# 48 x 18 x 18 High Tech Rimless Build (photo heavy)



## BoxxerBoyDrew

Sounds like this is going to be a TOP END Aquarium!!!

Can't wait to see it all come together! 
Keep us updated with your progress!
Drew


----------



## fusiongt

No pictures... no replies! (Look forward to seeing more though heh)


----------



## GDominy

Playing with my new camera.. here is the first part of the build. Ive never owned a cylinder this small (5lb)!


----------



## GDominy

Here are the LED fixtures I am going to be robbing for parts to make this new build. These pics are a couple years old now, but you get the idea.

This first pic is of a Current USA Outer Orbit fixture that I modified. I replaced the 2 x 250w metal halide bulbs with a pair of LED arrays housing 12 x Cree XPG (Cool White) and 12 Cree XPE (Royal Blue) on each heatsink (48 LED's total). I plan on robbing all 24 Cree XPG's from this fixture.










These next few images are of a another set of fixtures I made for another reef tank, I plan on using all of the XPG's and 24 of the Royal Blue LED's from these. I will also be reusing the fans on these fixtures as they push a lot of air, and run very quietly.


----------



## GDominy

Well, today I began the process of tearing down my reef, and salvaging the equipment that will be used on this tank. Came across a few pieces of equipment that will come in handy!

First off, the doser. This is a GHL 4 Pump Slave doser that will be controlled by my Profilux. It has served me well in the past, and I am looking forward to having it dose my fertilizers automatically for me.










Secondly, the Dosing chambers. I have two 5 Litre containers and two 2.5 litre containers. These will house whatever ferts I decide to come up with. Typically I used to dose KNo3, Potassium, Iron, and Tropica Master grow (I think its Plant nutrition liquid these days) for micros.










And I totally forgot I had this... I used to have a collection of Ecotech pumps but sold most of them off after I got rid of my 265 gallon aquarium. This is an older Mp10, but I have the Mp10ES upgrade kit, and the wireless module to upgrade it. Once it is wireless, my profilux will be able to control it (via the GHL Vortech control module). This will be mounted on the tank opposite to the canister filter return, and will be used to produce random currents. I can program this pump with the profilux to produce different wave patterns whenever I want at any time during the day (such as 10% at night, then random waves throughout the day, or running full tilt during a thunderstorm)










More parts are coming home with me tomorrow once the reef is torn down.

Also as a plus my tank has been built and I will be picking it up next week. Once my stand arrives this build is about to kick off!


----------



## SouthernCichlids

Sounds like this is going to be awesome! Can't wait to see what you fill it with!


----------



## im2smart4u

This seems like it will be a great tank. I love watching high tech builds... it just makes me wish I could afford one myself.


----------



## Higher Thinking

Rather than purchasing the aquamedic reactor, why not just build one yourself for like twenty bucks? It seems you like to purchase top end quality and gadgets, but that is definitely somewhere you could save money if you were interested.


----------



## GDominy

Holy crap today was a busy day. Recovered all of the equipment I want to re-use and sold off a ton of older stuff. Picked up my first 4 bags of flourite dark (I'm going to need several more).

Here is most of the major equipment I plan on re-using.

On the right you can see the LED array as I plan on laying it out in the new light hood. Two 30" strips in the middle (12 Cree XPGs Cool White, and 12 Cree XPE Royal Blue), with a 12 LED pendant dead center (6 XPG and 6 XPE) to brighten it up. Then 2 pendants on the ends with 12 XPG and 12 XPE each (where most of the planting will be, negative space in the middle).

The left is most of the profilux equipment. The Profilux 3eX, Expansion box and doser. There are 3 x 6 outlet power bars, but I suspect I will really only be using two of them.

Its starting to come together... Should be grabbing the tank on thursday


----------



## GDominy

Higher Thinking said:


> Rather than purchasing the aquamedic reactor, why not just build one yourself for like twenty bucks? It seems you like to purchase top end quality and gadgets, but that is definitely somewhere you could save money if you were interested.


I used to own one and I loved it, and they only cost about $100-120. I just sold a grand worth of equipment off my reef and another $500 in corals so my budget for this tank is pretty much covered. I've actually _broke even_ so far with setting up this tank with the sales off my old one.

I'm not ruling out the possibility of building my own, but time is something I have precious little of. I don't mind spending some money to have an off the shelf solution.


----------



## GDominy

Forgot to mention there is also a 25 watt UV sterilizer in there that I pulled off the reef. This will come in handy in case I totally screw up my ferts and cause a green water outbreak (which I have done in the past, was horrible).

There is also a nice heater in there that I had completely forgotten I owned so I wont be purchasing an external heater after all. This is a 300w titanium heater that originally came with an external thermostat, but I dont require as my profilux will control it directly.

Not shown is the 1/10th HP chiller. I am still not sure if I will permanently attach it, or if I will simply store it until I need it for summer (the apartment gets pretty hot)


----------



## GDominy

More goodies:

The Profilux Touch (touchscreen LCD for the controller) and Vortech control module


----------



## GDominy

This incredible mess was the back of my old canopy. In the process of dismantling today most of the wiring had to be cut free and needs to be totally redone. Most of these drivers are Meanwel ELN-60-48D (0-10V Dimming) while two of them are ELN-60-48P connected to 2 x Profilux LEDControl4-Passive's. I built a custom 10V pullup resistor circuit to drive these two, as I can use the Profilux modules to generate Lightning flashes on these drivers during a simulated thunderstorm. I hope to use this feature again in this build.










I know its a mess, I almost didnt want to show this, but I am kind of looking forward to doing a "before and after" shot of the wiring


----------



## GDominy

My Profilux 3eX is pretty much stock, but I have added the ADIN module which allows for analog and digital input. My hope is to integrate this with an external logic box to do some fun stuff and trigger events. More on this later.

I've pretty much fully loaded my Profilux Expansion box (the bottom unit). I have added 12 extra L Ports (the 0-10V ports that are used for controlling things like dimmable lighting, speed controlled pumps, etc). I usually use my expansion box as the interface for the lights and have it remotely mounted in a canopy. I won't be able to do that with this build, but I still plan on using many, many L ports to control all of the LED's. The goal is to be able to control every string of 12 LED's seperately to really dial in some nice visual effects.










While most of the features of the "EX" model are salt water oriented, I will still be uing the sensors for Ph, Temperature, and Level control


----------



## GDominy

Reef Fanatic CO2 regulator. Its well loved and a little corroded from being close to salt water for so long, but still runs like a champ.










These are my bubble magus tubing holders. These mount on the back of the aquarium and hold my dosing tubes in place discretely. I will only need one of these, so I have to see which one I can clean up better.


----------



## GDominy

I have not quite decided what I am going to do with my Mangroves yet. These were growing in my refugium for a couple of years and are pretty tall now. Two of them have even grown new branches.

I have toyed with the idea of acclimating these to fresh water and including them in my aquascape somehow, or possibly just potting them and growing them next to the tank (there will lots of light around it)


----------



## GDominy

I'm not too sure if I am going to end up using this device or not. This is a Pump Control interface for the Controllable Hydor Korallia pumps. I have 4 of the Controllable Korallia 4's and two of these pump controllers. I suspect I may just use the single Ecotech MP10wES but its nice to know I have some backups.


----------



## GDominy

These will be my Moonlight/Sunrise/Sunset LED effects. These are the GHL Simu Spots. They stopped making these, but mine all still work so I have hung on to them. The lens covers have cracked (this was a problem with the first gen versions of these) but electrically they are still sound. I will be hiding these in the suspended hood.

Each one of these has White/Blue/Red LED's. You can set the amount of white/Blue but they dim together (so you can make them deep blue, light blue or white blue). The red LED's operate separately so you can fill in some visual reds that are typically lacking when using a blue heavy mix of LED's like I will be using. These are cosmetic only and don't offer any practical usage for growth.










A side note, you can program these to respond to lightning flashes as well. I will have one spot on the left as "Lightning 1" two in the middle as "Lightning 1+2" and one on the right as "Lightning 2". The generated effect is that you will see lightning flashes that appear to be coming from the left or the right of the tank, with some overlap in the middle. The two ELN-60-48P modules will also be set up as: Left = Lightning 1, Right = Lightning 2 causing the pendants on the sides to flash as well (will be quite bright)


----------



## GDominy

There are some repairs to be made to several of the LED arrays. Time has not been too kind to some of the pendants that have previously been mounted too close to salt water and a few solder joints (that I must have made poorly) have let go. Nothing a couple of rounds with a soldering iron wont fix.


----------



## GDominy

This is a marineland double bright LED strip. I won this off a table at Macna a few years ago and was previously using it to grow my mangroves (works like a charm). I am planning on running this light over the 14 gallon quarantine tank that will reside in the stand.

I am hoping to aquire a zebra pleco (or two) for this tank, so I fully intend on having a fully operational QT tank beforehand. This light will be complete overkill, but I have it already, and it fits the 14 gallon perfectly. Might as well use it.


----------



## Conrad283

This is gonna be an awesome build


----------



## GDominy

Conrad283 said:


> This is gonna be an awesome build


I hope so! Ive been collecting this equipment for many many years. It was a tough decision to shut down the reef tank but its exciting to be able to use all my gear to do a planted tank again. I know its kind of overkill but Id rather use it then have it collecting dust.


----------



## GDominy

Phew, another hard day behind me. The reef is totally shut down, sold off and all parts have been picked up. I found a couple more useful things in the process too!

First of all, I found a bucket of natural river gravel from a former tank. This will become the substrate in the QT tank, and may become part of the negative space in the main display.










And then there is this lovely piece of sexiness. This is a battery backup for Ecotech pumps! This will provide many many hours of runtime on the Ecotech MP10wES so in the event of a power failure my tank will at least have water circulation. I bought this off of a reef store before it closed down (clearance sale). It was missing a power supply (I have TONS of extras) so I picked it up for about 75% off.


----------



## Couesfanatic

Are you going to plumb the auto dosing inline?


----------



## GDominy

Most likely not. I have attempted that in the past and ran into problems where a venturi effect would draw extra fluid through to doser or the pressure in the line would push water into the dosing lines.

Im going to bracket the lines to the rear of the aquarium. Im debating making an acrylic housing that would hide the bracket and lines. Thats some finishing detail work that I wont be looking at for a few weeks


----------



## GDominy

Oops duplicate post. Disregard.


----------



## GDominy

MP10 Upgrade time!

Had some free time tonight so I decided to upgrade the MP10 to an MP10wES. Here is the process:

Original pump controller:










Opened:










The parts required for conversion:










Wireless daughterboard installed and motor cable connected:










Installed in new housing:










Presto! One fully operational MP10wES. Pump works perfectly but the wet side assembly is really gunked up with a lot of coraline growth from the reef tank. I will pick up a new assembly this week.


----------



## GDominy

GDominy said:


> Most likely not. I have attempted that in the past and ran into problems where a venturi effect would draw extra fluid through to doser or the pressure in the line would push water into the dosing lines.
> 
> Im going to bracket the lines to the rear of the aquarium. Im debating making an acrylic housing that would hide the bracket and lines. Thats some finishing detail work that I wont be looking at for a few weeks


Ok so maybe its a finishing detail that I will think about in less then an hour. I realized I still have to find a way to mount/hide my probes. I think I'll be able to manufacture a small acrylic box that slides over the tubing bracket, and contains brackets to mount the probes. If I make it out of black acrylic it will blend in to the background of the tank (which will also be painted black).

I'll whip something up in google sketch up in the next couple of days and see if one of the local acrylic shops can cut me the pieces.


----------



## mrkookm

GDominy said:


> Ok so maybe its a finishing detail that I will think about in less then an hour. I realized I still have to find a way to mount/hide my probes. I think I'll be able to manufacture a small acrylic box that slides over the tubing bracket, and contains brackets to mount the probes. If I make it out of black acrylic it will blend in to the background of the tank (which will also be painted black).
> 
> I'll whip something up in google sketch up in the next couple of days and see if one of the local acrylic shops can cut me the pieces.


Curious to see what you come up with here. 



> Pump works perfectly but the wet side assembly is really gunked up with a lot of coraline growth from the reef tank. I will pick up a new assembly this week.


Why not soak the wet end in undiluted White Vinegar, or is it worn as well?


----------



## GDominy

Its a few years old now and pretty worn. If it was something worth saving I would but id rather start with a fresh one.


----------



## GDominy

More goodies:

This is an Active L Splitter. The Simu Spots draw power from the L Ports on the profilux, as such you can only run a single Simu per jack on the Profilux (each simu uses 2 L Ports, each Jack contains 2 L ports). The other thing to consider is that only Ports L1L2 and L3L4 will send the signal for a lightning flash.

I want to run 4 Simu spots, so thats where this thing comes in handy. You plug this in to a single L Jack (L1L2 in this case) and it will power up to 4 Simu's through this splitter. The dimming curve will be the same for all 4 Simu's, but I can program each simu to react to Lightning independently.










This is an EVG Control board. This is an interface that allows you to connect 0-10V dimmable Ballasts or LED drivers to the L Ports on your Profilux. You supply 110V power to the terminals on the right side, then connect the power leads to your drivers. This device will turn off power to the drivers on a 0V signal via the relays on the board. The dimming signal leads are connected to teh termal block on the lower left. There are two channels. The smaller terminal block in the upper left is for the interface cable that connects to an L Jack on a Profilux or Expansion Box.










These little boxes are the Fan speed controllers. Like the previous devices pictured above, you connect these to the L ports on a Profilux. As the profilux sends a 0-10V signal, these will vary the voltage from 0-12V to the fans. You must supply the 12V via an external power supply (not shown here).










I have a few of these, and will be making use of two. These are the fan headers that will allow me to connect my LED cooling fans to the Propellor Control modules pictured above. The net result of these will be the Profilux controlling the speed of the fans based on LED intensity. This way the fans will not be very loud unless the LED's are really cranked up pretty high.


----------



## GDominy

mrkookm said:


> Curious to see what you come up with here.


Just found myself doodling and have a rough idea of what to build. First draft stuff here, will do up an actual 3D drawing before ordering my parts.


