than what they look like independently. The Shou stone I have is pretty grey actually, though the pictures on AF's site would lead you to beleive otherwise. It took 9 Otos a month to *almost* clear the diatons in this tank. How many do you have, and what size tank? A reduced photoperiod will not likely help much with diatoms. I have an slight issue with GSA on the anubias leaves. I'm going to be rearranging things a bit so they don't get so much direct light.


*ebichu* - The plant in the bottom right is Blyxa japonica. It got out of control and has since been removed. I'm a little overdue for an update I guess. The majority of the borders are stone/wood. There is a very small spot or two where sand meets soil directly, but they've got Anubias over them no the distinction is less evident. Thanks for the input!


----------



## Zulu

Damn, that's really pretty. I like the look of the bamboo like plant in the back right, methinks that'd look gorgeous in a real thicket.


----------



## SuRje1976

*An Update*

A few things have happened since I last posted. I tinkerd around a bit with PhotoShop and a few suggestions I was given, and made a few changes to the tank. 

First, I removed the "dinosaur head", and the large piece of wood on the right. I moved the dinosaur "body" over to the middle of the right stand. These changes really "opened up" the river. 

I also removed the remainder of the Tonina on the left side of the tank, as well as all of the Blyxa japonica on the right. The Tonina were replaced with more Rotala rotundifolia and a bit of R. macrandra. The mid-ground will be made up of Crypt lucens and Java fern (arriving in 2 weeks). 

All of the Anubias nana "petite" was removed from the tank *temporarily* until I can find a better way to mount it. Cotton thread is dissolving much to fast - before the plant anchors properly. When they are returned to the tank, they will likeley be used at the sand/soil border.

I replaced the Tygon tubing on the CO2 diffuser with glass tubing that I bent (over the stove) at a slightly "modified" 90 degree angle.

Here are a few pictures I took today:































I know - the glass pipes need to be cleaned. I'll get to it!

Thanks for looking!


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## unirdna

BAM!!! Just like that - d...e....p....t....h... Impressive modification. The open space you created adds so much character to the tank. In two months, it will be a knockout.


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## styxx

*quick question*

agreed. Is it me is is there a slight tint to the water? A little Purigen in the filter will clear that up in no time flat. I definitely like the open space there now...much more room for the Angel and the other fish! And I'm a great lover of R. Rotund. Mine is growing like crazy and I have to trim it regularly or it will grow right up to the edge of the tank...your anubias look *wonderful* btw. What do you do to keep them so algae free and deep green? Do you dose Iron regularly? I personally love a. coffefolia... I think Urdina is correct once you get that Java Fern, in about two months it will be simply gorgeous...


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## dufus

I love it!!!!
I like the slight tint even.
While i think the angels are a little too big to be part of the 'scape in this tank, they have a sort of mysterious factor in them(midnight black!) so they kind of work their way in.


----------



## SuRje1976

*Ted *- Thanks! I would love for this tank to be half as nice as some I have seen here.

*styxx1*- There is a *very* slight tint to the water. More an issue with the camera's white balance I think. I actually just took OUT a bag of Purigen, and I agree, the stuff works wonders. When I first put it in, a few days after startup, the tank was tea colored. The stuff made the water crystal clear practically overnight. I'm trying to slow down the rotundifolia - I was trimming twice a week for a while. The Anubias just got a little bleach-dip.  Green? well, the "coffefolia" are much deeper green than the other variations of Anubias. I don't think I'm doing anything in particular. I do dose iron regularly. About 15mL Flourish Iron, along with whatever iron comes in 15 mL Flourish weekly. Looking forward to the Java Fern and the batch of C. lucens and (more) nana petite that are coming!

*Devin*- I agree on the Angel. She's throwing off the scale, quite a bit. She's not long for the tank. I'm going to work on finding her a home in the next few weeks.


----------



## SuRje1976

*2 Month Update*

I figured I'd post a couple of pictures since it just past 2 months since the tank had water in it. What's changed...hmmm, well aside from the growth (which has not been excessively fast, because I am limiting my dosing), nothing really. I did spend a bit of time cleaning up the Cyperus. Removed all of the leaves that were brownish - made the whole stand look MUCH greener.

Here's the goods:







































The tank needs a trim - I know. I would love recommendations on methods for trimming R. macrandra & rotundifolia.


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## dufus

It looks great, i wish my macranda was alive still.


----------



## Betowess

Looks terrific Sergio. The curved valley is nice addition, though the first 'scape was great as well. Some of that water lettuce looks like it needs more iron, but I doubt any stems do with the AS. And the R. macrandra is a nice color contrast in the center.


----------



## Nightshop

So does that large angelfish have a name? Does he frighten small children? =]] Joking, heh.


----------



## AaronT

I'm just checking in on the progress after awhile. Things are coming along nicely. 

I have a suggestion for the aquascape. I think it would look better with some medium sized and smaller rocks at the base of the larger rocks. Right now it looks too much like a rock wall. In nature you always see large rocks with gradually smaller ones at its base. I think this would also serve to break up the foreground a bit and give it a more natural feel.

How are you liking that outlet from Cal Aqua? I'm considering getting one in the future.


----------



## SuRje1976

Thanks everyone!

*Bob *- I have a terrible time with the white balance on my camera. That water lettuce is actually quite green. :icon_roll 

*Aaron* - I'll try out your suggestion as soon as I an get my hands on some more stone. I think it will look great as well! I like the CalAqua pipes, specifically the outflow. It actually moves water DOWNward, which will help to ensure good circulation. In a week or 2 I'll be moving an Eheim 2128 over to this tank, which is fitted with ADA pipes. The ADA outflow pushes water pretty straight, so I'll have movement at the top and bottom of the tank. I actually picked up the CalAqua pipes for this purpose specifically. No regrets.


----------



## AaronT

SuRje1976 said:


> *Aaron* - I'll try out your suggestion as soon as I an get my hands on some more stone. I think it will look great as well! I like the CalAqua pipes, specifically the outflow. It actually moves water DOWNward, which will help to ensure good circulation. In a week or 2 I'll be moving an Eheim 2128 over to this tank, which is fitted with ADA pipes. The ADA outflow pushes water pretty straight, so I'll have movement at the top and bottom of the tank. I actually picked up the CalAqua pipes for this purpose specifically. No regrets.


Sweet. That's exactly what I'm looking for to happen. Good flow is so key in a planted aquarium. It sounds as though you're a fellow believer.


----------



## SuRje1976

Just for fun...


----------



## SuRje1976

*A Trim & The Fish!*

At first I was a little hesitant to add Cardinals, thinking that they would not really "go" with the setup, but I REALLY like the way they look!


----------



## ebichu

How did u clean the intake pipe ?? It looks like brand new again. Bleach ??

Very nice tank with the cardinals too


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## dufus

Woah! that was an unexpectedtwist!
They look nice, but they do detract a Little from the scape, not too much.


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## SuRje1976

ebichu - I soaked them in bleach/water for about half an hour, then I used a flexible tube brush to brush them out. Not to bad.

Devin - hopefully as the tank fills out, it will not be "overpowered" by the fish. I've had two jumpers already today - so at this rate, there won't be any in there in 3 weeks anyway!


----------



## Betowess

Cardinals look great! Some folks cover a tank the first two days or so to minimize suicides.


----------



## kzr750r1

What you may be running into is the angel freaking them even at lights out. Keep an eye on your black beauty's behavior and see if it's worth the fight. I really miss my schooling fish after my last poor stocking decision. IMO the cards look great!


----------



## styxx

That angel is really *awesome.* Wow.


----------



## supaflyz

Amazing fish and tank. Very nice aquascaping too, I give it 2 thumbs way up.


----------



## dwstonebraker

Fantastic Photos! Keep up the good work! I find the fert system fascinating!


----------



## SuRje1976

*Three month update*

Thanks guys!  

Well not too much has changed with the tank except the growth. I really like the way things are starting to fill in! The fish seem very happy. I *finally* added the second filter, and got the auto water changer back up and running. I need to keep working on my trimming technique, but I'll get it down eventually! These are from this morning...





























Current plants are:

Cyperus helferi
Rotala rotundifolia
Rotala macrandra
Polygonum sp.
Microsorum pteropus
Anubias barteri var 'coffeefolia'
Anubias barteri var nana 'Petite'
Eriocaulon cinereum
Taxiphyllum barbieri


----------



## unirdna

SuRje1976 said:


> I need to keep working on my trimming technique, but I'll get it down eventually!


Sergio, speaking of trimming technique... Which method are you using - the old replant the tops - or the "Amano" snip the tops off and leave the bottoms?

I miss the fuzzy dragon, but you were right to remove it - composition improved significantly. I'm particularly fond of the area left/center - with the Eriocaulon (or whatever that needley stuff is called :icon_redf ) nestled into the A. nana (p). 

And as a guy a few months ahead of me with this ADA stuff, did you experience a time of the diatoms at about 1-2 weeks? Just wonderin .

Ted

Great photo - I like the way you show us the light and stand.


----------



## kzr750r1

As always nice setup man. What filters are you using for this setup again?


----------



## PeteyPob

Great look! Loving the whole thing, cards, angel, and rams.

Whats the name of that plant in the far back right hand corner? Looks like under water bambo trees.


----------



## SuRje1976

Thanks guys. 

*Ted* - I'm replanting the tops of the macrandra. I'm afraid to just chop off it's head and see what happens. I'm lucky it hasn't just died on me already!  The rotundifolia is just being trimmed, leaving the bottoms in the substrate. It grows into a nice bush this way. BUT, one thing I noticed was that right after my last trim, my NO3 bottomed out and the rotundifolia almost didn't make it! It took almost 2 weeks to bounce back. It was terrible. 

The needley plant is an Eriocaulon cinereum. I'm a little suprised it's growing as well as it is, it's actually partially shaded. There's some more of it on the right side just behind the anubias right at the "mouth" of the "river." You'd have to be looking down into the tank to see it. 

Oh diatoms - cursed diatoms! I had a terrible situation 2 or 3 weeks in. Added 10 Oto's who could BARELY keep up with it! I had to pull out quite a bit of moss bacause of it. It is ALMOST all gone as of today. Still can see some in the java moss if you look! 


*Sean* - I've got an Eheim 2217 and an Eheim 2128 on the tank. Creates quite a bit of movement!


*PeteyPob* - The plant in the back right is Polygunum sp. It is very much like bamboo. Quite an interesting plant actually. It drops all of its submerged leaves and grows straight out of the tank. I have to trim it every so often (snip th bottoms and replant) because when it gets too high out of the tank, it droops. It was as high as the light fixture a week ago - almost 11 inches out of the water!


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## Betowess

Whoo that's looking terrific!

I think its almost peak, except maybe when it grows in a little and becomes a tiny bit more wild then it will be perfect. Pehaps when the moss is even thicker etc... It seems like its a nice blend of Nature Aquarium and a touch of Dutch. 

BTW, my Eriocaulons are doing OK within some shade too, but I'm going to move them out to more light. I second the diatom feeling. It so fine when that menace is done.

Anyhow, its a georgeous tank.roud:


----------



## PeteyPob

> The plant in the back right is Polygunum sp. It is very much like bamboo. Quite an interesting plant actually. It drops all of its submerged leaves and grows straight out of the tank. I have to trim it every so often (snip th bottoms and replant) because when it gets too high out of the tank, it droops. It was as high as the light fixture a week ago - almost 11 inches out of the water!


Neat! Shoot me a PM when your ready to sell some


----------



## PasD

Your tank is looking great. The cardinals really add a nice contrast to your scape. Do you find the cards schooling tighter with the angel around?


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## SuRje1976

*Bob* - Thanks! I'm looking forward to the moss filling in as well.

*PeteyPob* - 3 months and not a single sideshoot from the bamboo, but I'll keep you in mind if I come across any more! 

*PasD* - The cadinals don't school , well, unless my 18 month old daughter starts whacking the glass. That angel has got to go though. Too big for the tank - throws off the scale, plus I want to get some shrimp in there again, and I'm beginning to think that she may have made a meal of the ones I put in there 2 months ago. Can't find a single one!


----------



## styxx

I think that your tank has finally inspired me to use sand. I've always been concerned about the silicate issue with sand, but I've seen some wonderful scapes with them and yours is one of the best. I'm particularly jealous of your anubias...they look awesome and so terribly, vibrantly green and algae free! I can tell you from personal experience that you are going to love that Rotala. It will get to the top of the tank quickly and turn really red if you let it. I love it, but soon you'll find yourself trimming it twice a week because it grows really well after a certain point in an established aquarium with the right ferts and co2. I love the Angel myself and will miss it if they move out! Keep up the great work! Do you still have the 31G frameless tank? I've checked on that thread but no updates! It was really awesome the level of growth on that HC was ridiculous!


----------



## SuRje1976

styxx1 - I think that you can pretty much expect a diatom issue with Aquasoil, sand or no sand. The maintenance isn't awful, but it is a chore to be sure. The Rotala is great. I'm trying to manipulate its color and growth rate by trying different parameters (NO3, PO4, micros). As far as the anubias, the pictures can be deceiving. They are not always completely algae free, but can handle a bleach dip if needed . I'm sorry to say but the Angel MUST go. I *think* that it won't be long before she's hunting the cardinals. She was cornering them yesterday and I'm not sure what might have happened had I not intervened with a "gentle" tap on the glass.

The 31g rimless is a great tank! But it's not mine . It belongs to another member on the forum (kicker). I'd love to see an update on it as well!


----------



## fresh_lynny

Sergio, the tank looks amazing.
The balance, depth and health is overwhelming from the last time i took a look. You see it everyday, so you probably don't really notice the extent of change, but WOW. Your fish choice is perfect too. I think rasboras would disappear in there, but the neons really pop. Good work~


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## SuRje1976

Thanks Lynn! I have to say though, almost immediately after those pictures were taken, some hair algae began to take hold in the tank! :angryfire I am hoping that a delivery of of amano shrimp I will have this weekend will be able to take care of it. I can't say for sure what caused / is causing it yet. So many possibilities actually. Temp increased, added 2nd filter, added UVS, started auto-water changer, started feeding frozen food. I'll probably never know! 

One observation I was able to make is that over the past week or so, the plants nutrient UPTAKE of nitrate has appeared to DECREASE (from 2.7ppm/day to 0.5ppm/day). Originally I had assumed that the frozen food was indirectly PROVIDING the tank with more nitrates, making it APPEAR that the plants are consuming less, but phosphate uptake has INCREASED (from 0.25ppm/day to 0.35ppm/day). So I don't know!  

Have any ideas?


----------



## awrieger

Very nice!


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## SuRje1976

I just re-plumbed the water changer so that from tonight on, only RO/DI water will be making it to the tank. The nature of the system, as is will ensure that the KH & GH (as little as they are) will come down slowly over the next few weeks. I WILL NOT be adding any sodium bicarb to increase KH. I've run this way successfully before, and don't expect any issues, but if I come across anything, I'll let you know.

I will also avoid (initially at least) adding anything to increase GH as well. There are a handful of people running their tanks with 0kH and 0gH with great results.

And since I don't think it entirely fair to lure you back into this thread without a picture, here goes:










I know - I need to trim! Hey, it's a candid picture. I'm off this weekend, so I'll get to it. Because of the bit of hair algae I'm experiencing now, I'll be tossing the cuttings. Hopefully the amano shrimp added this weekend will take care of it!

