# Scrap tank I've grown to love.... back from the dead?



## kyle3 (May 26, 2005)

cute tank! and i love that it just happened naturally! very nice
cheers-K


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## fastfreddie (Sep 10, 2008)

kyle3 said:


> cute tank! and i love that it just happened naturally! very nice
> cheers-K


Thanks Kyle! It was sort of like an accident child. :icon_smil


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## CAM6467 (Feb 11, 2009)

very nice! my 10 gallon is where all my money goes, and i can only hope that it turns out half a nice as your little "reject" tank!!


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## fastfreddie (Sep 10, 2008)

CAM6467 said:


> very nice! my 10 gallon is where all my money goes, and i can only hope that it turns out half a nice as your little "reject" tank!!


Oh whatever man! You will have a rockin' tank. I've read your journal. I think you're on the right track! :thumbsup: It just takes a few months to get going.


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## mysticalnet (Dec 2, 2007)

I love accidental tanks, they're so nice!


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## fastfreddie (Sep 10, 2008)

mysticalnet said:


> I love accidental tanks, they're so nice!


Hey, you need to link some pics to all those tanks in your signature!!! Thats a lot of tanks!


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## leafshapedheart (Feb 23, 2009)

Hello..,

Looks great! Makes me want to do something with my 10G!

leafshapedheart


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## sewingalot (Oct 12, 2008)

This looks so much larger than a 10 gallon! I like it a whole lot.


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## fastfreddie (Sep 10, 2008)

leafshapedheart[/QUOTE]


leafshapedheart said:


> Hello..,
> 
> Looks great! Makes me want to do something with my 10G!
> 
> leafshapedheart


Do it! Such a great size! 50 % Water change with one bucket is awesome! 



sewingalot said:


> This looks so much larger than a 10 gallon! I like it a whole lot.


Thanks Sara! I think this tank looks so much better than my 29 :icon_sad:

How is your 55? I'll go see.
Edit: I mean how is the suga shack?


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## suebe333 (Feb 17, 2009)

Very cool


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## demonbreedr16 (Jan 10, 2008)

Don't ya just love scrap tanks? They have soooo much potential and always come out looking better than your main tank(s--in my case--)!  Good job!!


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## fastfreddie (Sep 10, 2008)

suebe333 said:


> Very cool


 Thanks! 



demonbreedr16 said:


> Don't ya just love scrap tanks? They have soooo much potential and always come out looking better than your main tank(s--in my case--)!  Good job!!


 Thanks. I checked out your "illusions" link but all the pics disappeared!!! I will check back in though. :icon_lol:


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## fastfreddie (Sep 10, 2008)




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## chase127 (Jun 8, 2008)

dude, awesome picture roud:


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## jinx© (Oct 17, 2007)

It's pretty ironic how often this has happened to me as well. Whether it be a scrap plant grow out tank that takes on it's own scape, or just a tank you throw some driftwood or manzanita into to keep wet and it lands in a configuration you would have never thought of...lol

Cool little tank and cool effect on the rubik's cube as well.


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## fastfreddie (Sep 10, 2008)

chris127 said:


> dude, awesome picture roud:


Thanks man! I didn't make it. I just uploaded a pic, but don't tell anybody!!! 
FYI: I rated your ADA journal a 5 a few minutes ago. It was at a 3 and I was like, what the heck? Who would call this a 3? :thumbsup:



jinx© said:


> It's pretty ironic how often this has happened to me as well. Whether it be a scrap plant grow out tank that takes on it's own scape, or just a tank you throw some driftwood or manzanita into to keep wet and it lands in a configuration you would have never thought of...lol
> 
> Cool little tank and cool effect on the rubik's cube as well.


Thanks! Do you think some of the "scrap tank" theory has to do with the fact that huge expectations were not built ahead of time? I don't know but I like it. It makes me want to "accidentally" soak some wood or grow out some plants all over my house! My wife would be thrilled!


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## sewingalot (Oct 12, 2008)

fastfreddie said:


>



Now I want to see you solve this. Awesome! Do you mind if I put this on my desktop?