Side and front view:










Parts:










Rough idea of what it would look like:


----------



## GDominy

The "Tubing Bracket in the sketches is this thing:


----------



## GDominy

The box will actually be taller then the sketch so I can put a top on it to hide the tubes and probe leads. The bottom will be open to allow water movement. Should be easy to build with some pre cut pieces and a little time with a dremel for the tank hanging bracket


----------



## mrkookm

GDominy said:


> Just found myself doodling and have a rough idea of what to build. First draft stuff here, will do up an actual 3D drawing before ordering my parts.
> 
> 
> Side and front view:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Parts:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Rough idea of what it would look like:


Why not make or mod a bracket similar to the dosing pump feed lines and mount the probes exposed? I think that would be a clean tech look over having a box inside the tank.

Something like this:











from my iP 5 via Tapa.


----------



## l8nite

Where'd you get that tank? That's an awesome size.


----------



## GDominy

mrkookm said:


> Why not make or mod a bracket similar to the dosing pump feed lines and mount the probes exposed? I think that would be a clean tech look over having a box inside the tank.
> 
> Something like this:
> 
> View attachment 89522
> 
> 
> 
> 
> from my iP 5 via Tapa.


Thats a slick looking probe holder. If I can find one similar I would totally go that route. Eshopps makes a magnetic one I was considering


----------



## GDominy

l8nite said:


> Where'd you get that tank? That's an awesome size.


Custom made locally by a company called seastar/h2o


----------



## GDominy

Well.. I decided against building something. I'm way too lazy to custom make something like that right now given the enormous task I have ahead of me for setting this thing up.

I did however find a nice magnetic probe holder on my way home from work today:










This should do nicely


----------



## GDominy

Im glad I own a dremel. I went to test fit my probes, and much to my dismay, this holder didn't have the right size holes.

Ten minutes with my dremel however, and they work like a charm!










(I haven't cleaned my probes yet, I have to give them a good soak and clean)


----------



## mrkookm

GDominy said:


> Im glad I own a dremel. I went to test fit my probes, and much to my display, this holder didn't have the right size holes.
> 
> Ten minutes with my dremel however, and they work like a charm!
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> (I haven't cleaned my probes yet, I have to give them a good soak and clean)


Now I am definitely feelin that! Where did you find it, how much? Also, have you verified that the magnetism will not affect readings?


----------



## GDominy

Ive never had magnetism affect readings, but stray voltage will if you dont have a grounded power supply.

Ill be able to test later. Tonight I am tackling programming to get the profilux ready


----------



## GDominy

mrkookm said:


> Now I am definitely feelin that! Where did you find it, how much? Also, have you verified that the magnetism will not affect readings?


I found it at a local reef shop. Im pretty sure some of the sponsors carry them. I can't recall what model it is but it's made by vertex. Before modifying it would only take 13mm probes. After dremelling it takes 15mm.


----------



## mrkookm

GDominy said:


> I found it at a local reef shop. Im pretty sure some of the sponsors carry them. I can't recall what model it is but it's made by vertex. Before modifying it would only take 13mm probes. After dremelling it takes 15mm.


Good enough..thx


----------



## GDominy

Today I intentionally erased a years worth of programming from my profilux. I was trying to make changes to it all and realised it was going to take much longer then starting fresh so I factory reset the thing.

First things first, I upgraded teh firmware to 5.15 (the most current).










Next I programmed my switchable sockets. These are the outlets on my power bars and the dosing pump.










Ive made some changes to this screen since I took this picture. The fans and QT tank are now on a different illumination channel, but you get the idea.


----------



## GDominy

Next I had to build the lighting schedules. This is quite extensive so bear with me.

First of all, I decided I want to run 2 different lightinbg schedules for my lights. I want the tank to be off at a reasonable hour so it doesnt shine into the bedroom at night, but on the weekend when we are typically up later, I want the lights to have an extended schedule.

Thankfully this is actually a built in feature called "Variable illumination". This lets me choose what schedule a bank of lights uses on what day of the week. It is limited to only 4 schedules though, so I am using:

Variable 1 = Left and Right Blue LED's
Variable 2 = Center Blue LED's
Variable 3 = Left and Right LED's
Variable 4 = Center White LED's

I have arranged my lights in this way as the LED density is higher on the LED arrays on the left and right, so they have to be run at a lower intensity to balance it out visually.










Next came some safety features, although not really needed with LED's it only took a couple of minutes. If the tank gets too hot, the lights dim. The chiller should take care of this, but just in case...










Now for some visual fun. I set up some aggressive cloud simulation, and enable the moonlight simulation (it mimics the cycle of the moon by varying the intensity of moonlights every day).










And now for some thunderstormss... This is mostly just a cool thing to watch, but I also use it to trigger pumps to throttle up to kick up detritus. This way once a day the tank gets a good flush.


----------



## GDominy

Here are the lighting schedules, Ive tried to label everything in the software so it should be pretty clear. Ill happily answer any questions about it.


----------



## oldpunk78

Holy equipment, Plantman!!


----------



## GDominy

A ton of this equipment used to run my old robotank. It has been a few more years of collecting since then 

www.plantedtank.net/forums/showthread.php?t=56456


----------



## GDominy

Had some time to tinker before work so I got the ecotech configuration working.

First off I had to pair the MP10wES with the Vortech module. My first hiccup was that the pump was using an out of date firmware that wasnt compatible. Thankfully the GHL module lets me broadcast a new firmware wirelessly to the pump. A few minutes later, the fully upgraded pump paired properly:










Next I had to configure how I wanted the pump to operate. In this case I went with a random wave pattern from 8am till 8pm, then a quiet running mode from 8pm till 8am. During a thunderstorm the pump will generate waves.










I also enabled "Feed Pause". This will turn the pump off when I feed my fish. You can make it slow down, or pretty much do whatever you want, but I prefer it being off for this.


----------



## GDominy

So I didnt know these even existed (Ive been out of the game for a while, but I will have to order one of these:










Thats a flow sensor for a profilux. It would be handy to monitor how my pump flow is doing!


----------



## GDominy

More programming.. Sensors this time:

First, Ph/Co2 Control. I have this set up to target my Ph 6.5 during the photoperiod. At night the tank will allow a Ph drift to about 6.7 when the plants arent using CO2. I can configure this, but its usually a safe swing to deal with.










Next is Temperature. This is where I set my options for heating and cooling. I have allowed for a half a degree swing in temp between the heater switching off and the chiller switching on. This will prevent both from operating at the same time or rapidly switching back and forth. I will most likely increase this threshold if I see rapid switching behavior.










Not going to be using this function for much, but I already have the probe, and redox can give you some indication as to how much organic sludge is building up so I figure I'll set it up anyway.


----------



## GDominy

Profilux touch assigned to Profilux, basic configuration set up and working:


----------



## mrkookm

Man I soo wish you had an Apex..lol!


----------



## plantbrain

I'd let the pH drift all the way about 30 minutes before the lights go off and then start controlling it 1 hour before the lights come on.

Redox: this is a useful tool for sediments, not the water column.
O2 meter/probe would be much more informative for the water column.

A redox probe can be inserted into the sediment say at 1 cm, then later at 2 cm and so on. wait 3 weeks between moving it. Generally, a reference probe is used if you DIY your own redox probes. This makes a circuit and the probes can be customized/water proofed etc.

I have 30 x 24" 1/4" PVC probes from a research project.
Platinum 18 gauge wire ain't cheap though.


----------



## plantbrain

GDominy said:


> Reef Fanatic CO2 regulator. Its well loved and a little corroded from being close to salt water for so long, but still runs like a champ.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> These are my bubble magus tubing holders. These mount on the back of the aquarium and hold my dosing tubes in place discretely. I will only need one of these, so I have to see which one I can clean up better.


Since you have gone hog wild with equipment, might as well go wild with high grade dual regulator CO2. A good solenoid, check valve and metering needle valve.
If you really want to automate and go nuts, get a mass flow controller for the CO2 gas volume rate of delivery.


----------



## GDominy

plantbrain said:


> Since you have gone hog wild with equipment, might as well go wild with high grade dual regulator CO2. A good solenoid, check valve and metering needle valve.
> If you really want to automate and go nuts, get a mass flow controller for the CO2 gas volume rate of delivery.


Keep in mind Im trying not to spend too much extra cash. I already own all of this stuff Im just recycling it  

I do agree that a higher end co2 rig will be in the future, however It will have to do for now


----------



## GDominy

plantbrain said:


> I'd let the pH drift all the way about 30 minutes before the lights go off and then start controlling it 1 hour before the lights come on.
> 
> Redox: this is a useful tool for sediments, not the water column.
> O2 meter/probe would be much more informative for the water column.
> 
> A redox probe can be inserted into the sediment say at 1 cm, then later at 2 cm and so on. wait 3 weeks between moving it. Generally, a reference probe is used if you DIY your own redox probes. This makes a circuit and the probes can be customized/water proofed etc.
> 
> I have 30 x 24" 1/4" PVC probes from a research project.
> Platinum 18 gauge wire ain't cheap though.


Thats a pretty minor tweak for the co2. I had a similar thought on that as well and will tweak my control once I can measure everything in action.

I already own a redox probe as it used to power my ozone generator so I wont need to diy one. Im still on the fence about using it.


----------



## GDominy

Had a really long day at work today so I wasn't able to get much done tonight. I was able however to get my variable voltage ports configured.

As you can see I have set up the simus and left/right white leds on the first 4 L ports. This will allow them to receive the signals for lightning. I have set the minimum voltage on the white led arrays to 2.76 volts as this is the minimum voltage required to turn on the Meanwel eln-60-48p drivers through my homemade pullup resistor circuit.

The rest of the leds are powered by meanwel eln-60-48d's so I have set the minimum voltage to 1.3 volts.

The fan controllers have their minimum voltage set to 2.5 volts. This means that the fans will never run less then 25%


----------



## GDominy

I just got word that my tank has been finished! I should be able to pick it up this weekend.

I haven't much time to work on the tank build over teh last couple of days as I have been wiring this:


















By comparison the tank will be easy. I've ordered a Marineland Montery stand in black for the tank that should arrive in a week. I went with this stand as it has nice removable side panels which will make access to the equipment a breeze.

I believe this stand has a flat top, which is important as the tank requires a fully supported bottom


----------



## Frank Abagnale

I'm getting pumped to see your tank up and running. Love the tank dimensions.


----------



## GDominy

One more thing talking to the system, got the expansion box figured out (I still have one spare). All PAB devices are now communicating and firmware's are all up to date.

Next wave will be the repairs to the lighting. I hope to tackle some of that this weekend


----------



## GDominy

Frank Abagnale said:


> I'm getting pumped to see your tank up and running. Love the tank dimensions.


You and me both! I have a lot of work ahead of me still, but I"m plugging away at something every day to get things figured out. I'm still trying to source some nice driftwood, and I am debating about ordering some ADA rockwork, but haven't decided quite yet what I want to do with the aquascape. Getting a few ideas, its just going to come down to what hardscape materials I can dig up


----------



## tippeecanoe

Very interesting build. I am looking forward to seeing this up and running! Thanks for posting this journal.


----------



## GDominy

tippeecanoe said:


> Very interesting build. I am looking forward to seeing this up and running! Thanks for posting this journal.


Its all part of the fun. I tend to post often as I like the idea that people can follow my train of thought for the build. Posts will slow down once the tank is running and stuff is growing in, but its gonna be a busy few weeks as the build happens


----------



## GDominy

The tank has arrived!










There was a goof in the ordering and the company didn't receive notice that I wanted the edge polished, but it actually turned out really well regardless. It saved me a few hundred off the cost by not having it polished so I can't really complain for a $410 rimless tank made from 1/2" glass (its heavy as hell, but really strong)

The front left corner isn't perfect, but isn't really noticeable from the front, only the end (which I wont be able to look at easily anyway)










The rear right corner along the back panel has a couple of rough spots, but I will hide these with my tubing bracket and they won't be seen.


----------



## GDominy

mrkookm said:


> Why not soak the wet end in undiluted White Vinegar, or is it worn as well?


Decided to do this tonight after all. I have a new one on order but I wanted to test the pump on the half inch glass so I gave it a couple of hours in pure white vinegar. Cleaned up WAY better then I had hoped and once with coralline was off the wetside turned out to be in better shape then I thought.

I'm going to use this one as a spare.


----------



## mrkookm

GDominy said:


> The tank has arrived!
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> There was a goof in the ordering and the company didn't receive notice that I wanted the edge polished, but it actually turned out really well regardless. It saved me a few hundred off the cost by not having it polished so I can't really complain for a $410 rimless tank made from 1/2" glass (its heavy as hell, but really strong)
> 
> The front left corner isn't perfect, but isn't really noticeable from the front, only the end (which I wont be able to look at easily anyway)
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> The rear right corner along the back panel has a couple of rough spots, but I will hide these with my tubing bracket and they won't be seen.


Polishing does increase the cost, but it looks good and it protects the edges. 

All in all it looks good for the money and once everything is setup that's the last thing the masses will notice anyway.

How heavy would you say it is and how many help did you need to move it?



from my iP 5 via Tapa.


----------



## GDominy

mrkookm said:


> Polishing does increase the cost, but it looks good and it protects the edges.
> 
> All in all it looks good for the money and once everything is setup that's the last thing the masses will notice anyway.
> 
> How heavy would you say it is and how many help did you need to move it?
> 
> 
> 
> from my iP 5 via Tapa.


Tank is probably around 220 pounds. Easy lift for two people.

I was bummed it wasnt polished like I had asked for but Im ok with it as is. I tend to baby my glass anyway ill just have to be extra careful.

Im going to start on my lighting next. I have to replace a couple leds, remove some optics, build the suspended hood, then paint and hang it from the ceiling or wall. Havent quite decided yet


----------



## mrkookm

GDominy said:


> Tank is probably around 220 pounds. Easy lift for two people.


I thought it would be a bit heavier, but yeah thats a relatively easy move. Got something a bit less volume but same glass thickness being made and why I was curios. I'm happy it's not heavier!



> I was bummed it wasnt polished like I had asked for but Im ok with it as is. I tend to baby my glass anyway ill just have to be extra careful.
> 
> Im going to start on my lighting next. I have to replace a couple leds, remove some optics, build the suspended hood, then paint and hang it from the ceiling or wall. Havent quite decided yet


That's it, just be careful and you'll be okay. 





from my iP5 via Tapa 2


----------



## GDominy

Lighting repair day.

I borrowed a really nice soldering iron from work today to tackle my lighting repairs. My 30w iron wasn't hot enough to really get the solder to bond well to the solder pads on one of my LED batches. This baby made the entire process take minutes, considerably less then then I had anticipated.










