# Hop's Home demolition/in-wall 125(updated 01.08.06) Kinda



## Hop (Mar 27, 2004)

About nine weeks ago I got completely frustrated with a BBA outbreak and completely tore down my 125. I decided to try to do things a little better this time and purchased pressurized Co2, reactor, MH lighting etc. I added another 60 Lbs or Flourite and began my planing. I wish I could tell you that this was an easy, trouble-free set up.... But no way. Nothing in my life goes that way.
I tried to use Chuck's method of set up with plants first, then fish then dosing etc... But no way. First, most of the plants were late, then the fish came early and then I had the worst BGA outbreak I've ever seen. When I went to work everything was fine, but when I came home nearly the entire tank was infested. The BGA happened so fast that it grew over the pearling on the leaves. After getting that taken care of I had a terrible ich outbreak then I had a thread algea attack. I had to buy plants that I didn't really want to help balance the tank until the real plants arrive(yes, I'm still waiting for a bunch seven weeks after ordering).
Well here's the tank at week five after planting. I'm hoping soon that the rest of the plants I ordered come in so i can get rid of the plants I don't want and reach for the aquascape I planned so long ago.









Here is the tank at week 1









A little of the equipment









And a few of the new guys









Please feel free to comment on any ideas or suggestions. Like I said, Hopefully within the next month the final aqua scaping will take place at the same time the tank is moved. We are remodeling the house and I have a great 72" cut out in the wall of the living room waiting for the tank


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## chinaboy1021 (May 30, 2003)

i LOVE the halide pendents. you can get some hygro and have them grow agove the water.


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## Fish Tank (Feb 11, 2004)

Yet another beautiful panoramic tank. So - after you add the new plants it gets even better??????


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## Hop (Mar 27, 2004)

Thanks, I hope it gets better! I'm praying that when the rest of the plants I orderd arrive that it comes close to what I envisioned. I want a cross between a sculpted landscape and a slight over grown look. Sort of a dutch approach, but with some open space.


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## Hop (Mar 27, 2004)

Good news, Sounds like the rest of my plants will be here this week! Yeah. Any ways I sat down and read the instructions on my camera and I'm slowly getting this thing figured out. or not. Well after trying to get one of the discus to pose for a few hours I finally snapped a decent shot (compared to my previous attempts any ways).








Hopefully I will have this camera figured out in the next few days and after planting and scaping the tank, I may have some slightly more interesting pictures, but most likely blurry :wink:


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## Ibn (Nov 19, 2003)

Tank looks like it's progressing quite well. Can't wait to see what you replace the fast growers with and those discus in the tank.


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## aquatic-store.com (May 24, 2003)

Looking nice good luck with the new design


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## ThomE (Aug 26, 2004)

Hey Hop,

Nice looking tank roud: . Just one question, The second photo, Is that picture that bright because it was slightly over exposed or does the three lamps light up the room that much?

Also could you tell me how you set up your lighting? I'm start my own 125 tank and wanted as much background as possible before I dump $$$ into the wrong direction.

Yeah, I'm probably gonna scarf your ideas for my own tank. :icon_redf 

Thanks,
Thom


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## Hop (Mar 27, 2004)

Thanks Thom,

Well let's see. I this may or may not make sense as I'm getting off a 96 hour work week and elected to have some adult beverages and relax a little roud: 

The second picture is probably a mix of both. Some over exposure as I'm still figuring this camera out as well as it's really bright. If you notice from the first picture, I modified my canopy in order to hide the lights a little. This is not a permanent thing as I'm going to be moving this tank into the wall and the lights will then be hidden. Personally I love the metal halide lighting and I wouldn't change it. I absolutely love watching the glimmering that happens from and surface contact the fish make. And I've found that the coralife 55K full spectrum bulbs seem to give off more of a white light than a standard 55K bulb which is yellow. As far as price, I only paid about $300.00 for all of them. Check your local Police Department auctions. I found two for $50.00 from someone who had their hydroponic growing experiment raided. The third light I paid for outright, then bought new bulbs. You may find that PC is a better option, but like I said I really enjoy the MH lighting and 175 watt seems to be just about right.

I'll tell you that by doing things this way I have learned more about water chemistry in the past two months than in the ten years of previous dabbling in the hobby. I only wish that I could have timed the arrival of plants better. If this would have happened on time I think that my algea issues would have been minimal. To date I am still battleing a hair algae issue, but I found that if I keep my water changes to about 10-20% a week, along with close monitoring of nitrates and phosphates, it's slowly decreasing. My over all goal is more than just a tank, but really making a focal point to the room. Something that you really gasp at when you walk into the living room. When the tank is moved into the wall I'm going to start with a fresh water planted tank, but the stand I built will acomidate a 230 gallon also. I may or may not decide to make that a reef set up and move the 125 to the den. But anyhoo, I hope that helps. If you need any help let me know, but I think that you will find people that are much more experienced than I. I'm learning every single day with this tank  

Good Luck


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## Buck (Oct 13, 2002)

> When the tank is moved into the wall I'm going to start with a fresh water planted tank, but the stand I built will acomidate a 230 gallon also. I may or may not decide to make that a reef set up


 230 gallon planted perhaps ?? Did someone say "Discus Pond"... :wink:

Your tank is looking nice, I think another nice wall of Vals like you've got growing in the left corner on the right corner would look nice as well, maybe all the way to the stone pile ? roud: 
Everything looks like its growing well so the algae should take care of itself with time.

Great Job Hop


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## Hop (Mar 27, 2004)

Thanks Buck,

On the right side is a group of Crypt Balansea that are starting to get some size. It seems to really take some time for these to take hold, but they are growing now.

A 230 gallon fresh would be nice. Right now I have four large tanks going and it's taking some time away from the fam, so I thought that I could use a 55 and a 110 for the sump and a large refugeum. But it's not even in the planning stages yet, other than the tank size.

Thanks again, I'm hoping in between football games today I'll have some time to get some new pics taken as well as some much needed pruning on the tank


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## pufferfreak (Oct 19, 2003)

I want to see some new pics! I love the tank! I would try to get those vals all the way across the back wall of the tank really


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## Hop (Mar 27, 2004)

Well I was going to do some pruning as I think it was about time.








But as time went on I decided to prune , move and really take care of some decaying areas and thread algea. I think once things get growing again, I'm going to like this layout a little better. I still have half a five gallon bucket sitting here with plants though. Guess I might have to turn one of my 55s into a grow out tank unitl I figure which plants I really want to keep.








Also I'm still playing with the camera settings and was able to snap this shot. I guess it's easier with this guys, they don't move so darn much roud:


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## Buck (Oct 13, 2002)

LOL... you were ruthless with the stargrass Hop ! I see you moved it around the tank and in the back too, thats gonna look sharp. Thats the only way you can be with that stuff. I just wish they made it in the "laid back" version ! It's a perfect plant for a large tank. I also see the foreground grass lookin a bit thicker... roud: 

Lookin great Hop... !


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## pufferfreak (Oct 19, 2003)

very cool! Looks good still


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## BSS (Sep 24, 2004)

To me, it has a very natural look to it. I like it. Good job!


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## Momotaro (Feb 21, 2003)

Looks great! Don't get too drastic with the trimming!

I am with Buck on the Stargrass. I think it looks great in big aquariums when it is planted in big bunches.

Mike


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## Hop (Mar 27, 2004)

LOL, I know what you guys mean. I tried to keep the trimming to a minimum, but after I got to picking through, I found that the thread algea had choked out a bunch of stuff and turned it to brown mush. Then the star grass had gotten so thick that the bottom was dying. I think that what I did is working. i was pulling out quite a bit of thread algea a night, but tonight I got home and it was barely noticable. I hoping that this is the begining of the end of this vermin!!!!!


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## Hop (Mar 27, 2004)

*Let the destruction begin*

Well I finally got a few days off and after much pondering this morning, I elected to begin the construction or destruction of the soon-to-be new home for the 125. 

Hopefully this post doesn’t bore too many people, but after doing a lot of looking around on reefcentral.com, I decided to post progress or possibly the demolition/collapse of my home. With my wife’s approval and encouragement I am placing my current fresh water planted tank in the wall of our living room. It will be placed in and enclosed around a seldom-used closet. In a few years the topic has come up of starting up a large reef tank and this may be where it goes with another room built in the garage to house the refugeum, sump and other equipment.

At any rate here was the initial start of the project this morning.










And here is the progress after day one. What seemed like it was going to be fairly easy day turned out to be quite a challenge. I had to install temporary bracing while ripping out the old header before installing a new header over the bigger opening. Otherwise it was pretty strait forward, adding and taking away studs here and there. I finished tonight by building the platform that the tank will sit on and got it perfectly level. 









In the morning I will finish building the braces and supports for the stand and hopefully begin working on the decorative trim. Right now I am planning on placing cabinet style doors above and below the tank for maintenance and access. Sort of an in the wall cabinet. When and if I jump into a reef tank I will finish it off in dry wall and make it more of a living picture with all the access from behind.

If there are any contractors, framers etc. out there please feel free to cringe at will :icon_conf


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## Momotaro (Feb 21, 2003)

The door knob is below the level of the aquarium....right?

Mike


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## Hop (Mar 27, 2004)

> The door knob is below the level of the aquarium....right?


ROFL, Yup, this was what determined the height the aquarium will sit. I'm also placing a stop down there too! Thanks for the look out though, I'm certain something else will come up so shoot out any disasters you may see. Feel free to number them :eek5:


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## Dwarfpufferfish (May 29, 2004)

*The Door*

That door does look scary... LOL.. Anyway, I think it will look great in the wall with the cab style! VERY NOCE!


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## sn8k (May 24, 2004)

Looks like a lot of work is ahead of you, but I like the plan. Lookin good roud:


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## Momotaro (Feb 21, 2003)

> Quote:
> The door knob is below the level of the aquarium....right?
> 
> 
> ROFL, Yup, this was what determined the height the aquarium will sit. I'm also placing a stop down there too! Thanks for the look out though, I'm certain something else will come up so shoot out any disasters you may see. Feel free to number them


Gotta look out for each other!

Mike


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## bharada (Mar 5, 2004)

Is there a sitting area opposite the space where the tank will be? It seems a shame if the only time you get to look at the tanks is on you way in or out of the house


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## GDominy (Jul 30, 2002)

Now, you may be doing this already but I have to say it... on a 6 foot tank I would strongly suggest adding vertical supports every 2 feet (or even just a center support). Having survived one 135 Gallon tank rupture was quite enough for me to rethink my design choices.


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## putty (Nov 19, 2003)

Yeah, when I built my stand for my 90 (only 4 feet long), I used 2 2x4s on each corner and two in the middle. With a 6 footer, I would go with supports every 2 feet.

Remember that any bowing of the stand will put tremendous pressure on the glass, and could result in disaster.


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## Hop (Mar 27, 2004)

> bharada Is there a sitting area opposite the space where the tank will be? It seems a shame if the only time you get to look at the tanks is on you way in or out of the house


Bharada, 
Yes this was the main reason for moving the tank to begin with. After getting new furniture last year I had to move the 125 into the dining room. This made a bit of a segragation issue as I was constantly in the dining room relaxing and the family was in the living room. So after a year of thought, we elected to place the tank here. You can't see from the pictures, but the super comfy couch and lazy boy are about where I'm standing to take the pictures. So when you sit down you can check out the tank and the TV.



> sn8k Looks like a lot of work is ahead of you, but I like the plan. Lookin good


Tanks Sn8k,
Yeah it's a lot of work, but that's how the last year has been. Living in western Colorado, the wife wanted a "Cabin style" look to the house. So for the past year I've been doing and redoing a lot of wood work. It's seems to be paying off though. I love coming home and sitting in the house among the wood work. That combined with the fish really relaxes me.



> Dwarfpufferfish That door does look scary... LOL.. Anyway, I think it will look great in the wall with the cab style! VERY NOCE!


Thanks, and the angle makes the door knob look a lot closer than it really is. The tanks is going to sit nearly four feet off the ground.

Thanks to everyone!!!


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## Hop (Mar 27, 2004)

Whew.. All right, I got a late start today since the three-year-old came in and woke me up at 11:30 last night. She couldn’t sleep so we sat up late watching the adult swim on cartoon network. But I did manage to finish up the electrical, get the stand done and begin the decorative trim. Here is a pic of the stand mostly done.









The tank now has one dedicated circuit going to it, but I’m hoping that a friend will be willing to help me run another to the tank. The one thing in DIY that scares me is electricity, so I choose to call in the master electrician.

Well here is the progress after day 2. I’m not sure if I will have anything exciting to post for a while as most of the to do list consists of me, the garage and a router. Then I have to go back to the grind over the weekend.








Even though the stand is pretty strait and level I am going to be placing a 3/4 inch thick piece of foam down. I've read this works pretty good to cover any inperfections in the wood or tank. If some one has any experience with this, good or bad, please let me know!