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## fastfreddie (Sep 10, 2008)

sewingalot said:


> Now I want to see you solve this. Awesome! Do you mind if I put this on my desktop?


Of course not!


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## mountaindew (Dec 10, 2008)

FF,
Very cool picture!
And I always enjoy looking at a nice clean, simple aquarium.
Great work, keep us posted on its progress.
MD


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## sewingalot (Oct 12, 2008)

fastfreddie said:


> Of course not!


Thanks, buddy! I put in on at work and everyone was like so jealous.


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## fastfreddie (Sep 10, 2008)

*Minor trim and scape change*

No more "bushy" look.

















*My crypt garden...lol*









*Petite*






































*Last but not least, the tank before the trim on display at the Museum of Natural Science. These three people really seemed to have enjoyed it.....:hihi:*


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## sewingalot (Oct 12, 2008)

fastfreddie said:


> No more "bushy" look.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


This is looking even better! Wow, you are on display in a museum??? Good job, lol.


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## CAM6467 (Feb 11, 2009)

looking great!


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## ZooTycoonMaster (Jan 2, 2008)

Woah I love the Sword!


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## Ugly Genius (Sep 27, 2003)

I can see why you love this tank. The health of the plants is undeniable. How much lighting are you pouring onto it? And is that a Hagen ladder I see? What's the substrate? Ferts? Basically, what are the tank's stats?


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## kyle loves gars (Mar 12, 2009)

wow very nice tank!
what kind of co2 are you running? and what are you dosing if you dont mind me asking


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## fastfreddie (Sep 10, 2008)

Sara, CAM, ZTM, UG, and Kyle,
Thanks for the compliments! I hope to get some good equipment one day soon, but money is tight. 

To answer your questions:
*Lighting:* 36w CF with a 4.5 hour photoperiod .
I would like a longer photoperiod, but I took the light fixture off of an old nano cube and I have not figured out how to raise it up, so any longer and the light is too much. I'm looking into a 28 or 36w fixture with legs on it, so I can extend the hours to 7 or 8. 

*Filtration* Rena XP1

*Substrate* Pea gravel- no root supplements
I know... needs to change, but this IS a scrap tank. All the plants I have really have no problem with the gravel, but I am limited in choices. I may change to Aquasoil one day, but the growth may be too fast for my taste, and I'm really trying to put most of my money into my 29. Although, the thought of a rimless nano is really tempting after looking at UG, Craig, brohawk, and a few other people's tanks. 

*DIY Co2* This tank has been mostly excel only until about two weeks ago. I finally got a good mix going in the hagen system with bubble ladder (hate that thing most of the time) I am REALLY thinking about getting the ADA musicglass diffuser, but then this thing really isn't Scrap anymore, and people will expect my tanks to look as cool as Ugly Genius'. 
Mix is 1/4 tsp yeast, 1/2 tsp baking soda, and sugar to the sugar line. 

*Ferts* EI- 1/8 KNO3, 1/32 KH2PO4, 1/32 K2SO4, 1/32 Plantex CSM+B
3 times weekly

I'm off to work... keep checking in! I love getting comments.. good or bad!


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## sewingalot (Oct 12, 2008)

Looking for updates......


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## fastfreddie (Sep 10, 2008)

Thanks for your interest! 

Not much to see, but I added 10 CRS and I still see about 4. I never covered the filter though. What should I feed these things? I bought them on a whim b/c they were $1.03 a piece. 

Still planning on swapping the substrate and getting a new light, but I have to consider two other tanks as well and all of these $50 purchases are starting to look a little excessive to my wife! 

Hope the Suga Shack is doing okay!


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## sewingalot (Oct 12, 2008)

I am not sure what you feed shrimp. They kind of freak me out. :hihi: Look too much like bugs..... If you ever want to try Turface in a tan color, let me know. I can ship you a ton of it if you want to pay for shipping. I love the stuff, but you have to top it since it is light weight.

Yeah, spouses tend to frown upon too many fish purchases....especially when you forget to buy them something for the holidays, lol.

Suga Shack is chugging along, thanks for asking!