Here are some shots of the lights in various stages of repair:

Just the whites on the pendants for the ends:









Blue and White working:









Center Strips up and running:









The mess I created during the repairs:


----------



## mrkookm

GDominy said:


> Lighting repair day.
> 
> I borrowed a really nice soldering iron from work today to tackle my lighting repairs. My 30w iron wasn't hot enough to really get the solder to bond well to the solder pads on one of my LED batches. This baby made the entire process take minutes, considerably less then then I had anticipated.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Here are some shots of the lights in various stages of repair:
> 
> Just the whites on the pendants for the ends:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Blue and White working:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Center Strips up and running:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> The mess I created during the repairs:


How many channels are you planning on 'creating' for the light setup?


----------



## mrkookm

GDominy said:


> Decided to do this tonight after all. I have a new one on order but I wanted to test the pump on the half inch glass so I gave it a couple of hours in pure white vinegar. Cleaned up WAY better then I had hoped and once with coralline was off the wetside turned out to be in better shape then I thought.
> 
> I'm going to use this one as a spare.


I didn't see the before condition, but I'm gonna assume it cleaned up nicely since I've seen what Coralline can do. 

When in use the the MP10 stays on the glass with no issues?


----------



## GDominy

mrkookm said:


> How many channels are you planning on 'creating' for the light setup?


1 - left and right blue
2 - center strips blue
3 - left and right white
4 - center strips white
5 - qt/grow out tank leds
6 - moonlights blue/white
7 - red leds for sunrise sunset

There are an extra four channels set up that are the same as 1-4 but are for an alternate schedule for weekend viewing.

I was originally going to have an extra pendant in the centre but I dont think there will be room so ive skipped it for now. It totally works but I dont think I have room with only 18". Ill experiment once I have the frame built to house it all.


----------



## GDominy

IF I can make these all fit, this is what I want for the LED array.


----------



## GDominy

And with the simu spots, this is the goal...


----------



## blink

My wife walked past and grumbled about being able to spot a reefer's tank journal at 20 paces...
Probably would have been able to pick it out from further away but our house isn't that big.

Nice journal and good re-use of equipment!


----------



## GDominy

Thats hilarious.. lol

This build is almost entirely all re-used equipment. This will be the 6th tank that my profilux has run, and the third tank for these LED's. I used to sell them so I've collected more then my fair share of parts that have been re-purposed.

Thanks for the kind words


----------



## GDominy

Another day, another part of the build. Today was the start of the suspended canopy. I actually made way more progress then I was expecting.

I assembled the canopy frame, painted it, and attached the acrylic shield under the bottom. I'm a little nervous about the strength of the acrylic however, so I may install some strapping to prevent bowing in the middle. Overall it went pretty smoothly.

Here is the semi-finished product:



















As you can see, I managed to cram all of my LED arrays in there after all. I managed to get the simu spots in there as well, so I have everything I wanted in here.

There are 11 Cooling fans for the LED's. More fans, running at lower RPM is actually quieter then higher speed fans. These are pretty quiet considering.

I've used terminal strips to attach all of the wiring connections. The red and Black wires are the fan power, and white and black wires are the LED's. This will allow me to detach the LED's from the drivers relatively easily if I have to do any maintenance. The drivers and fan power supplies are not connected in this image, they will mount to the upper terminal positions.










Profilux Touch mounted on the front right side, ready for action and displaying tank stats.


----------



## TheRiverRat

This is intense hahah, are you an engineer?


----------



## GDominy

TheRiverRat said:


> This is intense hahah, are you an engineer?


Lol no. Long time in the hobby, ex-technical analyst, former reef store manager, avid diy'er and I'm an installer for professional/commercial audio and video systems nowadays.

Just a huge geek really, this hobby is a combination of many of my interests.


----------



## GDominy

mrkookm said:


> I didn't see the before condition, but I'm gonna assume it cleaned up nicely since I've seen what Coralline can do.
> 
> When in use the the MP10 stays on the glass with no issues?


The "before" condition was completely encrusted almost totally seized. It was screaming like a banshee when fired up. 

The Mp10 isnt designed for glass thicker then 3/8ths but you can make it work on 1/2 if your dry side is secured to the side of the tank. I use the stick on zip tie pads on the cord so the motor assembly is supported by the cord. In extreme cases I have used a drop of crazy glue to tack it to the glass (still supported by the cord).


----------



## GDominy

Another busy night! I started by mounting some of the "brain" of the system. I re-purposed an old shelf that used to hold up a tv to become the stands electronics cubby. It also holds the CO2 bottle. I had some scrap plywood that just happened to fit, so it became the Profilux shelf.










The left side of this box will have all of the AC power and switched outlets for the equipment. Inside the shelf you can see the Profilux PWM LED controllers below the Meanwell ELN-60-48P's.










In the rear you can see the Vortech pump controller, and the two fan controllers. I don't have extra terminal strips to attach the fan leads to yet, so they are just coiled up for the moment.










The Right side houses all of the 0-10V LED drivers and the control boards for them. This side of the shelf will be burried against the wall of the stand. There will be a pair of terminal strips that all of the fan connections, and LED drivers will connect to. This will be the wiring point that will connect to the lights.










Still have some painting to do on the shelf to clean it up a bit, but I'm not overly concerned as this will be hidden in the stand.


----------



## Big O

*Wow!*

WTF, are you building a tank or a freak'n robot! 
Just jealous.

P.S. very cool,

big o


----------



## GDominy

Ha! The local fish club in my area has dubbed my tank(s) "The robotank"

This is actually not the most complicated tank Ive built, but is hands down the most tech heavy planted setup ive put together.

I still havent even started to build the raspberry pi and arduino modules yet (they are going to be part of the thunderstorm audio)... They probably wont be integrated until after the tank is running.


----------



## GDominy

These are going to be fun to build in... Arduino Uno on the left, Raspberry Pi on the right


----------



## GDominy

Im thinking I might include a "kill switch" that can be used to turn off the pump, filter, heater etc during water changes or emergencies. Something like this:










This switch would be wired to the adin module in the profilux. I will have to combine some programmable logic with it but I think it will work.


----------



## CL

Arduino microcontrollers are fun. Were starting to get to play with them/ program some in my circuits labs. Lot's of possibilities :thumbsup:


----------



## GDominy

Im hoping to use the arduino to monitor the status of a relay so when it triggers it can send a play command to the rpi to play an mp3/wav file. It would be sweet if it could monitor the length of the trigger and choose what file to play.

The profilux can turn a socket on as a function of thunder so after every lightning flash thunder occurs. I ghetto rigged something previously where I had a playlist of thunder mp3s playing on a computer and the thunder socket would turn speakers on and off. Id prefer to do something more complex.

Ideally when "thunderstorm" starts the rpi and speakers fire up and queues its list of mp3s. The arduio just monitors the length of thunder event and directs the rpi to play the file closest to its timeframe. May not even be possible but id like to try. I already own them both.


----------



## sayurasem

TPT VIP for sure!


----------



## karatekid14

Get one of these for the kill switch 








Amazing tank, I can't wait to see it operational.


----------



## GDominy

karatekid14 said:


> Get one of these for the kill switch
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Amazing tank, I can't wait to see it operational.


If I get one of that style, it will be in blue I think to match the Profilux LCD. I was looking at those though.. hmmm


----------



## GDominy

Some more baby steps in wiring...

Installed the terminal strip for the brain, the top two pairs are for the fans. These are the outputs from the PropellorControl modules. All of the other connections are for the LED drivers.










Also discovered that the battery fits perfectly in the space left over in the shelf. No wasted space in this thing!


----------



## Mumford

And here I thought three plugs and a timer were to much 

Lookin good


- Mumford


----------



## GDominy

Mumford said:


> And here I thought three plugs and a timer were to much
> 
> Lookin good
> 
> 
> - Mumford


You know... It may sound silly (given how much wiring I'm doing) but I can't stand looking at wires. They have to be hidden and out of sight or I go bonkers. I'm already a bit annoyed at how messy the wiring around the LED drivers is, but its pretty much the best I can do without chopping the leads back (I dont want to do that so I can re-use these drivers again later. Gets harder to do with shorter wires)

With any luck, the bulk of the wiring will be hidden completely away when this is all installed. I don't want anything to distract from the tank itself.


----------



## GDominy

Ok.. taking a break from equipment for a night.

Decided to try and sketch out what Ive been semi planning for an aquascape.

Due to the shallower depth of the tank, only 18 inches, I'm going to have no more then 16 inches of depth at any place. From the get go I wanted to have some above water features similar to a riparium.

I believe I'm going to do a 2 mound aquascape with the peaks near the surface allowing wood to extend into the open space above the water line, or possibly having the peak of one mound crest the water line allowing for other more terrestrial plants. No matter what there will be some fine branches with air plants above the water, just a question of how many.

forgive the rough sketch, was just doodling while watching TV and had an idea..


----------



## iter

Maybe this will help you :icon_idea:





The tank I want to show you is at around 2:25


I immediately thought of this tank when I saw your rough sketch :hihi:

Good luck with the aquascaping part!!!


----------



## GDominy

I am such a geek, my girlfriend is out at a hockey game while I'm staying at home working on the aquarium. I feel like I have failed as a Canadian. 

Anyway... Ive made some progress with the canopy. I scrounged up some scrap steel cable from work today and picked up some of the fasteners etc that I'll need to hang this thing.

There were no convenient joists to attach the canopy to so I had to mount into drywall. Since this canopy is sporting a pretty hefty loaf of aluminium I decided to go with a 4 point hang instead of 2.

To attach to the ceiling I used this:










I made up some steel cable and will attach it to the bolts using a quicklink:










First one in:










All four (the canopy will be raised higher then this, I have the cables long currently so it will be easier to attach, then I can raise it and level it off after):










I used 4 x 1/4" eye bolts to attach the canopy to the steel cable. I drilled holes through the canopy and bolted them all the way through. I wasn't comfortable simply having screw in ones in case they pulled out from the weight.










To finish it off, I used acorn nuts on the outside so it wouldn't look too bad.


----------



## GDominy

Its up!!!!


----------



## Mumford

Chances the cat jumps from his perch onto that light?


- Mumford


----------



## Dx3Bash

Mumford said:


> Chances the cat jumps from his perch onto that light?
> 
> 
> - Mumford


ROFL, was thinking the same exact thing....


----------



## synaethetic

Was thinking the same thing as mumford ...! Would be a shame for the cat to take down such a nice LED setup.


----------



## GDominy

Yeah Ive been wondering about that myself. I seriously doubt the cat would attempt it, shes 14 years old and can barely jump up on the bed, but I have kept that in that back of my mind.. lol


----------



## GDominy

Let there be light!

Had to perform some emergency surgery tonight. Somehow during the hang I destroyed 2 LED's. On top of that, one of the ballast control boards was acting strangely so I swapped it out for my spare just in case. I'd rather troubleshoot this now before its sitting above a tank full of water.

All lights on:










Blues + Moonlights only:










Simu's with red white and blue cranked up:


----------



## GDominy

I have to figure out how to hide the giant bundle of wire coming from the canopy. I'm debating burying it in some snap-track but I'm in no hurry until I get the stand. Its currently just strung out on an angle like that just so it can reach the brain sitting on the floor just to the side of the tank


----------



## mrkookm

GDominy said:


> Let there be light!
> 
> Had to perform some emergency surgery tonight. Somehow during the hang I destroyed 2 LED's. On top of that, one of the ballast control boards was acting strangely so I swapped it out for my spare just in case. I'd rather troubleshoot this now before its sitting above a tank full of water.
> 
> All lights on:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Blues + Moonlights only:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Simu's with red white and blue cranked up:


Is it the picture (referring to the first), but your LED config seems to be putting light mostly on the Blue side? 



from my iP 5 via Tapa.


----------



## GDominy

Its difficult to show clearly in photos but at full brightness on both the cool white and blue is maxed out it looks around 14000k.

I will be running it with significantly reduced blue, closer to 10k.


----------



## GDominy

These were originally over my reef tank but have since been repurposed. Im toying with the idea of adding a red string to warm it up somewhat. If I was building this from scratch I would have used cool white and neutral white. With considerably less blue


----------



## mrkookm

GDominy said:


> Its difficult to show clearly in photos but at full brightness on both the cool white and blue is maxed out it looks around 14000k.
> 
> I will be running it with significantly reduced blue, closer to 10k.


Got it.





from my iP 5 via Tapa.


----------



## GDominy

I think I'm going to have to add some 80 degree optics to this build. The amount of light spillover is pretty huge and I think it will bug me having so much light in my living room. if I can tighten the beam up a bit I think it will help.

My living room looks like a grow op.


----------



## GDominy

Took a quick vid of the light, my camera kept autocorrectig for brightness but you get the idea..

http://youtu.be/dOvHcip5R74


----------



## iter

What are you going to do about the cables in the video?


----------



## GDominy

iter said:


> What are you going to do about the cables in the video?


I mentioned this earlier, I might bury the cable bundle in some snap track behind the tank. Im waiting until I have the tank on the stand before I anchor them permanently.


----------



## Zahy

very inspiring, done the same, downsized my reef tank and got new 5x2x2 planted discuss i used all my reef gear, waiting for more pictures good luck.
zahy


----------



## GDominy

Not much is going to happen during the week. Until my stand arrives Im kind of in a holding pattern. Next weekend I would like to able to have the electrical all done while I wait for the co2 reactor and eheim filter to arrive.

Its weird walking away from reefing but feels very liberating.. looking forward to getting this tank running!


----------



## GDominy

Did a bit more tinkering programming wise and got the thunderstorm lighting working. Check out the test video:


----------



## Frank Abagnale

Haha that's sweet


----------



## iter

All that's left is the sound!


----------



## GDominy

Sound is going to be a 2 part project. First I'll load up the Raspberry Pi with Thunder mp3's and have a looping playlist of them (This is almost finished).

The initial part of the project is simply going to be a a set of speakers that turns on and off for thunder. This is less then ideal but will produce some sound, even if slightly out of sync with the lightning (Ive done this before and its pretty neat). I have everything I need for this already.

The more advanced version will involve some Arduino programming which is currently a bit beyond my experience, but is something I'm going to tinker with. This will take me a couple of months to figure out, but I will have a working rig with speakers in a week or so.


----------



## thelub

You my friend have set a whole new bar for "high tech"


----------



## GDominy

The stand came in today... Looks pretty snazzy all put together now!










Had to modify the brain shelf a bit to get it to fit, but its in there now...