Again I wanted to thank every one for the positive comments


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## Hop (Mar 27, 2004)

> GDominy Now, you may be doing this already but I have to say it... on a 6 foot tank I would strongly suggest adding vertical supports every 2 feet (or even just a center support). Having survived one 135 Gallon tank rupture was quite enough for me to rethink my design choices.





> Yeah, when I built my stand for my 90 (only 4 feet long), I used 2 2x4s on each corner and two in the middle. With a 6 footer, I would go with supports every 2 feet.


Sorry, somehow I missed your posts when I was adding my last pictures I think. As you can see there are now five supports in the front and three in the back. I've been tossing around the idea of adding two more to the back just as insurance. I agree that I would rather have too much than not enough support.

And I guess the humurous story is that I built a mamoth stand to hold a future 230 gallon tank which was fabricated to hold the 125 right now, but unfortunately it turns out that it was a bit too wide. I wouldn't have been able to move the studs out far enough in the corners of the closet and still add the new header. So I guess that stand will become a new workbench in the garage :icon_bigg


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## Momotaro (Feb 21, 2003)

> we sat up late watching the adult swim on cartoon network


My kind of kid! Too bad she missed Futurama!  

Mike


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## Hop (Mar 27, 2004)

> My kind of kid! Too bad she missed Futurama!


LOL, Yeah, but it made for a long night. It's not as fun to stay up all night watching toons as it once was :wink: 

Welp, got another late start today as SNOW is in the forcast. Had to blow out the sprinklers and do some other outdoor chores.

After doing some thinking as well as listening to some previous post, I added two more supports to the back. So now there are a total of five supports on the back and five on the front. I hope it holds :icon_bigg Otherwise I just finished up some woodwork around the house and did some maintenence on the 125.








Next week I'm going to finish up the doors on the lower portion of the stand and finish the upper cabinet. I'm still debating whether to make one large access panel over the top on hinges or two that match the lower cabinet. I also have to run some wood through the mill. I'm going to be placing two columns on either side of the tank and a decorative heading in order to pull the whole thing off and look like a nice peice of furniture. Or an expensive peice of junk destined to keep the house warm this winter in the stove :icon_conf 

Also here is a current shot of the tank. I will admit that it has been getting neglected as it waits for it's new home. If things go well I should have it in place in the next two weeks!!!


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## Buck (Oct 13, 2002)

You go Hop !
Thats going to look great when that space is done. The added supports were a good idea, peace of mind that didnt take to much more time...ya gotta love it. I definately dont envy the task of moving that tank, that alone is a major undertaking, let alone the remodeling end of its new spot...LOL

The _neglect of the tank_ as you call it is growing in nicely. roud: Are you going to replant the same or do you have a new plan in mind ?


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## Hop (Mar 27, 2004)

> Are you going to replant the same or do you have a new plan in mind ?


Ya know I'm not certain. I had a plan when I sat the tank up. but since then I have learned quite a few things. I learned that some plants just won't grow with the current water/tank set up. This could just be becuase of the essentially new tank or water conditions or both. I'm affraid to dose yet as I have not seen any defeciencies. This combined with just now getting the thread algea issue under control makes me wonder. I may stick with some easy to come by plants, work on the aqauscape and slowly go from there. Mostly I want an attractive, healthy tank. Any suggestions are more than welcome and encouraged.

I just subscribbed to TPT hosting so i'm posting a test pic to figure out how this thing works with one of my 55s.









Thanks Again!


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## Buck (Oct 13, 2002)

ya know something Hop...I never saw a "healthy" tank that was unattractive to me. I think more people have given up on the hobby because they pushed the limit and got into trouble with algae and the like and really missed out on the relaxing part. :wink: 
As many have found out, myself incuded, it is not all that easy to crank up the lights on these tanks and keep it in check...it is the downfall of many beginners. There is a tank recently posted here (forget who's but I will find it) that I really like and the main planting is only wysteria... but it is simplicity at its finest and natural looking. roud: 

Hey that 55 ya got is a good lookin tank as well... IMO that watersprite on the left is actually kinda taking away from that nice piece of wood though... LOL


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## Hop (Mar 27, 2004)

Buck,

I agree with you completely. I kept planted tanks for years with only A. Barteri and Java fern. I was completely happy with their slow growing, yet relaxing appearance. It wasn't until a time of unemployment did I get hooked on these higher tech, faster growing tanks and decided to experiment after seeing Amano's works. Although I love his and others perfectly manicured approach I still appreciate the look of some Dutch tanks with a lesser degree of focus on placement.
When I do move the tank I want to slow things down a bit. I'm planning on moving the MH lighting about ten inches or so higher than they are and hope this slows things a bit. Focus more on placement and continue to experiment with a more controlled environment.
As a side note, the water sprite in the 55 was just a little guy that got slapped in the front of the tank a while back in case I wanted to reintroduce it into the 125 later. There's also some melon sword, radican sword, Crypts and others hiding in there that may or may not get moved. But yeah, that plant’s time is coming, whether it’s moved or removed.


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## Hop (Mar 27, 2004)

*Home sick from work!*

Well I wasn't feeling too good this morning so I was ordered to go home sick. After a few more hours of sleep I didn't feel to bad so I elected to get some work done on the beast. Well sort of, it's so much harder working when the kids are home  

I was planning on doing all the wood work myself, but after pricing the router bits I needed (and would most likely not use again), we (the wife) decided on prefabbed moulding.
















And a senseless plug of the kids after a hard day of asking questions  








Hopefully only a few more days of work before moving the tank to it's new home. I have to finish the cabinet doors, the access over the tank, figure out the mounting for the MH lighting and decide how to hide the edges of the tank so that it appears to be a seemless picture of a larger system. and then the sanding and staining and polyeurothane and and.... :icon_conf


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## Buck (Oct 13, 2002)

Love the mantle effect roud:


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## Piscesgirl (Jan 20, 2004)

Wow, that is so impressive. I am always so in awe of folks that can build things! Wow!


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## Kimbo (Oct 30, 2004)

that tank looks awesome! and should look even better in its new home. i would go with the foam underneath it cant hurt and always helps!!


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## Hop (Mar 27, 2004)

Wanted to say thanks again for the positive comments, they keep me motivated.

Well I got some more work done today. As you may or may not have figured out I don’t lay out plans. I just have a picture in my head and figure out how to make it work. So after some fiddling around I got the upper door figured out. Hanging it was easy, but figuring out how to keep it closed and plumb was the hard part roud: . I did find dome magnet latches and they work perfectly.








I also managed to get one cabinet door finished and the pieces cut for the second. I’m having a hard time finding hidden hinges, but I have some other ideas going. Right now the door is just sitting in the hole.








So it’s getting closer. I found two 5” fans that I’m going to use to vent out the headspace above the tank. I’m still deciding whether to vent it into the house or the garage. I could always use more heat in the house in the winter :icon_conf .

So the journey continues and thanks again for the positive comments!


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## fishyboy (Nov 16, 2003)

i'd say go to the garageso you don't have humidity problems like we do... we have to run a dehumidifier constantly because of the tanks


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## Hop (Mar 27, 2004)

> i'd say go to the garageso you don't have humidity problems like we do... we have to run a dehumidifier constantly because of the tanks


LOL, I live in between the desert and the mountains. If I didn't have four large tanks in the house I would have to run a humidifier during parts of the year due to skin issues. Plus I'm trying to get down to two tanks instead of four when this is all over with. One reef tank and one planted discus tank. But I don't know. The other thing is that the garage gets pretty cold in the winter. I think that I would have just as many problems with a cold draft. If some one has any first hand experiences, pro or con, PLEASE let me know. Thanks!!!!!


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## Badcopnofishtank (Jan 20, 2004)

Hop, 
I will continue to follow this thread since I am considering putting a 240 in my dining room wall that adjoins my master bedroom. So far it is looking great. 
Do you have any problems so far with the MH's heating the water up? A small a/c unit may be the answer if you can position it out of the way in the adjoining wall. Either that or a chiller....$$$. 

Keep up the great work. roud:


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## Marc (Oct 13, 2004)

nice work...are you concidering putting some fans in there? could get a little hot?


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## Hop (Mar 27, 2004)

> Do you have any problems so far with the MH's heating the water up? A small a/c unit may be the answer if you can position it out of the way in the adjoining wall. Either that or a chiller....$$$.





> nice work...are you concidering putting some fans in there? could get a little hot?


This is the step that is under serious consideration right now. As of right now, the metal halides don't seem to heat the tank much at all. They are 12" off the top of the tank level and I'm sure they do heat the water to some degree, taking away some duty from the heaters, but I have not noticed.

I have two 5" fans that I was planning on using to vent out the head space over the tank. I'm not certain whether these will be enough or of I'll have to go for additional air movement. I'm hoping that I won't have to go the route of a chiller.


> I will continue to follow this thread since I am considering putting a 240 in my dining room wall that adjoins my master bedroom.


If it matters the hardest part is the planning and problem solving. The construction seems to go pretty smoothly. If you can problem solve before the building process and uncover problems before they happen, I think you'll have great and easy job a head of you!


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## Marc (Oct 13, 2004)

well if anything i think you will at least some fans in there, maybe one to draw air in and the other to push the hot air out. i think this maybe be one of the most important part of your set up that you may have to think about since it could be a potential fire hazzard, since everything is enclosed.

what about some sorta ventillation system routed to the roof?
Fans could be set up with your timmers...
Maybe some fans near the bottom to draw cool air in and another fan on top to push hot air hot...

just throwing out some ideas...


Marc


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## Hop (Mar 27, 2004)

> well if anything i think you will at least some fans in there, maybe one to draw air in and the other to push the hot air out. i think this maybe be one of the most important part of your set up that you may have to think about since it could be a potential fire hazzard, since everything is enclosed.


I completely agree. I think I figured out how to solve the problem today while pondering. I think I am going to run the fans out to the garage through exterior dryer vents. Then when the fans blow, the vent is open and when they are off, they shut, slowing down the amount of cold air entering. These 5" fans are cheap and powerfull. They are condenser fans from refridgerators, so the shelf life on these should be five to ten years and they are efficient. Then I was thinking of a intake vent on the lower left, out of sight. This would draw cold air in at the bottom, near the ballasts and exaust the hot air from the top. This is still in the planning stages, I may have to run a full test.

I thought about running a bathroom fan out the side, but from what I read on another site, these seem to be more headache than function. and taking the air out the roof would be a nightmare as I have 32' vaulted ceilings :icon_conf .

Thanks Agian for the input, keep the ideas coming. Surley there is a real solution in these ideas!!!!


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## Marc (Oct 13, 2004)

Its hard to tell how much you have to work with, with just the front pictures. But that sounds like a good idea with the vent. Also i dont think it wouldnt hurt to have a stationary fan inside for extra circulation.

Yeah dont even bother with the bathroom style vents...

Keep us posted!!

Marc


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## g8wayg8r (Dec 24, 2003)

Nice set-up. You aren't planning on a move anytime soon, are you?

How do you manage the plumbing to get water in and out of the tank? All I've had to manage is handled with a 2.5 gallon pale, a tall kitchen trash can and the vinyl tube.

P.S. I feel your pain with thread algae. Fortunately, it gets better as the plants get more established and the tank fills in.


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## Hop (Mar 27, 2004)

Ok, finally some time to sit and read, research and type. The wife had to have another surgery today so i had to take care of her and the kids. I'm tired and didn't accomplish anything. :icon_redf 


> Its hard to tell how much you have to work with, with just the front pictures. But that sounds like a good idea with the vent. Also i dont think it wouldnt hurt to have a stationary fan inside for extra circulation.


Well basically the closet sits in a cut out into the garage. Aside from a hot water heater I have free reign behind and to the right of the pictures. When the tank is in place I will have a foot of clearence all the way around the sides of the tank and about four feet over it. I'm shooting for overkill here as I am either planing on converting this tank to a reef tank a few years in the future or replacing it with a 230 gallon. it's all up in the air right now. If this happens I will be converting a 6'X10' space behind the tank for a wet room to house a sump, refugeium, frag tank etc. So to sum it up, I would like the extra ventilation now incase I add additional lighting later. I beleive that by my calculations that with two fans I should be overturning the total air volume in the closet 12-14 times per hour. I think this would be pleanty. After searching another site for a few hours I found that heat is actually the secondary issue that others with similar set ups have encountered. Humidity seems to be their biggest problem. I don't think this will be a problem at all here as the air is so dry.


> Nice set-up. You aren't planning on a move anytime soon, are you?


Nope, I only have fourteen more years of payments :icon_bigg Plus I only have to work for twelve more years and would retire at 43 with a full pention!!!


> How do you manage the plumbing to get water in and out of the tank? All I've had to manage is handled with a 2.5 gallon pale, a tall kitchen trash can and the vinyl tube.


The BEST possible advice... By a python it will save you so much work. On water change day at my house I change about 200 gallons between four tanks. I have been debating about punching a hole in the floor under the tank and installing a drain and running some plumbing up with a spiket under the tank. It's all possible, I just don't know how in depth I wan't to go.LOL


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## Hop (Mar 27, 2004)

Getting Closer!!! I was able to finish up the second door and begin some detail work. If things go well on the next set of days off, I'll be able to stain and seal every thing, as well as get the cooling done. Then in one week.... The big move :icon_conf


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## eums (Sep 16, 2004)

looking good !!! is it going to be painted or stained ?