The "things" between the tank and the lights are Azoo Cooling Fans. It got hot for a few days, and I couldn't resist. First impressions are good. They actually brought the tank down about 2 degrees C. Not sure how far they would have gone, because the heater switched on to maintain the tank at 24 degrees C. They should come in handy this summer!


----------



## melissa3

Wow, just wow. :drool: Thats a very nice tank. Its/you're amazing.

Hey, you lookin for a job? You wanna come over and fix my 10gal, pleeeeeeeaase? :help: :biggrin:


----------



## Marc

SuRje- Nice looking tank. I'm wondering what settings you are using on the camera?


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## ikuzo

with that much of fans, i bet you have lots of water loss from evaporation...

could you please get a close ups on those anubias nana petite?


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## SuRje1976

*Melissa *- too funny! :hihi: Thanks for the very kind words.

*Marc *- the camera is a little 5mp digital. :redface: The settings are all default, except I adjusted the white balance.

*ikuzo* - I lose about 1/8" of water daily with the fans runnng. The water is replaced daily with the auto water changer . I'm really not good with the camera - here's the best I could do for a closeup: :icon_redf


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## ikuzo

ahh thanks Sergio, the shot is fine, i want to see because i'm also planning to add petite to my tank. how tall can that petite grow?


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## SuRje1976

No more than an inch and a half *maybe* two inches (2.5-5cm) is my understanding.


----------



## SuRje1976

Well, I just spent the past 2 hours trimming HALF of the tank. I pulled out the macrandra and center rotundifolia stands, trimmed and returned the tops to the tank. I'm going to have to do the other half tomorrow! From today:










There was, as I was already aware, a bit of hair algae, but I was horrified to find in the darker area at the bases of the rotundifolia what I believe is cladophora. :icon_redf I removed everything I saw, and threw away anything I couldn't clean completely. I'll start Excel and hope for the best. When I finish trimming, I'll know the full exent of the issue. I really don't want to tear this tank down. Anyone have success ridding their tanks of the stuff? My understanding is that it thrives in conditions which are also considered ideal for "higher" plants. :redface:


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## zergling

i remember reading in someone's journal that he used 75  amano shrimps to eat the clado...i'll post the link here if i could find it...


----------



## SuRje1976

zergling said:


> i remember reading in someone's journal that he used 75  amano shrimps to eat the clado...i'll post the link here if i could find it...


zergling - that's what I was hoping to hear. I actually put 50(ish) of them in there this past weekend.  Hopefully they'll take care of anything I might have missed.


----------



## Betowess

Sergio, no worries. Excel squirt treatment with dosing syringe kills it *DEAD*. I have it pop up everyonce in a while and its DEAD after I see it. Might be months before it is visible again somewhere, but then that little patch is DEAD too after I do my little Excel chemical war dance... LOL.


----------



## SuRje1976

Thanks Bob! The Excel and amanos are keeping it under control. 

Just a quick testament to the cooling fans. I JUST turned on the air conditioners here for the first time this year. It has been a steady 85+ degrees up here for the better part of the past week or so. Over 90 on a few days. The tank water NEVER reached 79 with the fans running 12 hours/day.


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## styxx

*shrimp crazy!*



SuRje1976 said:


> zergling - that's what I was hoping to hear. I actually put 50(ish) of them in there this past weekend.  Hopefully they'll take care of anything I might have missed.


Where in the world can you get that many amanos!?!?! If this is one of those no-tell-em secrets, you have to PM me on this one. lol. I've obviously got to move to New Jersey.


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## danepatrick

bob, i pictured you in an indian chief outfit hopping around screaming like an indian because you conquered your clado. i think it's past my bedtime! lol!

sergio, i recently tore my entire tank apart cause of clado. i pray that your experience never builds up to my previous one. now that i have a 2 liter bottle of excel, i'm just as ready for WAR! HOO!!


----------



## Betowess

You got it Dane! Its a two liter war, and we take no prisoners! Hooahh.


----------



## SuRje1976

*What a nightmare...*

I dosed Seachem's Reef Calcium into my tank yesterday. - 60mL to 65gal. About enough to raise Ca by 15ppm. My wife woke me up this morning and said that all of my cardinals were at the surface gasping. The cardinlals? They never gasp! I hoped out of bed to find that EVERYTHING was actually at the surface. Cardinals, Shrimp Rams, even Otos. I noticed with the lights out that there were several shrimp already dead on the sand. 

First thought - CO2 obviously. Opened the stand to have a look at the bubble counter. Nothing unusual?! Still right on about 1.5bps. Not a lot at all for a tank this size with a decent amount of surface agitation.

What the? Then I remembered. I dosed Reef Calcium yesterday. But why could this have caused a problem? It's calcium gluconate. Could the gluconate have caused a tremendous increase in aerobic bacterial activity, stripping the water of O2? It's a stretch I suppose, BUT I have a LaMotte DO kit. 

I tested the dissolved O2 content. I tested 3 times because I COULD NOT BELEIVE the result I was getting. I got a DO reading of 1.2ppm dissolved O2.

I raised both Lily Pipes, dusted off and started an airstone and dosed 6mL H2O2 (don't ask where I came up with the dose - I don't have any good reasoning for it).

Things are starting to take a turn for the better it seems. Everyone (except the shrimp) has come down away from the surface. So far to my knowledge, I lost 13 amano shrimp, no fish.

I found a thread here from a few years ago where someone else described the same result when using Reef Calcium. Wish I'd seen it yesterday, but hindsight is always 20/20. 

I'll test DO again later, and report back new results and newly discovered fish/shrimp losses. Wow, this is rotten.


----------



## danepatrick

sounds like you just got a kick in the groin. i've had it happen several times experimenting with higher co2, but never from something i didn't know how to fix. glad to see it getting back to normal.


----------



## Betowess

What a bummer! Sergio, what is a normal dissolve O2 reading suppose to be in a healthy tank? So its not a CO2 deal right? Just from the reef calcium? I use to use Ca chloride from Greg Watson (I think), though its hard to dissolve.


----------



## SuRje1976

Bob, the Reef Calcium was th ONLY thing that changed within the past week at least. Dosing and CO2 did not. To put the DO issue into perspective, one site lists 4ppm as the "Limit to avoid acute mortality" for inverts and some fish. The same site lists 6.5-8ppm for "No production impairment." I only tested DO one other time, when plants were not pearling (possible indication of low O2) and even then I got a result of 7.4ppm. So SOMETHING threw it WAY off.


----------



## sNApple

zergling said:


> i remember reading in someone's journal that he used 75  amano shrimps to eat the clado...i'll post the link here if i could find it...


thats was me:smile: still no clado too


----------



## SuRje1976

Well, I haven't updated in a while, so here's what's happened over the past few weeks. What I mis-identified as cladophora algae was correctly identified as staghorn. After a couple weeks of extremely aggressive physical removal, it is subsiding. There is still a bit of hair algae which *may* be due to the slight increase in water temp over the past month or so. 

I switched back over to RO/DI several weeks ago, and was determined not to add anything to boost GH until I REALLY felt is was necessary. The Reef Calcium "incident" was the only attempt to add anything of that sort the entire time...until this week. The shrimp didn't seemed to be affected, though I noticed a few snails with pretty translucent shells. I'm not quite sure how some hobbyists are running with RO water, not boosting GH AND getting away with it. I have a couple of pictures of _Anubias barteri_ var _'coffeefolia'_ showing what I truly believe to be a Magnesium deficiency. 























There is some quite distinct interveinal chlorosis, mostly on old leaves. This began to show slowly over the past week, but I noticed it was getting more pronounced over the weekend. I brought GH up by about 1 dGH daily starting Sunday to Wednesday. I will maintain GH between 3 & 4. We'll see what happens!


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## Betowess

It will be interesting to see if that is it. I would have thought low iron, except seeing the A. petite's right below which have a nice green color. If it is a MG (GH) deficiency, that will be a great photo to help folks ID it.


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## unirdna

Interesting turn of events, Sergio. The tank started out so darn strong, I figured you were home free. I think there is something to the "summer months = hair algae" hypothesis. I get it every summer, and it goes away (like clockwork) every fall. Regardless of tank or plant species, the GHA shows up every time temps climb over 85F.

Please keep us updated. I think we might learn something before this is all over .


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## SuRje1976

*Bob *- I'm not completely ruling out an issue with iron yet. The tank is getting about 15mL of Flourish Iron weekly along with the iron that comes in with 55mL (fifty-five) of Flourish, weekly. That has been consistent. The reason I'm suspecting magnesium is the switch over to RO/DI water. I will be dosing 6 grams of Equilibrium daily to maintain the GH at 3-4 for the next 4 weeks. I will NOT change iron dosing during this period.

*Ted* - I will definintely keep you posted on the hair algae issue. One thing worth noting here is although the outside temp has increased, the tank temp has been maintained very consistent by the cooling fans. Now, there is enough evidence to indicate that algae can be airborne right? Does your hair algae always occur during "allergy season" where all that other crap (grass, tree pollen etc.) is flying around the air? I know mine does. Hmm... Maybe I'm reaching...


----------



## fishymatty

SuRje1976 said:


> There was, as I was already aware, a bit of hair algae, but I was horrified to find in the darker area at the bases of the rotundifolia what I believe is cladophora. :icon_redf I removed everything I saw, and threw away anything I couldn't clean completely. I'll start Excel and hope for the best. When I finish trimming, I'll know the full exent of the issue. I really don't want to tear this tank down. Anyone have success ridding their tanks of the stuff? My understanding is that it thrives in conditions which are also considered ideal for "higher" plants. :redface:


I have recently seen algae that looks like cladophora in my tank but I found no info that cladophora is a fresh water algae.


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## dufus

Of course it is, the marimo balls/tribbles/moss balls are cladophora algae.


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## fishymatty

dufus said:


> Of course it is, the marimo balls/tribbles/moss balls are cladophora algae.


I didn't realize those marimo balls would actually spread. So adding one of those to your tank would be like releasing a new algae, right? Or won't they spread over your plants and substrate because they are not true freshwater algae. 
I truly don't know, Its a question not a sarcastic statement.


----------



## dufus

It's a non invasive algae, meaning it doesn't spread agressivly.

I think you may be thinking of one of the SW macro algaes.(cheato, caleurpia,etc)


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## fishymatty

If its non invasive, then how would it end up covering grass and plants like in the pictures?


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## dufus

I think we should move our discussion over to either general or plants or algae, as to not hijack sergio's thread.

Sorry surje.


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## SuRje1976

No problem guys! Feel free to continue your conversation here if you'd like. It might be more effective to have it in the algae section though - in terms of "search-ability." It's a great topic for conversation, but it might get "buried" in this thread - it's getting kindof long.


----------



## fishymatty

Yea sorry about that. I am totally riveted by you thread though. I love your tank. I really wish my camera worked so I could give this journal thing a shot.
By the way, hows the algae problem? I just had my first outbreak of hair algae ever and the h2o2 beat it into submission. 
What do you think about this little algae discussion?


----------



## SuRje1976

*fishymatty *- some people have reported an outbreak of cladophora after putting marimo balls into their tanks. Whether the outbreak was _really_ caused by the marimo balls would take some controlled experimentation, which I'm sure most/all of us are not willing to do. I know I'm not! 

As far as the algae in my tank is concerned, it's pretty darned annoying, but that's really all. What I had previously mis-identified as clado was actually staghorn. After a cvouple of weeks of very agressive physical removal, it has mostly subsided. There is a bit of hair & thread algae that I have been working on removing which seems to have "taken the place" of the staghorn. Yesterday was the first day that I did not notice any _new_ growth (of the algae). I will continue to remove the stuff by hand. The tank gets Excel, dosed at double the daily (not waterchange) dose every day, and I do it with a syringe if I've got a patch of algae sitting somewhere that itsn't easy for me to grab and pull out.

What's causing the stuff? I don't really know. One thing I know for sure that played NO part in the algae in my tank in particular is inconsistency in nitrate and phosphate levels. Aside from daily uptake, my tank parameters have not deviated from 9ppm NO3 and 1.7ppm PO4 for a very long time.

The stuff started right around the same time the weather started to get warm around here. It seems quite a few people report the hair/thread algae issue right around the same time of year. Do I think it is temperature related? Not sure. This year is the fisrt time I've used cooling fans which *have* effectively controlled the temperature of the tank. I still got algae. The only other thing I can think of is that the stuff is airborne that time of year (along with a whole lot of other crap - pollen, mold etc. which cause allergie for some people), which lands in the tank and does its thing. Who knows! 

What I do know it if the stuff begins to grow again, I'm going to black the tank out for a few days.


----------



## tcampbell

Not sure if it is temperature related but I always get BBA in Taiwan when the temperature rises, and once it cools in the fall it all goes away. Everything else is the same, same lights, same light period, same ferts, same CO2 level, same plants and same feeding and cleaning schedule.


----------



## dufus

Well, surgio and fish matty, i think i'm about to try a small clado ball experiment. i'll see if it intro's clado.


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## fishymatty

thats brave of you and if it does do what we hope it doesn't do then thanks in advance for taking the bullet for the rest of us. 
Hey Serje, 
You used H2o2 when your fish were gasping to add o2 to the water?
Whats the calculation you use to dose h2o2?
When you added h2o2 did you notice any negative effects on the fish/shrimp and any positive effects on algae control?
I am amazed at the use of h2o2 in a fish tank, I know simply its water with an extra oxygen molecule but I would never drink it, and it just seems crazy to put in a fish tank. I recently used it to combat some hair algae and it worked great but I was very nervous, I mean when you put that stuff on a cut it fizzes.


----------



## SuRje1976

*You asked for it!*

I didn't use any calculation at the time, but let's see if we can figure it out now.

2 H2O2 ---> 2 H2O + O2

H2O2 comes in 3%, v/v. So for every 100mL of solution, you actually get 3mL H2O2.

H2O2 has a density of 1.2g/mL

I added (arbitrarily) 6mL of 3% H2O2, so I added 0.18mL of H2O2. This works out to 0.216g H2O2.

This is where it might get a bit hairy. The molecular weight of H2O2 is 34.0147g/mol, but you need 2 moles of H2O2 to get one mole of O2 (32.0g/mole). SO, from 68.03g of H2O2 you get 32g O2 and ~36.03g H2O. 

This means that 47.04% of the H2O2 I added, by weight could have been converted to O2. That works out to about 0.102g, or 102mg of O2.

My 240L tank has about 205L of water in it so I added 102mg O2/205L. 

That works out to about 0.5ppm O2 added. Pretty much insignificant. :hihi: Hey, well now we know. 

*In theory ONLY (there are countless variables involved here, such as temp, existing DO, etc.), in an emergency situation, you can raise your tank's DO by up to 1ppm by adding 0.06mL 3%H2O2 / L of tank volume, OR 2.25mL 3% H2O2 / 10 US gallons of tank volume.*

I'll spare you the details of those calculations. Wow - my brain itches. If there are any chemists that are reading this and are bored enough to double check my calculations, I would REALLY appreciate it!


----------



## Loyal to the Oil

SuRje1976 said:


>


Beautiful tank !! What exactly is the plant in this picture ? The grassy looking one.