----------



## GDominy

thelub said:


> You my friend have set a whole new bar for "high tech"


Ha! Thanks  I love building stuff


----------



## mcfly84

Subsrcibed. I dig the DIY LED fixtures. In the first youtube link you posted, at 1:17 what phase was that? Hard to tell when cameras act against ya. Just curious because it looked spot on with out too much intense blue.


----------



## Green_Flash

Very cool, do you have any journals for your saltwater builds?


----------



## Mumford

GDominy said:


> The stand came in today... Looks pretty snazzy all put together now!
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Had to modify the brain shelf a bit to get it to fit, but its in there now...


Holy crap...

I'll take 2 please lol. Seriously that looks so darn cool


- Mumford


----------



## GDominy

Green_Flash said:


> Very cool, do you have any journals for your saltwater builds?


My screen name for aquatic stuff on various forums is either gdominy or manicfishkeeper (there are probably a couple of build threads on Reef Central, canreef, bcaquaria and the local site TGVAS.com). Ive had many build threads on several websites (including this one).

My reef tanks were sort of sporadic updates though, as I was managing a reef store at the time and most of my online time was spent trying to manage the stores website or marketing, so I had little time for personal stuff.


----------



## GDominy

mcfly84 said:


> Subsrcibed. I dig the DIY LED fixtures. In the first youtube link you posted, at 1:17 what phase was that? Hard to tell when cameras act against ya. Just curious because it looked spot on with out too much intense blue.


Dont know off hand. The camera really played tricks with the colour balance. As it stands now I am running the blues at 20% and whites 100% at peak, with the reds also full out. I have three extra drivers still and an extra ballast control board so I really think ill end up adding 12 to 24 red cree xpe's to warm it up.


----------



## mcfly84

That sounds like it'll be pretty balanced at that point. Have you done a PAR test on it yet? I'm curious to see how the plants react to the spectrum you'll be providing.


----------



## GDominy

mcfly84 said:


> That sounds like it'll be pretty balanced at that point. Have you done a PAR test on it yet? I'm curious to see how the plants react to the spectrum you'll be providing.


Im trying to track down a Par meter to rent locally. If I cant find one I'll just buy one next month when money is a little better.


----------



## hlaalu

This build is l33t. Very awesome read so far, looking forward to more!


----------



## madness

Incredible build and great documentation.

I especially like the detailed photos of the menu screens on the controller software.


----------



## VicSkimmr

This is really incredible! Everything is so clean and professional looking.

Have you considered fishing the power cable for your lights behind the wall? For that matter, you could mount the light directly to the wall with some brackets and not have any cables showing at all


----------



## GDominy

VicSkimmr said:


> This is really incredible! Everything is so clean and professional looking.
> 
> Have you considered fishing the power cable for your lights behind the wall? For that matter, you could mount the light directly to the wall with some brackets and not have any cables showing at all


I have, but its a rented appartment. Its easy to hide holes in a textured ceiling with some spackle, but holes in drywall are a little more tricky


----------



## hunterlook

:drool:


----------



## madness

Compared to 'typical' DIY LED rigs what makes this one capable of lightning effects?

Are the dimmable drivers what allow the rapid on/off of the LEDs?

Does the profilux provide the programming and the light control portion of the lightning effects?


----------



## antbug

GDominy said:


> I have, but its a rented appartment. Its easy to hide holes in a textured ceiling with some spackle, but holes in drywall are a little more tricky


hahaha all these skills and you're worried about drywall holes. Sorry this made me LOL.


----------



## GDominy

madness said:


> Compared to 'typical' DIY LED rigs what makes this one capable of lightning effects?
> 
> Are the dimmable drivers what allow the rapid on/off of the LEDs?
> 
> Does the profilux provide the programming and the light control portion of the lightning effects?


The lightning effects are generated by the profilux. In order to make them work with my DIY rig I had to do a few things.

First off, I used two LEDControl4 modules for the profilux which were originally designed to be used with PacificSun LED fixtures. 

The modules were designed to use an open collector PWM signal.

The idea behind these modules is that they take the analog 0-10V signal, and take the digital signal usually provided to the Simu Spots/bars by GHL and combine it into a PWM signal for the lamps to use.

I then added the Meanwell PWM drivers. 

The Meanwell drivers are PWM, but they are not open-collector PWM, they use a 10V powered PWM signal.

The solution to this was to build a pull up resistor circuit. Thankfully GHL provided a small diagram that got me started:










I built my circuit using an external 10V power supply and a resistor as per the diagram. Worked like a charm!

Typical 0-10V dimmable drivers do not allow for the rapid flash of lightning as they have a ramp up/down that takes a few milliseconds. They simply aren't fast enough. PWM does allow for this however.

In short, the Profilux does the signal generation for the lightning, my DIY rig is simply listening to the signals and providing the output as required.


----------



## GDominy

antbug said:


> hahaha all these skills and you're worried about drywall holes. Sorry this made me LOL.


lol I know its silly, but I did want this rig to be reasonably modular so it can be easily taken apart and moved in the future. I have no idea if the wall the tank is against has plumbing in it, or electrical so I didn't bother. If this were a job I was doing for work (or a house I owned) I would have bashed a hole in the wall and fished my wires through no problem.


----------



## GDominy

Oh flourite, how I love and despise you at the same time...










I was filling the tank on saran wrap and it was going perfectly, no murk, then the cling wrap lifted and I stirred up a huge swath of flourite. Have to wait a few days before doing much. No filter yet, just water circulation with the Vortech while it dechlorinates and settles.

Going to pick up some ammonia and begin a fishless cycle in the next few days (obviously will just be the beginning without a filter, but I'm going to throw some bio-media in the tank with a powerhead to get it started)


----------



## SouthernCichlids

GDominy said:


> Oh flourite, how I love and despise you at the same time...


I feel your pain haha. I don't know about you, but flourite deters me from lots of re-scapes. That and crypt melt.


----------



## GDominy

Ive found that once flourite has had a chance to settle its not too bad. Serious rescaping will cause clouding still but not too bad. I still prefer flourite when Im chemically dosing a high light tank though, I find it easier to balance my nutients when Im running a substrate with a low organic content.


----------



## SouthernCichlids

I agree, definitely makes pinpoint dosing much easier.


----------



## antbug

GDominy said:


> lol I know its silly, but I did want this rig to be reasonably modular so it can be easily taken apart and moved in the future. I have no idea if the wall the tank is against has plumbing in it, or electrical so I didn't bother. If this were a job I was doing for work (or a house I owned) I would have bashed a hole in the wall and fished my wires through no problem.


Oh, I have not doubt that you would, and you would do an amazing job. I, like most of us, have been getting crazy ideas watching this thread. Love what you've done so far and I'm looking forward to your updates. 

Now, how are your aquascaping skills?


----------



## GDominy

My aquascaping skills are unrefined and it has been several years since Ive done a planted tank. I tend to let things go wild, so who knows. 

This was my last planted tank, it was run by the same profilux that is running this tank:










Here is a 45 gallon terrarium I did...


----------



## antbug

GDominy said:


> My aquascaping skills are unrefined and it has been several years since Ive done a planted tank. I tend to let things go wild, so who knows.
> 
> This was my last planted tank, it was run by the same profilux that is running this tank:


Why would you ever take this tank down? Very nice!


----------



## SouthernCichlids

That discus tank is extremely impressive, do you remember the dimensions on that monster?


----------



## GDominy

I moved in with a girl with saltwater aquariums. We bought a 135 and combined our reef tanks. I had to retire this tank to make room. That was several years ago and a few tanks ago. My current apartment is modestly sized so this new tank is pretty much the perfect size for the space.

Im kind of pushing my limits for what I can get away with size wise as it is or I would have done this tank up at 6 feet long instead of only four.


----------



## GDominy

Oops duplicate post. Disregard.


----------



## GDominy

So I figured while I wait for the tank to clear (which is happening considerably faster then I would have expected) I'd show the space its in. We live in a 1000 square foot apartment so space is sort of at a premium. This tank fit perfectly in an area between our dining room and living room space.

When you first enter our place, and turn right down the main hallway to the living space you see this:










Living Room:










Dining Room (mind the clothes, its laundry day):


----------



## Frank Abagnale

Looks pretty sweet


----------



## IWANNAGOFAST

awesome set up! Love it when planted tanks use reef gear, very nice stuff.


----------



## SomeCanuck

And after having waster a solid hour of my work day reading through this thread (don't tell the boss) and being blown away by the technical expertise of it, all I can say is: subscribed.  I can't wait to see where this tank goes.


----------



## GDominy

Well the tank is clearing up, and have a few plants in. Good plants are difficult to come by in this town so this is NOT the final aquascape. I am currently just acquiring plants and aquascaping materials before I really dig in.

I found a piece of driftwood I liked, and now I am trying to find a few similar pieces so I can create a scape. I also lucked out and found some larger gravel on a job site that has the same colour and texture as Flourite, so it looks ok as a blend. Just threw a handfull or two in to get a feel for it.


----------



## GDominy

I should mention I took this pic just before the lights went out so its fairly blue. Normally its quite white


----------



## GDominy

Much clearer today.. few more plants added


----------



## RobMc

The reds really pop under those LED's. Can't wait to see what kind of growth you get in a techy system like this.

Though, that scratching post right next to the tank 0_0 
You brave man you


----------



## crazydaz

Yes, why do we always seem to have cats?? I have three, and curiously, they have no interest in my tanks.

It appears that the tank will look wonderful, Garreth! I'm interested in seeing how it turns out.


----------



## keep_on_keepin_on

i noticed the scratching post before i noticed the new plants in the tank lol... very brave considering the open top. My cat always drinks from my tanks open top and teeters his lardness on the rim. Its dangerous and he has falling in once...disaster..........hasn't happened since though :flick:


----------



## GDominy

We have two cats and as of today one of them has discovered that she can balance herself on the side and front pane of glass to drink out of the aquarium. The tank isnt moving but the scratching post probably will.

The other cat loves watching the tank but so far hasnt gone climbing!


----------



## GDominy

RobMc said:


> The reds really pop under those LED's. Can't wait to see what kind of growth you get in a techy system like this.
> 
> Though, that scratching post right next to the tank 0_0
> You brave man you


Just as an example of growth rates I added some hygro siamensis last weekend and the main stems grew 4 inches in 7 days. Ive already pruned them and replanted to expand its coverage at the back. 

Wanted a couple fast growers for the first couple months while the tank breaks in and the hygro works for this. Its not messy, large enough to be durable even with constant pruning and I can trade cuttings for credit sometimes with local stores.


----------



## harilp

All the [email protected]#* i wanna say is you a HOLY RICH


----------



## GDominy

harilp said:


> All the [email protected]#* i wanna say is you a HOLY RICH


 Far from rich. This tank represents a decade of equipment collecting. Its not like I just went out and bought it all at once.. thats madness on my income. I just build everything I can and reuse everything useful over and over. A lot of this equipment has been running at least 3 tanks before this one


----------



## GDominy

I forgot to mention Ive started wiring for a string of red leds in the mix. Im going to add 10 to the 2 32 inch fixtures (5 each) and 2 leds to the side fixtures in hood. This will cover the whole tank and I can control its intensity separately from the rest.


----------



## Alaskan Fishface

Very impressive, I think this tank is going to be great. Looking forward to seeing the progress. 
I have cats too!


----------



## Iotari

This build is simply inspiring. Its that magic combination of tons of electronics in close proximity to water.


----------



## GDominy

Did some tinkering with the Raspbery pi tonight and got the first test of audio working for thunderstorm sim. The Vortech is quite loud during the storm as I had it cranked up pretty high, but its normally much quieter.


----------



## synaethetic

Great video! Your setup is something out of a science fiction novel, it even sounds like darth vader. The lights are super cool, brightest I've ever seen. 

Wonder what you will use in the foreground for this one.


----------



## Green_Flash

I wonder if those flashing lights are safe for the fish? I would think they would get stressed out or something, maybe even jump out.


----------



## hunterlook

Green_Flash said:


> I wonder if those flashing lights are safe for the fish? I would think they would get stressed out or something, maybe even jump out.


If anything, it should make it feel more natural, thunderstorms do occur in the wild.


----------



## Green_Flash

True, but most of the fish we keep are tank raised and have never been exposed to wild conditions. This would be like a strobe light in their face compared to the open expanses of the wild even, and has no real benefit for the health or well-being of the livestock.


----------



## GDominy

Green_Flash said:


> True, but most of the fish we keep are tank raised and have never been exposed to wild conditions. This would be like a strobe light in their face compared to the open expanses of the wild even, and has no real benefit for the health or well-being of the livestock.


Not entirely true... in my area its much more common to find wild cardinal tetras and blue rams than farmed. A ton of common bread and butter fish are farmed but many fish are still wild caught.

Even then the farmed fish I have kept dont seem to mind the lightning at all. Ive even had some fish that would predictably spawn within 24 hours of a storm day as well (when I have them scheduled that way).

The tank is programmed to simulate a lunar cycle as well, so I usually have storms more often during the new/full moon. Hard to say if fish are more in tune with storms or lunar cycle or some combo of both but I do believe it contributes somehow.


----------



## Couesfanatic

Pretty cool to see those fish start schooling when the storm starts.


----------



## GDominy

added a few more pieces of food, began manually fertilizing while I try to determine my nutrient consumption. Added a couple of plants and moved a few things around. My HM melted but I suspect it wasn't fully acclimated to submersed growth before I bought it so I'm not too worried. A few stems are still hanging on so I might be able to salvage a few, but overall its going well. No algae outbreaks yet (partially due to the UV killing an initial green water explosion).

Its looking a bit rough now, but since I started fertilizing things have taken off. My Rotalla Wallachi has doubled in size in 5 days so its a good indication that things are going ok. 

This pic was taken with the lights at minimum, just got home from a night out and was just farting around with the tank a bit.


----------



## GDominy

The Rams seem to be doing well so far


----------



## GDominy

full brightness shot..


----------



## GDominy

Well as predicted one of our cats just totally fell into the aquarium.

Nothing harmed but her pride but holy crap was it funny.

She tried to jump on the edge to drink from the tank and did a header right into the water.


----------



## SouthernCichlids

Ahahahahaha that is great. You can't beat cats and fish, especially when they are accidentally combined.


----------



## GDominy

Girlfriend bought a Canon Close-up lens (500 P) today. Its not as nice as a full blown macro lens, but its going to really make do until I buy a 100mm Macro.


----------



## lamiskool

that yellow fish is stunning! whats it called?