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## Hop (Mar 27, 2004)

Everything visible is going to be stained to match the door and handrail. Everything not visible will be painted. Can't wait for that day. I am pretty sure that after the staining process I will need to go to an abusing substance anonymous meeting :wink:


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## Hop (Mar 27, 2004)

Well it was a crazy week at work, then I only had two days off, work a midnight shift, one day off and back to working the day shift... Whew, So not much new this week. I was able to get the first coat of stain on. I have to do it one more time to match the door and railing, then polyeurothane. I spent most of the time trouble shooting, making sure my ventilation idea would work and cut the rigid foam that will go under the tank. Then I spent yesterday doing a water change and maintenace on the tank. Not too exciting.


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## unirdna (Jan 22, 2004)

Man, I love this thread! I've been stumbling into it for a while now, but need to get myself on the mailing list (thus, the post). I love this DIY stuff, especially the wood.

Does the top assembly of boards detach?

Ted


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## VaporFlowers (Jul 13, 2004)

This is looking *incredible*. I really hope the move goes well, it'll absolutely be worth it.


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## Hop (Mar 27, 2004)

> Man, I love this thread! I've been stumbling into it for a while now, but need to get myself on the mailing list (thus, the post). I love this DIY stuff, especially the wood.





> Does the top assembly of boards detach?


unirdna,
Thanks. I hope the project finishes up as smooth as it bega. Getting down to the last few interior issues. But, yes the top cabinet swings up for access and can be removed with six screws for the big jobs!


> This is looking *incredible*. I really hope the move goes well, it'll absolutely be worth it.


VaporFlowers,
Me too. I've been wanting to do this for years. Can't beleive it's getting closer. I'll tell you what though... Talk about serious apprehension, standing there with a hammer, screw driver and prybar on day one... Asking myself... Am I ready for this?

Thanks again!!!


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## BSS (Sep 24, 2004)

Lookin' awesome (fixed major typo!). Go, Hop, go!

Brian.


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## Hop (Mar 27, 2004)

Well after much debate and some expert advice from someone else who has completed a similar set-up, I elected to vent the space over the tank into the house. I am going to monitor the humidity and if it gets too high I will revamp the set up with exterior ventilation. So I managed to get the 6” fan mounted and the grill in place. I’m not sure the current vent is what I am going to use, but for now it keeps the kids fingers out of the blades!!! I'm also going to use one more fan to blow accross the width of the tank. This should vent out 14 times the air volume per hour.

















So one more task down. I'm hoping that this week I can get the finishing touches on and get the tank moved late this week or early next.

Just wanted to say thanks again for all the positive comments!!!!


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## Hop (Mar 27, 2004)

Well I managed to get up early and got everything painted. Turns out I had some very strong help coming over this evening so I began the tear down process. With a little help from the kids I managed to get the fish and plants relocated for the time being. I then got the MH lighting mounted and the tank drained. After a few more hours of back breaking work, I was able to get the gravel out and the tank ready. Once the reenforcements arrived... wha-la, tank fits in hole... Whoooohooo.








Here are a few pics of the "Dry run" no substrate etc. I never knew Flourite was such a pain. There was only a little dust left on the bottom after the move, I can't believe how much of a cloud it stirred up.
Any ways, the tank, stand and everything held great, so I drained the water, added substrate and began hooking up the toys. In fact I'm just taking a bit of a rest here while a submit a few pics. Still have a lot of work to do. I want to run the tank for a few weeks and make sure everything is working right and then I will trim the tank in!!!!








Well back to work... Or maybe an adult beverage :icon_bigg


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## sn8k (May 24, 2004)

Awesome job Hop - it's looking fantastic roud: :icon_bigg


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## Hop (Mar 27, 2004)

Thank you Sn8k, I'm getting pretty excited.

Well I thought I would settle down and take some pics while the dust dies down a little.
























So far everything seems to be doing quite well and the ventilation is working better than expected. You can barely hear any noise from the sitting area, so that was a plus also!


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## Ibn (Nov 19, 2003)

Great work so far. The amount of work and thoughts which you've put into setting it all up is really evident by the results. Tank looks great and the aquascape isn't shabby either. :wink: 

Can't wait to see more pictures of the tank in the days to come when it starts to fill in.


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## Marc (Oct 13, 2004)

i must agree with Ibn, what a great set up. Im glad you got the ventilation set up the way you wanted! Plus you can always prop the top door open on hot days they way it is now for fresh air. either way great work!


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## pufferfreak (Oct 19, 2003)

ok wow, very very nice!! Tank looks great and the stand!!! Very cool! I love the way the wood works together with the plants like that, looks so nice. Lucky lol


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## Silent Running (Sep 13, 2004)

Man, that looks fantastic! I can't wait to see more pics.


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## unirdna (Jan 22, 2004)

I must have missed it earlier that you were going with Halides ($$$$). That is a real Cadillac setup. And it always feels good to dust off the old HOT Mag . Can't wait til it grows in. 

PS. That half-circle piece of wood to the left is just begging for something green to grow on it.


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## pufferfreak (Oct 19, 2003)

for some reason I vote for Ricca to grow on that wood with weights of corse. hmmm


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## Hop (Mar 27, 2004)

> Great work so far. The amount of work and thoughts which you've put into setting it all up is really evident by the results. Tank looks great and the aquascape isn't shabby either.





> i must agree with Ibn, what a great set up. Im glad you got the ventilation set up the way you wanted! Plus you can always prop the top door open on hot days they way it is now for fresh air. either way great work!


Thanks guys. Yeah the cooling works very well. I'm going to wind up placing the interior fan on a timer so that it runs about fifteen minutes per hour.


> ok wow, very very nice!! Tank looks great and the stand!!! Very cool! I love the way the wood works together with the plants like that, looks so nice. Lucky lol


Thanks, didn't plan it a bit.LOL, just had an idea burning holes in my head for the past year or so... Still no where close to done though.


> Man, that looks fantastic! I can't wait to see more pics.


TY, I'll snap a few more pics when the dust dies down. It's getting better and the temp came up, so I got my fish back in... Or at least most of them. I had five rasboras liberate themselves overnight from the 40 gallon holding facility :icon_frow Everyone else made it out great.


> I must have missed it earlier that you were going with Halides ($$$$). That is a real Cadillac setup. And it always feels good to dust off the old HOT Mag . Can't wait til it grows in.


Actually I only paid full price on one of these CL fixtures. I got two from a Police auction. Seems it's ilegal to use these to grow certain plants. LOL, I got two w/ balasts for $50.00. Then bought new 65k lights.


> PS. That half-circle piece of wood to the left is just begging for something green to grow on it.


Well I have some java fern tied to it right now. i did have some moss growing on it at one time, but it is appearantly a great snack for someone in my tank. This will be one of my ten lessons learned I may post later. That and a discus with OCD will in fact pick all the leave off an e. stellata nearly over night if he's pissed off roud: 

Thanks again for the great comments!


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## travis (Nov 17, 2004)

That is outstanding work Hop! I have definitely found the right bunch of fanatics here at Planted Tank.  You guys are obsessed like I am. These are the kinds of tanks I've been looking for on the net for some time now. Just incredilbe! roud:


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## Hop (Mar 27, 2004)

Thanks Travis, it's nice to see a fellow aquarium obsessed Coloradoian here!!!! :icon_bigg


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## aquaverde (Apr 15, 2003)

Whew, what excellence.
You've turned out to be quite the cabinet maker, Hop.


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## Hop (Mar 27, 2004)

All right, welp nearly time to go back to the grind of the three day work week. The dust is calming donw a bit so I snapped a couple more pics.
















Well I hope everyone has a good weekend!!!!!!


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## Kimbo (Oct 30, 2004)

tank is looking mighty fine!!


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## amanda huggenkiss (Mar 3, 2004)

Hop, it's looking fabulous. It must be so satisfying to see it all come together after all that hard work. roud:


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## amber2461 (Sep 26, 2004)

Very nice indeed, job well done ! roud:


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## VaporFlowers (Jul 13, 2004)

Finally, yay!!!!! ::wild applause:: The suspense had been killing me. roud: Any more fish closeups coming soon?


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## Hop (Mar 27, 2004)

Thanks guys I really appreciate it! Yeah it's nice to see it coming together. I've got a bit more to do and then it's time for the fine tuning. I've got to get better at managing the water quality and get that down. I really have a great idea in my head as to what I want the tank to look like, but if I can't get the parameter issues dialed in it may be all for not. Time to go back to reading and reading some more. I found out last night that my nitrate kit expired so I have to figure out what test kits to buy now :icon_conf and then concentrate on getting it to have the same healthy look as those featured here by Buck, Momo, Rumples, shalu's, Sn8k's and others. I can't wait!

Oh and I would love to do some more close up shots. I have to use my camera from work though, my camera is not that great. PLus you can really see the inperfections with the plants when they are taken that close :icon_bigg


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## travis (Nov 17, 2004)

Hop - I had the same problem with getting my fert levels in the water set up right. Then a friend pointed me to Tom Barr's Estimative Index dosing routine. It is so simple and easy to use that, since I got the amounts my tank needed figured out, I've almost quit using my test kits. It's almost effortless and works amazingly well. I can't recommend it enough. I'm going on and on like you've never heard of it, so forgive me if you have :icon_redf

Keep us posted on the tank pics roud:


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## enchanted (Sep 23, 2004)

It is a great tank and design.  Inspired me and I will be posting soon as I start a couple projects based of this concept.


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## Georgiadawgger (Apr 23, 2004)

That's pretty sweet!! I like the stain job too. One of these days, I may take on a project like that!


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## Aquabobo (Sep 24, 2004)

DINE-O-MITE! Awesome work Hop. roud:


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## pufferfreak (Oct 19, 2003)

Very nice, about that round peice of wood in the middle of the "wood pile" on the left, I think it should have Erect Moss. That would look cool! Nice tank, and nice Discus also!


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## Buck (Oct 13, 2002)

The tank looks fantastic Hop, once all the plants start to take off and the tank matures you will have a dandy of a showpiece ! The family must be lovin the tank eh bro ? roud:


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## Hop (Mar 27, 2004)

Thanks for the replies! Only one more night of work this week!! A bit of a funny story, I was looking in the tank yesterday and saw this little stem sticking up from the gravel. After further inspection I found that I have a tiger lotus (red) growing. THe funny part is that this bulb is over a year old and been through two tear downs and two tanks. I had left it in the substrate and forgot about it. I had two lotus plants before but they melted when I was trying to treat the BBA issues I had months ago. And its growing in a decent spot, don' think I'll have to move it :icon_bigg


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## Hop (Mar 27, 2004)

*Time to clean the wood shop!*

If I'm not mistaken, I believe that the wood work is complete! Not sure if I'm excited that it's over or not. It certainly gave me something to do over the past couple months. The only this left right now is to find the hidden hinges I want and maybe adjust the cabinet doors.

So I am now concentrating on getting the parameters down. I got on my local city's web site and checked out thier online water report. It really didn't help. It doesn't list the PO4, K or FE levels. A phone call was even less helpful. I guess I'm going to have to go ahead and get some test kits ordered before I can start the estimative dosing routine. I'm already starting with a thread algea issue again and based on my nitrate level I can only assume at this time that the local water supply is high in PO4.

Any ways here are a couple pics that I took today of the finished wood work and tank in general!


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## travis (Nov 17, 2004)

Hop, that looks even better than I expected it would - and I had some very high expectations after watching it being constructed  If I had something like that in my home you wouldn't ever have to look very far to find me. I think big tanks like that put TV all to shame - there's always so much going on, I can't get tired of looking at them. Beautiful, beautiful work! You should be extremely proud of such an incredible showpiece.


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## Hop (Mar 27, 2004)

Thanks Travis, it really makes it feel like an acomplishment with the positive comments here. The people at work think I'm just a tad off kilter  
But yeah for two nights in a row the better half and I didn't watch a lick of TV. Tonight the kids watched something and I zoned into the tank for a good solid two hours! Only the lights turning off sent me into the office.


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## amanda huggenkiss (Mar 3, 2004)

Hop said:


> ...The people at work think I'm just a tad off kilter


Hee. I know what you mean. A friend of mine from work came to my place for the first time this summer (back when I still had three tanks going), and her first comment was "what's with all the fish?" :hihi:

But you're among friends here Hop!


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## m3th0d (Jun 27, 2004)

Wow, I envy your craftsmanship! You've really done a brilliant job with the whole setup, you should be proud of yourself. And the tank's lookin' great too!


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## unirdna (Jan 22, 2004)

Hop said:


> The people at work think I'm just a tad off kilter


It's hard to imagine anyone not wanting a tank like that, but we all pick our pleasures. A buddy of mine owns/collects/fixes cars. He has built entire sheds to simply house his overflowing stock. He was showing me his 'collection' one time, and I asked,"why so many? you only need one car to get you to work." I've never seen such a look of contempt :hihi: .

