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Unzan 75-P

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75p ada unzan
31K views 170 replies 45 participants last post by  davidj12 
#1 · (Edited)
Last shot



As of 7/20/2013 (full sized)



As of 6/27/2013



As of 4/11/2013




As of 3/27/2013




As of 3/11/2013



3/3/2013



3/1/2013



First Night



So here I go. I started my planted tank journey with a Fluval Edge. I had no idea what I was getting in to and the further I went toward high tech the more difficult it became to manage. Well I finally did it I talked my wife into letting me have a bigger tank (more on that struggle later).

Equipment List

ADA 75-P
Home Made ADA style stand http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/showthread.php?t=195788
Solar I light
Solar I Arm Stand
Ehiem 2217 Filter
ADA Lily Pipes 13mm Outflow 17mm Inflow
GLA Primo C02 Regulator
GLA 5LB C02 Tank
GLA Atomic Inline Diffuser
Hydor Inline Heater 200W
WeMo Light and C02 timer

Hardscape

ADA Substrate System
Unzan Stone
[strike]Ryuoh Stone (This is what I have got it at AFA in SF but I really like the Unzan Stone better)[/strike]

Flora

HC
DHG
Hydrocotyle SP
[strike]Staurogyne Repens[/strike]
Micranthenum Micranthemoides
Rotala Rotundifolia

Fauna

Amano Shrimp
OTO of some kind
Cardinal Tetra


The Start


Side View


Inside Cabinet


Got an LED light from Ikea


Start of the Plumbing & Wiring (sorry it's a little blurry)


So now with the story. Originally this was supposed to be next to my couch in the living room. My edge used to be there and I liked to sit there and day dream while staring at my tank. Got the whole thing together and powered on the light.... The look on my wife's face was well... not good. She did not even say anything but I knew:icon_eek:. (those of you who are married know what I mean) I have to admit the light cast on to the couch was like sitting under a baseball stadium light. Well we spent the whole night re-aranging furniture and it all worked out. In retrospect even thought she really does not want a larger tank she was being a champ and trying to make it work because she knew how long I have been planning this. Later on in this process I found out that what she really did not like was the color temperature of the light. The Solar I came with the NAG (green) bulb and I have to say when I plugged it in I thought it was a mistake and I had received a marine bulb on accident it was extremely BLUE. Well I got the regular NA bulb and it is definitely a warmer tone. I know the NAG bulb will burn in to be a warmer color but trying to explain that well.... easier to just change the light.

Here is the NAG bulb (sorry about the cruddy photo)
 
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#2 ·
Oh yeah, now this is gonna be good.

Subscribed!

Try giving AFA a call, they have Unzan stone, it is just not listed on their website. The prices if I recall correctly were; small $50, Medium $75, large $100 and extra large I think was $150.

Medium is a good price, I think they said those are over 8 inches tall with two pockets for wabi kusa.

Just tell them you would like to order some unzan stone and they will send you a paypal invoice, pretty easy.

:smile:
 
#3 ·
Thanks for the info I did not know they had them in stock! I've been talking to Frank at ADG for a while and I think he knows what I'm after. I'll keep it in mind though. Waiting on my soil and some other things so I don't mind, although I have to admit I'm ready to get this thing going!!
 
#6 ·
I know it's been a while. My wife keeps on asking me how much longer and I have to admit I'm probably a bit more anxious than her to get this rolling. All the parts I'm waiting on arrived at ADG on the last container right around Christmas time so I'm waiting for them to get to me. I'm thinking I'll have most everything in a week or two.

Just starting to make plant decisions now:

Hemianthus callitrichoides (main foreground plant)

Hydrocotyle sp. "Japan" (for inside stone holes)

Micranthenum micranthemoides (background plant) do you think this will work? I've seen that this plant can grow quite tall but I don't have much experiance with it. If not what background stem plant do you think would work? Didiplis diandra, or Rotala rotundifolia??

Eleocharis parvula (transition form foreground to background plant)

Other plants in consideration:

Riccia Fluitans (mix carpet?)
Ammania sp. (a few groves of this)
Staurigyne sp. (alternate mid-ground)

Any thoughts??
 