----------



## GDominy

Those are just your run of the mill gold barbs  They were quite skinny when I got them but two weeks of bloodwoms, brine shrimp, and garlic laced pellets has fattened them up and given them some decent colour.


----------



## lamiskool

yea thats what I thought, they reminded me of my odyssa barbs, never seen yellow ones before though, they look sweet!


----------



## GDominy

They were really popular 10-15 years ago but not quite as common these days. I wanted them as a contrasting colour to the cardinal tetras and blue rams.

The zebra plecos will be the topper though. I have a local shop bringing some in for me in about 6 weeks.


----------



## dtejeda.arias

Master Jedi will you please show me the ways of an Aquatic Jedi?!?!? I didn't know 95% of what you have done was even possible. Your led rig makes mines look like a book of matches... Wicked awesome!!!!!! In all seriousness I would love to learn just a bit of all this. Maybe websites and links I can study? Subscribed!


----------



## TheRiverRat

That thunderstorm mode is the tits!!!! I was thinking about doing some sunrise sunset stuff with having a bulb go off/ come on earlier hahaha but this right here is on another level, make that planet! Ridiculousness. 

Does it also make coffee? hahah but seriously...


----------



## GDominy

TheRiverRat said:


> That thunderstorm mode is the tits!!!! I was thinking about doing some sunrise sunset stuff with having a bulb go off/ come on earlier hahaha but this right here is on another level, make that planet! Ridiculousness.
> 
> Does it also make coffee? hahah but seriously...


It doesnt make coffee but I am going to set it up to dim my living room lights during a thunderstorm


----------



## GDominy

dtejeda.arias said:


> Master Jedi will you please show me the ways of an Aquatic Jedi?!?!? I didn't know 95% of what you have done was even possible. Your led rig makes mines look like a book of matches... Wicked awesome!!!!!! In all seriousness I would love to learn just a bit of all this. Maybe websites and links I can study? Subscribed!


I built the led rig to work with a profilux but 90% if it will work with any controller that can do 0-10v control.

Its actually not much more complicated then a basic diy rig... just dimmable drivers controlled externally. If you have built a basic led rig before you can build this!


----------



## antbug

GDominy said:


> The zebra plecos will be the topper though. I have a local shop bringing some in for me in about 6 weeks.


Beautiful fish, but they hide 100% of the time. I wish they were more playful as it would warrant the cost of them.


----------



## GDominy

antbug said:


> Beautiful fish, but they hide 100% of the time. I wish they were more playful as it would warrant the cost of them.


 Oh I know, ive kept them before. The way I have arranged the wood actually makes the shaded cave areas at the front of the tank so hopefully they will be more visible.


----------



## GDominy

So my lights are proving to be WAY too intense at full brightness, even for a short period. I have not been able to keep up with CO2/Nutrient demand and has allowed hair algae to flourish.

On the up side, with the full intensity I was growing several stems at a rate of about a half to a full inch per day. The LED's are working, just time to do some fine tuning.

I've cut my lighting to 50% (Which is what I was running for my weekend days) and increased my CO2, balancing my Ph around 6.4. For the next few days I'm doing water changes to remove most of the offending hair algae (its almost all gone tonight after a 20 gallon water change).

On saturday I have a box of plants and shrimp flying in for me from Vancouver so that should help. I have 6 pots of HC, 2 pots of Ammania gracillis, 1 pot of Pogostemon Helfri, 1 pot of Bacopa australis, and 1 pot of Sunset Hygro coming along with my first batch of Crystal Reds.

That should be enough HC to get a carpet going pretty quick so I may actually crank the light for another week or two to get it rooting/spreading quickly.

I'm also looking for a remote trigger for my camera so I can set up a week long time lapse shot of the aquarium so I can show what the growth rate looks like. It's actually quite shocking, I have never had a planted tank grow this fast before. The last planted tank I ran had 4 x 96w Power compacts, and 4 x 65w Power compacts over it with full CO2 and ferts and it didnt even come close to this. 

Pics coming soon, just waiting for the tank to clear up.


----------



## GDominy

Been a busy weekend. Started shaping the plants a bit, planted the HC carpet, and made the disastrous decision to add the Crystal reds. The gold barbs have eaten almost all of them. Plan B was to have mexican orange crayfish in here instead so we added 4 of those today.

Here are a couple of shots of the progress:


----------



## Clavius

What an awesome setup you have! I see a Vortech on there. I had one on my reef tank back in the day. A truly amazing piece of equipment.


----------



## tslabaugh

Impressive! Love the thunderstorm mode on the lights.


----------



## 06cummins

Subscribed! Very impressive work, can't wait to see more


----------



## GDominy

Clavius said:


> What an awesome setup you have! I see a Vortech on there. I had one on my reef tank back in the day. A truly amazing piece of equipment.


 Actually had seven of them but I recently sold off the 4 x mp40s and 2 x mp10s. Shutting down my reef totally paved the way for this tank. I loved the vortechs but there was absolutely no need for them on this rig. One is totally enough.

Reefing had started feeling more like work. This tank has finally got me excited about the hobby again.


----------



## GDominy

It appears that reducing the light and a couple of water changes has beaten the algae. It has been 3 days and the algae hasnt returned. Im going to start creeping the light back up until I find the sweet spot.

An added bonus is that the extra water changes seem to have triggered the blue rams into breeding mode. The male has excavated a spawning pit and is viscously defending it. The pair is taking turns guarding the den and have taken to attacking me if I put my hand in the tank.

No Eggs yet, but at this rate I wouldnt be surprised if they follow through some time in the next few weeks. Ill try to get pics as this unfolds.


----------



## GDominy

So apparently I just missed the eggs, because today, we have newly hatched blue ram fry!


----------



## lamiskool

congratz!


----------



## RavenGreenthumb

Just started my own audrino controlled/ led / auto ph tank. Yours - just stunned me.
Subscribed 

Regards.


----------



## hisxlency

I missed it somewhere, where do you get your tank from? I am loving the dimensions


----------



## GDominy

hisxlency said:


> I missed it somewhere, where do you get your tank from? I am loving the dimensions


I had the tank custom made through a local shop by a company called h20 aquariums in Victoria. We are pretty lucky to have an aquarium manufacturing company locally so there is no shipping. They do pretty nice work and they use black silicone which I am a fan of (doesn't discolour like clear can over time).

I'm glad people are digging the dimensions, its a touch shorter then a standard 75 and I wanted to give the tank a more stretched out perspective. It's cool that you guys like it too


----------



## GDominy

aamir9110 said:


> Just started my own audrino controlled/ led / auto ph tank. Yours - just stunned me.
> Subscribed
> 
> Regards.


You are totally going to love the Arduino. LED builds that can be controlled are really visually appealing with the variety of options you can give them. Drop me a link to your build, I'd love to follow your progress (the electronics geek in me can't resist!)


----------



## GDominy

I must have really lucked out when I chose this pair of Rams. They have managed to hatch their first batch of fry and are so far protecting them from the other fish! Here is the male watching over his brood.


----------



## ETK

Looks like a good dad!

Are you going to use anything to cover the filter inlet? I have no experience with this sort of thing but I am curious about the possibility of raising fry in a community tank . . . my angels just spawned in my 36x18x18.


----------



## iter

What kind of Rams are those again? Really interesting to see a cichlid's brooding behavior


----------



## blazeyreef

iter said:


> What kind of Rams are those again? Really interesting to see a cichlid's brooding behavior


they look like "german blues"


----------



## GDominy

German Blue Rams, absolutely love these little fish. I haven't bred any in about 8 years so I was totally unprepared for these little guys to get started so quickly. I only had them for about 2 weeks before they spawned, and usually the first spawn gets eaten, or abandoned.

I wasn't planning on breeding them at all, so I haven't really thought too much about the filter inlet. The flow is pretty gentle around the inlet though, as the surface skimmer is taking quite a bit.

This is just sort of a fun side project. If the babies live, cool. If they don't I won't be heartbroken. Its just fun watching them go through the motions.

If the babies can survive for over a week in this tank I might put in some serious effort in breeding them. I have a 14 Gallon I can set up as a rearing tank and I can track down some microworms, but for the time being I'm simply feeding them crushed New Life spectrum food with some additives, and crushed CyclopEeze


----------



## XCW-500

Always cool to have some fry pop up.


----------



## GDominy

If anything I can look at this as a sign the tank is breaking in well. I gotta say after years of mixing salt water 50 gallons at time doing water changes with buckets is a breeze by comparison!


----------



## GDominy

Shot a few videos of the Ram fry doing their thing:


----------



## jcgd

GDominy, excellent thread. Always a pleasure to read your threads and I haven't seen you around much in years.

You were one of the members who's tank (the six footer you posted a few pages back) originally got me hooked on planted tanks. Eleven years later I'm still here.


----------



## GDominy

jcgd said:


> GDominy, excellent thread. Always a pleasure to read your threads and I haven't seen you around much in years.
> 
> You were one of the members who's tank (the six footer you posted a few pages back) originally got me hooked on planted tanks. Eleven years later I'm still here.


Thanks for the kind words  I've been around in the hobby the whole time, but I was focussing heavily on salt water for a few years. Kinda stepped out of the planted scene.

Had a couple of career changes in the last few years too, but things have finally settled down. I seriously doubt I'll be setting up another salt water aquarium (at least not in my rented apartment) but I do think I will end up running at least one more freshwater tank in this place.

I have two more LED fixtures just sitting around, and enough automation equipment to do something interesting (that would tie into the other aquariums Profilux). Also found a couple of Tunze nanostream powerheads.

Thinking I might set up a small cube tank for shrimp, seeing as this tank wont be able to support them (stupid barbs lol).


----------



## GDominy

Just a quickie update. Things are growing pretty quickly now. I seem to have a handle on my nutrient requirements and have ordered about 10 pounds of dry ferts to start my automatic dosing. My shipment is flying in Saturday, so I'll post some equipment/programming pictures once I get that dialled in.

Here is how the tank looks today:




























I almost have enough plant material to start shaping the tank the way I want. A few more inches and I'll start really getting into it.

The HC has not acclimated well. The plants I purchased had clearly been grown wet/dry and did not take kindly to being slit apart and replanted entirely underwater. About 10% survived but has started to root and spread. The carpet will take longer then expected, but I might speed it up if I can track down some Tropica HC in the next few weeks.


----------



## GDominy

Livestock pics! Been tinkering with the camera and trying to get a feel for how to shoot this tank (LED's can be difficult to use as a light source)


----------



## Allentan97

hey man, all i can say is what an awesome tank you have, love everything about it. your a really good aquascaper. how are those fry doin?


----------



## GDominy

Thanks 

Fry are long gone as expected, but they are getting ready to fire off another batch so we'll see.


----------



## lamiskool

love the dps!


----------



## hydrophyte

Nice setup plants, fish and everything!


----------



## OVT

How are your Dwarf Puffers behaving in your community tank?
Thanks!


----------



## shawnleon

The puffers look awesome. I'm curious also how they are doing in the community tank. Everything looks great, kudos for being able to photograph the occupants so nicely!


----------



## GDominy

So far the puffers have behaved admirably. They don't bother anyone else, and the other fish seem to be oblivious of them. There are tons of plants to hide in so that probably helps a great deal.

Here are a couple of tank shots from today, I'm probably going to do another prune on sunday (Ive been pruning every 4-5 days)


----------



## ETK

Inspiring tank! Keep it up!

Any tips for keeping slower growing plants algae free? The broad leaf plant in the back looks like it would be hard to keep from developing BBA on the leaves that close to the light.


----------



## GDominy

Its difficult in a high light tank like this to keep things totally algae free. I usually try to keep fast growing plants that are easily pruned so I can remove any old leaves that get algae on them.

I do have some Anubias Nana petite that is starting to get some algae on them, but the ottos tend to keep it at bay. Any BBA that shows up I spot treat with Flourish excel or hydrogen peroxide out of a syringe


----------



## jaival

WOW thats a stunner.... loved the automation part hats off brother :icon_lol:


----------



## OVT

Can't argue with success 

via Droid DNA Tapatalk 2


----------



## du3ce

beautiful tank, what are those bright yellow fish called?


----------



## Lil' Swimz$

Really beautiful tank. I tried dp's in a community tank but had problems with the puffers not getting to the food on time! So I moved them into their own tank. Have you noticed any problems with that so far?


----------



## SmittyInFla

Wow, beautiful job! The automation system is so far beyond me. LOVE the thunderstorm cycle.

I was also interested to see how the puffers do. They were on my original wish list, but several people warned me that they may eat everything in my 37 gallon tank.


----------



## cmathews95

Amazing, that's all i can say.
Hopefully i can have a tank like that some day...
its a dream.


----------



## gorillakev

Very nice..kudos to you


----------



## GDominy

du3ce said:


> beautiful tank, what are those bright yellow fish called?


Gold Barbs! They are relatively peaceful for a barb, although they dont play well with small shrimp as I discovered.


----------



## GDominy

Lil' Swimz$ said:


> Really beautiful tank. I tried dp's in a community tank but had problems with the puffers not getting to the food on time! So I moved them into their own tank. Have you noticed any problems with that so far?


The tank is doing well with the puffers. I feed pretty heavily, and there are lots of little snails for them to eat as well. I seed the tank with snails regularly so they have a natural food to graze on.


----------



## Jahn

what a great tank! if i had twice the size of my current tank, i'd want something just like yours!


----------



## synaethetic

A splendid update! Do you happen to know the name of the broad leafed, light green plant thats a few spaces away from the left? Used to have that in my 20g and it grew so fast and so big I had to get rid of it. Great choice for this tank though!

I also love the algae on the vortech for some strange reason.


----------



## jamntoast

i have to agree with everyone else, the whole set up is amazing. i just cruised through the whole thread, i can't believe you sync'd the thunder storms up with the lunar cycle. you have seemingly thought of everything.


----------



## Allentan97

hey man, been a while. you gotta update me on this tank!


----------



## Charrr89

Wow. That would be a dream come true for me! Haha


----------



## jargonchipmunk

Can I sue for an hour of my life going through this thread post by post?!

 fantastic build!


----------



## Phil Edwards

Hey Gareth, long time no see! I love this build, well executed. As always I bow down to your technical skills. That lighting and sound system is over the top!


----------



## GDominy

Tank update will happen soon. I had a bit of a disasterous crash after my co2 tank leaked/dumped right before I went on vacation. It led to a massive algae explosion as my lights and fert schedule are pretty dependant on co2.