Thanks.


----------



## SuRje1976

Loyal - Thanks. The plant you're referring to is _Blyxa japonica_.


----------



## bubbless

SuRje1976 said:


> Here's the goods:


Hi, before i ask nething i gotta compliment your tank. Its amazing on the first look and gets ever as i keep staring at it!!:tongue: 
Now 4 the Q: what is the plant you have growing out of the back right of your tank? It resembles thin bamboo stalks
Thankx!


----------



## SuRje1976

Thanks bubbless - the bamboo is _Polygonum _sp.


----------



## SuRje1976

*@#$%$!!!*


----------



## dufus

Oh no!!!
well that's a hundred+bucks into the trash.


----------



## kzr750r1

Sorry to see that man. Looks like a tank slapper?


----------



## AaronT

SuRje1976 said:


> Thanks bubbless - the bamboo is _Polygonum _sp.


I've had this plant and it's not a Polygonum species , although it is often traded as such. It's more likely an Arthraxon species. It's a nice looking plant whatever it is for sure.


----------



## SuRje1976

kzr750r1 said:


> Sorry to see that man. Looks like a tank slapper?


*Sigh* - well I always assumed that *when *I broke the thing, it would be because I was forcing a tube brush through it. Not the case this time at all. I was using a paper towel (pictured) to clean the _outside_ of it. I was twisting the paper towel around the intake, and when I reached the end with the slits, it just cracked apart in my hand. I was not cut at all. I have already ordered a replacement and went with the Cal Aqua intake for a couple of reasons (aside from cost). I actually ordered a set, in case I break the Cal Aqua outflow, so it actually cost me about the same amount, assuming the outlow never breaks. Now, I don't want to incite a riot or anything, but I think the Cal Aqua _inflow_ is better than the ADA, in terms of function. The slits on the ADA inflow are VERY narrow, and you need to get in there with a razor blade, or dental floss or something to clean them out a bit more frequently than "on occasion" or the filter's flow can be severely impaired. The slits on the Cal Aqua are a bit wider, and don't "clog" like this. It is also easier to clean. The tube brush requires less force to make it all the way through. I think the bend radius is a bit larger on the Cal Aqua.

*BUT*, I have said before that the ADA _outflow_ is superior to the Cal Aqua, and I'm sticking to it. I get better aeration and surface film removal with it.


----------



## LondonDragon

Shame to see that break, I broke my CO2 glass diffusor just placing it in the holding brace, this stuff happens unfortunatlly, great aquarium


----------



## bubbless

AaronT said:


> I've had this plant and it's not a Polygonum species , although it is often traded as such. It's more likely an Arthraxon species. It's a nice looking plant whatever it is for sure.


weird ...i cant find anything similar lookin online under the Arthraxon or the Polygonum species!

and surje, BOY DO I FEEL SORRY FOR YOU! :eek5: 
thats a lot of dough right there, for me neway...


----------



## SuRje1976

*What the???*

Does anyone know who this could belong to? Found it just now while trimming a bit. Very slimy and gel-like. Clear with eggs inside. Not the rams for sure. Sorry for the crappy pics:





























Any Ideas???


----------



## danepatrick

looks like snail eggs. they're usually encased in that clear slimy stuff. if it were from a fish, i don't think they would be surrounded by that goo.


----------



## dufus

they look like caddisfly eggs, but i bet their snail eggs, unless you have caddis's in your house, either way, quarintine or dispose of them, could be very destructive.


----------



## bigstick120

Look like snail eggs to me, get rid of it!


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## SuRje1976

I was thinking snails too - its gone!!!


----------



## nornicle

got an update on the scape Sergio?


----------



## fishymatty

SuRje1976 said:


> *Sigh* - well I always assumed that *when *I broke the thing, it would be because I was forcing a tube brush through it. Not the case this time at all. I was using a paper towel (pictured) to clean the _outside_ of it. I was twisting the paper towel around the intake, and when I reached the end with the slits, it just cracked apart in my hand. I was not cut at all. I have already ordered a replacement and went with the Cal Aqua intake for a couple of reasons (aside from cost). I actually ordered a set, in case I break the Cal Aqua outflow, so it actually cost me about the same amount, assuming the outlow never breaks. Now, I don't want to incite a riot or anything, but I think the Cal Aqua _inflow_ is better than the ADA, in terms of function. The slits on the ADA inflow are VERY narrow, and you need to get in there with a razor blade, or dental floss or something to clean them out a bit more frequently than "on occasion" or the filter's flow can be severely impaired. The slits on the Cal Aqua are a bit wider, and don't "clog" like this. It is also easier to clean. The tube brush requires less force to make it all the way through. I think the bend radius is a bit larger on the Cal Aqua.
> 
> *BUT*, I have said before that the ADA _outflow_ is superior to the Cal Aqua, and I'm sticking to it. I get better aeration and surface film removal with it.


I have to agree with you. I had and broke ADA inflow and now I have the CalAqua. I would like to say that there is a down side to the CalAqua in flow too. Where the ADA have really small slits I think the CalAqua are a little too big, and there is a hole at the very bottom which has snagged a shrimp or two. 
But none the less CalAqua Labs are the best for the money and in most cases the best.


----------



## SuRje1976

nornicle said:


> got an update on the scape Sergio?


Not much change in that department nornicle. I'm actually right in the middle of a large trim (which actually takes place over 3-4 days). The tank probably hasn't looked worse - lol. 











Once I finish the trim, clean up the sand, replace the intake that broke and the plants have a chance to perk back up, I'll post a few more pictures.


----------



## SuRje1976

fishymatty said:


> I would like to say that there is a down side to the CalAqua in flow too. Where the ADA have really small slits I think the CalAqua are a little too big, and there is a hole at the very bottom which has snagged a shrimp or two.


I haven't had this issue with amano's, but I can imagine that cherries would fit.


----------



## fishymatty

Over the course of a few months 30 RCS turned into what looks like 100. I've seen some of the smaller ones stuck in there and when I pull them off they are usually missing a leg or two if there still alive.


----------



## ikuzo

i've been there too, intake is a problem for small shrimps. almost everyday i found one stuck there when i came home from work. i have to turn the pump off first and help the little guy, but can't avoid it losing some leg and even both antenas.


----------



## tcampbell

How do you keep your hoses so clean? I have the same clear hoses on my Tetra ExPower 120 filter and I find it very troublesome as the hoses never look clear! I have not found anything long enough to clean them well. Are yours always this clean or just for the pictures?


----------



## SuRje1976

*tcampbell *- I'm sure I've got some pictures in the thread here with the pipes/hoses looking pretty nasty. In any event, I certainly do not have a tube brush long enough to get into the pipes either. I do have a brush with a rigid handle about 8" long that I've attached to the end of an "unraveled" wire hanger. I can get into the hoses about 3 feet this way.


----------



## SuRje1976

*A couple of pictures...*

Not too much going on with the tank. Still dealing with a bit of thread algae. The stuff is persistent I must say! You'll be able to see it in the pictures below. I will have an update on the "magnesium deficiency" I was experiencing in a couple of days. I will have some before and after pictures, but I want to wait until a month after increasing GH via Seachem Equilibrium. I got a couple of decent shots today, and I figured I'd share them...


My lonely German Blue Ram:












A shrimp picking at a snail shell:












I've actually got a few plants flowering at the moment, though I was not able to take any good shots with my camera. This is what I got...

Anubias barteri var. coffeefolia:











Eriocaulon cinereum:












Thanks for looking!!!


----------



## fishymatty

tcampbell said:


> How do you keep your hoses so clean? I have the same clear hoses on my Tetra ExPower 120 filter and I find it very troublesome as the hoses never look clear! I have not found anything long enough to clean them well. Are yours always this clean or just for the pictures?


I too have a tube brush long enough to clean them out but recently I cleaned out the tubes in my well established 20g and the next morning I had a nitrite spike.
The mulm housed in the inflow and return hoses contain tons of beneficial bactieria, especially the inflow. Some times we get away with no spikes but be careful.


----------



## tcampbell

Ok. Thanks for the information about cleaning and thanks for the suggestion about Nitrite spike. I guess just clean one pipe a week or so!


----------



## SuRje1976

*Eriocaulon Flower...*

I had mentioned before that some of the Eriocaulon cinereum in my tank started to flower. This has really started to take off since the last post. Here are a couple of pictures from this morning:










From above:










I saw a couple of pictures on  the Plant Profile here that lead me to believe that it is possible that each one of the stalks could open up into a new plant. I was wondering if anyone knew anything about this? I'm having a hard time finding much info online, and none of the books I have handy even contain anything on Eriocaulon at all.


----------



## dufus

That's how i understood it. the flower i think is either a plant, or it will turn into a plant.
have fun in sns!


----------



## bigstick120

Mine are currently flowering as well, have been for several months, if you look at my 29 journal you will see it there. I havent had any luck with plants developing from the buds. Mainly the stalks just turn brown and die for me. I know Craig, Wolf.....(how ever he gets that fancy username) has had his turn into plants. I really like this plant when it isnt flowering, but it just gets ugly and tall when it does.

Here is mine a few months ago


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## Drumachine09

Amazing tank!

I dont know if you knew this (if you do, disregard this statment) but when ADA takes pictures of their tanks, they aim a hairdryer at the middle of the tank to give it that natural looking ripple. You could use that to get a more ADA-esque picture.

I am very jealous of that tank! So much color, and the cardinals make it look so cool!


----------



## dufus

yea, but that is even more unnatural. 

good luck with the erio serge


----------



## Wö£fëñxXx

SuRje1976 said:


> I saw a couple of pictures on  the Plant Profile here that lead me to believe that it is possible that each one of the stalks could open up into a new plant. I was wondering if anyone knew anything about this? I'm having a hard time finding much info online, and none of the books I have handy even contain anything on Eriocaulon at all.


I finally added some information on that last evening, hope it helps, if you have any more questions let me know, hopefully I can answer them for you, and will add it to the comment section for further data on that plant.


----------



## SuRje1976

Wö£fëñxXx said:


> I finally added some information on that last evening, hope it helps, if you have any more questions let me know, hopefully I can answer them for you, and will add it to the comment section for further data on that plant.


Thanks Craig - that's great info!


----------



## SuRje1976

I have not had a "real" day off in a few weeks, but today was my last day of work until next Monday, so I decided to pay some attention to the tank, which as you can see, has been truly neglected, but I don't see any reason to hide this kind of stuff.

One thing worth mentioning, however, is that the issue that I was having with thread/hair algae has completely "subsided" as far as I can tell. If I had to attribute it to something, I'd have to say that it was the army of caridina multidentata that took care of things.

I really like how the tank has been maturing; java fern, Crypts and Anubias are filling in nicely.

So here goes - from 6pm. I couldn't get a good shot because of the light bouncing off of the plants at the surface:











Started "trimmimg" at 10:30pm











Finished at 1:30am:











On the agenda for tomorrow is:
1) Replanting
2) Bleaching Pipes
3) Removing/top-dressing sand
4) Take a couple more pictures to post
5) Testing - been over a month since last testing. We'll see how close the parameters are to where they "should" be.

I will have an update on what I had suspected to be a magnesium deficiency about 2 months ago.


----------



## Nightshop

Looking great, that's a hell of a lot of trimmings!

How do you remove the AS from the sand? Patience? Or do you just bury it beneath a new layer of sand?


----------



## SuRje1976

Nightshop - there are hundreds and hundreds of stems there - WAY too many to count! I remove and replace half of the sand to "clean" it. I do NOT have the patience to separate it.


----------



## SuRje1976

I just took couple of pictures of the tank with the lights on, but no stems. Pretty interesting actually. I may need to refer back to these when I get tired of the constant trimming and need to rescape the background with slower growers!


----------



## unirdna

SuRje1976 said:


> ...but no stems. Pretty interesting actually. I may need to refer back to these when I get tired of the constant trimming and need to rescape the background with slower growers!


That's how I roll. Eventually, everyone gets lazy and leaves stemville.

Looks nice, Sergio. I'm glad you posted a "settled" photo. Now, how are you going to go about cleaning up that aquasoil ? [not trying to be an @$$, but] The left side of your tank is making me pretty satisfied with myself right now for having constructed plexiglass dividers between my AS and the sand in my tank. My recommendation for cleaning that stuff up is to use a 3/8" inside diameter length of tubing to siphon it out. A 1/2" ID tubing creates too strong of a vacuum to allow good control. I use the tubing that came with my mini gravel cleaner. The light/medium suction snaps up the AS without pulling in the sand.

* Sorry if I'm offering advice on something for which you already have a proven method.


----------



## SuRje1976

LOL - Ted, I do siphon the Aquasoil, and then replace the Brightsand as needed. Thanks for the tip on hose diameter! The divider would solve MOST of my substrate mixing issues, but I have to be honest, I see the shrimp swimming around with pieces of Aquasoil and dropping it into the sand like little bombers, mostly to pi$$ me off I think. :hihi: I did inadvertently kill half of them off with the calcium fiasco a couple of months ago. :redface:


----------



## SuRje1976

Just keeping up with the play-by-play:

Left:











Center:











Right:











My favorite view - from the couch!











I still need to:
1) Bleach Pipes
2) Clean up/top dress sand
3) Test
4) More Pictures? Maybe in a couple days...


----------



## kunerd

wonderful tank. i must admit that i ran out of pages to click to. Read the whole thing past hour :drool:


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## FelixAvery

looks stunnign
instead of siphoning AS OUT you could try siphoning sand IN thats what i do and it works a treat


----------



## Raul-7

Looks great Sergio! 

Ted while agree a divider will help, the rocks themselves (positioned as a barrier) are supposed to act as a natural divider. I think the mixing substrates arises when it's time to trim and replant.


----------



## SuRje1976

Sand Cleaned! Took about 15 minutes. Siphoned top layer off and replaced with fresh sand.































Still need to bleach the pipes. I'll do that tonight, after the baby goes to bed.


----------



## zergling

Wow!! Amazing job on cleaning it up!!! :thumbsup: 

are those rotala macaranda on the back left?


----------



## unirdna

zergling said:


> Wow!! Amazing job on cleaning it up!!! :thumbsup:


Ditto that! What a difference. You're way better at that than I, so I'll just quick typing :icon_mrgr .


----------



## SuRje1976

Thanks!



zergling said:


> are those rotala macaranda on the back left?


Yup.




unirdna said:


> Ditto that! What a difference. You're way better at that than me, so I'll just quick typing :icon_mrgr .


Ted - I took your tip and used the narrower tube to do the siphoning. It _was _easier to control - Thanks!


----------



## Raul-7

Stunning! I love the 'petite' barrier, yet at the same time you left some of the rock exposed - it makes it look so much more natural. I like how it's really taking shape. Keep it up!


----------



## dufus

Ahh, she's back in ship shape.


----------



## Jamez

Great looking tank. Sergio what is the plant in your avatar?


----------



## SuRje1976

Thanks Guys! The shrimp are already working on mixing the substrate again however. :angryfire In that same spot too on the front left! 

*Raul* - Thanks for the input! I love "petite." I am not convinced completely that the way I'm using it doesn't make the layout too "contrived," as a friend of mine would say. Still thinking I could do better with them. I'll probably toy around a bit... 