#7 ·
Riccia IMO is going to be a PITA in the long run with it's frequent trimming schedule with such high light an' CO2 injection. Micranthenum micranthemoides - good plant for a BG responds quite well to trims. would like you to give HM a thought, rotala sounds good too but it's growth in conditions you are ready to provide will be like it's on steroids..hehe. If you are going for a mix carpet - put glosso infront with HC a bit back..will add a lot of perspective depth, parvula in small quantity in spaces. Ammania 'bonsai' is a good choice for progression towards your stems. Styruogyne 'repens' is a good choice as well. But to all these it all depends upon the scape that you are trying to come up. A sketch perhaps can help people suggest plant choice better..hope it helps..:)
 
#10 ·
Does anyone have experience with EI dosing and aqua soil? I would imagine you would not have to start dosing right away if using AS or would you? :help:
do a daily 50% water change if you're using new ada soil for at least a week. I do 2 weeks because the ammonia leaching is ridiculously high and also causes algae. i wouldn't start dosing after 2 weeks. you want to make sure that the plants are rooting in and ready to take in nutrients.

if you start getting algae, then don't worry too much about it. your main goal should be getting your plants to grow and fill in so that they can outcompete the algae for nutrients. also, it's also good to start with many plants as possible

you'll learn from your experience, it's always good to try things out.
 
#11 ·
Testing a New Timer

So my rocks, soil and some odds and ends are on their way, I'm super excited. :bounce: The customer service has been really great so far at ADG and definitely worth the wait.

I've been looking for a timer and saw this WeMo home automation switch from belkin. I know its a bit $$$ but I'm a dork and really like tech stuff like this. It was really easy to set up and connects to wifi and my smart phone via the net. I can use my iPhone to set the timers and turn the device on or off manually. You can program "rules" for different devices and monitor if they are on of off when away from home. Will be testing for the next few days on my smaller tank so we shall see...









 
#14 ·
So I've been testing the WeMo for a few days now. Looks like it is working quite well. It saves all the setting so if there is ever a power failure it will re-connect to the wireless and check if it is supposed to be on or off. In all my simulated power failures so far it has not had any issues. I think I'm going to get another one to control the C02. I know it's over kill but I really like being able to change the times remotely and without having to stick my head inside the cabinet.

On another note all my stuff from ADG is due Monday! :bounce:
 
#16 ·
Got almost all the parts I need to get this going!

Spent a lot of time today mounting all the tubing inside to the wall. I hope its not a PITA but it looks a ton cleaner than just having the hoses everywhere. Guess we shall see. Plants are ordered hope they get here soon. Should be a few weeks but well worth the wait.


I'll put the substrate together this weekend. Till then here are some photos.

Threw the rocks together not sure about how I'm going to put them together yet.



Heater and inline diffuser



Organized tubing and wires.



With filter.



Magnetic bar on the door for tools.

 
#17 ·
This is going to be a cool build!

Man, you have the hoses in there very neatly!!! Is the clear hose just standard hose for Lowe's or Depot? If not what kind is it, and where did ya get it? It looks very bendable without kinking! The Magnetic strip is a great Idea too!

Subscribed!
Drew

p.s. those timers are SWEET!!!!
 
#18 ·
This is going to be a cool build!

Man, you have the hoses in there very neatly!!! Is the clear hose just standard hose for Lowe's or Depot? If not what kind is it, and where did ya get it? It looks very bendable without kinking! The Magnetic strip is a great Idea too!
The tubing I saw at my Home Depot was a little thin and I was concerned about it getting kinked so I bit the bullet and ordered the ADA hose from ADG in 13mm and 17mm. A little bit of this also came from knowing that the tubing would be the correct size for the lily pipes. Those glass pipes aren't cheap and I wanted it to all work perfectly.
 
#26 ·
Anyone ever leak test the filter system before planting? Since everything is below the tank there are quite a lot of points where it could leak. Makes me nervous :help: Was thinking about taking all the media out of the filter and running tap water though it in a 5gal bucket. Thoughts?
 
#27 ·
As much as I want to hate on the Wemo thing you have, that is pretty cool, especially since it resets itself, no need for battery backup. It's only double what a digital timer costs and those can become problematic in my experience so if it works well, let us know.

Your stand is really awesome, after more than a few years of this, I finally am starting to appreciate organization under the stand.

Rocks look awesome, I think the layout is nice but it's always hard to tell until substrate. I do really like the dark look of them.

Looking forward to this.
 
#31 ·
Thanks!! They were around $400 shipped (in lots of bubble wrap in a bunch of separate boxes). For a 60P you would probably want two medium and a few smalls or one medium and a few smalls. Not really sure what you are going for but Frank is always very helpful and willing to talk things out with you.

Great progress thus far
Thanks!
 
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