Im about to do an extensive gutting of the tank and replant everything.


----------



## Phil Edwards

ooof, sorry to hear that! I hope things get back up and going as normal soon.


----------



## GDominy

Livestock was all totally fine but several plants faired poorly. Hairgrass has taken over as the dominant carpet though so its a mixed bag. Figure it will take a month to bounce back. No biggie, I wanted to rescape anyway lol


----------



## andrewjohn007

Subscribed! I think my fish want to come hang out in your tank... Sorry to hear about the crash. Was it an end of tank dump? Regulator issues?

Bring it back!


----------



## GDominy

We experienced a rather unusual week of high temperature. The regulator itself heated up enough that the locking nut loosened on the tank and it vented the entire bottle. Tank emailed me a ph alarm the day before my flight and I wasnt able to get the bottle refilled before I left.


----------



## Phil Edwards

I think your aquarium is smarter than I am. Does it also make coffee?


----------



## GDominy

Lol no coffee, but I am trying to figure out if I can make it dim the lights in the apartment during a thunderstorm...


----------



## ganjero

Does the prolifux allow you to dose base on day of the week? I'm just wondering since most dosers I have used on my reef tanks usually let you change how much and how many times per day you can dose, but they dose everyday.

Great tank!!!


----------



## GDominy

Ok so it has been a couple of months of hell trying to get the tank back to rights. I had to leave town again for work so the tank went pretty much haywire in my one month absence.

I have since Gutted the tank, scrapped over half the plants, replaced the wood, nuked the tank with Erythromycin, overdosed flourish excel, and done many 90% water changes.

I'm trying something new, so plant placements are simply rough here. I had to bleach dip all the plants so this is far from final placement. Had to take drastic measures to destroy brush algae and cyanobacteria (it was almost a half inch thick in places after 5 days)

Algae is now gone, new wood is in for the hardscape, now its just settling in. Few more weeks it should actually look like something interesting.

Here is a shameful progress shot. But at least it shows the changes this tank is undergoing.










Ignore the haze, thats flourite silt from all the replanting and wood replacement.


----------



## GDominy

Ok so after a few weeks the tank has bounced back. Plants are growing like gangbusters again and I'm starting to look for some new plants to rescape things a bit.


----------



## tattooedfool83

Wow


----------



## GDominy

This is definitely not the tank looking its finest. But I figure I'll share the bad with the good. The tank is improving slowly post-crash but the last week has been a turning point.

The plants are actually growing quickly, algae is pretty much gone (other then the dark spot algae that is covering the wood but I hope that the addition of some zebra snails will take care of that).

It looks cluttered currently, as I am trying to grow out the plants quickly so I can cut off the rattier looking portions before I rescape. I have a few plans for a tidier layout but I need another month of growth before I can hack out the plant material I dont want/need.


----------



## GDominy

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PxxZ37Q7Khg&feature=youtu.be


----------



## ua hua

For having a tank crash I think it looks pretty darn good. I always loved your tank and especially your barbs, don't see too many people using them in their tanks. I'm sure in no time it will be back to the beautiful tank it once was although I'm sure many people would love to have their tank look that good.


----------



## DvanK

That is one good looking tank!


----------



## HunterX

Just want to say thanks a lot. I will now be late getting to the office because I couldn't stop reading your thread. HA HA. All kidding aside. I really love this tank. When I get back from this deployment plan on me plowing up your in box so you can help me do my 55.  Be about May 2014 LOL. Great Job!


----------



## lamiskool

Glad to see this thing back up and running, one of my favorites


----------



## GDominy

Im starting to regret having scarlet hygro in here. This plant was originally added as a nutrient sponge while I was balancing out the automatic dosing, but it is taking over. I am pruning out about a cubic foot every week.

Progress is starting to improve.


----------



## Phil Edwards

Looking good Gareth. Better to be taking out cubic feet of Hygro than cubic feet of algae, eh?


----------



## c_gwinner

Just read this entire build and still blown away. The only thing is I never saw a complete shot of how you got everything really to fit under the stand. Did you get a new regulator for your CO2 or build a dual stage one? Very stunning tank and nothing bad I can say about any of it haha


----------



## Young

Amazing tank!! What is the high plant in the back left corner, and how are the rams getting along with the gold barbs? The colors with the barbs and cardinals are perfect and I would love to emulate it in my 40 gallon, but I'm not sure its big enough to reduce the aggression the bards are suppose to have.


----------



## GDominy

c_gwinner said:


> Just read this entire build and still blown away. The only thing is I never saw a complete shot of how you got everything really to fit under the stand. Did you get a new regulator for your CO2 or build a dual stage one? Very stunning tank and nothing bad I can say about any of it haha


Im still running the crappy regulator but am planning on picking up a good dual stage unit in the next month or so. I grabbed a nice co2 atomizer recently but I cant run it until I have a regulator that can push 40psi to it.


----------



## GDominy

Young said:


> Amazing tank!! What is the high plant in the back left corner, and how are the rams getting along with the gold barbs? The colors with the barbs and cardinals are perfect and I would love to emulate it in my 40 gallon, but I'm not sure its big enough to reduce the aggression the bards are suppose to have.


Back left corner is hygro siamensis.

The gold barbs are not really aggressive at all honestly. They are not nearly as aggressive as most barbs and are pretty mellow. They are very active but they dont nip other fish at all.

However, they are voracious shrimp eaters. I added 40 crystal reds and they devoured them in about 15 minutes.


----------



## Idrankwhat

sweet tank. Any regrets going so high tech or is it just what the doctor ordered?


----------



## GDominy

Idrankwhat said:


> sweet tank. Any regrets going so high tech or is it just what the doctor ordered?


Nothing to regret. I already owned all of this stuff so it was going to be wasted if I didnt use it. The amount of loss I would take on selling it was too great so I'd rather use it 

The tank is pretty much low maintenance. I change about 25-30 Gallons of water a week and feed my fish every day, with monthly filter cleaning. The rest just happens in the background.


----------



## Idrankwhat

gotta love it when a hobby is more pleasure and appreciation than work. Good luck.


----------



## GDominy

So I decided to make some changes to the lighting.

The middle LED pendant has bugged me ever since I installed it. It was a 50/50 combo string of Royal Blue and Cool white LED's so I could not control the colours independently. It was also excessive, the extra 6 Cool white LED's don't amount to much when I have 48 more of them covering the rest of the tank. I have now removed this unit, and added 2 x HOT5 bulbs. I already had a ballast for 2 bulbs kicking around so this was a 10 minute mod. Simply wired in the bulbs and ballast and voila:










The bulbs korallen zucht Fiji Pink bulbs. I didnt need much in the way of "white" light as the LED's provide tons. What I did want, was a higher contrast light to warm up the rather sterile look of the LED's. These bulbs are pretty high in red and blue so they give off a purple look, but they really make reds and blues pop in the tank (hard to photograph, but look much better in person). I will be adding some snap on reflectors later, there were simply werent any at the fish store today. I'll be ordering a set online.










I'm still trying to figure out how to best balance for my camera settings to accurately display the tanks colour. The pictures look terrible by comparison (the weird colours I am cranking out with this light are difficult to take a decent picture of)


----------



## Idrankwhat

Nice your cardinals look like the lights are on inside of them.


----------



## GDominy

Cardinals definitely pop under the new light... did some minor pruning..


----------



## GDominy

Im about to begin my next wave of tank improvements. Things have been running well but I know what needs to happen.

First big change will be filtration. I have a 14 gallon tank that will be converted into a working sump/refugium on a reverse night cycle. The first chamber will be filter media, the secong will be a fuge. Im going to use this area for moss under another led fixture. I will probably throw some scuds in here to eat detritus and excess moss. I also want to place my heater, probes, and dosing tubes in here to clean up the visible parts of the tank.

Second will be a new co2 regulator. This one just isnt cutting it any more and I need one that can push 40psi.

Third will be an auto top resevoir. I already have optical sensors for the top off resevoir snd the sump that the profilux will use for the process. The idea for this is to allow the sump to run for one week without needing manual refilling due to evaporation.

Lots to come in the next month or so. I already have most of what I need, I just need to pull it out of storage.


----------



## Bowles42

Nice looking setup and scape. You've used the space really well, and everything looks healthy and top notch. An auto top reservoir sounds like a great idea. I wish I had the space for one. Since moving to CA all my water evaporates so quickly!


----------



## GDominy

Just a quick video update.. Things are doing pretty well these days!


----------



## kwheeler91

that's quite the community tank you have there. whats your foreground plant?


----------



## GDominy

Just dwarf hairgrass. I tried hc in here but I could not keep it rooted with all the fish. Im debating ripping it all out and growing glossostigma instead.


----------



## GDominy

Finally got around to cleaning up the stand a bit.. it was getting unruly in there..


----------



## kylehca

Amazing setup!, Thanks for the updates!!


----------



## oscarsx

wow, amazing.. I love the scape..


----------



## VadimShevchuk

sweet looking set up! I drooled at all the high end equipment.


----------



## GDominy

Rescape a bit, pruned and thinned quite a few plants out


----------



## Young

This tank is just fantastic! I can never wait until the next update, great job!


----------



## Dantrasy

First class setup. Love it! Your trim opened up the back nicely, the dw stands out more.


----------



## GDominy

Dantrasy said:


> First class setup. Love it! Your trim opened up the back nicely, the dw stands out more.


That was the idea! Ive been trying to cultivate the red ludwigia for the last few months so it was sort of taking over an area in the back making it look crowded. I managed to turn two stems into 15 and moved it to the left.

The two types of bacopa had also grown into a tangled mess so I teased them apart and gave them their own groups.

There is now a lot of open space between the left and right features, and some added depth to the valley between them


----------



## matt11390

Fantastic job. One of the best tanks I have seen. keep up the good work. Do your barbs act aggressively towards any of the other fish? They really pop in your tank.


----------



## GDominy

matt11390 said:


> Fantastic job. One of the best tanks I have seen. keep up the good work. Do your barbs act aggressively towards any of the other fish? They really pop in your tank.


Thanks!

The barbs dont act aggressive towards anyone honestly. They all hang out as group and are very active, but they dont nip or chase any other fish.


----------



## BoxxerBoyDrew

Tank is REALLY LOOKING AWESOME!!!

Just read threw the whole thing , and you have done a awesome job! The automation must make it a joy to have a high tech tank! Plants are looking top notch and the fish colors .... WOW!:drool: 

Can you give us a list of your current fish and plants? Do you still have the puffers in there?

Keep up the Awesome work!
Drew:thumbsup::thumbsup:


----------



## GDominy

The puffers sadly did not fair well in here. They now have a dedicated 10 gallon just for them (I have another thread for that tank).

Current livestock:
- 6 gold barbs
- 30 cardinal tetras
- 6 jullii corydoras
- 10 otos (I think, they hide a lot so its hard to count)
- 6 blue rams
- 2 dwarf aquatic frogs
- 2 bamboo shrimp


----------



## BoxxerBoyDrew

Cool Deal! 

I was given some fish a while back and there was 1 Gold Barb in the group, and it looks a bit different than yours. Not near as much black in the scales, but I like the look of both of them! Wonder if there is different types of gold barbs, or maybe just from a different area. Either way I really like them! I put the lone Gold Barb and cherry Barb in my 55g the other day, and I am really liking them both! I will try to get a pic tomorrow of the Gold Barb so you can see what i am talking about! 

I really like dwarf Puffers too! I have never been able to find any healthy stock locally, so I have not had the chance to keep them, YET! I plan on trying to find some this winter after we rearrange the living room. I want to setup a small tank next to my recliner for them. 

Anyway keep up the GREAT WORK, and I look forward to seeing how the tank progresses!
Drew

p.s. Where did you get your Bamboo Shrimp? Our PetCo has them here all of the time, but after trying them a few different times, I gave up on keeping them! They would only last a few days in any tank I tried them in! They seem to be able to survive at our PetCo SOME HOW!!! But when I tried them in a tank setup exactly how they are supposed to be kept they died! Any Suggestions? Thanks Again!


----------



## GDominy

BoxxerBoyDrew said:


> Cool Deal!
> 
> 
> p.s. Where did you get your Bamboo Shrimp? Our PetCo has them here all of the time, but after trying them a few different times, I gave up on keeping them! They would only last a few days in any tank I tried them in! They seem to be able to survive at our PetCo SOME HOW!!! But when I tried them in a tank setup exactly how they are supposed to be kept they died! Any Suggestions? Thanks Again!


From a local fish store. I don't purchase fish from large chain stores as they are most always of questionable health (at least in my area).

I don't do much for them, just make sure that my kh is around 4-5dkh and I dose calcium+magnesium as part of my gh dosing routine.


----------



## Down_Shift

GDominy said:


> The puffers sadly did not fair well in here. They now have a dedicated 10 gallon just for them (I have another thread for that tank).
> 
> Current livestock:
> - 6 gold barbs
> - 30 cardinal tetras
> - 6 jullii corydoras
> - 10 otos (I think, they hide a lot so its hard to count)
> - 6 blue rams
> - 2 dwarf aquatic frogs
> - 2 bamboo shrimp


how are you keeping the frogs and shrimp from climbing/jumping out?


----------



## GDominy

Down_Shift said:


> how are you keeping the frogs and shrimp from climbing/jumping out?


Keeping the water level an inch below the edge.. and a lot of luck


----------



## Down_Shift

GDominy said:


> Keeping the water level an inch below the edge.. and a lot of luck


i've had a 2 bamboo's and they've always gone missing. Not shortly after letting them in, but maybe a few weeks or months before they disappear.

I suspect my dogs having excellent sashimi snacks with them.

Frogs would be even more risky!

beautiful tank with alot of work put in!


----------



## mountaindew

Well done and very clean system.
I like the technology under the hood ! You don't see many systems with top of the line proflux controllers and dosing pumps.
Md


----------



## GDominy

mountaindew said:


> Well done and very clean system.
> I like the technology under the hood ! You don't see many systems with top of the line proflux controllers and dosing pumps.
> Md


Price is a major factor for a lot of people. They arent exactly the cheapest controllers but they are loaded with tons of options. I swear by them


----------



## GDominy

So I'm finally getting around to picking up my Co2 reactor this weekend. I dug up a few more parts from my storage bins and put together the first parts of the rig.