Great call using the hygro, Hop. If anything will suck the nutrients out of a tank, it's that stuff. My first choice for setting up a new tank roud: .

What do you call that corregated looking leaf on the far left. I've seen it in other tanks, and it looks pretty groovy when you get a big chunk together.


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## travis (Nov 17, 2004)

Yes, I've got a plant question too  The plant on the far left is some sort of crypt, possibly spiralis, retrospiralis, or maybe even a balansae, hard for me to get any more specific though, I haven't grown any of those before.

I see a small bunch of what looks like Ceratopters siliquosa (possibly just a growth form of C. thalictroides) to the immediate right of the foreground wood below the Hygro. It's got a bright green color with finely pinnate leaf structure. Am I right in thinking it's a Ceratopteris plantlet?


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## Hop (Mar 27, 2004)

Well thanks again, I know I'm in the right place!


> What do you call that corregated looking leaf on the far left. I've seen it in other tanks, and it looks pretty groovy when you get a big chunk together.


I beleive the one you are refering to is C. balansae. I'm really hoping that these take off like the C. Wendtii (bronze).


> I see a small bunch of what looks like Ceratopters siliquosa (possibly just a growth form of C. thalictroides) to the immediate right of the foreground wood below the Hygro. It's got a bright green color with finely pinnate leaf structure. Am I right in thinking it's a Ceratopteris plantlet?


The plant I think you are tanking about is in fact a scrap piece if Ceratopteris thalictroides that was floating in another tank. As a last minute "hey that's a nutrient hog" thought I slapped it in there. As it grows I have no intent on keeping it there :icon_bigg 
I'll get a complete plant list together and post it here today. With out wood working to do I have all sorts of time. I do have to do maintenance on the tank today and I'm debating tearing down one of my 55s that needs repair and puting the lemon tetras and corys in the 125. Then I have 2 Killi fish that need to be placed along with a flying fox. And I didn't think I'd have anything to do :icon_frow


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## Ibn (Nov 19, 2003)

The tank is progressing alone very nicely and props again for the work that went into it.


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## Hop (Mar 27, 2004)

Current Plant List

Cryptocoryne Balansae
Cryptocoryne Wendiii (bronze)
Hygrophila Polysperma (I think)
Ceratopteris thalictroides
Anubias Barteri
Microsorium pteropus
Rotala rotundifolia
Heteranthera zosterifolia
Eleocharis parvula
Nympaea Lotus (red just growing)
Vallisneria spiralis

The more delicate plants I ordered unfortunately either became a snack (discus picked E- Stellata clean in one evening before I could catch him) or were lost during the thread algae invasion (Mayaca fluviatilis, didiplis diandra and others)

Current stocking

4 Snakeskin Discus
25 Harlequin Red Rasboras
1 long tailed rosy barb (stick kicking after about 8 years)
6 Ottos
1 SAE
1 Clown pleco

I may or may not add today:
8 lemon tetras
3 corys
2 Killifish


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## John P. (Apr 10, 2004)

Nice work. My wife would kill me before I ever started such a project!  LOL.


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## ksand (Oct 19, 2004)

It's a real pleasure to follow this thread from the beginning and watch this major project unfold. The pictures are great. So glad I found this forum.... and the things you can learn..... high-intensity lighting at police auctions... Wow.


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## Hop (Mar 27, 2004)

> Nice work. My wife would kill me before I ever started such a project! LOL.


 John P,
You know it took me a long time to find the right woman, she loves to sit and watch the tank at night and encourages the obsession. About a year ago we were looking at some intense set ups on reefcentral and I mentioned that I would love to do an inwall tank. After some figuring, measuring and dreaming, we both decided to put the tank in the wall. She actually wants a full blown reef set up there. Then she has a 110 fish only tank right now in our den and she wants that to become a planted tank. She really likes the look of Sn8ks tall tank, so I think it will get modeled after his to some degree.



> It's a real pleasure to follow this thread from the beginning and watch this major project unfold. The pictures are great. So glad I found this forum.... and the things you can learn..... high-intensity lighting at police auctions... Wow.


ksand,
Thanks, it was actually fun to put it together. I kind of miss the project now that its done. The good news is that I have a lot more time to sit and enjoy the progress now. I'm in the planning stages now of building a wet room behind the tank for it's transformation into a reef tank a year or so down the road.


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## Buck (Oct 13, 2002)

> I'm in the planning stages now of building a wet room behind the tank for it's transformation into a reef tank a year or so down the road.


Booooooooo, Hisssssssss... :tongue: :icon_bigg


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## Hop (Mar 27, 2004)

But (with head hung low, kicking rocks)... I'll still have one or two planted tanks.... honest :icon_sad:


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## ThomE (Aug 26, 2004)

Hop said:


> But (with head hung low, kicking rocks)... I'll still have one or two planted tanks.... honest :icon_sad:



That's what they all say. :angryfire 

Just Joking :tongue: . That wall would be a great set up for a salt tank. They offer a lot of great colors.

You might want to get a 210 reef ready tank into that spot ... Down the road.  

Good luck


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## sn8k (May 24, 2004)

Hop - it looks fantastic, just an awesome job with both the tank & the enclosure roud: . I was wondering how you were going to frame in the corner edges where I could see the exposed edges of the sheetrock, and the framing it with edge molding was a nice finishing touch. I guess it's now like you said - just kicking back and admiring your hard work. It certainly is a great showpiece - something anyone would be proud to have created. My hats off to ya :icon_bigg


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## amanda huggenkiss (Mar 3, 2004)

Oh, Hop. So this whole thread's just been a big tease then??


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## Hop (Mar 27, 2004)

> That's what they all say.
> 
> Just Joking . That wall would be a great set up for a salt tank. They offer a lot of great colors.
> 
> You might want to get a 210 reef ready tank into that spot ... Down the road.





> Oh, Hop. So this whole thread's just been a big tease then??


ROFL. I'm not 100% certain, it all just depends. There is a small chance that we will be adding an addition to the house. If that is the case I will keep the 125 where it is, just like it is and have my dream room with large tanks. I was pricing 10' tenecor tanks last night... Hmmm... It's all a waiting game right now. I would love a 700 + gallon reef. Not sure my poor family could take that.


> Hop - it looks fantastic, just an awesome job with both the tank & the enclosure . I was wondering how you were going to frame in the corner edges where I could see the exposed edges of the sheetrock, and the framing it with edge molding was a nice finishing touch. I guess it's now like you said - just kicking back and admiring your hard work. It certainly is a great showpiece - something anyone would be proud to have created. My hats off to ya


Thanks Sn8k,
I was begining to wonder myself how I was going to cap the edges. I finally took some scraps and the router and made some small trim pieces (not sure if you can see them too well with the provided pics, but there are a lot of subtle details. 

Hope you all have a great weekend, I'm off to work for four days! Cya


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## GDominy (Jul 30, 2002)

Hop said:


> ROFL. I'm not 100% certain, it all just depends. There is a small chance that we will be adding an addition to the house. If that is the case I will keep the 125 where it is, just like it is and have my dream room with large tanks. I was pricing 10' tenecor tanks last night... Hmmm... It's all a waiting game right now. I would love a 700 + gallon reef. Not sure my poor family could take that.


This is the right idea... But, if you are building the addition to your house, buying a ready made tank to fit isnt the right idea... For one, larger prefab tanks like that become probitively expensive... And two, why build your addition around someone elses design?

If you are thinking about building an addition... Build your own tank, or bring in a contractor to build the tank in for you. I am in the process of designing my own house with a 20' long tank built into the wall... The front will contain 3, 6 foot windows (with a one foot support pillar of concrete between them)and the rest of the tank will be made from concrete and be part of the foundation.

This way, I can have my tank totally seperate from the house as far as humidity is concerned, and it will cost less to build the tank into the wall then building around it. 

It does help that I have an aquarium manufacturing company in my city who can do this for me.. But ask around, you never know.


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## RoseHawke (Mar 10, 2004)

Wow. And again, Wow :icon_eek: . I just stumbled across this thread today and I am totally in awe. I see you've got 3 different kinds of wood in your surround; knotty pine, whitewood (basswood) and oak? I thought the oak was cedar until you stained it. I wouldn't have thought they would work so well together without seeing it. I'm fixing to build a mantel and finally ended up ordering the oak trim I need after not being able to find it locally. Like you, I figured trying to make what I wanted after buying the tools to make it with (don't have a decent router and no router table --- yet  ) even with shipping it'll be much less expensive. I did a stain test of the whitewood molding against a piece of oak and in my case it's not going to work. YOURS however looks wonderful.

Oh, nice tank, too  .


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## Hop (Mar 27, 2004)

> This is the right idea... But, if you are building the addition to your house, buying a ready made tank to fit isnt the right idea... For one, larger prefab tanks like that become probitively expensive... And two, why build your addition around someone elses design?
> 
> If you are thinking about building an addition... Build your own tank, or bring in a contractor to build the tank in for you. I am in the process of designing my own house with a 20' long tank built into the wall... The front will contain 3, 6 foot windows (with a one foot support pillar of concrete between them)and the rest of the tank will be made from concrete and be part of the foundation.
> 
> ...


Thanks for the input. I'm not sure what direction I am going to head. The idea is to turn our garage, 30' X 30' into a larger living room with the full home theater set up/fish room. I was thinking on a 10' to 12' main tank with our 110 as a divider at the entrance viewable from three sides. Then we would build a larger garage/wood shop next to the house. This is kind of my retirement plan, to keep working, building furniture and such. At any rate, it's in the mix for the five year plan. But it's certainly something to put in the ideas for the room.


> Wow. And again, Wow . I just stumbled across this thread today and I am totally in awe. I see you've got 3 different kinds of wood in your surround; knotty pine, whitewood (basswood) and oak? I thought the oak was cedar until you stained it. I wouldn't have thought they would work so well together without seeing it. I'm fixing to build a mantel and finally ended up ordering the oak trim I need after not being able to find it locally. Like you, I figured trying to make what I wanted after buying the tools to make it with (don't have a decent router and no router table --- yet ) even with shipping it'll be much less expensive. I did a stain test of the whitewood molding against a piece of oak and in my case it's not going to work. YOURS however looks wonderful.
> 
> Oh, nice tank, too .


Thanks Rosehawke, I appreciate the compliment. It was really a joy putting this together. I've spent the last two nights just zoning in front of it after a crazy work week. I guess I was a little a head of the game in the planing, despite that nothing was ever put on paper. I just had an idea and went for it. it was based on the over all room design that I don't think I have posted yet. I think this will give everyone an idea on the placement and feel of the room, although the trim was not done at the time.








The otherthing that helps is my father-in-law is an CAD designer and dones unbeleivable woodwork in his spare time. It keeps me pushing.

Thanks again for the great comments. here is a pic I took yesturday before a water change and some slight pruning. I think I'm starting to get the parameters in check as the thread algae is slowly going away! Sorry it's a little blurry, but I didn't want to drag out my ******* tripod :icon_bigg


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## Troy McClure (Feb 22, 2004)

The Simpsons, season 13 episode 17, "Gump Roast"....yet another clip show...

The tank looks stunning, especially the left side with the driftwood's arrangement. The small vertical piece on the right side looks out of place to me, but other than that - great job!!!


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## Dwarfpufferfish (May 29, 2004)

Hop,
WOW!

That’s all I can muster up! I don’t know what else to say, it fits your room like a glove, it is gorgeous, what more can you want from a planted tank set up! Once you get water params down, I am SURE your tank will be one of the tops on this board!

** Just a little side note for Troy McClure, I thought I would be the only one to get the episode from just 1 frame! Good to see I am not the only Simpsons/Aqurium freak out there. BTW, I have yet to find a 3 eyed round orange fish, fresh or salt! **


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## Hop (Mar 27, 2004)

> The Simpsons, season 13 episode 17, "Gump Roast"....yet another clip show...
> ** Just a little side note for Troy McClure, I thought I would be the only one to get the episode from just 1 frame! Good to see I am not the only Simpsons/Aqurium freak out there. BTW, I have yet to find a 3 eyed round orange fish, fresh or salt! **


You guys are demented :icon_bigg 


> The tank looks stunning, especially the left side with the driftwood's arrangement. The small vertical piece on the right side looks out of place to me, but other than that - great job!!!


Thanks troy! I too feel the drift wood seems out of place. I'm hoping that when the crypt to the left and a lotus grows in around it it will look better. Also next time I'm down in the "city", I'll pick up a few more pots of hair grass to fill in. I got sick of trying to transplant it from the old set up so I threw it away. I have a few tufts of hairgrass and a few micro swords growing in there. I want to see which one is really going to take off.


> Hop,
> WOW!
> 
> That’s all I can muster up! I don’t know what else to say, it fits your room like a glove, it is gorgeous, what more can you want from a planted tank set up! Once you get water params down, I am SURE your tank will be one of the tops on this board!


Thanks Dwarf. I really just did it for the enjoyment of the family. I know it's got a long way to go, but it really relaxes the family and I. The only down side is that I'm working nights right now and the lights go off way too early. I'm planning a trip to the electronics store soon to piece together some moon lights roud:


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## Fat Guy (Nov 19, 2003)

nice work!!