*Jamez* - the plant in my avatar is _Rotala_ sp. 'Vietnam'.


----------



## mrbelvedere

Do I see some Eriocaulons in flower? 

Wonderful tank. I was wary of the hardscape in the beginning, but boy it filled in nicely.


----------



## scolley

Sergio - I just gotta say... your tank looks FANTASTIC! roud: 

Those last pics with the clean sand are absolute killer. That setup is the pinnacle of what so many people strive for; stand, tank, plants - the whole combo is just first rate. Congratulations on achieving a very difficult thing.

Be proud of what you've done. And do not neglect to take the time to enjoy the beauty of what you've created. So many people here would give a lot to trade places with you - so please be sure to enjoy it for us all!

Job well done.


----------



## ikuzo

i love the anubias nana petite 'fence'


----------



## SuRje1976

*Mr.B.* Thanks! Yep there are a couple of E. cinereum flowering at the moment. I'm hoping they will open up into new plants.

*Steve* - I appreciate your feedback as always! I really do enjoy the tank. There are few things as captivating as planted aquaria, at least in my opinion. I could sit in front of it ALL DAY! (if my wife would let me)  

*ikuzo* - I added some more to the right side!



Ok...Got the pipes cleaned and took some more pictures! :hihi: As you can see, the shrimp have already gone to work mixing the AquaSoil into the sand. *Sigh* - what can you do...


----------



## fish man 101

man Sergio that looks really awesome, nice job trimming and tip plating too, its the way to do things 

Two questions; are the petite anubias attached to anything? also what is the bigger species of anubias called?


----------



## ikuzo

how are the anubias doing with your lighting? i see that they get the light directly without any shading, i have problems with high light if my anubias get direct light. the leaves are covered with algae.

from the photos here the large one are anubias coffeefolia, one of the anubias varians i don't have yet, very expensive here and hard to find.

as with fish man 101, i'm kinda curious myself. if you attach your petites to something, how do you do that? the rhizome grows vertically right? and because it's very small the risk of breaking leaves are there. i bury some of my petite's rhizome in the substrate until it roots and 'pull' the rhizome by itself out from the sand/gravel.


----------



## SuRje1976

*dylan* - some of the petite are attached to river stones, color matching the sand, some are attached to broken pieces of ADA Riccia Stone. I used wood tight to attach some of them, and green twist-tie for others. The larger Anubias are mostly _A. barteri _var. "coffeefolia. There's also a few rhizomes of _A. barteri _var. barteri

*ikuzo* - the petite are attached very loosely. Every couple of months I need to adjust their positioning. The stones that the rhizomes are attached to are pushed back and under the adjacent rock/wood. Most of the petite grows roots straight down into the sand. I hope that makes sense!


----------



## SuRje1976

ikuzo said:


> how are the anubias doing with your lighting? i see that they get the light directly without any shading, i have problems with high light if my anubias get direct light. the leaves are covered with algae.


Ikuzo - sorry I missed that question before. I'm not using a tremendous amount of light over the tank. The photoperiod is 8 hours total, and most of it (5.5 hours) would be considered "low light" by most's standards (108W, Tek T5, over 120L (~65gal). There is a 2.5 hour period with 216W. If I go higher or longer, I get GSA. My NO3 is at about 9.5ppm and PO4 is at about 1.4. If NO3 goes higher, or PO4 goes lower, I tend to get a bit of GSA as well.


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## Subotaj

WONDERFUL!

2:1 composition works great!
The lily pipes looks good as usual.
Rotala macrandra is so red.. and so beautiful.
The polygonum sp looks so good.
Rotundifolia is so nice.

Just one small thing, may be you should carpet the sand with HC, and may be you should use rare moss or rare fissidens. 

Good job.
Hope to see your tank in AGA International Aquascaping Contest 2008.


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## territhemayor

Subotaj, is that an albino discus in your avatar? Very cool

And I love that tank? After you recently cleaned it up it looked amazing.


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## SuRje1976

I took a picture or two to put the growth (and in turn, the maintenance requirements) for the tank into perspective. 

After last weeks MAJOR trim:











One week later:


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## zergling

wow that's fast! I now call them FAPoS!

Freshwater Aquatic Plants on Steroids!

:hihi: 

Thinking of the repititive maintenance, I'm now thankful that my tank grows 2-3 times slower :tongue:


----------



## Kelley

I love your little "hedge" of Anubias nana 'petite'. So cute!


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## unirdna

How do you get one lily to grow the green stuff and one to grow the brown ?


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## Roc

That is only a week, wowwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww some of those plants look like they grew 4 times in size in one week. how do you keep up? what do you do with all the clippings?


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## Subotaj

your tank inspired me, you will see my new rescape soon.


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## SuRje1976

*Kelley* - Thanks - I'm not sure it's going to be a permanent fixture yet, but I'm glad you like it.

*Ted* - :hihi: I know it's hard to tell from the pics, but for whatever reason, the inflows grow the brown stuff, the outflows grow the green stuff.

*iroc* - I appreciate the sympathy! It IS tough to keep up (look and the pre-trim pics from last week!). When I do trim, there are literally HUNDREDS of clippings. Up until now, I've been tossing them because there was still some hair/thread algae in the tank. I find few things more frustrating, and would NEVER want to inflict such frustration on a fellow hobbyist. Now that the tank is 'clear" of these issues, I may list the clippings in the S&S (or equivalent) section of the forums.

*Subotaj* - I will keep my eyes peeled for it!


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## fishymatty

What is the tall plant on the right that grows out of the tank?


----------



## Saraja87

Looks like hygro to me... ^^



fishymatty said:


> What is the tall plant on the right that grows out of the tank?


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## Nightshop

Wayyy impressive tank there, Sergio. The growth in the Java Fern to the right is amazing!


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## Subotaj

fishymatty said:


> What is the tall plant on the right that grows out of the tank?


Polygonum sp. - wonderful plant.


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## SuRje1976

*Update on Mg deficiency*

Well, I know it's a bit overdue, but I have an update on what I had previously perceived to be a Mg deficiency in my tank. Originally mentioned in post 384, I had some intraveinal chlorosis on my Anubias, that I initially attributed the fact that I had switched back over to RO/DI water a while previous to the symptoms, so I attributed it to Mg, as the presentation was consitent with such a deficiency.

These are the pictures from 2 months ago:




















Since those pictures, I was careful to only make one change - which was to bring GH up to 3-4 degrees by using Seachem Equilibrium. These pictures are from last week:







































Not too much change if you ask me. Some had suggested that I may have an iron deficiency. I tested my iron last week, and it tested at ZERO! How could this be? I was dosing Flourish at 56mL every week and Flourish Iron at 14mL every week (dosed daily, spread out over the week). 

The first thing I did was turn off the UVS. I waited 2 days and tested again. Still zero! Next I increased Flourish Iron dosing to 21mL weekly. Tested again yesterday, still zero. What the heck? The stuff was making it into the tank for sure because the flask was nearly empty. And I knew the iron wasn't settling because I had it on a stir plate.

Then it hit me - I was using a MAGNETIC stirrer to agitate the micro/iron reservoir. My recollection of physical chemistry is a bit hazy, but I'm thinking that (with some water tests to back up the theory) that the magnets may be attracting and holding on to the iron (and possibly other metals) in the reservoir. So last night, I removed the magnetic stirrer, and replaced the solutions in the reservoir. I will test the Fe level in a couple days to see what effect this has had, if any.


----------



## Wingsdlc

Very interesting about your magnetic thingy theory. I don't think that I would have thought of that. 

I am also wondering how much you are pushing your plants growth. Could other plants be taking up the iron before the slower growing anubias is getting to it? 

I was having a similar issues with my anubias last year. My thing was that I didn't always have time to dose when I should have been. Compounded by pushing the plants growth with lots of light and Co2. I was running co2 around 70ppm and lights around 5wpg. 

I got back on track with my water changes and dosing and the plants got better. 

You can see from this picture how the coloration is similar. Also notice that the Nitrates were getting low by the pink in the Sunset Hygro.


----------



## SuRje1976

Wingsdlc - thanks for the reply! I don't think I'm really pushing the plants at all. I run CO2 at 20-30ppm, and I don't really consider my light too high. I've got an 8 hour photoperiod, 5.5 hour of which are only 108W T5 (over ~65gallons). The other 2.5 hours are @ 216W. Water changes are "automatic." Fertilization is "automatic" by several peristaltic pumps/reservoirs (see links in sig). I don't keep my macro levels high, I don't consider them low myself, though some would. I keep:

NO3 @ 9.5ppm
PO4 @ 1.4ppm

Truth be told, things still grow quite quickly in these parameters. Thanks again for the input, and I'll definitly post updates to the issue if you're interested!


----------



## dufus

Iron test kits are very unreliable.
Don't test your test kit on your tank.
Try making a predetermined solution of iron and test it, my iron test kit failed with flying colors.


----------



## SuRje1976

Devin - I am using a LaMotte Smart2 Colorimeter to test the water. It is VERY accurate (+-2%) .


----------



## dufus

Ok, NVM then, silly me, i'm stilll using liquid test kits.


----------



## Wingsdlc

SuRje1976,

I did read through some of your links you have posted. Very high tech. Way more so than my tank! 

I would be interested in finding out what you find out. 

By the way your tank looks really sharp.


----------



## unirdna

SuRje1976 said:


> My recollection of physical chemistry is a bit hazy, but I'm thinking that (with some water tests to back up the theory) that the magnets may be attracting and holding on to the iron (and possibly other metals) in the reservoir. So last night, I removed the magnetic stirrer, and replaced the solutions in the reservoir. I will test the Fe level in a couple days to see what effect this has had, if any.


Well, this is a new one - interesting indeed. Not that you should be changing variables mid-experiment, but FWIW I had that same problem with A. coffeefolia a couple years ago. Kent Freshwater Plant seemed to have been the ticket. It was the only variable I changed. That said, Kent FWP contains Potassium, Iron (chelated) and Molybdenum (sp?). So, you have one product - 3 variables . Just thought I'd throw that out there.


----------



## SuRje1976

*8 Months In...*

Well, I took some pictures today, and though there haven't been any adjustments to the layout, things have filled in a bit since the last pictures were posted. Here goes:


















































































As always, open to suggestions!!!


----------



## jaidexl

Looks amazing :thumbsup:


----------



## puchisapo

nice work!

what is that plant growing emersed out the right-hand side of the tank?


----------



## unirdna

Well, it's certainly looking a lot better than my tank right now :hihi:. Seriously, great stuff there, Sergio. I'm loving the amalgamation of the coffeefolia and petite. And the emergent in the right corner is just wonderful! Please give me a heads up if any of that emergent ever winds up on the Swap-n-shop.


----------



## RoseHawke

> As always, open to suggestions!!!


Suggestions! What on _earth_ could I suggest :icon_eek: ! That's a jaw-dropping tank :thumbsup: .


----------



## octopus44

Your plants are beautiful and I could only dream of growing plants that healthy looking, but in my opinion the layout is a little boring and lacks depth.

I may be wrong but i think this is because the left side comes too close to the glass and the slope is too rounded. I also think it would look better if the grass on the left side was showing a lot more instead of being almost completely blocked.


----------



## dufus

Dddd...Daaaaaamb!!


----------



## ikuzo

i envy your cofeefolia...

i have a suggestion... 

make another tank! lol...


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## puchisapo

....we haven't heard back from the thread author yet. does anybody know what that plant growing as emergent on right side is? i looked back through most of the pages in this thread but couldn't figure it out.


----------



## dufus

it's in there, i'm too lazy to look it up though.
I beleive it's a Potomageton sp. or Ludwigia sp. but not sure.


----------



## SuRje1976

Thanks everyone! 

*puchisapo* - The ID of the plant you're referring to has been debated. I personally believe it to be _Polygonum _sp.

*Ted *- I haven't had much luck forcing sideshoots from the _Polygonum _sp., but if I do, you'll be the first to know! 

*octopus44* - Thanks for the suggestions. I agree with regard to the left side. This is going to be a problem in the long-run. the A. coffeefolia and the java fern are nearly touching the front glass - actually the coffeefolia IS touching the glass. I can't really move the wood back any further, because then I'll lose the room I've got the macrandra and the C. helferi. in. I'm still suprised at how big (and how quickly) these two "slow" growing plants have grown! Just to put this into perspective, here is a picture from a few months ago:










Compare that to current:










Wow - come to think of it, the C. helferi, another "slow" grower has gotten pretty large too! I ADDED no new plants during this time (no new C.helferi, java fern, or A. coffeefolia; actually - I did add some nana petite). The difference is all growth. So I'm going to have to think of something here. I'd love a 24" deep tank!

*ikuzo* - Lol - I would love another tank, but it isn't going to happen. It's a simple equation actually:

+1 Tank = -1 Wife :hihi:


----------



## David Hui

I am interested inside the cabinet shots. Have you changed much in term of the dosing?


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## ikuzo

whoops that sucks. i also have a gf that prohibits me spending money on aquascape too... know the feeling...


----------



## puchisapo

if it's a _Polygonum_ it'll have a stem-clasping ocrea at the base of the leaf petioles. like this:










source (external link): http://www.missouriplants.com/Pinkalt/Polygonum_pensylvanicum_page.html

i'd love to get some of that if you ever have extra to spare. i have a few interesting plants that i can offer in trade. -D


----------



## slickwillislim

That tanks looks great. Spectacular growth. 

What happened to your fish? or are they just hiding in that mass of new growth.


----------



## -Z-

SuRje1976 said:


> Thanks everyone!
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Is it just me or does the Rotala at the center and right look kind of pale?
> Perhaps it's the nature of the plant? Or too little iron? I see that your Macranda looks nice and red so perhaps it's just the plant?
> The tank looks awesome! I can imagine when the Rotala grows nice and tall, they will contrast nicely with the bright green JAva fern on the right. Simply awesome!


----------



## Subotaj

I always like to see your updates!
keep up with awesome photos.


----------



## Kelley

It looks terrific! So nice and colorful!


----------



## SuRje1976

*David Hui* - Macro Dosing is the same. I'm dosing to maintain about 9.5ppm NO3, 1.5ppm PO4. K+ is high (prabably >30ppm) due to the Equilibrium (using RO/DI water). Micro dosing has increased. I'm using Flourish and Flourish Iron at 8mL EACH, daily. I'll try to get some new pics up. I've got a video of the water changer/autodoser doing its thing, but I can't figure out how to get it onto my computer from the camcorder. When I do, I'll get it up on YouTube and post a link here.


*puchisapo* - I'm not sure that it is Polygonum in that case! :icon_redf 


*slickwillislim* - The fish are in there, believe it or not! At least 30 cardinals. I think they hide because my 2 year old daughter stampedes all around the tank. :icon_eek: 

*-Z-* - Thanks! I think part of the reason the rotundifolia looks pale is the white balance setting on the camera. I can never get it just right. The tank gets almost 60mL of Flourish AND 60mL of Flourish Iron weekly, so I don't think its an iron issue. Could be the green-ness of the Java Fern and Anubias adjacent that makes it look pale too!  


Thanks again everyone!


