As of: 12/03/2013
As of: 07/05/2013
I put together a quick progression album for reddit. people seem to be really digging it there, so i figured i'd share here as well.
http://imgur.com/a/jwssM#0
My wife and I are in the midst of renovating our basement to be a more usable living space. That includes a TV area, a kid's play area, and a mixed used area.
This mixed use area will be a night time office, for when I have work to do and the family is asleep, an area for the aforementioned 125 gallon, and possible a dry bar (hell, maybe wet).
We have a closet in the corner that was being used for storage as well as access to our electrical box. It sat at around 6' x 6'. The idea was always to keep this that size... only now it's coming out about a foot one way, and 18.5" the other!
The 125 will sit with full visibility of the front and one side, so it'll be in the corner of a wall.
At this point in the renovation we're up to building out that area itself... and currently, the only tank related item (pictured below) is a 20' PVC tube that will be connected to the tank's pump for easy water changes.
This weekend will, if our new stairs arent in, culminate with the rest of the closet being built w/ the opening/stand for the tank as well as hot and cold water lines to make water changes a simple ordeal!
So far I've planned out a decent bit of what will be going into the tank:
flora:
Vallisneria spiralis
Anubias barteri var. barteri
Anubias barteri var. nana
african fern
Eleocharis parvula
red tiger lotus
fauna:
3-4 pair kirbensis cichlids
1 Ctenopoma Acutirostre
20-40 Congo tetra
20-40 african banded barb
* african killifish (probably not)
* Synodontis catfish (not sure which species)
* Atya gabonensis (viper shrimp)
Substrate will be coming from our own hydrophyte. I received some of his substrate for my 20g long and love it.
Lighting will come from buildmyled.com
I already have ferts and co2 system(s). while most of my plants don't require a "high tech" set up, the hairgrass will.
I am still debating with myself between using a 55g as a sump, or going with a filter. If i went with a sump I could use a section as a grow out tank for the baby kirbensis I plan on being able to sell.
the hardscape will mainly be driftwood and stones and not made to resemble much of anything other than a natural habitat (though that may be a stretch)
As you might tell, my flora and fauna choices are all strictly african. I currently have a pair of kirbensis and, really, they're my inspiration for this tank.
eventually I plan on adding an arduino unit to control the timing for co2, lights (with dusk and dawn), fertilizer dosing and toggling the heater. I may even look into automated feeding and water changes.
As of: 07/05/2013
I put together a quick progression album for reddit. people seem to be really digging it there, so i figured i'd share here as well.
http://imgur.com/a/jwssM#0
My wife and I are in the midst of renovating our basement to be a more usable living space. That includes a TV area, a kid's play area, and a mixed used area.
This mixed use area will be a night time office, for when I have work to do and the family is asleep, an area for the aforementioned 125 gallon, and possible a dry bar (hell, maybe wet).
We have a closet in the corner that was being used for storage as well as access to our electrical box. It sat at around 6' x 6'. The idea was always to keep this that size... only now it's coming out about a foot one way, and 18.5" the other!
The 125 will sit with full visibility of the front and one side, so it'll be in the corner of a wall.
At this point in the renovation we're up to building out that area itself... and currently, the only tank related item (pictured below) is a 20' PVC tube that will be connected to the tank's pump for easy water changes.
This weekend will, if our new stairs arent in, culminate with the rest of the closet being built w/ the opening/stand for the tank as well as hot and cold water lines to make water changes a simple ordeal!
So far I've planned out a decent bit of what will be going into the tank:
flora:
Vallisneria spiralis
Anubias barteri var. barteri
Anubias barteri var. nana
african fern
Eleocharis parvula
red tiger lotus
fauna:
3-4 pair kirbensis cichlids
1 Ctenopoma Acutirostre
20-40 Congo tetra
20-40 african banded barb
* african killifish (probably not)
* Synodontis catfish (not sure which species)
* Atya gabonensis (viper shrimp)
Substrate will be coming from our own hydrophyte. I received some of his substrate for my 20g long and love it.
Lighting will come from buildmyled.com
I already have ferts and co2 system(s). while most of my plants don't require a "high tech" set up, the hairgrass will.
I am still debating with myself between using a 55g as a sump, or going with a filter. If i went with a sump I could use a section as a grow out tank for the baby kirbensis I plan on being able to sell.
the hardscape will mainly be driftwood and stones and not made to resemble much of anything other than a natural habitat (though that may be a stretch)
As you might tell, my flora and fauna choices are all strictly african. I currently have a pair of kirbensis and, really, they're my inspiration for this tank.
eventually I plan on adding an arduino unit to control the timing for co2, lights (with dusk and dawn), fertilizer dosing and toggling the heater. I may even look into automated feeding and water changes.