This is the reactor (I am picking it up tomorrow, this is a stock image from aqua medic)










The unit is pretty simple, like most reactors. On the top side there is a Co2 inlet, and a bleeder valve, along with the plumbing connections. I will have an inline pump (mag drive 3, 350gph) pulling water from the tank, and pushing it into the reactor.










Connected to a venturi on the inlet side of the pump is a solenoid. I will have the bleeder valve connected to this solenoid so a few times a day it will open and remix any collected gas into the water column.

I will have the bleeder valve open every morning before Co2 starts injecting to try and burp anything out of the reactor. Hopefully this will break up any large gas pockets and push it out. Alternately I might connect the bleeder valve to another pump to suck out gas if this arrangement doesnt work.


----------



## synaethetic

I've seen that reactor for sale on several websites throughout the years and have always wondered about it's effectiveness. With the amount of gph from the mag drive I doubt there will be any form of c02 buildup at the top of the reactor, a problem I have encountered if you have a lack of flow going through the unit. 

I have tried multiple reactors, DIY, and atomic inline diffusion. None of which have worked very well with my eheims low flow. For now my ceramic diffusor is giving me superior results.


----------



## prototyp3

Forget the setup, the contents of that tank look great! The fish really pop out against those plants, nice work.


----------



## GDominy

synaethetic said:


> I've seen that reactor for sale on several websites throughout the years and have always wondered about it's effectiveness. With the amount of gph from the mag drive I doubt there will be any form of c02 buildup at the top of the reactor, a problem I have encountered if you have a lack of flow going through the unit.
> 
> I have tried multiple reactors, DIY, and atomic inline diffusion. None of which have worked very well with my eheims low flow. For now my ceramic diffusor is giving me superior results.


I used to own own of these reactors and absolutely loved it. I used to run on the filter inlet side of my aquarium
and it still worked well. I decided to give it a dedicated pump this time around though.

Just did a test run of the plumbing and scrapped the solenoid though. Small air leak in it from sitting so long. No biggie. I can manually bleed it if I have to.


----------



## HortGuy

With the success of your take I was curious if you have had pearling from your plants. Nothing has really been said about it.

Love the tank, you sent me the link to this thread from your reddit update the other day. I thank you for this link. I prob spent the last 2.5 hours reading through every post. I have already started researching the parts I want from a lot of yours for my future tank build. I thank you for the inspiration and please keep doing what your doing.

Also where did you find your LED lights, or wear can I find individual lights like yours and what are they mounted on?


----------



## ADAtank

nice saltwater setup! lol jk looks great!


----------



## GDominy

HortGuy said:


> With the success of your take I was curious if you have had pearling from your plants. Nothing has really been said about it.
> 
> Love the tank, you sent me the link to this thread from your reddit update the other day. I thank you for this link. I prob spent the last 2.5 hours reading through every post. I have already started researching the parts I want from a lot of yours for my future tank build. I thank you for the inspiration and please keep doing what your doing.
> 
> Also where did you find your LED lights, or wear can I find individual lights like yours and what are they mounted on?


My plants have been pearling.. albiet slowly.. since the start. This week I finally sat doen and crunched some numbers, did some testing and made major changes.

I have redone my fertlizing routine as a very aggressive ei method with additional potassium and iron. Also manually dosing calcium/magnesium. On top of the fertlizer update the new co2 reactor has really helped with co2 delivery and efficiency.

The tank now bubbles like crazy, its like soda water when then lights are at 100%.

I ordered my heatsinks from heatsinkusa.com and the leds are from rapidled.com. All of my drivers were from rapidled as well. I built the units myself. Lots of thermal adhesive... soldering etc.


----------



## GDominy

ADAtank said:


> nice saltwater setup! lol jk looks great!


Heheh I get this comment a lot. Believe it or not a lot of this equipment was from my planted tanks from 2007-2008. It then ran several reef tanks... and back to planted.

I am soooooo happy to be doing plants again.


----------



## GDominy

Even the tanks get some holiday spirit...


----------



## HybridHerp

ha, cute


----------



## keats

That's awesome! Haha


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk 2


----------



## lamiskool

Haha I love it! Merry christmas!


----------



## GDominy

Had some fun programming tonight, and made a video detailing the new lighting options.


----------



## lamiskool

Awesome video and and fish tank, one of my favorites! I love the high tech stuff and being able to adjust the lights from your phone.


----------



## AquaAurora

GDominy said:


> Had some fun programming tonight, and made a video detailing the new lighting options.
> 
> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tdjjxMat04E


Nice holiday decor, and love your cat, maine ****? Beautiful tank btw!


----------



## awesometim1

Beautiful. Subbed.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337 using Tapatalk


----------



## synaethetic

Probably one of my favorite tank journals on this website. Plants are looking very healthy, so lush.


----------



## GDominy

AquaAurora said:


> Nice holiday decor, and love your cat, maine ****? Beautiful tank btw!


She's a long hair black tabby. She's tiny! Last I weighed her she was around 6.5 pounds. 15 years old in a couple months.


----------



## GDominy

Just a quick video update.


----------



## harilp

Merry christmas!!

Sent from my GT-S7500 using Tapatalk 2


----------



## Vepr

Incredible tank. You should hire out for high tech aquarium designs.  You could probably package that setup.


----------



## jamntoast

Vepr said:


> Incredible tank. You should hire out for high tech aquarium designs.  You could probably package that setup.


+1 that's awesome how you have movie mode and picture mode. Such a cool tank set up.


----------



## GDominy

Thanks  I dabbled in aquarium services for a while but I really didn't enjoy doing the maintenance for other peoples tanks. I've also managed a couple of fish stores in the past but have moved on to another career. This is just for fun now!

Shot another video tonight, this time I included a thunderstorm at about the minute 2:40 mark


----------



## rustbucket

Really nice tank, good videos too. 

I noticed you have a froggy!! Can you tell me about him, what type is it and how does it do with the fish, rams ever give it trouble. I really want to add one to the community tank but read they can starve really easily and spot feeding in a 125 would be wicked hard I think.


----------



## GDominy

It's just your common dwarf aquatic frog. The fish pretty much ignore them (I have two).

I feed frozen foods twice a day every day so they always have food to eat. If I think they are getting thin I spot feed them for a few days. I haven't had to do that for a long time though. They know when it's feeding time and come out looking for food.

I feed frozen blood worms, mysis shrimp, cyclopeeze, glass worms, live mosquito larvae (during warmer months) and spirulina enriched brine shrimp.


----------



## kwheeler91

Man that is awesome! Neat to see how the fish instinctively headed for the bottom of the tank during the "storm". All you need now is to T off of your return and put a sprinkler in there


----------



## GDominy

I actually used to have a sprinkler system that would "rain" over one of my reef tanks. It looked cool, but in the end I scrapped it because it made too much of a mess.


----------



## HunterX

GDominy said:


> I actually used to have a sprinkler system that would "rain" over one of my reef tanks. It looked cool, but in the end I scrapped it because it made too much of a mess.


How I wish you had never said that. Now I have to create a way for my take to have "rain". I'm thinking I can use my Arduino to control a pump. The rest would be plumbing work. 

Have it rain in the early evening would have to be a great way to oxygenate the water.


----------



## BeachBum2012

GDominy said:


> I actually used to have a sprinkler system that would "rain" over one of my reef tanks. It looked cool, but in the end I scrapped it because it made too much of a mess.


I'm trying to figure this out myself. Mine will be an enclosed system (paludarium) so it wouldn't make a mess. I figure I could have a float switch trigger a storm event in which the rain would pump from a RO reserve and act as my ATO. Kills a few birds with one stone.

Your tank is quite the inspiration for figuring out some neat automation stuff.


----------



## GDominy

BeachBum2012 said:


> I'm trying to figure this out myself. Mine will be an enclosed system (paludarium) so it wouldn't make a mess. I figure I could have a float switch trigger a storm event in which the rain would pump from a RO reserve and act as my ATO. Kills a few birds with one stone.
> 
> Your tank is quite the inspiration for figuring out some neat automation stuff.


What I did for mine was schedule the auto top off routine to only run during times that I had a storm scheduled. So if the storm happened from 6-7pm the auto top off would run during that time.

You could accomplish the same thing using programmable logic combining humidity sensors or top off with storm. So if you had 4 storms a day you could have it rain to increase humidity or control a mister or both during a storm.

I've wanted to do up a palidarium for years where the profilux could control rain, fog, lighting, etc.

I have enough parts I could actually do that now, just need a tank.

I think I just talked myself into building one, uh oh.


----------



## awesometim1

Lol this is the most technology a person can fit into a fish tank. NICE

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337 using Tapatalk


----------



## BeachBum2012

GDominy said:


> What I did for mine was schedule the auto top off routine to only run during times that I had a storm scheduled. So if the storm happened from 6-7pm the auto top off would run during that time.
> 
> You could accomplish the same thing using programmable logic combining humidity sensors or top off with storm. So if you had 4 storms a day you could have it rain to increase humidity or control a mister or both during a storm.
> 
> I've wanted to do up a palidarium for years where the profilux could control rain, fog, lighting, etc.
> 
> I have enough parts I could actually do that now, just need a tank.
> 
> I think I just talked myself into building one, uh oh.


Well, I'm giving myself a year to build mine. Have to sort through parts, research a bit more and figure out what I can buy and what I can build. I'll be keeping an eye on this thread for more ideas as well. I'd love you see how you do a paludarium, so if you go that route by all means please share with us!


----------



## GDominy

My family knows me well. Christmas gift from my parents: 24 x Cree XP-E Red and 12 x Cree XP-E Green.

Aquarium lighting upgrade on its way!


----------



## GDominy

Much better....


----------



## lamiskool

all I can say is im jealous...very very jealous


----------



## GDominy

I made a newbie LED mistake tonight. I didnt actually look at what the forward voltage on the Red LEDs was. Apparently the Cree XPE Reds have a much lower voltage than the Royal blues or greens, and as such, I need to add more of them to get a stable voltage out of the ELN-60-48D Drivers.

I think adding 2 more per string will be enough, I have it working at a very low mA output, or very high, but everything in the middle causes the drivers to flake out


----------



## GDominy

came up with a solution to my Vf problem. I had a spare 12 LED pendant that wasnt being used to I mounted it in the stand with a little rewiring. I added 3 LEDs wired in series to each of the red strings (so six of the pendants LEDs are used) and that brought the Vf up to a range that the drivers were stable with.

The plus side is that I now have a light in the stand!


----------



## GDominy

Had some fun tinkering tonight, took a series of pics with various colour combos:

Red:









Blue:









Green:









Whites Only (ew):









Red+Blue:









Red+Blue+Green:









All On (was a bit overexposed, but I was maintaining the same camera settings for all the pictures for continuity):


----------



## GDominy

Played around with the camera tonight.. here is a vid of some of the fish


----------



## Greenz

They seem very happy living in paradise! Great job


----------



## Mark Allred

It just doesn't get any better than this!
Great tank, and excellent job on that last video! :thumbsup:


----------



## GDominy

Thanks, I've been trying to shoot a lot of video the last few days. The addition of the red and green leds caused a dramatic shift in color of the red plants that I'm trying to keep pics/video of. I was actually caught off guard how quickly it happened so I've missed a couple days of changes.

Plant growth has sped up somewhat, but the real change is in color, and lushness of the plants. The HC and hm finally started to put out nice new growth and the Ludwiga turned from green/red to a bright solid red.

I'm really excited, I'm finally getting color like I used get with hot5'S


----------



## Coldwater King

Wow!


----------



## Wolf19

Hey GDominy,

I'm considering mounting some LED's from rapid-led.com to my T5HO picture. The improved 'reds' that come a result from your new light upgrade are interesting. Would you attribute this to the additional red LED, green or combination?


----------



## GDominy

In this case I'm fairly certain it was the addition of the red and green.

My rig was built several years ago geared for primarily for saltwater, so heavy on blue but really light on red. If I had built this rig for freshwater originally I would have used warm, neutral, and cool white.

Now that I have the red green and blue though, I can really experiment and alter my light on the fly. The next few months I'm going to experiment with colors until I see what I like for appearance and growth rate.

The extra colors are really difficult to get a picture or video of what it looks like. Esthetically it's way, waaay better than it was before, but it's really hard to capture.


----------



## GDominy

I've been looking pretty heavily at the leds used in the ghl mitras 6100 freshwater fixtures. This is currently what I would consider the best freshwater led fixture out there. They cost quite a bit but they have the best blending of leds I've ever seen in an off the shelf product. 

My goal is to modify my rig to have a similar blend of leds. 

I'm going to add 6 more red leds (3 per pendant on the sides of the aquarium. I have 3 more drivers available that I can use to add 12 or so deep red leds, 12 warm white and 12 neutral white leds


----------



## GDominy

I get some flack about using so many leds but it's primarily so I can make the aquarium be whatever color I want. Only the white leds go above 50% and I have different dim curves for every color. 

Simulation wise this means I can gradually alter the color as the day progresses, so it's bluer first thing and warms up to a very yellow midday sun with some extra red and blue to bring up the contrast, finally fading back to blue and then moonlights.

But back to your original point, a combination of cool and neutral white leds, then a combination of rgb would be an amazing mod. You could use high contrast pink bulbs in the t5s to further increase color representation.


----------



## Scottyhorse

Stunning tank. I love the gold barbs. I have a shoal myself and they are characters to watch 

I thought I saw a frog swim past - how does he compete against all the other fish with food? I would like to add a ADF or two to my tank with gold barbs but I am worried they wouldn't get enough to eat. 

Thanks


----------



## GDominy

Scottyhorse said:


> Stunning tank. I love the gold barbs. I have a shoal myself and they are characters to watch
> 
> I thought I saw a frog swim past - how does he compete against all the other fish with food? I would like to add a ADF or two to my tank with gold barbs but I am worried they wouldn't get enough to eat.
> 
> Thanks



I feed rather heavily with a mix of frozen blood worms, glass worms and mysis shrimp. The frogs usually get enough but I periodically use a turkey baster to spot feed them


----------



## gnod

Love the tank AND the video! haha it was enjoyable to watch. I felt like you definitely matched the song's transitions with your subjects each time. Thanks for sharing


----------



## GDominy




----------



## Scottyhorse

GDominy said:


> I feed rather heavily with a mix of frozen blood worms, glass worms and mysis shrimp. The frogs usually get enough but I periodically use a turkey baster to spot feed them


Thanks for the info  I just got two frogs myself. For now I stuck them in with the betta, but I may move them into the 20L with the gold barbs  Your fish look great. Also, the picture of the tank is stunning.


