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Down_Shift's ADA 60P *Back from the dead after 8 months

34K views 204 replies 46 participants last post by  Down_Shift 
#1 · (Edited)
Well this all started after seeing some of my friends' crazy tanks. He showed me TPT and I started looking around. Got some inspiration to try an attempt.. Which led to digging out a old 2.5g I had a gold fish in.. filled it Shultz Sub with moss/wendii/fern..

Original thread about the 2.5g nano bow:
http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/planted-nano-tanks/73876-my-first-attempt-2-5g-bow.html

Follow up Pics:

10/8-DIY Glass Top
10/28-Storing Plants for 60P / Moving tank to new shelf
10/30-Berried RCS
11/3-Shrimp/Otos
11/10-Shrimp Pics
11/14-My living space + Tank
11/24-DIY Prefilter + Hydor Nano Heater
11/29-RCS Extinct!
12/5-Update with new shrimp, since the first batch died off =(
12/10-Tear down and redone =( RCS #2 Extinct. Other stock moved to 60P
1/3-Complete Tear down and rescape!!
2/16-Update!




2.5g Bow setup:
2.5 Plastic Bow
Shultz + sand I found in the city
Driftwood
Magfloat

Red Sea Nano Filter
27w Desk Lamp
Hydor Nano Heater

Java Fern
Java/Taiwan Moss
Moss Ball
Wendii
Rotala
Frogbit








That lasted about a month..




That's when I started piecing together the next setup! I have a very very small apartment, therefore I had to have something compact, not insanely expensive, and had to fit an exact spot on my dining table/counter with equipment in the cabinet right under it. I originally wanted a Mini-S or smaller, but decided to get a bigger tank so I can have more space for plants! I tried to keep the budget reasonable and picked some reliable parts. Almost everything was ordered online.

Oh and special thanks to many forum members here, John, Church, WelchRock, Slaya Leemik etc etc! They've helped me with alot of noob questions!


*Updated 11/20/08

Tank: ADA 60-P
Filter: Rena XP2 - Pads/Haagen Bio Filter/Pot Scubbers

Inline Hydor 200w Heater
Lily pipes
DIY Inline Flow Control
Glass Drop Checker
Glass CO2 Diffuser
NRG Bubble Counter
DrFS Regulator kit
2.5lb CO2 Tank

Lighting:
Coralife 65W painted black /w clear Legs
R2 Moonlight 11000mc LED

Substrate:
Will be a mix of old Flourite and Shultz's

Misc:
ReefKeeper 2 Aquarium Controller with Temp/PH Probes
Plant Tools (2 Tweezers + Scissors)
Mag Float





The tank that came in today (10/27/08):



Canisters/Legs, added bonus my standalone ems setup lols:



More entries on the 60P:

10/28-More Setup
10/29-Moss
10/29-Painting the Light
10/31-Co2 / Plants
11/1-Filling the Tank
11/3-Co2 / Filter install
11/6-Lily Pipes + Drop Checker
11/8-More Plants
11/10-Tank cleared!
11/14-Growth Update
11/14-Pictures of the tank in my living space
11/20-ReefKeeper2, Inline Flow Control Valve DIY, Hydor Inline Heater, Trim
11/24-Growth Update after trims
11/29-Trim #2
12/5-Update
12/10-First Fish!
12/14-Cardinals!
12/16-Trim Mess up
12/21-MTS and RCS
12/22-2 more Female Guppies from my mom
12/28-Fry! and Cardinal pics
1/6- Growth/Tank Update
1/13- New Invertz order added! Dwarf Crays, Rabbit Snails, Black Neon Tetras, Ember Tetras, Amano's
1/14- Update on Growth and Big Trim
1/15-2nd XP2 came in!
1/22- Shortening the t5ho legs
1/22- 2x 24w t5ho vs 65w PC
1/24- Update with 2nd XP2 and all 4 24w t5ho
2/16-Update! TRIM TIME!