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## fastfreddie (Sep 10, 2008)

*Help- hair algae*

Well, I swapped light fixtures on this tank:
*FROM: *6700k 36w CF 
*TO:* 24" Coralife 2x14W T5 NO with a 6700k bulb and a Colormax bulb. 

I did not change the photoperiod of 5 hours. 

In ONE LIGHT CYCLE, it was covered in light brown hair algae. That was about two weeks ago. I've upped the daily excel dosage, removed all of the algae I could, done extra water changes, and even threw away the algae infested Java Moss mat I was working on for months. The algae is still coming back.

I must have been mistaken in my thinking that 24 W of TF NO light would have been less intense than the 36w CF I was using. 

Can anyone help? This is the first algae I've dealt with in this tank.


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## sewingalot (Oct 12, 2008)

I had this problem switching over to T5 from compact flourescents. I am still battling some algae, not too much now. I ended up raising the lights four inches cutting back on the fertilizers (by half) for a couple weeks and that solved most of the issues.


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## fastfreddie (Sep 10, 2008)

Thanks Sarah. At least I'm not alone... haha. Didn't you increase your light intensity a lot from the switch? Haven't really thought about decreasing ferts. I'm using EI and 50% weekly WC's. Are you using EI?


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## CL (Mar 13, 2008)

There has always been something about wisteria that I love. You use it well in your tank. Awesome rubiks cube too!


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## sewingalot (Oct 12, 2008)

fastfreddie said:


> Thanks Sarah. At least I'm not alone... haha. Didn't you increase your light intensity a lot from the switch? Haven't really thought about decreasing ferts. I'm using EI and 50% weekly WC's. Are you using EI?


I tried it when I switched to the highlights. I went back to PPS Pro after all the issues I started having with algae after two weeks with minimal dosing. I will try EI in the future, but for now, PPS works for me.


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## fastfreddie (Sep 10, 2008)

clwatkins10 said:


> There has always been something about wisteria that I love. You use it well in your tank. Awesome rubiks cube too!


Hey thanks! Good to hear from you. I love the wisteria too. It's one plant you never run out of. Buy it once and you get plants for life. I much prefer the way it looks compacted in a slow growing tank. In my higher tech tank, it grows too quickly and the stems become thick and tall like bamboo and the branches are far apart. 

No tips on how to shake the hair algae?



sewingalot said:


> I tried it when I switched to the highlights. I went back to PPS Pro after all the issues I started having with algae after two weeks with minimal dosing. I will try EI in the future, but for now, PPS works for me.


Ah I see. Hey sorry I spelled your name Sarah instead of Sara yesterday. I thought about it when I typed it, and second guessed myself.


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## sewingalot (Oct 12, 2008)

No problem. My mom actually spelled my name wrong a couple times. :hihi:


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## sewingalot (Oct 12, 2008)

*cough* update *cough*


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## fastfreddie (Sep 10, 2008)

lol....Will update soon. I guess the tank finally got adjusted to the T5's, but I think I'm swapping for a 15 gallon, changing substrate, and getting some new stems. 

Kind of bummed on this thing for now.


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## sewingalot (Oct 12, 2008)

15 gallons are great. The few extra inches really make a difference. I am glad to hear the tank caught up with the lights, I am still struggling on that one.


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## fastfreddie (Sep 10, 2008)

*Going Low Tech*

Well, I've stopped using DIY Co2, cut the lights to one 14 watt Normal Output T5, and I've cut my EI dosing roughly in half to accommodate the slower growth. I'm also not using excel anymore. I am still doing weekly 50% WC's. 

As of now I'm not seeing any real plant deficiency, but I've only been on this low tech routine for about a month. I was expecting the wisteria to die down, but it hasn't yet. I'm not moving this to low tech forum, because I do still want to upgrade this tank to a 15 and give Aquasoil a try, but that may be a while. So, I'm still just working with what I have. I really have not put any money at all in this tank yet, so it's been a pleasure to watch it grow. 

Let me know what you think.


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## skinz180189 (Jun 26, 2009)

I like how the tank looks, yet another source of future inspiration for me.


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## Craigthor (Sep 9, 2007)

what type of java fern is that? looks great.