----------



## styxx

This tank is truly award winning in my opinion, almost on par with Amano. This is a serious accomplishment and I'm proud to see your membership on TPT represented in such a skillful way. Excellent job. I have one request: can you take some macro shots of various points in your tank? I'd love some close ups!


----------



## ikuzo

anubias nana petite shots please


----------



## styxx

Still with us?


----------



## SuRje1976

styxx said:


> Still with us?


Lol - I'm still here. :hihi: Not longer after the previous pics were posted, I started a large trim and some minor changes. I'll get you some closeups (though I'm not great with the camera on closeups  ) as soon as I get everything back in balance. I'm removing the crypts slowly - they're on the left and right side of the tank behind the nana petite and mixed in with the jave fern a bit, and I'm going to replace them with more coffeefolia and more nana petite. I may remove a bit of the right-most Cyperus and increase the size of the macrandra stand into that area.

Any thoughts?


----------



## SuRje1976

My goodness styxx - thank you for the VERY nice words above! It really does mean a lot to me. As far as TPT membership goes, I learned probably the majority of everything I know from others here. It seems only right for me to keep this thread updated!


----------



## mistergreen

no fish?

and what are the small plants under the anubias?
anubias petite?

cool tank btw.


----------



## styxx

You're welcome! I thin removing the crypts and replacing with Coffefolia is a great idea. I like what you have now but under the Java Fern, Coffefolia serves as a great intermediate transition between the two and certainly can benefit from the reduced light. But of course I'm jealous and I'm an Anubias fan of all varieties! lol...keep up the good work, I'm looking forward to your next post with close ups!


----------



## CmLaracy

Looks amazing like always, great work!


----------



## CmLaracy

I think I need an update, lawl


----------



## SuRje1976

*Changing gears a bit...*

*CmLaracy* - thanks!

I know I'm going to take some heat from the photographers here for not turning off the CO2 before taking these, and I definitely deserve it. I was able to use my brothers Canon Digital Rebel XT today (at my daughter's birthday party) and I was pretty impressed with the pictures that were coming out of it. Coincidently, MY WIFE dropped a huge, heavy glass jar on our little 5MP, so a camera purchase will likely be in order soon!  

These pictures deviate from the full tank shots I normally post:


----------



## CmLaracy

amazing, you..... ARE..... *GODLIKE!*

sorry momotaro!


----------



## styxx

I have to say that I am *very* impressed...quite stunning. Are those SAE's...I can't imagine how they survive since you have zero algae! LOL. I wish that I could grow Anubias as well as you do, I can't ever seem to keep the older leaves algae free...maybe I need some SAE's?? How _do_ you do it? And under my lighting I can get HC to grow like crazy but I can't seem to keep my Anubias from loosing their color, you must dose a lot of Fe?


----------



## jinx©

Beautiful work :thumbsup:


----------



## trfjason

All I have to say is WOW!

The Anubias look really nice!


----------



## slickwillislim

Very Nice. I love those anubias.


----------



## awrieger

Your Anubias are looking really good Surje. Did you confirm it was the magnetic stirrer which was the problem in regards to the iron?


----------



## Gatekeeper

just insane. I can't wait til I can see this in person again...


----------



## bgoodwins

I think i saw a few specks of BBA in there......  Just kidding, i hate you, your tank is gorgeous. Patron saint of hi-tek, surje.


----------



## SuRje1976

Thanks again all for the kind words. 




styxx said:


> Are those SAE's...I can't imagine how they survive since you have zero algae!...I can't ever seem to keep the older leaves algae free...maybe I need some SAE's?? How _do_ you do it? And under my lighting I can get HC to grow like crazy but I can't seem to keep my Anubias from loosing their color, you must dose a lot of Fe?



Yes! Those are SAE's. They get an occasional algae wafer.  I personally believe that ther is no such thing as an algae FREE tank, and mine is NOT an exception! There IS algae in the tank, and it can actually be seen in some of the pictures I posted. I do think the SAE's help, and how much they help can be based on your feeding habits.  As far as iron is concerned, yes - I dose a LOT. The tank gets 8mL of Flourish Iron, as well as the iron from 8mL of Flourish daily. There is also a bit of iron in the Equilibrium I'm using to reconstitute the RO/DI water.




awrieger said:


> Your Anubias are looking really good Surje. Did you confirm it was the magnetic stirrer which was the problem in regards to the iron?



No. Actually I send an inquiry to Seachem regarding it. To make a long story short, it turns out that the form of iron they use is not magnetic. I increased te iron dosing pretty dramatically, and it resolved the chlorosis on the Anubias leaves. I think it is worth noting that even with all of the iron going into the tank, the water still has ZERO iron in the water at the end of the day. It seems the plants take the stuff up pretty quickly (or the leftover is precipitating out).


----------



## scolley

Serge! Wow! I'm massively subscribed to this... I'm going through anubias h*ll, and then I see THIS! Wow!

Very well done pal. I'm really looking forward to absorbing this and learning from your very evident success!

Contrats on a beautiful tank! :thumbsup:


----------



## ikuzo

your coffeefolias are beautiful.


----------



## styxx

Oh steve, I feel your pain believe me...its amazing what kind of results SuRje1976 has reproduced here...very impressive. Its such a challenge under high lighting to deal with anubias for me b/c of its Fe requirements and then to balance that against the proportionally problematic algae potentiality...makes results like this even more impressive.


----------



## SuRje1976

*Steve, ikuzo & styxx *- Thanks!

*Steve* - I'm coming over to your thread to see what's going on!


----------



## styxx

I read on another thread that you use 100% RO/DI water. I'm of two minds on the subject. While I know most plants and fish prefer soft water, I'd be inclined to use 50% RO/DI and 50% tap; a small amount of Prime and BAM! you're good to go. You would eliminate the necessity to re-mineralize the water wouldn't you, using this method?


----------



## SuRje1976

styxx said:


> I'd be inclined to use 50% RO/DI and 50% tap; a small amount of Prime and BAM! you're good to go. You would eliminate the necessity to re-mineralize the water wouldn't you, using this method?


I wish I could work it out this way! But alas, there are two problems with it.

1.) My tap water contains chloramines, and allowing unfiltered/treated tap into the tank has caused deaths. Shrimp seem to be most sensitive. In order to incorporate a dose of Prime in with the Auto-Water Changer, I'd need to buy another pump, and set up another flask. More $ that really isn't warranted, being as though I had already invested in the RO/DI filter.

2) Even if my tap had no chloramine, and could simply be filtered through a carbon block, my tap is actually soft enough to necessitate "re"-mineralization without filtration. 

Soooo, I figured, being as though I'm going to need to dose something (Equilibrium) for GH anyway, I may as well just go straight RO/DI, and not worry about the chloramines. :icon_roll

*styxx*, you certainly make a good point, and if my tap parameters were different (namely if they came _with _a respectable amount of GH, and _without _chloramines) I would go your way without question!


----------



## jeremy in OR

well my company just (uknowingly) paid me to read this entire thread. I loved it.

Honestly though, and I may be the only one, I like it a lot better in the beginning. I loved both pieces of driftwood in there as it gave it a very boggish or lagoon look. I also liked when it was less grown in and you could see the wood.

I thought you made a good call with removing the angel as it did throw off the scale.

Anyways either way great tank, and I really enjoyed reading all of your updates.


----------



## bgoodwins

jeremy this is your boss. You're fired.


----------



## styxx

bgoodwins said:


> jeremy this is your boss. You're fired.


LOL! Yes, but wouldn't you lose your job too for reading his posts on the same forum? hahaha!


----------



## bgoodwins

No, thats why I'm the boss.


----------



## styxx

bgoodwins said:


> No, thats why I'm the boss.


LOL...good point!


----------



## ebichu

Hi SuRje1976, your tank is very beautiful. I really like your scape.
If you dont mind, I would like to ask 1 question. How do you keep your sand clean like that ?
I used to do an open area with sand with my scape, and the sand always get dirty (ie: brown algae growing on the sand).
They only stay clean for about 1-2 months, then after that they look dirty.
Maybe others can help me on this too.

Thanks in advance.


----------



## bgoodwins

Alot of folks, especially in reefing, siphon the top off every so often and put back on new, clean sand.


----------



## SuRje1976

bgoodwins said:


> Alot of folks, especially in reefing, siphon the top off every so often and put back on new, clean sand.


This is exactly how I do it. Every two months-ish I would guess. The shrimp love to move Aquasoil onto the sand.  The sand does also get a faint greenish tint to it after a couple of months. :redface:


----------



## Ashok

I re-activated my account after a long time to comment on this tank. 

It is achingly beautifull. You are not just an aquarist, you are a superb artist. Hats off.


----------



## ebichu

Ahh so thats how you do it 
So you must have a back up sand ready then ? 

Thanks for the info.


----------



## SuRje1976

ebichu said:


> So you must have a back up sand ready then ?


Yup!!! 
.


----------



## styxx

So how is it going? What's the status?


----------



## SuRje1976

Not too much. I don't really know how much longer this tank has left honestly. The Java Fern and coffeefolia are getting quite large, and a bit unruly. Thinking I'll need to remove some more Cyperus too. Either some large trimming of slow growers will be in order soon, or some other large change will need to happen to keep things from starting to look awkward. Thinks are filling in more than I like up at the front glass. Ahh...a 24" deep tank would be nice! :icon_roll 

I had intended to swap the Bright Sand out with Sarawak Sand to keep things interesting, but I was advised that the Sarawak Sand has an "odd" color, and looks a bit unnatural in person, so that's not going to happen.

Not much in the way of new photos, maybe this for a tide-over?


----------



## CmLaracy

hey, when you trim that cyperus, make sure to let me know, I'm in dire need of some and I'll pay... lol Thanks


----------



## shwerm601

surje where did you get your ADA equipment?

Btw... awesome video what app did you use to edit?


----------



## jaidexl

I'm not very sad to hear you plan on making big changes, I'm excited to see what comes of it. Every incarnation of this tank was inspiring. I especially find the Polygonum an interesting addition, that looks like it would be a nice alternative to the nymphaea I planned for my next scape attempt. Keep me in mind if you trim any of it, I would be happy to buy some. 

The before & after comparison of the tank is great, this really tightened up into a beautiful scape! :thumbsup:


----------



## mott

CmLaracy said:


> hey, when you trim that cyperus, make sure to let me know, I'm in dire need of some and I'll pay... lol Thanks


You should join the clubmaybe yull get a discount...


----------



## SuRje1976

*shwerm601* - The ADA equipment came from ADG. No fancy video editing software here! :hihi: Just used Microsoft Movie Maker - it came with the laptop. 

*jaidexl* - Thanks for the vote of confidence! I certainly hope I can live up to it. I've been contemplating several different possible changes, but don't want to rush anything, so it may be a while before plants get moved/removed/added. I'll definitely keep the thread updated...


----------



## RENDOG

I just spent 52 minutes looking at this thread. I was so peacefully and happily entertained....fantastic job!


----------



## SuRje1976

*Why do I always start this sort of thing at midnight?*

Thanks RENDOG!

Well my intent was to do a little trim tonight....















































I'll be back in a few days with an update. :hihi:


----------



## Matsu49

Wow you had to use a saw O_O" I never seen lily pipes that dirty before. LOL. So whats your new plans?


----------



## AquaVu

Spent the last 2 hours reading this thread and learned so much. Great journey. Thanks for sharing


----------



## jinx©

Great journal on the of evolution of this tank. It's truly beautiful each time.

I'm curious as to where you got the white trays you're using for the plant trimmings. Those look perfect for the task.


----------



## Gatekeeper

jinx© said:


> I'm curious as to where you got the white trays you're using for the plant trimmings. Those look perfect for the task.


You know, I have been wondering that for about 9 months now and keep forgeting to ask... LOL.


----------



## jinx©

gmccreedy said:


> You know, I have been wondering that for about 9 months now and keep forgeting to ask... LOL.


ha...I actually seen them in a thread before (May have been this one in fact) and forgot to ask myself...lol...Then of course I forgot which thread it was.:icon_roll


----------



## imeridian

They're photography developing trays -- or at least such type of trays look like those in the photos. They certainly do appear to be perfect for the task.

Something like this: http://www.adorama.com/DKTRC810S.html

I always really liked in this thread how the glass filter pipes would be occasionally shown dirty, illustrates the reality of having them.


----------



## jinx©

indiboi said:


> They're photography developing trays -- or at least such type of trays look like those in the photos. They certainly do appear to be perfect for the task.
> 
> Something like this: http://www.adorama.com/DKTRC810S.html


I think you're right. Thanks for the linkage.:thumbsup:


----------



## tazcrash69

SuRje1976 said:


> Well my intent was to do a little trim tonight....


Now that is an understatement.
OK, I still can't get over this.


----------



## unirdna

:icon_eek: What a post!

Yep, I've done this many times :hihi: . In fact, it's all I can do to not do it.

I hope everything stays stable after the replant. I tried to replant too thin last time and got smucked with a 2 month algae match.

For those of you that don't own lily pipes, that is probably months of growth. If you set them up with quick disconnect valves (so you can easily remove them from the plumbing system) and have the proper tool (wire brush), they clean up in minutes. After a cleaning, they usually stay clear for 2 weeks to a month before showing signs of return growth.


----------



## SuRje1976

indiboi said:


> They're photography developing trays -- or at least such type of trays look like those in the photos. They certainly do appear to be perfect for the task.
> 
> Something like this: http://www.adorama.com/DKTRC810S.html
> 
> I always really liked in this thread how the glass filter pipes would be occasionally shown dirty, illustrates the reality of having them.


Those are the trays alright. The smaller ones in the picture are 11x14. I actually find that size most useful. The larger one is 14x17 which I definitely use from time to time. I've got a few smaller ones that don't really see much action and one HUGE one, I think it's the 20x24. Great for carrying large java fern covered driftwood from the tank to the bathtub. 

Yup. Lily pipes get dirty. You're right on Ted. Last cleaning was 10/27/07. Just about 2 months.

_Edit: that would be 3 months! LOL. Mind gets hazy on 3 hours of sleep!_


----------



## dewalltheway

Love the journal and such a great tank over the past year. Can't wait to see what your inspiration will be for the redesign. I just started a 55 gal planted tank and this journal has encouraged me to see how things develop and grow throught the weeks and months with a planted tank and I am excited about this new adventure into the planted hobby. Keep up the great work and look forward to seeing what you will do with your tank!


----------



## SuRje1976

Ok, a quick update. Got everything back in the tank approximately where it's going to stay. I've got some tweaking to do. As can be seen, this particular layout is going to rely on trimming. Things haven't really perked back up yet, so it looks a bit dull, but:




























As always, comments & suggestions welcome!


----------



## jaidexl

Although I was expecting a huge scape change rather than a rehash of the U, I'm really digging what you did. The changes look small at first but the differences and details really start to pop out as you look, comparing to the last FTS a few pages back really shows the changes. I can't wait to see how the growth and trimming affect the outcome. I especially like what you did on the left, there's something that seems unconventional about it, as in original when it's so hard to achieve that against the hordes of scapes that exist today. Maybe it's the red stems as midground framed by anubias.


----------



## CmLaracy

How the hell do you rip a tank apart like that, to what would seem to me like the point of no return, and end up with a crystal clear tank, perfectly manicured and planted, in a day or so.... I really don't get it. I replanted some stuff in my tank and thought I'd have to start over cause of the mess I made. You're amazing, your tank is amazing, nuff said :hihi:


----------



## frozenbarb

And Im still here trying to make my tank look like your original.