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## aquaverde (Apr 15, 2003)

I don't want to keep drooling all over the thread, but I have to say that's some rare work, and the fit in the room is truly great. Man, you have a prime place to relax, there.


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## Buck (Oct 13, 2002)

And to think... some people just hang pictures... :wink: 

All the hard work paid off Hop... that tank rocks and the room looks beautiful, I cant wait to see this tank 4 months from now !


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## pufferfreak (Oct 19, 2003)

OMG i'm comming over to your house to steal some stuff! Joking! I wouldnt mind if you adopted me though haha....


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## Hop (Mar 27, 2004)

Thanks again for the compliments!


> And to think... some people just hang pictures...


LOL, Even that would take a weekend at my house after the wife couldn't find a frame she liked, I would be in the garage building the dream frame roud: 


> OMG i'm comming over to your house to steal some stuff! Joking! I wouldnt mind if you adopted me though haha....


You may want to spend a few minutes speaking with my kids before you decided wether that would be a smart option or not :icon_conf


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## Piscesgirl (Jan 20, 2004)

That is just beautiful! I'm just so in awe! 

Your dogs are cute too - one checking out what's going on outside, and the other appears to be watching the tank!


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## pufferfreak (Oct 19, 2003)

well how old are your kids, i'm 16 lol


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## Buck (Oct 13, 2002)

> Your dogs are cute too - one checking out what's going on outside, and the other appears to be watching the tank!


They are waitin for pufferfreak to either fill a suitcase or empty one ! :hihi:


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## Hop (Mar 27, 2004)

> They are waitin for pufferfreak to either fill a suitcase or empty one !


ROFL, Like I said I think pufferfreak would want to speak with my kids. The three year old is too young to know, but the nine year old may give you tales about the household being similar to a Siberian boot camp...JJ


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## pufferfreak (Oct 19, 2003)

haha nice, I wouldnt care, at least i'd have that pimp butt tank to mess with!


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## Hop (Mar 27, 2004)

Well I think things are finally balancing out. Everything is great for 4-5 days following the water change and I'm dosing regularly, then on day 5 or the day before the water change.... POW... Thread algea. Takes about an hour to pull it all out on water change day, but hey it's getting there. New test kits should be here today or tomarrow. Otherwise things are really starting to grow. I have to take out tons of hygro each week and the Rotala Rotundifolia and Heteranthera Zosterifolia are begining to take hold. The R. Rotundifolia seem to be growing 4-5 inches a week. Got to top it last week plant the tops.








been playing with the camera a lot, here are a few pics.
































I think once the tank balances out I am going to try my hand at glosso again, but I don't want to see it all go to mush like the last batch I had. I really want to do a hairgrass bottom with glosso paths, but who knows. roud:


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## Urkevitz (Jan 12, 2004)

That hygro bush looks great. I wish I didn't throw mine out, it isn't being sold where I live anymore.


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## Brennor (Mar 8, 2004)

Great tank Hop, really good job roud:


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## Hop (Mar 27, 2004)

> That hygro bush looks great. I wish I didn't throw mine out, it isn't being sold where I live anymore.


You know if you really want some I throw out a bowling ball sized group every two weeks or so. And oddly the thread algea never touches this stuff.

I actually got four miserable, brittle dying stems in february from a LFS for free as it was all dying in his tank. Now look at it. Same with my crypts. They were sitting there all BBA infested at pet's mart and I talked the girl into giving it to me. There was only about five leaves, about 1 1/2 inches tall. Now I have three huge plants from that one ugly duckling. I just realized that maybe I should quit buying healthy plants, the ones that do best in my tank are the unwanted runts :icon_roll


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## Aquabobo (Sep 24, 2004)

I said it before, and I'll say it again. That is one great looking tank. And, of course, as it all "comes together", it only looks better. roud: (Tip my hat)


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## Hop (Mar 27, 2004)

Well after keeping tanks for over a decade I knew it would happen. I successfully did an unexpected 30% water change today, a day early and without even being home. My wife came home to find that a hose clamp broke and my filter was in the process of dumping 165 gallons per hour on the floor. She expected me to be really upset, but I got tell you, It was a great laugh for most of the day. I knew I should have placed the water alarm and drain in there while I had the chance :icon_conf .


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## teddo10 (Nov 9, 2004)

Congrats roud: , join the club. I'm so very glad we have floor tiles, I,ve seen water om a few occasions :icon_redf 
Ed


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## Buck (Oct 13, 2002)

Your wife handled the emergency well then I take it Hop ! 
Im sure _she_ wasnt laughing about it all day... :wink: 
Hey I dont know how I missed those updated photo's but I gotta tell ya the tank looks fantastic! 
I like the open stone look in that tank...I wouldnt get too carried away with a foreground, maybe a nice hairgrass covering the right side to the center, but I would leave the gravel in front of the wood... its an awesome look you have with the hygro and wood edge.

The h. poly is a fast grower indeed and is a great fit in your tank Hop, maybe a few stems of the sunset variety mixed in would give a nice splash of color. :icon_idea


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## ThomE (Aug 26, 2004)

Hey Hop,

You have a pic of the water change :tongue: . Sorry, Just following this thread so closely it feels like we were there. The only problem is what if nobody is home ... hhhmmmm, I wonder If a tank alarm goes off when there is nobody home, Does it really make a sound ?


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## Hop (Mar 27, 2004)

> Congrats , join the club. I'm so very glad we have floor tiles, I,ve seen water om a few occasions
> Ed


Yeah the tile was a reallife saver. Did loose a few cardboard boxes though :icon_bigg 


> Your wife handled the emergency well then I take it Hop !
> Im sure she wasnt laughing about it all day...


She handled the mop up like a true warrior. She only called about six times. How do you...... 


> Hey I dont know how I missed those updated photo's but I gotta tell ya the tank looks fantastic!
> I like the open stone look in that tank...I wouldnt get too carried away with a foreground, maybe a nice hairgrass covering the right side to the center, but I would leave the gravel in front of the wood... its an awesome look you have with the hygro and wood edge.


Thanks. And you know this tank is like my future.. I'm still not sure what I want it to be(or look like). I see so many great tanks here I'm constantly changing my mind as to what I want it to look like.


> You have a pic of the water change .


No, But I would give anything for a picture of my wife down there cleaning up all that water :icon_bigg 


> hhhmmmm, I wonder If a tank alarm goes off when there is nobody home, Does it really make a sound ?


ROFL, I dunno, but I'm sure the dogs would be well informed for their safety!


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## Hop (Mar 27, 2004)

Ok, not laughing any more. Regulator went pow today. Mucho smoke, took out bubble counter. Baaaaaad thing.


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## Buck (Oct 13, 2002)

HOLY CRAP !

Whats goin on over there Hop ??? !!! This isnt sabotage is it ? You are sure the wife likes the tank right ? LOL

Oh myyyy gawd, how many bad things can happen in one week ! Remember, that which does not kill us only makes us stronger... and poorer


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## Hop (Mar 27, 2004)

Oh if you only knew. At 4pm yesturday I was told I was going to be recomended for a promotion. At 4:15 wife called to say that tank was spilling. At 5:10, supervisor called and said that I was passed over for the promotion becuase I had too much experience and to "move" me off the street would cause a gap in the agency that could not be filled. I guess I work too well for a 10K a year raise.

Then this... caused me to quit smiling. An autopsy of the regulator revealved that despite my carefull cleaning and drying, water got into the silynoid. It was working fine when I put things back together at 3am, then when I woke up it was not working. I took it all out and inspected it... No water inside. Put it back together and *POW*. It was so intense that it popped a hole in the side of the bubble counter and me.... Well I then calmly crawled out from underneath the table.


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## Kris (Feb 27, 2004)

what a day! i feel for you! 
were you okay after it blew??


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## Ahkuma (Dec 5, 2004)

Early on in this post you mention that you use flourite but in that close up it looks like you have a top layer of something else. Is that pea gravel you have on the top there?


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## Hop (Mar 27, 2004)

> Early on in this post you mention that you use flourite but in that close up it looks like you have a top layer of something else. Is that pea gravel you have on the top there?


Yeah I have about 150 lbs of regular ol aquarium gravel in there and I think 240lbs of flourite. The flourite seems to sift to the bottom. If I could take a better quality pic, you can see inbetween the larger gravel is flourite red.



> what a day! i feel for you!
> were you okay after it blew??


Yeah I was fine. Elevated heart rate was about the worst that happened to me... Thanks


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## unirdna (Jan 22, 2004)

man-o-man.... "Home demolition" was suppose to be a play on words, right? Oh, sweet irony :icon_roll . Can you just yank out the solenoid for now and run the reg @60bmp or so? So your plants don't get too hungry? 

Keep ya chin up, hop  .


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## Hop (Mar 27, 2004)

> Can you just yank out the solenoid for now and run the reg @60bmp or so? So your plants don't get too hungry?


I tried, but with the bubble counter broken, I can't see how to 1. control the rate and 2. neck the fitting down to the tubing. I live in a fairly rurla area and you just can't go buy stuff like this. I ordered a new regulator and will use whats left of this one as spare parts. I just hope it can get here in the next few days. I've left the lights out and just been considering it a 3 day black out.

I don't know if you or any one else has any other suggestions for the next few days, this was all I could think of.

At the very least it was a good training excercise for the motto "adapt and over come" :icon_bigg


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## fishyboy (Nov 16, 2003)

well at least i'll ship to you before the weekend... good thing you didn't blow it on a thursday or friday


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## Hop (Mar 27, 2004)

> well at least i'll ship to you before the weekend... good thing you didn't blow it on a thursday or friday


Thanks... I will be waiting with bells on.

Oh and yes this is the week from &^%$. CPU overheated and died. It's at the puter store getting fixed. have to run the super old computer that is like trying to drive a edsel on the autoban. :icon_bigg IM STILL SMILING SEE :icon_bigg


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## Hop (Mar 27, 2004)

Today proved to be a vast improvement over the past week. The computer parts came in as well as the Co2 regulator. Got the tank all bandaged back together with better hose clamps and was finally able to turn the lights back on. It was quite a suprise to see that in the past week the plants seemed to continue to grow even with out light. Moved a few things around, not for a visual appeal, but for some growing room. I will be removing some of the nutrient hogs soon as more fills in.


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## unirdna (Jan 22, 2004)

Back on track and looking good. Man, I can't get enough of that lanky piece of wood. Don't see a lot of that 'river bottom' looking stuff these days.

What's with they hygro?  Does it grow that nicely for you, or do you trim all the little roots off?


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## Hop (Mar 27, 2004)

> What's with they hygro? Does it grow that nicely for you, or do you trim all the little roots off?


I don't trim the roots off. They are just hidden in the middle of the bush. These things grow about 1-1.5 feet per week and the roots only grow where the light isn't as intense. :icon_mrgr


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## Hop (Mar 27, 2004)

*and to think I just trimmed the jungle last week*

Well I finally got to the point where I *THINK* I’m beating the war on thread algae. After the Co2 regulator died I did a five-day blackout (not by choice). When I uncovered the tank it was not visible at all. I fell back into the estimative dosing schedule and it came back with vengeance. I then cut back dosing plantex to once per week and the algae has subsided to a manageable level. Hopefully going away for good soon. So now here I find the tank growing at an incredible rate right now. Some days I really like the lay out and somedays (like today) I really want to rescape it, but I think I’m going to hold off and just get the tank as healthy as possible.
















And thanks again to everyone for thier input! It has really assisted in this project!


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## ThomE (Aug 26, 2004)

Nice tank, I'm always impressed that it's a 125gal. roud:


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## Buck (Oct 13, 2002)

Now that is a patch of Hygro ! The tank is looking good Hop, you will have your hands full when you rescape it. You could sell Hygro by the pound instead of the stem... roud:


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## Momotaro (Feb 21, 2003)

Impressive Hygro!

I know it is overgrown, but I like it!

Mike


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## Urkevitz (Jan 12, 2004)

I love the hygro, I think It should extend across 3/4 of the tank with the remaining 1/4 vallisneria. I really like hygro.


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## Hop (Mar 27, 2004)

Thanks.. My wife thinks I should sculpt the hygo bush into an animal shape or something.. Silly smart @%^. But really its a great nutrient sump and I love the lighter green color, but I throw out a soccer ball sized clump every week and mow that little section in front of the drift wood down to a few inches. It shades out the neighboring plants again in about three to four days :icon_frow


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## Hop (Mar 27, 2004)

It turned out to be a very frustrating week. I had two discus and a pleco wind up floating for reasons I can not find. All the water parameters are good and I could find no sign of disease. I'm at a loss for this, but I am aprehensive about buying discus again. Been watching everthing very closely, but still no signs on any of the other fish.