----------



## Minja

Hotness!


----------



## lamiskool

Absolutely love this tank, its becoming one of my favorite on this forum. Also agsin, very jealous of your setup and led fixture


----------



## HybridHerp

Those gold barbs are really striking with the plant selection. How big are they/how big do they get?


----------



## GDominy

HybridHerp said:


> Those gold barbs are really striking with the plant selection. How big are they/how big do they get?


They're about 3" now and have stopped growing. I wanted them to be the "big" fish for this tank. I wanted fish that would pop against the greens and reds of the plants and they suited that description perfectly.

They are frustrating though. Relentless bulldozers and eat shrimp, but they are still fun.


----------



## HybridHerp

Wait, they uproot plants? I can see the shrimp thing being a thing though.


----------



## GDominy

HybridHerp said:


> Wait, they uproot plants? I can see the shrimp thing being a thing though.


They regularly uproot my HC (to the point that I have not been able to get it to root despite my best efforts), nibble on my HM and other delicate plants and are generally clumsy fish that wiggle their way through any plant they choose.

They are really pretty, but a pain in the butt


----------



## Wolf19

I wanted to ask, what is the name yellow bodied red tail/fin fish?


----------



## GDominy

Wolf19 said:


> I wanted to ask, what is the name yellow bodied red tail/fin fish?


Gold Barbs


----------



## GDominy

With some recent attention my aquarium got on reddit, AdvancedAquarist Featured my aquarium this month!

http://www.advancedaquarist.com/2014/1/aquarium


----------



## Frank Abagnale

Nice and congrats! I've followed your tank since the beginning so it was nice to read the feature article. As always, the tank is looking great!


----------



## GDominy

Frank Abagnale said:


> Nice and congrats! I've followed your tank since the beginning so it was nice to read the feature article. As always, the tank is looking great!


Thanks! The tank is finally starting to come into its own. I recently re-read this entire thread and can't believe how far the tank has come in under a year, especially considering the disaster that happened over the summer


----------



## Jdiesels

How much did this setup cost so far?


----------



## GDominy

Jdiesels said:


> How much did this setup cost so far?


Hard to say exactly. A lot of this tank is from stuff I already owned and prices have changed a lot since I bought the equipment originally. I honestly dont keep track of how much I spend on the tank.

If I had to buy everything brand new, it would probably have a replacement cost around 8 grand canadian (give or take)


----------



## jlfkona

Great article. Congrats!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


----------



## helgi125

Literally my favorite thread on this forum.


----------



## GDominy

Shot a quick vid of the tank tonight. Things are finally.. FINALLY stable and growing in like mad, the BBA that had started to creep in has receded and the extra Iron/Ca/Mg dosing I have been doing has made a huge difference in growth/lushness.


----------



## BruceF

This is looking great! Well done.


----------



## synaethetic

Wow! I knew at the start of this thread that you were going to have jungle on your hands with how bright and powerful those LED's are. Such colors and lushness. The side shot really emphasizes the amount of plant mass you've got. Quite impressive.

I'm also battling BBA in a fully developed tank, tell me, did you have to manually remove some or did you manage to make it recede with increased/stable c02, nutrient levels, etc?


----------



## GDominy

I hit the tank hard with gluteraldehyde for 2 weeks, scrubbed it off the wood, stopped messing with my kh and let it settle down to about 2 degrees, increased my iron and ca/mg dosing. The algae has been going away on its own after that.


----------



## samee

Amazing. How much time during the week do you spend on scaping?


----------



## Dantrasy

Great video!

Can you recommend a video editing program for a beginner? I have a canon 600d dsrl. Thanks.


----------



## GDominy

I've just been whipping these up with Microsoft movie maker. It's free and has some decent options but it's pretty basic. Decent place to begin but there is lots of better software out there


----------



## Dantrasy

GDominy said:


> I've just been whipping these up with Microsoft movie maker. It's free and has some decent options but it's pretty basic. Decent place to begin but there is lots of better software out there


Thanks, I've have a go using Movie Maker. My laptop is old and struggles with even basic editing, but I got it done. Somewhere along the line I lost HD, so I have to work that out now.


----------



## GDominy

Well some big news, we just bought a house! This aquarium has to be dismantled and set up again in a month.

The wife gave me the go ahead to replace it with a 7 x 2 X2 foot tank though. So over the coming months this tank is getting a huge upgrade


----------



## synaethetic

Congrats on purchasing a home! Will your current LED rig be used in this next setup?


----------



## burr740

Great thread and what a great tank! Hope you continue to update as you transition to the new one.


----------



## lamiskool

Congrats on the house, and the upgrade!


----------



## c_gwinner

Congrats on becoming a home owner now. Cant wait to see this new beast your going to get to set up. Sad to see this one go, but see great things evolving after the move I'm sure.


----------



## CanuckGame

Wow is all i can say. i feel so unintelligent reading some of these SUPER high tech journals. i have NO idea where to even start with this kind of stuff. it almost feels like something you would have to go to school and learn how to do some of this stuff!

Nice to see a fellow Brittish Columbian on the forum! i Live in Kamloops, but i am actually moving to Nanaimo as soon as i can find a house i like enough to purchase! thanks for mentioning where you got your Tank, hopefully i can remember when i move to the Island and get them to build my dream tank, 250-300 gallons.

i am rarely blown away, but you have done it. i will never understand how some people are so good at the electrical and plumming in this hobby, ive only been in the hobby a year, maybe its something you pick up as you go along! one day i would love to have such an amazing tank, well done.


----------



## Planted-tnk-guy

Your tank is fantastic, That light is SICK


----------



## Frank Abagnale

Nice! Congrats!


----------



## GDominy

I have another led pendant that will become the center led cluster on the 7 footer. It will have 12 cool white, 12 royal blue, 6 red, 4 green leds. The current long led strip will be mounted end to end on either side of the center pendant. The current pendants on the left and right will be moved in front of the strip. 

This new layout will have 3 really intense areas but still have a nice blend of rgb across the 7 foot length.

It is going to take a considerable amount of time to build the stand and save what I can for the new tank. 

This tank journal will continue for quite some time as the tank will be running during the 7 foot build.


----------



## Jdiesels

GDominy said:


> Well some big news, we just bought a house! This aquarium has to be dismantled and set up again in a month.
> 
> The wife gave me the go ahead to replace it with a 7 x 2 X2 foot tank though. So over the coming months this tank is getting a huge upgrade


It's been almost been a month! How's the move going?


DBP Member 003


----------



## GDominy

Jdiesels said:


> It's been almost been a month! How's the move going?
> 
> 
> DBP Member 003


We moved everything in on Thursday, aquarium moved on friday. It took 10 hours from start to finish.

here is the tank as of tonight (3 days later)




























It needs some time to settle in and plants to take off. But it should look more like a real thing in a month.


----------



## ua hua

Congrats on the new house. The tank looks right at home there. 

What happened to all your stems that you had in the background?


----------



## GDominy

ua hua said:


> Congrats on the new house. The tank looks right at home there.
> 
> What happened to all your stems that you had in the background?


During the 6 week process of packing and moving I neglected the tank badly. I had some algae problems and I wanted something different so I got rid of a ton of stuff.

Sticking to slower growing species now. I have a long term plan that requires more anubias and ferns so I want room for them to grow


----------



## ua hua

GDominy said:


> During the 6 week process of packing and moving I neglected the tank badly. I had some algae problems and I wanted something different so I got rid of a ton of stuff.
> 
> Sticking to slower growing species now. I have a long term plan that requires more anubias and ferns so I want room for them to grow


That's understandable. I know how much of a pain moving can be. 

The tank still looks beautiful even without the stems. Sometimes (actually all the time) I wish I would have went with slower growers in my recent tank but I do love all the colors of stem plants.


----------



## GDominy

I kept a few good stems from collection but they need to grow out. I ditched the alternanthea though. When I pulled out the growth it was about 3 cubic feet! I just had problems keeping the submersed growth looking nice.

I ditched all the fast growing stems. I'm heading into my busy season for work and I could end up working 7 days a week for a while, so low maintenance over the summer was a requirement.


----------



## kwheeler91

What have you done! J/k. Sometimes changes are nice. I also feel you pain in the moving department. Ive moved my 55 four times, two of which were upstairs apartments. And thats why I will never live upstairs again lol. Good luck man cant wait for it to fill in.


----------



## GDominy

I'll try to get some pictures of the tank actually in the room. The new layout makes sense as the tank is viewed regularly from all three visible sides. This new layout also makes for more natural schooling behavior in the fish. It's much more interesting to watch now.

I'll take some video once the water is clear


----------



## Frank Abagnale

Very nice! Congrats on the house!


----------



## GDominy

So here is a one month update.

Tank is a bit murky, tank had a bit of an ammonia/nitrite spike due to the move and I've struggled a bit getting things settled down.

The UV sterilizer packed it in tonight (blew a seal around the wiper assembly) and I had to disconnect it to prevent flooding my new floors (eep!).

Plants are growing in well, but its going to take several months for things to really get healthy again.


----------



## samee

Nice open concept place you got there.

The tank will look amazing soon enough.

I just love your led fixture. If I ever get a big and wide tank, I want a led/diy led fixture that extends the entire width of the tank and not just one strip. I feel that with a strip, the light does not overlap enough to hit the lower leaves under shade. I hope you know what Im talking about.


----------



## GDominy

I totally understand what you mean. Leds make for great tight directional light but kind of fall apart over wide angles. This is why I go for tons of coverage.


----------



## lauraleellbp

Gratz on the house!

Tank looks awesome now- going to look AMAZING soon as everything fills in!


----------



## GDominy

Well, my regulator packed it in sometime over the last few days. I wondered why my Ph was high! The outlet stage gauge is pinned permanently between 20-25 psi with no flow through the regulator.

I beat the crap out of it for 4 years though, so it doesn't owe me anything. Slapped a loaner Milwaukee on the tank until I can get off the island to pick up a new one on Saturday.


----------



## AlanLe

Any updates on this tank?


----------



## GDominy

Yep!

I just swapped out some of my substrate to clean up the tank a bit. Here is how it looks as of An hour ago.

Before
















After


----------



## Hyzer

Don't know if it's just me, but I can't see your pic updates.


----------



## kman

Nope, no pix in the post.


----------



## GDominy

Sorry had a phone related posting problem. Should work now


----------



## kman

Oooof. White sand? You're braver than I. That stuff is a bear to keep sparkly clean. Looks great when it is, though!

Bump: Oooof. White sand? You're braver than I. That stuff is a bear to keep sparkly clean. Looks great when it is, though!


----------



## GDominy

Ive done the white sand before so I know what Im getting into. It's only a small area so its actually pretty easy to siphon it out and replace the top layer if it gets gross. I'll be adding some digging fish to keep it churned too.


----------



## GDominy

Side note, I will be shutting this tank down in about a year, maybe a year and a half. I've begun the design and plans for its replacement.

The new tank will be a 10' x 2' X 2' 300 gallon, and this tank will become the sump. I have a lot to build and wire to make it possible, and a wedding to pay for so it's slated for one year from now.


----------



## Hyzer

That white sand looks sharp.


----------



## mot

GDominy said:


> Side note, I will be shutting this tank down in about a year, maybe a year and a half. I've begun the design and plans for its replacement.
> 
> The new tank will be a 10' x 2' X 2' 300 gallon, and this tank will become the sump. I have a lot to build and wire to make it possible, and a wedding to pay for so it's slated for one year from now.


The sand sets the plants off. I really like it.


----------



## kman

Yes, that sand is definitely gorgeous. Great contrast.


----------



## Raul-7

Love the contrast and aquascape. 

How do you like the Profilux? Weren't you a distributor for them?


----------



## FlyingGiraffes

White sand looks nice! 

My god 10'x2'x2' with a rimless 4' sump? Insane.


----------



## GDominy

I love the profilux. And yes I used to be a dealer for them. I still do tech support for them sometimes


----------



## GDominy

Here is a quick video


----------



## Mitashade

Looks fantastic. Great job with the sand, too. I've tried... I've been too impatient.


----------



## AlanLe

What plants do you have?


-Alan


----------



## lamiskool

Awesome!!! Been waiting for an update on this. It looks great!


----------



## jayq16

AlanLe said:


> What plants do you have?
> 
> 
> -Alan



+ 1 on the plants


----------



## GDominy

I have a few varieties of Anubias, 3 varieties of Java fern, a few varieties of crypts, bolbitis, red tiger lotus, red ludwigia of some sort, and a couple of stems I traded recently that I have yet to identify.

My goal was slower growing low maintenance plants as my schedule is really chaotic.


----------



## GDominy

Tank is progressing nicely. I've had to reduce my light considerably and I'm currently sorting out a new nutrient regime. My test kits had all expired and we're giving me tons of false results so now I'm lost as to where my levels are.

I've stopped auto dosing until I get new kits and will be doing a basic ei method. 

I am getting a bit of algae on my slow growing plants which made me question a bunch of assumptions I had made. Hopefully a reduced nutrient load and lower light will improve things.

Here is a video of the current state of things.

http://youtu.be/Wd8zCcJz4is


----------



## BruceF

Looks Great!


----------



## jimbo662

Great tank build. I'm pretty much following suit. Started with FW / planted, switched to saltwater several years ago with a 175g DSA tank...started downsizing due to moves and recently set up a 50g cube because my new apartment is perfect for a 175g peninsula style tank. It should arrive in about 3 weeks.

I'll be controlling it with my apex. I hadn't thought about using a doser for the ferts. What ferts are you dosing and at what rate?


----------



## cwilson

Great build! That new tank sounds *awesome*

Any hints on plumbing/overflows? Sump in stand or separate room/area?


----------



## GDominy

This concludes the life of this tank. I have purchased a used 265 gallon (7 x 2 x 2.5) that will be replacing this one. It's been fun, but I'm looking forward to going bigger! Stay tuned for a new thread!


----------



## Mitashade

So sad to see it dismantled. It's honestly one of my fave tanks on the site. I'm sure the next one will be just as good though, looking forward to it.


----------



## GDominy

Its going to be good! The next month will be a huge undertaking to get it running but its essentially going to be a scale up version of this build. I crammed a lot of equipment into this tank that used to run a 265 gallon just like this one so it will scale nicely.

As it is right now I have WAY too much light for this tank, but it will do a 265 nicely. Ive managed to put together a great combination of equipment to drive it too so it should come together pretty darn quick!


----------