What did you do with your extra plants? Those trays of red plants look like they cost over hundreds


----------



## kzr750r1

Nice job on the re scape. Looks like your learned from the last one keeping the java in the back. I have a java pile that has turned into a tank buster. Can't even see the wood any longer...


----------



## Gatekeeper

frozenbarb said:


> What did you do with your extra plants?


If I told you, you would laugh yourself right into the bathtub (oops I said it!! :biggrin: )


----------



## Rion

it seems more colorful now...


----------



## Ashok

Took my breath away! Fantastic!


----------



## roybot73

Are you kidding me??? When I saw those plants in the tub, and your ADA 120p muck pool, I almost had a tear in my eye!

That's breathtaking! :drool: Rock on, man!


----------



## PasD

I really like your new scape and noticed your cyperus looks very healthy and algae free. What's your secret to keeping nice looking cyperus?


----------



## MrJG

Everything is just perfect almost to the extent that it doesn't look real. Beautiful! This tank is something to behold and aspire to. 
I know by reading through this thread in my time of lurking that you put lots of work into getting it right and man has it paid off. 
This may have been asked before but...
Is that ADA nile sand that you are refreshing the top with? What the heck are you doing with all the old stuff? Washing/cleaning it to use again?


----------



## macclellan

slick tank. nice to see a non-'nature-style' tank for a change.
As a dutchman said to me while rock climbing in So-Cal of all places: "If it ain't Dutch, it aint much!"


----------



## SuRje1976

Thanks for the kind words everyone!



jaidexl said:


> Although I was expecting a huge scape change rather than a rehash of the U, I'm really digging what you did. The changes look small at first but the differences and details really start to pop out as you look, comparing to the last FTS a few pages back really shows the changes. I can't wait to see how the growth and trimming affect the outcome. I especially like what you did on the left, there's something that seems unconventional about it, as in original when it's so hard to achieve that against the hordes of scapes that exist today. Maybe it's the red stems as midground framed by anubias.



*jaidexl* - I really liked the way the tank looked before I tore it apart - LOL! The primary purpose of the "re-do" was to extend the life of the layout, even if doing so meant to change it a bit...if that makes any sense! I did want to see more of the hardscape, and the re-positioning of some of the wood/stone should keep them a little bit more visible as the plants grow back in. We'll see! 




CmLaracy said:


> How the hell do you rip a tank apart like that, to what would seem to me like the point of no return, and end up with a crystal clear tank, perfectly manicured and planted, in a day or so.... I really don't get it. I replanted some stuff in my tank and thought I'd have to start over cause of the mess I made. You're amazing, your tank is amazing, nuff said :hihi:



*CmLaracy* - Thanks! The whole ordeal took probably 14 hours. I used the polishing insert on a HOT Magnum to speed the clearing. I had to rinse the insert almost every 10 to 15 minutes over about 4 hours. 





frozenbarb said:


> And Im still here trying to make my tank look like your original.
> 
> What did you do with your extra plants? Those trays of red plants look like they cost over hundreds



*frozenbarb* - there are quite a few stems in there huh? I'd guess around 300-400! I probably bought 2 bunches (of 5 or 6 stems) of macrandra and 8 of rotundifolia. They're mostly my own clippings. Would you believe me if I told you that there actually WASN"T ENOUGH stems there to replant the new layout?! There are some bare spots in the less visible spots. There was a tremendous amount of slow-growers left over. Some of them have gotten a new home already. I'm working on finding takers for the rest. I'm really trying to avoid shipping them, as it's pretty cold!




kzr750r1 said:


> Nice job on the re scape. Looks like your learned from the last one keeping the java in the back. I have a java pile that has turned into a tank buster. Can't even see the wood any longer...



*Sean* - This was the primary reason for tearing the tank apart. The stuff explodes! 




roybot73 said:


> Are you kidding me??? When I saw those plants in the tub, and your ADA 120p muck pool, I almost had a tear in my eye!
> 
> That's breathtaking! :drool: Rock on, man!



*roybot73* - I think I may _actually _have had a tear in my eye. I remember thinking (probably at 6am, standing over a bathtub full of plants, waiting for the sun to come up) "What the heck am I doing!?!" :hihi: 




PasD said:


> I really like your new scape and noticed your cyperus looks very healthy and algae free. What's your secret to keeping nice looking cyperus?



*PasD* - Well, I know this is a bad time to say this, but I try to leave it alone. It likes the AquaSoil for sure. I feed it a root tab every few months, but whether that helps or not, I wouldn't be able to say. I run the tank lean on fertilizer as far most would be concerned, though I'd rather not incite a debate over the "correct," "ideal" or "best" parameters to keep. I've got a method, it doesn't have a name. 





MrJG said:


> Everything is just perfect almost to the extent that it doesn't look real. Beautiful! This tank is something to behold and aspire to.
> I know by reading through this thread in my time of lurking that you put lots of work into getting it right and man has it paid off.
> This may have been asked before but...
> Is that ADA nile sand that you are refreshing the top with? What the heck are you doing with all the old stuff? Washing/cleaning it to use again?



*MrJG* - Thanks so much! Nah - it goes down the drain. I'm just siphoning off the top layer and redressing it. The stuff that comes out of the tank is too mixed up to bother messing with. It's the ADA Bright Sand I'm using. I finished the 15kg bag I set the tank up with in Feb 07 this weekend. I will not need to open a new one up until the tank is over a year old. A little bit goes a long way...


----------



## pet-teez

Almost a month since your last post, any updates?
I've been reading this thread leasurly since maybe yesterday or the day before and I love this tank, it's awesome, that red is pretty darn snazzy and I love A. petite


----------



## SuRje1976

Well, there hasn't been too much going on. I've just been trying to focus on the trimming to get things to thicken up, and to stay low!

Here's a pictrure from right BEFORE the first trim after the redo:










And a few from right after:





























And after things filled in a bit:











I've actually trimmed the tank back pretty hard since the last picture. I'm trying something a little different with the center stand of _R. rotundifolia_. I'm trying to creat a concave slope, front to back. I just trimmed it the day before yesterday?











A few things possibly worth noting. I STOPPED dosing KNO3 for about a week and a half maybe? I was trying to see if I could get my R. macrandra and R. rotundifolia to color up a bit, as they always seem to lose their redness after they get trimmed. Well, it didn't really work! AND as you can see from some of the pictures above, the Anubias "petite" is beginning to show signs of nitrogen deficiency. SO, it seems that the color thing is a light issue. The plants would get a lot more color as they approached the surface with the old layout. Now, they're not really _allowed _to approach the surface! I dosed KNO3 manually, plugged the pump on the autodoser back in, and I increased by lighting "burst" period from 3 to 4 hours. I may increase it more. We'll see what happens!


----------



## pilau

Looks Awesome!!!!!


----------



## ikuzo

wow the macrandra trim reveals the coffeefolia beautifully. that's a lot of work with the stems great work, i love it.


----------



## NeverEndingNinja

Oh my god. Its beautiful.:eek5:


----------



## CL

that is a ton of anubias petite, i love it, ,the color is astounding and i like how the a. petite is like a nice wall for the other plants. keep it up!


----------



## roybot73

Any updated pics? Man, I could lose myself in this tank...


----------



## jinx©

Beautiful as always SuRje. roud:


----------



## jaidexl

I have to say I like the low angles right after the trim, very cool.


----------



## @[email protected]

i love the tank. i love the amount of space. and congrats and keeping good healthy red stems. the only one that has worked for me long term is r. rotundufolia, and it only gets that red when it grows along the surface.


----------



## kzr750r1

Only your tank would look this good after a major hack.:thumbsup:
Mounds of stems are fun but takes diligence to keep that way. 

Now I see your going to have a java explosion in both corners. 

Great job and thank for the update.
Looks like another masterpiece.


----------



## LondonDragon

Looking great  I would love to have that auto doser on my system hehe

Whats the tall grass on the right hand side that sticks out of the tank?

Keep up the great work


----------



## jazzlvr123

beautiful work man I especially like what you did the the anubias nana petite. youve got a very clean look going way to go


----------



## rekles75

Beautiful tank, ADA tanks are great, but the ADA tubes look like a hassle to keep clean. You had me shook when you took all the plants out and pulled out the saw. LOL. But no, you definately have a WET green thumb though. 

I just spent my last hour at work reading this thread and it was the best hour tonight.


----------



## Raimeiken

How do you grow beautiful anubias like that without getting any gsa on it? Mine always seem to get it


----------



## ununknown

Wow. It took me 2 hours to go through the 31 pages of this thread. Truly amazing tank, although I don't understand whats going on in the cabinet of your stand...(the 'laboratory' stuff) Approximately how much money do you spend on each bottle of CO2?? Anyways, nice tank. I am jealous. Very jealous. 
:drool: 
>>>NOTE I am not using Exclamation marks because they aren't enough to describe what I'm trying to describe....you know..by saying that... your tank...well....you know... it only FRICKEN ROCKS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


----------



## SuRje1976

Thanks everyone! There hasn't been much in the way of changes, except that I've replaced all of the _Rotala macrandra_ with R. rotundifolia 'Colorata.' I would update with pictures BUT the next NJAGC meeting is going to be at my place in May, and I want to hold off till after then for pictures.  




LondonDragon said:


> Whats the tall grass on the right hand side that sticks out of the tank?



I think we've settled on _Poaceae_ sp. 'Purple Bamboo' as it's identity.




Raimeiken said:


> How do you grow beautiful anubias like that without getting any gsa on it? Mine always seem to get it


I've actually had a bit of trouble with this since the re-do. Maybe because I increased the burst lighting period, maybe because I let PO4 drop a bit low? :icon_roll I'll let you know what works to get rid of it (IF I get rid of it!:redface: ) 




ununknown said:


> Wow. It took me 2 hours to go through the 31 pages of this thread. Truly amazing tank, although I don't understand whats going on in the cabinet of your stand...(the 'laboratory' stuff) Approximately how much money do you spend on each bottle of CO2??


I think you're referring to the flasks/funnels. I spent WAY TOO MUCH. I remember having figured out at one point that all that stuff cost almost 3 times the amount of the tank itself. :icon_redf It can be done for MUCH less!


I'll be back with pictures in just over a month! :hihi:


----------



## ebichu

Very impressive work !! 
Although, I have 1 question. The rotala macaranda in the middle are growing very nice and bushy.
Does the leaves on the bottom stem disintegrate ? Or you have leaves all the way to the bottom?

Thanks


----------



## rountreesj

I have a question as well. How do you keep the SAE's from eating your moss. Mine devoured my Taiwan moss in a few days, and I would love to use some flame/weeping moss, but I don't know if it would survive.


----------



## ringram

SAE's will eat moss. I always thought that I just couldn't grow moss, because it would consistently wither away and look sickly.
I no longer have SAEs and moss grows very well.
I wonder if there's a way to train them to only attack algae, but not moss? Eh, probably not.


----------



## lauraleellbp

I really love the balance of color in this tank... very, very impressive!


----------



## roybot73

Is this thing still on?


----------



## CmLaracy

roybot73 said:


> Is this thing still on?


It sure is, and it's only like 5x more amazing today too! I saw it in person at the NJAGC meeting and I was FLOORED! :icon_eek: 

It's really an amazing tank that only gets better as time goes by :icon_smil


----------



## SuRje1976

It is! It's in another transition phase at the moment. Here are some recent pictures:























































I removed the _Rotala macrandra _and replaced it with _Rotala sp_. 'Colorata'. As can be seen, the colorata looks too similar to the _R. rotundifolia_, and in person actually makes the rotundifolia look washed out. So the rotundifolia will be coming out. I'm trying to figure out what to replace it with at this point. As always, suggestions are welcome!

I've got to get more wood too. What I have in there - all 30lbs or more of it have been swallowed up by the plants. Thinking ADA Blackwood. A few large and a few smaller pieces. Will place an order soon!


----------



## rountreesj

I was going to ask if that was colorata...it looked a little too yellow/orange for rotundifolia...Rotala magenta is nice...it is a very dark red...or you could do sp. green for a bright green to accompany all those dark greens from the anubias and the ferns... looking Awsome by the way! You don't see many people using that many "colored" plants. I used to like only the "all green" tanks, but now I appreciate tanks with color. The only thin I would think about changing if I were you, would be to change the ferns for something smaller in leaf size...like narrow or needle leaf fern...

Looking great as always!!!--Stephen


----------



## @[email protected]

wow its beautiful . i love the rotala (it is really bright and nice, but the leaves DO look like the rotundifolia.

did you try putting something black behind the tank? it may make the colors stick out a lot more (especially since you have a pale substrate), but the whole tank is bright and use a lot of negative space, it may be too much black and would look morbid and darker, making the oranges look more like decay then healthy growth.


----------



## dewalltheway

I am just amazed and I bet it is even better to see it in person! I would like to know how you get your rotala to look so great in that bush form? Do you top and replant or trim and let shoots form? Please share!


----------



## roybot73

Wow!

Thanks for the update! All of the Anubias species look beautiful, and please forgive me if I missed something, but are the colored plants all one type of Rotala, or is it both Rotundafolia _and_ Colorata?


----------



## deMastro

I absolutely adore your tank!


Gorgeous!!!

And the water is so clearroud: .


----------



## Bodo

Just a few ideas about your Fe measurement issues:

Iron is a tricky thing to measure via UV/vis. It’s dependent on which oxidation form Fe is in and what chelate is used. Each form absorbs light at different wavelengths and having unknown chelates (if any) also exacerbates the problem.

Chances are that you have/had measurable concentrations of Fe, but your equipment couldn’t detect it.

Just my thoughts…


----------



## lekyiscool

wow! amazing
quick question tho are you running two filters? beacuse i think i see to outflow lilypipes and two inflow

anyways congradulations


----------



## Petrus

I vote for Didiplis in place of the Rotundafolia  Awesome tank as always. I have no idea how you managed to grow algae-free anubias in your tank. Mine always has GSA.


----------



## SuRje1976

Thanks so much for the suggestions everyone!




rountreesj said:


> The only thin I would think about changing if I were you, would be to change the ferns for something smaller in leaf size...like narrow or needle leaf fern...


VERY interesting! Just about the only thing I never thought of changing out was the java fern. Hmmm...now you've got me thinking!




@[email protected] said:


> did you try putting something black behind the tank? it may make the colors stick out a lot more (especially since you have a pale substrate),



I haven't tried it yet, but I do intend to at some point soon - thanks!




dewalltheway said:


> I would like to know how you get your rotala to look so great in that bush form? Do you top and replant or trim and let shoots form? Please share!


Initial planting is done with 3 or 4 stems (depending on thickness) at a time, with the next 3 or 4 very close to the previous "tweezer-ful." You've really got to start with a lot of stems - or be patient enough to grow them out. There's probably over 500 stems in there!

I trim the tops off, and leave the bottoms. VERY rarely to I pull the bottoms out. They grow bushier that way too!




roybot73 said:


> are the colored plants all one type of Rotala, or is it both Rotundafolia _and_ Colorata?


It's both. The pinker looking ones are rotundifolia, the orange ones are colorata.