I'm hoping to take about fifteen days off here next week in order to get some things around the house done and re-scape the tank. It took me a while to understand what's going on in my tank and why and quit being so excited just being able to keeps plants alive. So any suggestions on placement are more than welcome. Still not sure what I'm going to do, but I can tell you that I'm looking at some ground cover and getting rid of the vals. I was hoping that they would grow much taller. Instead they just grow outward at an incredible rate. I also had to do a major prune on the hygro. The underside of the plant was becoming so shaded, that the lower leaves were dying off and causing a lot of fall off. So please fire off some suggestions... I'm all ears at this point.

Snapped a few new pictures and am feeling better about my photography, but still have a long way to go!


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## teddo10 (Nov 9, 2004)

Hi Hop, sorry to hear about your discus. A friend of mine has started in the USA with great german Discus, and affordable one's form that. Have a look at 
Discus Hans .
Discus, when healthy, are very strong fish, but often at the LFS they get maltreated and stunned through lack of care and interest.
When young they need a lot of food, good water and temperatures around 82-84 Fahrenheit.

Ed


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## Hop (Mar 27, 2004)

Thanks Teddo10. I'm going to give it some thought before I dive in again. I still have two that are very healthy and have grown a lot in the past few months. I would hate to think of my tank as the discus slayer :icon_conf


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## Wö£fëñxXx (Dec 2, 2003)

Very nice Hop, looks clean, plants look healthy, 5 star tank roud:


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## Raul-7 (Oct 17, 2003)

Nice tank Hop! The wild growth looks great! I finally see what you mean by the Cascade. :wink: But what's the yellow Arrowana-like fish you have there?


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## m.lemay (Jul 28, 2002)

Holy crap! What a thread, I just finished reading all 11 pages. I can't believe I never saw this thread before. 

Anyway, really nice job on the closet conversion and the tank setup. A 125 gallon tank is my dream tank but I just don't have the room for one right now.

Keep up the good work, you can be sure I'll be following this thread from now on. roud: 

Marcel


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## PeteyPob (Apr 26, 2004)

Beautiful tank hop! Sorry to hear about your discus :icon_cry:! Did your discus show any signs of sickness(bloated, white feces, wasting away)? Like teddo said sometimes LFS dont give the right care for young discus. Dont give up on the discus. They love attention, meaty foods, and good clean water. I have a pair of blue heavens who just laid eggs, they should be wigglers in about three days and ready to go in a month in a half. I have pics post on the simplydiscus forum. I am willing to replace your two lost for two of my babies, free, all you gatta do is pay shipping. roud: Let Me know! 

Pete


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## Hop (Mar 27, 2004)

> Wö£fëñxXx Very nice Hop, looks clean, plants look healthy, 5 star tank


Thanks, This was a really nice suprise to wake up to so many great comments.


> Raul-7 Nice tank Hop! The wild growth looks great! I finally see what you mean by the Cascade. But what's the yellow Arrowana-like fish you have there?


Hey Raul. Yeah like I said I think the Cascade does a great job and the price was excellent. And the fish is a Killifish. I wound up with two of them on a "hey buy my tank and all it's parts deal" and really like them. The bigger one jumps out of the tank and grabs water drops off my elbow when I'm working in the tank. Either that or he's really trying to bite me (down boy).


> m.lemay Holy crap! What a thread, I just finished reading all 11 pages. I can't believe I never saw this thread before.
> 
> Anyway, really nice job on the closet conversion and the tank setup. A 125 gallon tank is my dream tank but I just don't have the room for one right now.
> 
> ...


Thanks Marcel. This was a great project to do. If I could do it again I would most likely change a few things. But all and all it was alot of fun. I do have to organize the equipment underneath though and teach my kids that a coat doesn't get hung on the regulator :icon_bigg 



> PeteyPob Beautiful tank hop! Sorry to hear about your discus ! Did your discus show any signs of sickness(bloated, white feces, wasting away)? Like teddo said sometimes LFS dont give the right care for young discus. Dont give up on the discus. They love attention, meaty foods, and good clean water. I have a pair of blue heavens who just laid eggs, they should be wigglers in about three days and ready to go in a month in a half. I have pics post on the simplydiscus forum. I am willing to replace your two lost for two of my babies, free, all you gatta do is pay shipping. Let Me know!
> 
> Pete


Hey pete, thanks for the compliment and concern for the discus. You know the fish showed no signs of anything. I'm not sure what the deal was. I think that the odd thing was that a pleco died too. I'm watching them even closer now. That's great that you have a breeding pair! I'll have to go check out the pics. And I wopuld LOVE to take you up on the two discus, but it wouldn't feel right taking them for free. I'll give it some thought, but insist on paying you something if that were the case!


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## Hop (Mar 27, 2004)

Well my vacation went through and here I am with half the month off… Whoo.. And then my daughter came down with influenza A. So now here I am, stuck at home for a few days, can’t really leave with my daughter on oxygen and the wife and son on heavy meds. With being in the “business” I was the only one able to get a flu shot this year with the short supply. So long story short, I’m here taking care of the family and working on the tank.
Everything seems to be going great. The discus and the rest of the pack are doing great, so I still don’t know what happened last week. I did my normal maintenance today and started moving things around a little at a time. At any rate, I snapped a few pictures with some heavy, after water change pearling and thought I would post this one that really stuck out and appealed to me.


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## Edouard (Apr 30, 2004)

Wow! That's a really beautifull tank. And the job you've done is amazing.
I really like it.

Just one remark: I fear that you don't feed your discuss enough? They have a pretty big eye for their body size which is usually not a good thing.
What do you think?


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## Hop (Mar 27, 2004)

> Just one remark: I fear that you don't feed your discuss enough? They have a pretty big eye for their body size which is usually not a good thing.
> What do you think?


You know, I don't know. They are still pretty young. About 6 mos. They arrived at about the size of a quarter and are now about 2 1/2"-3". They still have a long way to go, but I am unsure on the growth rate for these guys. They get fed about three times daily with an alternating mix between beefheart, tubifex and flake.


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## GDominy (Jul 30, 2002)

Hop said:


> You know, I don't know. They are still pretty young. About 6 mos. They arrived at about the size of a quarter and are now about 2 1/2"-3". They still have a long way to go, but I am unsure on the growth rate for these guys. They get fed about three times daily with an alternating mix between beefheart, tubifex and flake.


I would have to agree here... Did you buy your discus from a breeder or a store? It does look like they have been stunted somewhat, but without knowing what the parents were like, or what their feeding schedule was before you got them its hard to tell.

I gotta say though, the tank is looking fabulous... I've been following this project and you have done some really nice things with the setup. It's always a joy to see such an involved thread where you can see how the tank evolves from start to (I want to say finish, but thats not right)...


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## Hop (Mar 27, 2004)

> I would have to agree here... Did you buy your discus from a breeder or a store? It does look like they have been stunted somewhat, but without knowing what the parents were like, or what their feeding schedule was before you got them its hard to tell.


Honestly I got them on sale from Dr. Fosters, so who knows what the parents were like. I guess I will up the feeding a bit and see it that helps them out. The two that remain seem to be quite healthy and put on girth that the otherone's never seemed to take on.


> I gotta say though, the tank is looking fabulous... I've been following this project and you have done some really nice things with the setup. It's always a joy to see such an involved thread where you can see how the tank evolves from start to (I want to say finish, but thats not right)...


Thanks GDominy! Coming for you I take this as a very great compliment. Looking at your tanks was one of the factors that turned this hobby into an obsession over a year ago. And you are 100% right... It will never be finished :icon_redf


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## GDominy (Jul 30, 2002)

Well I know how hard and frustrating it can be to plan around/for a tank of this size... And you've done it extremely well. You've actually given me several idea's for my next tank (or this one if I have to move).

If Discus are you're thing, you might want to consider getting some from Cary Strong over at Great Lakes discus (www.greatlakesdiscus.com). I have seen his fish after they were delivered to a local breeder and I almost crapped my pants. The difference in quality fish vs. store bought is astounding.

He posts over at www.simplydiscus.com sometimes too, so defiantely worth checking out. THey do cost more.. but when you are looking for fish that you want to show off, he's definately who I would recomend.

On a related note.. My next tank is going to be a full blown planted 125/135 or a 180, full of Blue Rams, fancy plecs, and discus from Cary.


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## Hop (Mar 27, 2004)

> If Discus are you're thing, you might want to consider getting some from Cary Strong over at Great Lakes discus (www.greatlakesdiscus.com). I have seen his fish after they were delivered to a local breeder and I almost crapped my pants. The difference in quality fish vs. store bought is astounding.


You know I don't know what my thing is :icon_bigg . I really liked the idea of discus and they are a great specimin, but time will tell. I still have a 110 w/ my wifes stupid fish in it and I would really love to turn that one into a full blown planted tank. It's 30" tall and I think it would be fun to play with the height. If this were the case then I think a full school of discus would be great. Right now it has my wife's tin foil barbs and they have just plain out out grown the tank. They splash water everywhere, break intake tubes and generally cause meyham. The problem is that I don't know of anywhere to send them that would have a tank big enough and I don't think anything under 300 gallons is enough to house them properly. I thought about seeing of Ocean Journey in Denver would take them as they have a large exibit with a hundred of these guys about the same size.


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## bastalker (Dec 8, 2004)

Hop I just love the look of your tank now. The hygro bush is indeed amazing. I really like the looks of it. Are ya gonna keep it when ya rescape? I just cant picture the tank without it.. roud: 

Sorry to hear about the Discus. It is a tough task indeed to grow out Discus in a planted tank. It can be done, but is pretty tough. They weren't tryin to establish a pecking order were they? Maybe gettin bullied a little to much. The one I saw in the pic looks healthy, although a little stunted. Most people will grow them out in a bare bottom tank, where they can really get the attention they need. Once grown out, they become pretty sturdy fish.


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## Hop (Mar 27, 2004)

bastalker said:


> Hop I just love the look of your tank now. The hygro bush is indeed amazing. I really like the looks of it. Are ya gonna keep it when ya rescape? I just cant picture the tank without it.. roud:
> 
> Sorry to hear about the Discus. It is a tough task indeed to grow out Discus in a planted tank. It can be done, but is pretty tough. They weren't tryin to establish a pecking order were they? Maybe gettin bullied a little to much. The one I saw in the pic looks healthy, although a little stunted. Most people will grow them out in a bare bottom tank, where they can really get the attention they need. Once grown out, they become pretty sturdy fish.


Well thank you. Actually the hygro bush had to be topped and replanted due to the lack of light hitting the bottom leaves and things rotting out. But it's back on thrack now and working towards that bush again.
The discus had already established their pecking order, so I don't think that was it. THe final two are doing great still.


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## Hop (Mar 27, 2004)

So I decided to work on a little experiment, stolen from the world of reef tanks. I’m going to be incorporating a 55-gallon tank to be used as a sump. Not that this idea is new, but I have a plan and I’m not sure if it’s going to work. As a traditional sump works, I’m going to be adding about 37 gallons of added water to the overall volume of my 125. I took an extra 55-gallon (really scratched) I had lying around and cut some glass to design a typical sump design. Here is a poor picture of the sump I made.










Water will enter from an overflow, into the left side of the sump. Flow through the bubbletrap and media holder and into the center area where I will hide my heaters, etc. The center section will have the return pump, branched into a T fitting with ball valves. Just as the reef world does with a refugeum, I will have a small amount enter into the right section of the tank, filling up and then cascading over the section, through another bubble trap and into the center section.

The purpose of the right hand section will be to grow out some plants and house some real nutrient suckers. What I am thinking here is to keep that section in the sump on the exact opposite lighting hours as the main tank to aid in stabilizing the pH swing between night and day.

I’m not sure if it’s going to work, but like I said… It’s a little experiment. I’m going to take my time and figure out how to 1. Keep as much Co2 as possible, meaning less surface agitation and 2. Get as much equipment out of my display tank as possible.

I know a few others have been designing/building sumps lately and if any one has any ideas or tips let me know please. This sump was the first I have built and is good experience for the 8’ tank that is in the planning/part accumulation period as we speak.

I did take the time and figure out worst case scenarios so that I don’t have a flood. In the event of a power failure the sump will handle the 3” of extra water volume from the display tank. Then if the overflow were to stop, I will have the return pumps level adjusted in order for the display tank to take on a small amount from the sump.

I’m not planning on actually hooking this up for a few weeks, as I have to frame in a wet room behind the tank. I wanted to have that built this week on my vacation, but with my kids having the flu, we wound up watching a ton of cartoons!


Thanks!


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## RoseHawke (Mar 10, 2004)

Sumps fascinate me and I really, really, really want to try doing one for many of the same reasons as you. To that end I've been reading everything I can find on the 'net. Unfortunately most of them, even the ones aimed toward beginners, always seem to leave _some_thing out or take it for granted that you know what they're talking about (i.e. the sites that are more on _designing _a sump rather than the nuts and bolts of setting one up.) 

I will ask what kind of overflow are you planning on using? I'm wanting to go with the pvc pipe unit that I've heard called a "constant level siphon" or some such. This to avoid drilling the tank or having something hanging on the side since that's one of the main goals is to get rid of stuff hanging on the side! Also it seems like this type might have less CO2 outgassing than the HOB overflow. Just my considered opinion, I have no facts to back this up. 