Craig


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## hbosman (Oct 5, 2006)

The display at the museum looks great except they should have put that 50 gallon drum of Excel away. :hihi:


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## sewingalot (Oct 12, 2008)

So pretty! I love it. Simple, algae free and green. The best of everything.  I am not a fan of wisteria, but I love it cut short like that. Looks like a different plant.


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## fastfreddie (Sep 10, 2008)

skinz180189 said:


> I like how the tank looks, yet another source of future inspiration for me.


 Thanks!



Craigthor said:


> what type of java fern is that? looks great.
> 
> Craig


 Thanks! You know I'm not sure. I've had it since 2004. It just won't go away and keeps getting bigger. 



hbosman said:


> The display at the museum looks great except they should have put that 50 gallon drum of Excel away. :hihi:


Hahaha. That's hilarious. You are right! That's a lifetime supply.


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## fastfreddie (Sep 10, 2008)

sewingalot said:


> So pretty! I love it. Simple, algae free and green. The best of everything.  I am not a fan of wisteria, but I love it cut short like that. Looks like a different plant.


Thanks! Yeah, the wisteria looks so much better in a slow growing tank. Way more compact. I had some in my higher tech and it looked like all stem.


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## sewingalot (Oct 12, 2008)

I am going to have to get some of this from you.


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## fastfreddie (Sep 10, 2008)

You got it! I'll see if I can work up a little collection of it. I just gave about 5 huge plants of it to a friend who started his first tank. It died right away though.


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## demonbreedr16 (Jan 10, 2008)

Beautiful tank!! If you have any of that Green Hygro to spare...nvrmind I'll just PM you!


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## Hilde (May 19, 2008)

fastfreddie said:


> This 10g has been up since November


What light system is over the 10gallon tank? I am thinking of putting all of 29 gallon into 2 10 gallon tanks for move to Florida next year.


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## demonbreedr16 (Jan 10, 2008)

If I'm not mistaken, he tore this tank down in favor of the 15gal...but I found the lights he was using and then the new ones. I know what lights he used...and BTW, your moving to Florida?! Where @ in FL?...Well, PM me. I don't like threadjacking!

Lighting:
"Well, I swapped light fixtures on this tank:
FROM: 6700k 36w CF *[The picture you quoted's lighting]*
TO: 24" Coralife 2x14W T5 NO with a 6700k bulb and a Colormax bulb*[in later pics]*."


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## fastfreddie (Sep 10, 2008)

Yep you got it demonbreedr. 

Hilde, the pic you posted was a 1x36 w bulb from the hood of a nano cube I was no longer using. It worked great, but you can't really purchase it without buying the whole darn tank. 

Then I swapped to the 24" Coralife T5 2x14w fixture, and as demonbreeder mentioned, I am now using that fixture on my 15 gallon. 

This is the only picture I have of that fixture. 









Hilde, I will take pics of the CF and the T5 fixture and send them to you though. It's hard to tell what you are getting from the Coralife pics on the web. I think the used CF fixture you ended up getting will probably be perfect.


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## rushr (Jan 11, 2010)

I see you're rocking the wisteria and you've got the foreground thing going as well roud:


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## fastfreddie (Sep 10, 2008)

Haha, too bad this tank is gone. That wisteria was awesome stuff. I miss it sometimes, but the 15 gallon I put in it's place is doing great, and requires a lot less attention. 

Might be time for another scrap tank to revive this journal, huh? I have a 6 gallon acrylic tank and a super old school Coralife Mini-mite from like 1995 with two 9w CF's. Maybe the baby nursery needs a fish tank??????? :icon_roll Only thing missing is substrate, a scrap filter and heater. Off to browse the nano forum for ideas :icon_evil


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## rushr (Jan 11, 2010)

Aw, rest in peace cool little tank. 

One could argue that a tank is educational for a baby. Yes? No? Well at the very least relaxing. Then again this forum unintentionally encourages the expansion of tanks and the nagging desire to create one's own fish room. It's inevitable lol


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## !shadow! (Jan 25, 2010)

l like how your anubias petite look/lay in the mid to foreground from above. Now if l could only get my hands on some non overpriced bunches...


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