Bodo said:


> Just a few ideas about your Fe measurement issues:
> 
> Iron is a tricky thing to measure via UV/vis. It’s dependent on which oxidation form Fe is in and what chelate is used. Each form absorbs light at different wavelengths and having unknown chelates (if any) also exacerbates the problem.
> 
> Chances are that you have/had measurable concentrations of Fe, but your equipment couldn’t detect it.
> 
> Just my thoughts…


Thanks for the thoughts! I'm sure you're onto something. I stopped testing Fe a while ago. Increased micro dosing to 8mL Flourish and 8 mL of Flourish Iron DAILY, so I know there's no shortage there anymore! 




lekyiscool said:


> quick question tho are you running two filters? beacuse i think i see to outflow lilypipes and two inflow


Yup! 2 Filters - an Eheim 2217 and a 2128. Dn't think one would do for this tank...




Petrus said:


> I have no idea how you managed to grow algae-free anubias in your tank. Mine always has GSA.


Mine do too! Not a terrible amount, but it IS there. Hard not to with light enough to keep the stems happy... :icon_roll 


Thanks again guys/gals! If you've got any more plant suggestions, let me know!


----------



## rountreesj

don't get me wrong about the ferns...they are fabulous and in impecable health, but they seem unproportioned to the rest of the tank slightly...you could have a bunch of very nice needle leafs in there in the same amount of room, and it would make your tank look bigger because of their smaller size and narrow leaves. But heck those ferns you got are gorgeous!


----------



## lekyiscool

i read you use an RO system, hows it working out
so their is no need to dechlorinate the water with an RO system, correct?
Is it beneficial, i have read that some people claim it takes out everything out of the water making possibly worse then tap water


----------



## @[email protected]

RO takes out everything but pure H2O, no chlorine, no acids/bases, no bacteria, no iron, no salts, no nothing. its bad if you use just that without any fertz, and you have to then put more then you would otherwise (thats why people usually put products like flourish equilibrium), but the good thing is that it gives you absolute control over what you put in your tank.


----------



## SuRje1976

rountreesj - thanks again!

lekyiscool - the RO is nice. I get a little bit more control of what's going on with it. Whether that amount of control is necessary or not is debatable. The filter I'm using is RO/DI. If I didn't have the DI cartridge, I'd still use a dechlorinator. My tap water contains chlorine and chloramine. The carbon block in the RO unit will take care of the chlorine no problem. The RO alone would also strip the chlorine from the chloramine, leaving ammonia. Without the DI, most of that ammonia would make it into the tank.

All this being said, if the RO/DI filter wasn't hooked into the auto water changer, I probably wouldn't use one at all. I've got NO room for a big collection reservoir! Also not to fond of adding extra steps/chores to the tank maintenance routine!


----------



## lekyiscool

very good thanks your helping me decide for my future tank so far im just a noob trying to collect as much info as possible

so your RO/DI unit is built in the wall? (hidden)
Now i see why you dose it with the ferts, to replenish the nutrients necessary for the fish and plants. is it an automatic system

also how do those 2 intake and 2 outflow pipes work

i belived you before ran the filters in line so only one intake was needed and 1 outflow but now i see 2 of each?


sorry for the heap of questions? im curious =)


----------



## SuRje1976

*lekyiscool *- The RO/DI unit lives under the kitchen sink. The RO tubing runs behind some cabinets and through a wall to come out under the tank stand.

There are two filters on the tank. One set of pipes is for each. I've never run the filters inline with eachother.  Having them separate allows for a bit more flexibility with water movement. Could one run 2 canisters inline? I don't know if I've ever heard of anyone doing that! :icon_redf


----------



## Jonnywhoop!

How many gallons is a 120p?
Where did you get your rocks from? they add a nice touch.
what kind of sand is in the front?
is it hard to maintain a fine line between the soil and sand? etc etc i would think it would get mixed up after a while.

thanks!


----------



## crabcake

did that tank come with Starfire, "high clarity", glass?


----------



## lekyiscool

crabcake im pretty sure all ADA tanks are crafted from starphire glass


----------



## CL

lekyiscool said:


> crabcake im pretty sure all ADA tanks are crafted from starphire glass


I'm not too sure of this, seeing that they have regular tanks and clear tanks, I could be wrong though


----------



## roybot73

clwatkins10 said:


> I'm not too sure of this, seeing that they have regular tanks and clear tanks, I could be wrong though


You are correct clwatkinsroud: 

http://www.adana.co.jp/_e_products/aquarium_index.php


----------



## rountreesj

I have thought of running two filters in-line...two connected to one inflow, and having two separate outflows...it just makes things more complicated though...having two separate filters is a wise idea, because you can take one off and clean it, you have a backup in case of failure, you have more options in terms of flow, etc. plus you have more consistent flow to all parts of the tank...


----------



## lekyiscool

rountreesj said:


> I have thought of running two filters in-line...two connected to one inflow, and having two separate outflows...it just makes things more complicated though...having two separate filters is a wise idea, because you can take one off and clean it, you have a backup in case of failure, you have more options in terms of flow, etc. plus you have more consistent flow to all parts of the tank...


exactly what i thought, seems like two sepereate is a much better plan, to me its like two workers cleaning the tank. I would rather have two workers then one big worker..(lame analogy but .w/e) i think more would also get filtered.



clwatkins10 said:


> I'm not too sure of this, seeing that they have regular tanks and clear tanks, I could be wrong though


Interesting, when purchasing one of thier tanks does it directly state what type of glass teh tank is. I recall this being stated on the tank page.


----------



## griffin_pak

one of the best threads on this forum! Amazing aquarium, any new updated pics?


----------



## SuRje1976

Thanks griffin pak! I will try to get some pictures up *soon*. The thread does need to be updated! I've made some changes to the tank over the past few weeks.


----------



## griffin_pak

Just wish I lived in NJ as well to get those buckets of clipping from you lol


----------



## CL

c'mon Surje! Give us some updates to drool over


----------



## Markone

Hi Sergio,

would you mind telling us what substrates you run in your filters?

I admire your tank for so long, although it feels a bit "unnatural" so clean and nice .



> I've actually had a bit of trouble with this since the re-do. Maybe because I increased the burst lighting period, maybe because I let PO4 drop a bit low? :icon_roll I'll let you know what works to get rid of it (IF I get rid of it!:redface: )


As I also grow some Anubias and having trouble with GSA, I´d also like to know if you fund out how to avoid them?

Regards,
Mark.


----------



## Saraja87

Stunning balance of plants and color! I would love to see more updates


----------



## medicineman

About attempt to bring back the reds of those red plants.

Have you tried those Fe sticks like the ones from ADA (iron bottom)?
Some swear it actually works to redden their red plants. Effect could vary and will usually run out in a couple of weeks and you will have to jab more.


----------



## Markone

I used to bury clay balls, which I dropped some drops of fertilizer on...will also work for some time.

Regards,
Mark.


----------



## SuRje1976

Thanks all, for the comments and suggestions! Updats are coming - I promise! Just need to put something together. Quite a bit has changed!


----------



## @[email protected]

we are still waiting from july 25th.
come ON!
your tank is too nice for you to be so selfish about it and not let us look at pics. lol.


----------



## Markone

> Thanks all, for the comments and suggestions! Updats are coming - I promise! Just need to put something together. Quite a bit has changed!


there have also been questions you didn´t answer yet ...

Regards,
Mark.


----------



## CmLaracy

I've seen it, over at NJAGC... It's even more amazing than before, you'll love it when he posts. He's waiting on something at Aquascaping World, and as soon as thats done he's gonna post em.


----------



## Betowess

Haven't been around for a long time, Sergio. Absolutely fantastic tank! Best of show for sure!


----------



## SuRje1976

*Mark *- Sorry pal! Didn't see your questions!  Filters have the standard Eheim recommended media - bottom to top - Ehfimech (noodles) > coarse blue pad > Ehfisubstrat Pro > Fine pad. I do get GSA as well on the Anubias. I find the best way to keep it to a minimum is by making sure PO4 levels don't drop too low. I also think finding the "optimal" light level (_just _enough for the "high light' stems) helps to keep GSA at bay. Any more light than I'm running now (8hrs total, 4hrs x 108W and a 4hr midday 216W) and GSA becomes difficult to control.

*MedicineMan* - Thanks! I've got some Iron Bottom. I'll add it and let you know what happens.

*Bob!!!* - What a surprise! GREAT to hear from you! Hope all is well in your neck of the woods!


----------



## windfish

You have a beautiful tank... I saw pictures of it somewhere else and I saved them on my hard drive. I'm glad I finally found who it belongs to!


----------



## Markone

> *Mark *- Sorry pal! Didn't see your questions!  Filters have the standard Eheim recommended media - bottom to top - Ehfimech (noodles) > coarse blue pad > Ehfisubstrat Pro > Fine pad. I do get GSA as well on the Anubias. I find the best way to keep it to a minimum is by making sure PO4 levels don't drop too low. I also think finding the "optimal" light level (_just _enough for the "high light' stems) helps to keep GSA at bay. Any more light than I'm running now (8hrs total, 4hrs x 108W and a 4hr midday 216W) and GSA becomes difficult to control.


thank you so much , so I´ll have to start filtering my tank (http://www.flowgrow.de/album_showpage.php?full=true&pic_id=5406&user_id=420) , increase my stem plants and take a sincere look at phosphate levels...I´m lighting my 200 Liters (100 x 40 x 50 cm) with 4 x 39 Watt T5 and have mainly Anubias, Java fern Needle, Eleocharis and H.c. Cuba.

You have a georgeous tank!!!

Regards,
Mark.


----------



## Markone

Just took a look at the September issue Aquascaping World Magazine, amazing, what you´ve done with this scape, I like it even more than before and that was already more than I can afford to...

Great tank, great maintenance and I would like to have an autowaterchange, but my wife tells me, she wants no holes through walls.

Regards in expectation of a Super update,
Mark.


----------



## SuRje1976

Thanks again! 

Loooooong overdue:




























For fun...










If anyone is interested in having a look, the magazine and article are up. Here are the links:

Web Article

Full Magazine pdf

Believe it or not, some slight changes have already been made to the driftwood, and another update will be in order soon, but this is what I've got for now!


----------



## CL

WOW! Finally. That petite is the best Ive seen anywhere! I love it! Wow


----------



## rekles75

clwatkins10 said:


> WOW! Finally. That petite is the best Ive seen anywhere! I love it! Wow


x 2. 

This is absolutely gorgeous!


----------



## Saraja87

Stunning as always! Your tank is gorgeous


----------



## Betowess

Oh YEAH! Love the moss free branches and everything about it. Stellar job Sergio. This I'm sure was mentioned years ago, but what type of sand is that - ADA? Is it pH nuetral?


----------



## SuRje1976

Thanks Bob! The sand is ADA Bright Sand. I have not noticed an effect on pH. I have siphoned off and top-dressed the sand a number of times, with no noticable effect on pH. Still running at a steady 4.85 .


----------



## Betowess

That is a very handsome magazine and really nice article on your tank. Definately want to check that journal out now. And it was cool seeing Stephen's Wabi Kusa article in the same month. Nice work on the tank pictures too Sergio. Did you shoot those yourself? I was kind of surprised you are still running such a low pH. I forgot you were the low pH king.

Oh, if my home's pipes hadn't sprung leaks from acid water, I could still have near that pH out of my well's tap - but we had to add an acid neutralizer which makes our water like the great salt lake - over pH 7.8 after standing. The salesman told me it would be nuetral - caveat emptor...


----------



## ikuzo

your petites grow larger!


----------



## @[email protected]

wow, so much anubias.

i really like the tank. the bushes of stems look so healthy and colorful, and they go great with the darker green anubias.


----------



## Renegade545

Absolutely beautiful setup. Subscribed.


----------



## Chrisinator

Awesomeness!


----------



## SuRje1976

Thanks again guys!

*Bob *- I did take all of the pictures that I sent in for the article, but I just got lucky I think. Most of them were taken with a little point and shoot. I took couple of them at my daughter's birthday party, and was able to borrow my brother's RebelXT. Those came out really nice. As far as the pH goes, yep - I'm still running very low. I haven't played around with the kH at all since that whole giant thread you started a couple of years back. I'm still not dosing anything for kH, still using 100% RO/DI water. I do dose Equilibrium to bring up the Ca & Mg. Maybe I'll play around with the kH this fall! :hihi:


----------



## Markone

Something new to that, my favourite tank ?


----------



## SuRje1976

Boy has a lot happened since my last update. I'm working on a new layout for the tank, and at the moment, there isn't much going on. I'm just trying to grow things out a bit so I've got enough stems to do what I've got in mind. 

I did stop dosing macros for a while to see how the plants would respond. Needless to say, they did not like it. It wasn't really a sensible thing to do, especially since I'm trying to GROW things out. :redface: So yesterday I refilled the autodosing reservoirs, recalibrated the pumps and got things going again! I should be able to post a picture of the tank in about a couple of weeks. As of right now, it's just a stem farm! :icon_roll

On a side note, I recently replaced one of my 10000K 54W T5 with an 18000K 54W T5. It's pretty pink. So I've got 2x6500K, 1x10000K and 1x18000K. I REALLY like the color I get from this combination! Now I've got to wait and see if the plants like it as much as I do...


----------



## Gatekeeper

I figured you were hiding pics since you are hosting hte next meeting. LOL.

Looking forward to the changes my man. Always exciting to see what you come up with!


Gotta ask though, what the heck prompted you to stop dosing macros?? 

I am going to take one guess... dropping off N and a new fancy pink light.... Working on the colorata still? LOL.


----------



## Ashok

One of the best tanks I've seen. It used to be my desktop background for a long time.


----------



## SuRje1976

Glenn, I didn't actually put the 18000K bulb in until yesterday. What I can say for sure is that I starved those Colorata for nitrate for weeks and they did not turn red. So I don't know what the deal is there. Tried with no phosphate, and with higher phosphate (2ppm), all with zero nitrate. 

Tried the ADA ferts too. One thing I can say for sure is that they're great for a tank full of stems if you don't like trimming. Plant grow sloooowly. Not much help in the color department though.

After the March meeting I may experiment with Nitrate, but no phosphate dosing like Johnny. Right now I need to build the plant mass.

So I got the 18000K bulb hoping that the spectrum has more to do with the plant color than fert parameters and quantity of light do.



Ashok - thanks so much, it means a lot to me


----------



## CL

I'd love to see the results of the fert experiments. My red plants have stopped turning red as well


----------



## SuRje1976

CL - I haven't had any luck _yet_. I will definitely keep you posted. What I can say though is that the 18000K bulb does make the plants _*look*_ a bit more red. :icon_roll


----------



## imeridian

Maybe you should send some to me, I'll see if I can get 'em red.


----------



## Pinto

This is by far one of my favorite journals.
Just STUNNING!!


----------



## LondonDragon

One of my favourite setups of all time 
Just one question. How do you keep the anubias algae free?? I can't seem to keep older leaves without dark spots? Whats the secret? Thanks


----------



## SuRje1976

Thanks folks! 