On the pump water return for this particular design I've seen it recommended that a 1/16" hole be drilled on the inside below the water level to break the siphon in the event of a power outage so that it won't drain the tank into the sump and all over the floor. With my luck there'd be a snail sitting on that hole at a _most_ inopportune moment! I've discovered that there are pvc check valves of two types---spring and gate. For low flow gate seems to be preferred although some types apparently have to be mounted in a horizontal position. 

This site (Aquatic Eco-Systems) has some interesting plumbing supplies, you may already have it bookmarked.


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## Hop (Mar 27, 2004)

> I will ask what kind of overflow are you planning on using?


This is a bit of another experiment. I'm planning on making a black box that resembles a typical reef overflow, but I'm not going to drill the tank. Then I am going to basically build a pvc/stockman type overflow system inside. I have a lot of testing to do here, if that doesn't work or work reliably, I'm going to order a black, lifereef overflow, which are rated as being very good.


> On the pump water return for this particular design I've seen it recommended that a 1/16" hole be drilled on the inside below the water level to break the siphon in the event of a power outage so that it won't drain the tank into the sump and all over the floor.


This is where I did some homework. I'm going to have the return 2-3" below the display's waterlevel. In the event of a power failure, this would drain at max, 16.7 gallons (I'm going off memory here, so I could be off a bit) and the extra capacity in the sump is able to take on this volume :icon_conf Hopefully!
And thanks for the link, I had been there before, but not to check out the plumbing.


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## Silent Running (Sep 13, 2004)

With the stockman in the overflow area, how will you get the water to the sump if the tank's not drilled? Sounds like you've got the base covered regarding back siphoning. That shouldn't be a problem. Also, why the refugium on the right side, how come not just the middle section? How much flow are you expecting through the sump (GPH)? Cool setup, I'll be interested to see how it works out.


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## bastalker (Dec 8, 2004)

Hey Hop..Lookin good with the sump!! It will definately get the equipment outta the tank. Wont the sump outgas the C02 with the overflowing design of the sump. It will really create alot of oxygen in the sump which will be returned to the tank in short order...I have a little Emperor 400, an have to really crank the C02 to counteract the water cascade. That is nothing in comparion to the cascade you will have in the sump...


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## Hop (Mar 27, 2004)

> With the stockman in the overflow area, how will you get the water to the sump if the tank's not drilled? Sounds like you've got the base covered regarding back siphoning. That shouldn't be a problem. Also, why the refugium on the right side, how come not just the middle section? How much flow are you expecting through the sump (GPH)? Cool setup, I'll be interested to see how it works out.


I'm going to try to make a stockman design based around a typical overflow. I've seen some variations around and life reef just came out with one, but I havn't seen it. Right now it's all in my head, so I may have to put it on paper to see if it will actually work. Otherwise I'll go ahead and order the lifereef with stockman style pipes. The reason for the ref on the side was due to depth required for taller plants and the need for the center section to be able to hold water if the power were to fail. And I'm thinking 300 gph for the setup, maybe a tad higher.


> Hey Hop..Lookin good with the sump!! It will definately get the equipment outta the tank. Wont the sump outgas the C02 with the overflowing design of the sump. It will really create alot of oxygen in the sump which will be returned to the tank in short order...I have a little Emperor 400, an have to really crank the C02 to counteract the water cascade. That is nothing in comparion to the cascade you will have in the sump...


You know the more I think about it.... I think that if I do it right I should have only slightly more agitation than with a cannister and surface movement. I'm doing a wet test of the sump as we speak, and there is less surface movement than I thought there would be. plus, by running the sump and display on opposite lighting scedules, I'm hoping that the additional Co2 put off by the sleeping plants will assist in overall co2 production vs. loss. I don't know though I'm no chemist/scientist or very smart really, but if I don't try I'll never know :icon_roll


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## Silent Running (Sep 13, 2004)

There's only one way to find out .

I agree, though, that if your flow rate isn't that high through the sump, you shouldn't have that much added surface agitation in the sump. The only spot I could see potential problems with off-gasing would be the drop from the tank to the sump. I had a 60 gallon sump running on my 100 gallon reef with a Mag950 as a return pump and there was very little surface agitation in the sump. There was, however, a fair amount of bubbling and gurgling where the water from the down pipe met the sump...


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## Hop (Mar 27, 2004)

OOps, sorry paul I missed your questions before and I was editing my above post when you replied again. Sorry :icon_bigg anwers are above


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## Hop (Mar 27, 2004)

So here is a pic of the wet test. It's kind of hard to tell in the picture, but the surface agitation is much lower than expected. It's also hard to see around the messy shop. Maybe I should finish a project before starting another one..... Nah.


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## unirdna (Jan 22, 2004)

Hop said:


> I'm planning on making a black box that resembles a typical reef overflow, but I'm not going to drill the tank. Then I am going to basically build a pvc/stockman type overflow system inside. I have a lot of testing to do here, if that doesn't work or work reliably, I'm going to order a black, lifereef overflow, which are rated as being very good.


Hey Hop. I've been working on a similar project, but for very different reasons. I also am planning on creating an overflow for my 30g (planted) to flow into my 20g (bare bottom). The reason I'm doing this is the reverse of why you are....I want to utilize the benefits of the 30g, and pass on the good water to the 20g. Anyway, I'll be following your thread closely to see how much outgassing you experience.

And for what it's worth, I intend to buy this overflow unit. It looks solid, and costs 1/2 as much as the lifereef.

Ted


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## Hop (Mar 27, 2004)

> Hey Hop. I've been working on a similar project, but for very different reasons. I also am planning on creating an overflow for my 30g (planted) to flow into my 20g (bare bottom). The reason I'm doing this is the reverse of why you are....I want to utilize the benefits of the 30g, and pass on the good water to the 20g. Anyway, I'll be following your thread closely to see how much outgassing you experience.
> 
> And for what it's worth, I intend to buy this overflow unit. It looks solid, and costs 1/2 as much as the lifereef.
> 
> Ted


Ted,
At least were on the same page. That overflow looks pretty good, I would like to talk to someone that has it and validate it's performance. I don't know why, but it always makes me nervous thinking about loosing syphon. :icon_conf


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## unirdna (Jan 22, 2004)

Hop said:


> Ted,
> I don't know why, but it always makes me nervous thinking about loosing syphon. :icon_conf


If it really bothers you (like it does me ), you could set up an overflow system on the sump tank as well. Except, the outside unit on the sump overflow would NOT have an outlet. Rather, you could place a pump in the outside unit. Am I being clear... :icon_conf? Only issue would be whether you could fit a pump in the outside unit. This might require some more DIY. Possibly, a small tank, like a 2.5 gal, elevated to the same level as your 30g, so the water line match.

And, of course, you'd have to stay on top of your water levels better than if you were only running an overflow on your main tank.

....just thinking as I type here .


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## Hop (Mar 27, 2004)

I decided to scrap the idea with the sump on the 125 after all. It's going to go on a tank that is on the design table right now, so I'm going to leave this tank alone as far as adding any additional equipment. I decided that I like the simplicity that already exists on it. No monitors, nothing fancy, just the bare bones. Does any one know of or recomend a glass aquarium company the is reliable, good service and able to make a tank 8'x2.5'x2.5'? I'm leaning toward glass rather that acrylic, but may change my mind, depending upon some thoughts I am having. I really want to get this tank built and up and running by christmas.

I got a kick out of looking at the tanks transformation, so I figured I would put a few progression shots together.
on 11.18.04








on 11.30.04








on 01.25.05








and on 02.24.05








I'm leaning toward scrapping the vals in thsi tank and replacing them w/ crypt B., and getting a better foreground and midground going, but right now things are going pretty good. Hardly any algea and this is making for a lot more viewing and less maintenace time.
Thanks Again! :icon_bigg


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## Thanks (Oct 9, 2004)

looks really awesome. I love the stargrass, it's perfectly placed.
I would let the hygro grow in a bit more, maybe an inch or so longer than in the first picture, and 2 inches shorter than in the beastly one. :tongue: 

Dont scrap the vals! they look great! you could mix the balansae in with them, and slowly go for less and less vals, but dont take them all out. Their intense green adds alot to the scape. 

Foreground, i would do a bit of riccia, some glosso (in the middle, left of the stargrass), and maybe hairgrass. Make sure you dont completely cover up the gravel, because it looks awesome. roud:


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## bastalker (Dec 8, 2004)

Hey Hop....The new look is awsome!! If ya want, I will trade tanks with ya. :wink: If it we me, an this is just me now. I would let things go and see what transpires. The vals IMO look great where they are. Get that Hygro bush goin man!!! I just love yer hygro bush.

BTW, hows the sump workin out for ya?

Nice job bud! roud:


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## Hop (Mar 27, 2004)

> looks really awesome. I love the stargrass, it's perfectly placed.
> I would let the hygro grow in a bit more, maybe an inch or so longer than in the first picture, and 2 inches shorter than in the beastly one.
> 
> Dont scrap the vals! they look great! you could mix the balansae in with them, and slowly go for less and less vals, but dont take them all out. Their intense green adds alot to the scape.
> ...


Thanks Thanks :icon_bigg ,
I really like the stargrass. It really just took off lately and I've been able to start propagating and moving it around a little. The hygro is starting to fill back in, but I don't think I will let it get back to what it was. it shadows a bit too much.
The vals were a real disappointment. When I bought them I anticipated that they would grow taller and slightly float, but these only have 1 out of 40 or so stalks that reach the surface. All their energy seems to be expelled attempting to over run everything else in the tank.
I would love to find some glosso and get it in there. Right now the micro sword is growing so much faster than the hairgrass. I think in short order I'll have some pretty good patches of turf down there, we'll see what happens with that.


> Hey Hop....The new look is awsome!! If ya want, I will trade tanks with ya. If it we me, an this is just me now. I would let things go and see what transpires. The vals IMO look great where they are. Get that Hygro bush goin man!!! I just love yer hygro bush.
> 
> BTW, hows the sump workin out for ya?
> 
> Nice job bud!


Hey thanks bastalker!
I would love to trade tanks, but I have no gas money now to drive out of the garage, so accross state lines is out of the question :icon_bigg 
As far as the sump goes, It's going on the next project. After a lot of thought I figured that the 125 is actually a really simple set up and I want to keep it that way. It's mainly 1. feed fish 2. feed plants... Right now it's very simple and I like that... No ph controller, no fancy plumbing.. just the bare bones. I think that the MH is about the only thing outside the relm of super basic, but the mh lighting will be coming off soon. I'm going to move the MHs to the soon to be new tank and prob. go with some pc retros for the 125.

But thanks again guys!


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## bastalker (Dec 8, 2004)

All kiddin aside Hop, yer tank looks great!! Like I said before, If it aint broke, dont fix it....Yer tank is very much an inspiration! Everything just seems to click! Keep doin what yer doin, an dont change nothin. I just wish my tank looked like that.

Hold on though, cause in a couple a months, I will give ya a run for your money. :wink: 

Well maybe get close.... :icon_bigg


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## Hop (Mar 27, 2004)

I've just been neglecting the tank and letting it go for the past month, aside from water changes and dosing. After doing the weekly waterchange this evening, I decided to snap a few pics and update the thread. Most of my energy is going into a differant tank right now, so I haven't really been thinking too much about aquascaping and getting things set in this for awhile. After seeing Vinlo's tank though, I think I should rescape and get some depth going... And maybe subtle hints of intense coloring....


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## bastalker (Dec 8, 2004)

Damn Hop...I wish I could neglect my tank that good!! roud: 

Lookin sweet bud!!


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## Aussie_Star (Feb 15, 2005)

very nice but wat is the big bright light green coloured plant at the back almost in the middle towards the left? lol i hope the directions help roud:


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## unirdna (Jan 22, 2004)

Never get tired of this tank, Hop. 
I've noticed that your vals never reach the surface. Do you hack em down? (or is that sag I'm looking at?)


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## Hop (Mar 27, 2004)

unirdna said:


> Never get tired of this tank, Hop.
> I've noticed that your vals never reach the surface. Do you hack em down? (or is that sag I'm looking at?)


Thanks unirdna, 
Yeah the V. Spiralis has been a real disappointment. I'm not sure if it's because of the lighting or what, but I wanted them to grow much taller.


> Aussie_Star very nice but wat is the big bright light green coloured plant at the back almost in the middle towards the left? lol i hope the directions help


I beleive you are giving directions to the Hygrophila Polysperma. I really like this, but would call it a weed! It grows VERY fast wether it has co2, good light or anything. I started with 2 4" sick stems that have taken off and I would say I have thrown away at least ten pounds of this stuff in under a year


> bastalker Damn Hop...I wish I could neglect my tank that good!!
> 
> Lookin sweet bud!!


LOL, THanks bastalker! I'll get back into regular upkeep on this tank soon. Currently I'm building a (shhh don't tell any one here at planted tank!!!!) a 8', 300 gallon reef tank. Should be ordered here soon and I started building the equipment room and stuff for it. I think I'm going to use James at Envision if anyone has had any dealings with him, I hear he is incredibly good.  :icon_bigg


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## Urkevitz (Jan 12, 2004)

Your tank inspired me to start growing Hygro again. I love the leaf shape and growth pattern of the plant.