*LD* - I ran what I think most would consider low-mid light. I was running only 2x54W most of the day. I had a 3.5 hour "burst" of 4x54W. Total photoperiod was 8 hours. I think that helped keep the spot algae at bay. I think the high phosphates (relative to nitrates) helped as well. I kept PO4 1.5ppm and NO3 at 9.5ppm. I did also go into the tank every day and trim out a dozen or two of the older leaves, just to keep things growing.


----------



## ZooTycoonMaster

WOW I love your tank!!!! Is that Purple Bamboo that's growing out of the water?


----------



## CL

ZooTycoonMaster said:


> WOW I love your tank!!!! Is that Purple Bamboo that's growing out of the water?


Yes sir


----------



## ZooTycoonMaster

SuRje1976 said:


> For fun...


I think I like it better with the black background

And just a question about the Bamboo - do you find the leaves at the very bottom deteriorating because of lack of light?


----------



## SuRje1976

ZooTycoonMaster said:


> And just a question about the Bamboo - do you find the leaves at the very bottom deteriorating because of lack of light?


Well, I did initially. With the bamboo I just cut the bottoms out and replant the tops. Once I noticed how ratty the bottoms got, I just pulled the leaves off of the lowest 3 nodes or so, then there isn't anything to rot! :thumbsup:


----------



## legomaniac89

Wow that is an awesome tank! I love the contrast of colors, very inspiring...I may steal your design


----------



## monkeyruler90

wow. i totally love the progression of this tank. i can't believe its already 2 years old. have you changed the soil yet or is it still the original aquasoil you put in?


----------



## SuRje1976

Oscar - iThanks! It is the same substrate. I changed the sand a few times and _added _a few handfuls of Aquasoil here and there, but never changed it out altogether.


----------



## Hilde

SuRje1976 said:


> After the March meeting I may experiment with Nitrate, but no phosphate dosing like Johnny.


My Hygro sunset have turned pink since I started adding K2SO4. Now I have in the substrate. So when the leaves curl I add KNO3.

I see in the latest picture the Rotala have a nice orange color. What did you change to get the color?


----------



## SuRje1976

Very interesting observations. Thanks for sharing. It is unfortunately another bit of info that makes me more sure that I am cursed! :hihi: 

My tank is NEVER short on K. I dose Equilibrium to remineralize the RO/DI water I'm using, and it's got a LOT of K in it. It's probably my highest parameter. 

I've also noticed that recently, when I _started_ dosing KNO3, I started to get curling/tristing leaves on my _Rotala_ sp. 'Sunset'. :icon_roll

The _Rotala_ in the last picture is Colorata, so it should (or could at least) be much pinker. :redface:


----------



## Hilde

SuRje1976 said:


> Very interesting observations. Thanks for sharing. It is unfortunately another bit of info that makes me more sure that I am cursed!


Your tank has fantastic growth and colors. I don't understand why you think you are cursed. I wonder if adding csm+B or Flourish comprehensive would give you the colors you are trying to achieve.


----------



## SuRje1976

Thanks Hilde. I appreciate it!

I'm adding Flourish and Flourish Iron at 8mL each per day, so there's no shortage there. Plants do grow well, just never have the same amount of color I see in others' tanks, even the tanks the particular stems came from. :icon_roll


----------



## Wingsdlc

SuRje1976 said:


> Thanks Hilde. I appreciate it!
> 
> I'm adding Flourish and Flourish Iron at 8mL each per day, so there's no shortage there. Plants do grow well, just never have the same amount of color I see in others' tanks, even the tanks the particular stems came from. :icon_roll


Could some of that color or lack there of come from the light spectrum you have? 

I wouldn't exactly say you are cursed either. Your tank is really great looking! Currently my desk top picture.... :thumbsup:


----------



## SuRje1976

Wingsdlc said:


> Could some of that color or lack there of come from the light spectrum you have?
> 
> I wouldn't exactly say you are cursed either. Your tank is really great looking! Currently my desk top picture.... :thumbsup:


Thanks! I was wondering if the spectrum was a factor as well. I just swapped one of the 10000K's out for an 18000K bulb. It's pretty pink, sort of (but not exactly) like the 9325's in color. I haven't noticed a change in new growth, but it hasn't been too long. I'll keep you posted!


----------



## lizziotti

Did you mention where you got your plants? I'd like to use alot of them when I rescape and some of them are hard to find. I've read this thread once and have skimmed over it so many other times since because I just love it. I've been skimming over it again today to try to see if you mentioned where you got them but my eyes are sooo tired so I apologize if it's been mentioned already. Your tank is beautiful!


----------



## Down_Shift

Wow this is an amazing tank


----------



## mizu-chan

This tank is so amazing. I really draw so much inspiration from it. You have managed to do everything right. Thank you for this wonderful thread!


----------



## fishboy87

*jaw drop* any update pics?!


----------



## Axelrodi202

Holy carp that thing is awesome!


----------



## SuRje1976

Wow, thanks so much folks! :redface:

*lizziotti* - Mostly all of the plants came from fellow hobbyists, either through the Swap & Shop, or through local plant swaps. I did pick up a few from Hydropolis (no longer selling plants) and Aquatic Magic.

*mizu-chan* - I've also made every possible mistake! 

*fishboy87* - Things are filling in now. I'm thinking I'll have some pics to update the thread with in about a month. There have been a LOT of changes!


----------



## CL

Do you realize you almost have 100,000 views?


----------



## sewingalot

This shot does make your title worthy.  I love your tank. How is it possible to have such a lovely tank without spending 24 hours a day on it?


----------



## Markone

Just like to tell you one thing: 

I could never find another stunning thread like yours, though I do like many tanks and layouts, I always return to yours and Unirdnas 

Admiring Regards,
Mark.


----------



## vtkid

I just read the whole thread and it gives me the chills seeing this awesome tank.


----------



## ICPjuggla

Wow, what a great tank.. I love it..


----------



## CL

SuRje1976 said:


> Glenn, I didn't actually put the 18000K bulb in until yesterday. What I can say for sure is that I starved those Colorata for nitrate for weeks and they did not turn red. So I don't know what the deal is there. Tried with no phosphate, and with higher phosphate (2ppm), all with zero nitrate.
> 
> Tried the ADA ferts too. One thing I can say for sure is that they're great for a tank full of stems if you don't like trimming. Plant grow sloooowly. Not much help in the color department though.
> 
> After the March meeting I may experiment with Nitrate, but no phosphate dosing like Johnny. Right now I need to build the plant mass.
> 
> So I got the 18000K bulb hoping that the spectrum has more to do with the plant color than fert parameters and quantity of light do.
> 
> 
> 
> Ashok - thanks so much, it means a lot to me


How did the results come out?


----------



## Centromochlus

This is my all-time favorite planted tank. I love the petite anubias. Very nice job!


----------



## SuRje1976

Wow, thanks folks! I'm moving in a few days and was on the fence with whether or not I'd continue with this aquarium. You may have persuaded me to keep it going!


----------



## dewalltheway

SuRje1976 said:


> Wow, thanks folks! I'm moving in a few days and was on the fence with whether or not I'd continue with this aquarium. You may have persuaded me to keep it going!


REPENT!!!! for even thinking of not setting this tank back up. Your tank keeps me inspired to have rotala's look the way you have yours look. I still can't get mine full a bushy and beautiful like yours but I continue to try and look back on what you have done.


----------



## CaliEAB

Absolutely incredble! Wow. I really hope you continue this aquarium in your new home. Truly beautiful work and an ingenious dosing system.


----------



## problemman

amazing


----------



## Zimmy

Sergio, I was wondering if there are any updates for this tank? 

Also, if you are still maintaining it, what maintenance do you do on a weekly/monthly level, as I'm sure with such automation, there isn't much daily maintenance required.


----------



## globali

Hi SuRje1976,

I went from page 01
to 15 and then I jump
to page 37-36-34 ...

This is a long journey
and it looks interesting.

Is it possible to upload
a shortcut (detour) in
the first page with a
direct link to post that
will consist only all the
lovely visuals and just
a brief text regarding
the project itself.


----------



## antwan

This tank is quite possibly the best I've ever seen. Absolutely loving it in the latest form! Great work, you are an inspiration.


----------



## dknydiep1

It's been a few years. Any updates?


----------



## Gatekeeper

Sergio has since taken down this tank and is currently in the process of rebuilding the stand at his new home. I am sure you will see some new activity in the months to come.


----------



## Momotaro

> Sergio has since taken down this tank and is currently in the process of rebuilding the stand at his new home.


He has the stand for my ADA 90P just about done, so I imagine he'll get his done next!


----------



## ikuzo

we need to resurrect this thread !!
update !!


----------



## CL

Agreed!!


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## SuRje1976

It's been dry for three years. Will it hold water? Will testing it for a week on my deck at 40ish degrees be a valid enough test? Will the three year old twins "look and not touch?" 

My wife and I seem to have gotten quite the itch, so it looks like we're going to find out! :laugh:


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## somewhatshocked

Terrific news!


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## dewalltheway

Congrats on the twins! You and your wife have your hands full.

I have been subscribed to your journal because your tank was one of my favorite tanks on this site. Your use of Anubius nanas is what inspired me to use them in my 125 gal aquarium. I am so exicited to see that you are getting back into the hobby! Can't wait to see what you come up with...I am sure it will be great!


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## SuRje1976

Thanks guys. In the interest of complete and proper documentation, some things have happened, and some things still need to happen in order for the tank to be up and running. 

I've started to work on the stand. The aquarium will be in the kitchen, where the blue bakers rack is in this picture:












Now the stand itself doesn't really fit in too well with the kitchen: :icon_roll












So I'm trying to get it to look more like it belongs. I've got the hardware to match the existing kitchen hardware (wow, those need to be repainted too):












I've taken it apart, sanded the finish off it, primed it:












Painted and reassembled, moved into position.













Now the house was built not long after the Civil War, so I expected to have to do a little leveling. I didn’t expect it to be this bad!

Left to right:












Front to back:








\



So shims won’t really be an option, I’ve got over an inch to go in both directions, and I don’t want that kind of point pressure on the floor anyway. I’m going to build up the base with just under 2” thick maple, shim it level, and scribe it to the floor. The maple will be painted to match the base, and hopefully won’t be too noticeable!

There’s still quite a bit to do. I’ve still got to have electricity put on that wall. I’ve also got to route the drawers with a core-box bit to match the rest of the kitchen drawers, and I’ve got to build 2 new doors altogether, to match the bead-board on the rest of the cabinetry.


Suggestions appreciated!


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## AaronT

I suggest you go with your plan as it sounds like a nice one. Seriously, scribing it to the floor will look the nicest rather than putting leveling feet (also not probably a good idea either) or shimming it.


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## SuRje1976

First oops:











My fault really. Ran the stud finder at arm level and was clear. Damn old house. Never know what you're going to find! So anyway, the Romex is fished up from the basement. I'm not going to tap into a junction box. I'm going to wire the aquarium right to the breaker box on a new circuit. I used a 15 amp GFCI outlet.

Got the romex run to the panel, but there was never a good time today to cut power to the whole house, so I'll have to install the breaker tomorrow or so. Not really going to rush anything - it's going to take a few days of spackling, sanding and painting that wall to get it ready for the tank. Not going to be moving the thing around once it's filled!

Now to patch up that other hole...


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## thefisherman

ZooTycoonMaster said:


> I think I like it better with the black background
> 
> And just a question about the Bamboo - do you find the leaves at the very bottom deteriorating because of lack of light?


the black backgroud does make those colors pop... beatiful tank sir 


- thefisherman


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## thefisherman

yikes i posted on your old thread! i was seduced by the beauty of your old tank i guess lol, i'm glad to read about your plans to ressuruct the tank and look forward to your progress... subscribed! 


- thefisherman


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## ua hua

Can't wait to see this tank up and running again. I was very surprised to see this thread back as it was one of the first threads I subscribed to when I joined this site.


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## SuRje1976

A lot has happened since last post.










I was looking at the wall after I relocated the outlet thinking, that looks like it's dead center along the wall. Got a tape measure and checked. Dead center. Right where the center support on the stand is going to land! 

So I moved it...again. 


And done.











I filled the tank and leveled it. 

Front:












Left:












Right:












It didn't really move in any direction when the weight of the water was added, so I guess that's a good thing!

Just to give an idea _again_ of how un-level the floor is, take a look at the scribe lines!



Left side:












Left front:












Right front:












Right side:













Next up, cut to the scribe lines, clean up the joints and paint.


That light switch that you can see in the full tank picture above was really getting to me, so that's gone now too...











Scribe lines are cut, stand base is cleaned up and re-painted. Should be able to bring the stand back upstairs this weekend!


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## kwheeler91

Lol who takes the freakin light switch out for a tank? Now that is dedication.


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## dewalltheway

Looking good!


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## ua hua

kwheeler91 said:


> Lol who takes the freakin light switch out for a tank? Now that is dedication.


A mad scientist/ mad carpenter that's who.:flick:


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## LyzzaRyzz

Just read through the whole thread, you are a genius! Just waitin to see what you come up with!!


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## laxaj

Great read. Thanks a lot for posting this, I am really looking forward to this next incarnation!


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## HunterX

Subscribed. Thanks for taking the time to write your thread. It has been a treat reading and learning from everything you have done!


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## SuRje1976

Thanks guys.

*kwheeler91* - that thing would have driven me insane! I was pacing back and forth looking at it from every angle. It would have been the only thing I saw.


Things are moving right along.


Stand before:











Stand after











The tank has water in it, and as far as I can see, is perfectly level. The scribed cleats worked out well. I was concerned initially that difference between the left and right side of the front, in the gap between the molding and floor would be too obvious. The gap is about an inch taller on the right side than the left. I was afraid it would look awkward, but it isn't as noticeable as I thought it would be.


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## AaronT

Nice.  Once you get it scaped no one will be looking at the floor.


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## hydrophyte

Wow here is this famous setup reincarnated!


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## SuRje1976

Just for fun...


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## Exceliber

I'm incredibly excited for this. After seeing the beauty that was its former incarnation, I'm happy I'm around to watch it grow for this round.


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## Neatfish

Nice work.


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## ikuzo

yes yes keep em coming


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## GMYukonon24s

Oh nice!


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## dewalltheway

Ok...your last post was on 12-20-12....anything going on with this tank? Would love to see updates.


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## jmhart

Update plzzzzzzzz


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## lauraleellbp

jmhart said:


> Update plzzzzzzzz


Jeff The Thread Necromancer

(Seriously if you can coax any new pics into any of the journals you're bumping, IOU a mojito.  )


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## jmhart

lauraleellbp said:


> Jeff The Thread Necromancer
> 
> (Seriously if you can coax any new pics into any of the journals you're bumping, IOU a mojito.  )



It case it's not obvious, :icon_redf, I'm seeking inspiration for my 120g.


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## ua hua

lauraleellbp said:


> Jeff The Thread Necromancer
> 
> (Seriously if you can coax any new pics into any of the journals you're bumping, IOU a mojito.  )


Imagine my excitement to see one of the first threads I subscribed to when I joined this site showing up in the new posts only to find out that there is no new pictures. 

Damn you


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## AaronT

ua hua said:


> Imagine my excitement to see one of the first threads I subscribed to when I joined this site showing up in the new posts only to find out that there is no new pictures.
> 
> Damn you


Ha, I had the same reaction.  And now I've likely just done it to someone else.


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