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## Hop (Mar 27, 2004)

Urkevitz said:


> Your tank inspired me to start growing Hygro again. I love the leaf shape and growth pattern of the plant.


That's great to hear. It's a bit of a love/hate relationship with the plant. It seems to really get over grown, then it gets cut back and looks bad for a month and then starts looking good again roud:


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## Hop (Mar 27, 2004)

I just wanted to thank everyone again for their support during the construction of this tank. Unfortunately due to a slight financial hick-up, I had to tear the tank down today. The bad news is that after I bought tons of equipment for a 8', 270 gallon reef tank I was building, I am un able to finish it and have live stock etc. that need a place to live. So the 125 is going to be a salt water set up for a year or so, until I can finish off the larger reef.
The good news is that I found homes for my wifes 12" dorks (ooops I mean tin foil barbs) and am in the process of moving things from the 125 over and into a 110 gallon tall tank. I always liked the looks of the taller tanks such as sn8ks, so here is my chance. If I get time I'll try to post some pics of this experiment.

But again thanks to everyone who watched as the 125 unfolded!

*The End!*


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## unirdna (Jan 22, 2004)

Oh, how sad, Hop. :icon_frow 

Thanks for the memories. Hope to see your new tank soon.


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## Jdinh04 (Mar 15, 2004)

That sucks, what will you be doing with all the plants?


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## Hop (Mar 27, 2004)

unirdna said:


> Oh, how sad, Hop. :icon_frow
> 
> Thanks for the memories. Hope to see your new tank soon.


Thanks Unirdna... And it's certainly not over, just a differant tank I guess. Same fish and mostly the same plants (Jdinh04). I knew it was coming in the back of my head and a few weeks ago I did a major prune and sold about 2 five gallon buckets of plants. I still have pleanty though. I'm trying to plant the 110 right now, but am sitting in the middle of a flourite storm.....

Problem right now is that I have about 150lbs of live rock cured in buckets. Some of it has some nice SPS and LPS coral and if I don't get them moved into a tank with some decent lighting, I'm going to loose them. Plus I have two 55 gallon tanks with critters that have been in quarentine for a month. I'm sure they need to stretch their sea legs soon :icon_bigg


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## bharada (Mar 5, 2004)

Hmmm, walk in the door and be faced with a huge planted tank, or huge reef tank...don't see how you lose either way! roud:

Now you just have that much more time to plan out the 270. Besides, what kind of hobby would this be if everything went smoothly from the get go?


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## Hop (Mar 27, 2004)

bharada said:


> Hmmm, walk in the door and be faced with a huge planted tank, or huge reef tank...don't see how you lose either way! roud:
> 
> Now you just have that much more time to plan out the 270. Besides, what kind of hobby would this be if everything went smoothly from the get go?


LOL, Yeah I know. If someone was bored enough to go through this entire thread I think you would read somewhere that at one time I had intended this to be a reef tank. But after a few months of thought the better half and I elected to build a tank as large as we could fit in our office and plumb everything into a seperate room. Didn't want to drill the 125 and actually the green really looked good in the livingroom. But this makes another step. Tear down two tanks yesturday and put one up, then tear another one down in a year or so. Instead of tear one tank down and set one up.

But you are absolutely right! This is what the hobby is and what some construde as work, we think of as fun right? :icon_bigg


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## Buck (Oct 13, 2002)

A man's gotta do, what a man's gotta do... 
I enjoyed watching your tank go through all the stages Hop...good luck with the new endeavors and thanks for this great thread. roud:


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## Silent Running (Sep 13, 2004)

I second Buck's wishes for good luck with the new setup. I will be interested to see both your reef and replacement planted tank. Have fun.


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## Thanks (Oct 9, 2004)

good luck with everything. thats really a shame that you had to tear this one down, but I bet a saltwater will look great too. 
Let me get this straight. You had a 110 lying around, your planting that one right now, your saltwaterizing the 125, and you have a 270 lying around now? Jesus! :icon_bigg 
again, best wishes, and good luck.


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## scolley (Apr 4, 2004)

Hop - this tank has been a delight to quietly follow. And I'm bummed about your losing the big salt tank, and the subsequent loss of this planted one. Sorry.

But when you convert the 125 to salt, please don't forget about all your buddies here!

Good luck pal!


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## Hop (Mar 27, 2004)

Buck said:


> A man's gotta do, what a man's gotta do...
> I enjoyed watching your tank go through all the stages Hop...good luck with the new endeavors and thanks for this great thread. roud:


Thanks Buck for all the great advice you gave along the way. It certainly isn't farewell, just time for a new 110 gallon, non-home demolition thread :icon_bigg 


Silent Running said:


> I second Buck's wishes for good luck with the new setup. I will be interested to see both your reef and replacement planted tank. Have fun.


Thank you and the new thread is on the way. Just took some pictures a little whaile ago, but there is a bit of flourite cloud left.


Thanks said:


> good luck with everything. thats really a shame that you had to tear this one down, but I bet a saltwater will look great too.
> Let me get this straight. You had a 110 lying around, your planting that one right now, your saltwaterizing the 125, and you have a 270 lying around now? Jesus! :icon_bigg
> again, best wishes, and good luck.


Yes to 1 and yes to 2. Unfortunately I had to can the order on the 270 for a while. I had already purchased the skimmer, some lights, pumps etc, but had to put the tank on hold right now. It's will be a custom 96"w X 28"d X 26"H.


scolley said:


> Hop - this tank has been a delight to quietly follow. And I'm bummed about your losing the big salt tank, and the subsequent loss of this planted one. Sorry.
> 
> But when you convert the 125 to salt, please don't forget about all your buddies here!
> 
> Good luck pal!


Thanks, but I shall not forget the guys here. The only reason I have been gone a bit lately is that I've been on the night shift and was getting about 40-50 hrs of OT per month. Had to donate some time to the wife and kids so that they remebered who I was! Back on the normal shift for three months now though!


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## Hop (Mar 27, 2004)

*Update.. Sort of? Off topic*

Just wanted to post some pics of the reef tank. It is 96"x30"x30" with an external overflow. Hoping on having this up and running in the next two months! Then I can get the 125 back to a nice, calm planted tank. And reclaim my garage which is overrun with tank parts. I'm really looking at making the 125 a little less maintanence this time. Going to be running PC instead and not certain on Co2 or not. I wound up dropping the Co2 from the 110 and cut the lights back to 80 watts. Things seem to be going pretty well in there for the most part and I have not had to any trimming in months


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## unirdna (Jan 22, 2004)

Holy crap. Are you going to have an acrylic reef tank? That IS acrylic I'm seeing, isn't it??


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## scolley (Apr 4, 2004)

Has to be acrylic. Glass that thick and large would weigh a thousand pounds!

Hop - please be sure and post a link to where we can see this salt monster go up! I do believe this is going to set you back the definitive "pretty penny"!


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## Hop (Mar 27, 2004)

unirdna said:


> Holy crap. Are you going to have an acrylic reef tank? That IS acrylic I'm seeing, isn't it??


Yeah it's acrylic, with kids and critters in the house I just couldn't see a 300+ Gallon glass tank. I would always have a sense of iminent doom
 



scollet said:


> Hop - please be sure and post a link to where we can see this salt monster go up! I do believe this is going to set you back the definitive "pretty penny"!


Well if any one is really board here is a link to the Reef Tank process. It's not too long yet, but I'm not even half way done at this point... Oh yeah and Shhh on the cost, I told my wife I won the winning bid on E-bay for 19.99 plus shipping...JJ :icon_roll


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## Hop (Mar 27, 2004)

Well the new tank is on the stand. Still a ton of work, but I thought I would throw out a couple pics:


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## SCMurphy (Oct 21, 2003)

That's a great picture.


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## jimmydrsv (Apr 8, 2005)

That is a great way of combining parenting and your fish hobbies! Have the cildren live in your fish tanks.


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## unirdna (Jan 22, 2004)

:hihi: Thanks for the scale.


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## Hop (Mar 27, 2004)

Thanks guys... I keep seeing a farside type cartoon in my head about a kid sitting with a scuba tank on, in the tank asking if they can come out of time out yet...


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## Kyle (Jul 19, 2005)

Wow, your salt tank journal is very impressive! Can't wait to see how it turns out.

Someday I'll have a house to fill full of fun toys..


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## Marc (Oct 13, 2004)

LMAO! DAMN thats a big tank!


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## Hop (Mar 27, 2004)

Marc said:


> LMAO! DAMN thats a big tank!


Thanks. Actually the original design was a tad smaller and my wife said that she didn't wan't me planning a bigger one a year from now... This is the biggest tank I could get in my house without demolition and upping to 400 watt halides


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## Hop (Mar 27, 2004)

The 125 is back to a planted tank as of 1 hour ago... Unfortunately I'm out of Co2 and most of my higher, light demanding plants did not make it the past three weeks in the 55 gallon quarentine tank. So I'm back to anubias, some crypts, some hairgrass and microsword, and hygro. Not much, buts it's a start back to where it was. Just running NOf right now until I get some new bulbs for the PC outfit I'm goign to run.

On the flip side, my 450 gallon reef system is up, running and all systems are go!!! Still has a LONG way to go to mature, but it is up and running!

Here is a pic of it during the fill process. It took 7 days 24/7 to fill the thing with RO/DI water








And here it is today with my 4 whole fish in it :tongue: Still have quite a bit of stocking and maturing to do...









At anyrate I'll be able to start cruising the forum here, not feeling guilty now that I am armed with a planted tank again :icon_bigg


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## unirdna (Jan 22, 2004)

Hop, that tank is an absolute monster. Good luck hiding the electric bill from your wife.

Look forward to your "return". How about a nice, smoooth journal this time around :hihi:.


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## jimmydrsv (Apr 8, 2005)

My uncle insists on stacking large amounts of live rock and i tell him that is just decreasing from the overall health of the tank and the look. 

I really like how yours has plenty of room in it and how the rocks are arranged.


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## Hop (Mar 27, 2004)

unirdna: Thanks and I keep telling my wife she needs to get a second job to keep up with her darn reef addiction. Thus far she has no interest in finding that second job :icon_bigg 

jimmydrsv: Thanks, I'm not certain the scape is going to remain the same, but I was going to let things color up and see where it goes from there. When I set out to design this tank, I knew I didn't want to over-rated apple cart look. I wanted enough rock to support life, but really have some good open areas as well. We'll see what happens over the next year or so...


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## Pseud (Oct 2, 2005)

Your tank looks incredible. Good job Hop.


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## QuantumCranker (Oct 16, 2005)

Sure, this thread's old.......but I'm new and I just wanna say, Hop, that planted 125 and its "home" are an absolute inspiration to me and my wife. I only have a 55 right now (we still rent) but when the blueprints get settled on, there WILL BE a slight modification in them! :wink:


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## Defchilde (Jul 12, 2005)

Hop, 

How about an update on the 125g low-maint? Photos and specs would be nice.

Thanks
Defchilde


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## QuantumCranker (Oct 16, 2005)

Just read the ENTIRE reef thread. (in a link several posts back)  :icon_roll :icon_conf :icon_frow *HE TORE IT ALL DOWN TO "SEED SOME LIVE ROCK FOR THE REEF TANK"!!!!!!* Man Hop, I sure hope you got it back planted FW and all is well. I know how the addiction thing works and that the tank has the potential to become permanently SW now. :icon_frow


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## Hop (Mar 27, 2004)

Wow guys, thanks for the comments!

QuantumCranker: Don't worry, its back to a planted tank. Unfortunately I did not want to put it back the way it was. I'm sure that with the right plants and a few adjustments, it could have been a real peach... But the way it was set up and my crazy work schedule, it was a constant trimming battle I hope you and your wife are able to get that home soon roud: The only thing I would suggest is go for the 180 gallon or bigger, the extra depth makes all the difference in the world when your scaping!

Defchilde: Hey good to see you! I'll try to get some pics when the lights are on... Right now it's a little   boring  ... Just some crypts, anubias, micro sword (a little) a sword and some hygro. I have a whopping 60 watts of NO fluorescent and I believe that I am the Cascade canister filter pimp #1


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## Hop (Mar 27, 2004)

OK... Not much to brag about, but here is the 125. It's been back to a planted tank for two months. Running a little less that 1/2 a WPG, no ferts, no Co2 and really no maintenance. I top it off with a 50/50 mix of tap and RO every few weeks. All parameters are good. I'm really just looking at a healthy environment for the kids in the glass bowl and little trimming, fertilization. Maybe I'll update the tank every six months or so:redface: 










Seriously though, due to a job switch that will leave my reef tank maintenance time down to about zilch, I may be turning my 370 gallon tank into a heavily planted "let it grow like mad" tank here very soon. It's all up in the air right now... Unless someone is interested in buying a complete 450-500 gallon reef set up:hihi: :hihi:


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