11/24/08

This lasted about a month when I spotted a deal locally! Another ADA tank :redface: Mini-S. Seeing how i already had a spare nano filter, 27w desklight, Eco Complete, and Slate. I only needed to pick up the Tank! Special thanks for dotconnect for the sale and Slaya leemik for helping me out.

updated 1/6/09

ADA Mini-S
Eco Complete Black
Red Slate Rock
27w desklamp *Removed Replaced with
15w Spiral light bulb
Red Sea Nano Filter
brass co2 splitter, nano diffuser, drop checker

11/23/08-Picking up the tank and setting it up!
11/24/08-First Day
11/29/08-A few days of limited lighting
12/5-Update
12/10-Glassware! Waiting to install co2 splitter
12/14-Co2!
12/28-Got Moss?
1/6-2 Otto still alive, 3 Amanos hiding -- also replaced 27w desklamp with 15w spiral bulb
1/13- Added 5 CPD's, 5 Asian Rummy Nose, an Amano
2/16-Update! Trim!
 
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#2 ·
My 2.5g with plants that might go into the new tank.



Moved the 2.5g, replaced with the 60P!


The Filter stuff.


Cutting a cheapo Mat and foam black board. Double sided taped the Board to the tank.



Final look



The Cabinet under my counter stores some canned goods and pots. I cleaned out the top shelf and used it for the canister/co2. I measured out the Canister thinking it would fit, but I forgot to include the hose outlet/inlets doh. So my drawer has to stay slightly open to give the clearance needed for the hoses.


Drilled Hole for the hoses.

 
#4 ·
I have a whole bag of Shultz's and some left over Flourite from my friend's tank. I also picked up a 20lb bag of Eco Complete Black. Will probably leave the Flourte/Shultz mix on the bottom and top it with the Eco Complete. I'm tempted to do a huge slope so I will need alot of substrate!


(Any Suggestions / Criticisms are welcome)
 
#5 ·
Hmm the substrate may mix over time and create an unatural look. I say just keep the eco.
BTW don't forget to add something under the tank. I found black foam board at target for $3.50 and its almost as good as the ADA garden mat. Im sure you know but the ADA logo should be on the bottom right corner of the front of the tank.
 
#6 ·
Well that took me a good part of the evening. Now I'm waiting for the light to come in, along with the glassware and Co2 equipment.

I'm afraid I won't have enough clearance for the light since the cabinet is right above the tank! We'll see what happens tomorrow.

And I didn't get rid of my 2.5g!! It made its way into a IKEA Cube shelf.. ~10 RCS shrimps hanging out in there.


The Moss I'm trying to keep going for the tank..
 
#11 ·
I was trying to look for black sand. No one sells any locally and I'd rather not pay for shipping / wait for shipping. That's why I was going to fill the bottom with the Shutlz :icon_roll

You're right about it mixing though. Once I'm ready to fill the tank, I'll put one bag in first. If that doesn't work out, I'll just go down the street to pick up another bag of Eco!
 
#12 ·
great stuff man! i'm looking to upgrade my perfecto 30g to a 75-P once I've got the money and time to work on the setup. This time around I will do it right from the beginning with automated dosing and topping off.

Keep us updated on your progress. :D Look forward to seeing your hardscape.
 
#13 ·
Not much of an update.. Took people's suggestion on putting a foam board under the tank. Got my Coralife 65w 10k in yesterday. Set it up and wasn't really happy with the fugly brown color of the casing.. I bought some black plastic spray paint from Homedepot today.. will try to spray it black when I have time.

CO2 Tank in today.. except.. they sent me the WRONG ONE... I ordered a 2.5lb to fit in my cabinet, they sent me a 5lb... Surprisingly the 5lb actually JUST fit in the cabinet, but I don't know if the regulator will make it taller. Regulator comes in on Friday, so I'll test fit it. If it doesn't fit, I'll have to call them up and send this one back.

Here's a pic of how it looks now.

 
#15 ·
Well just finished up on blacking out the Coralife. It's drying right now.

Here are some pics of the process.. Only took about.. 20 minutes tops.


Ugly Original color:



Prep---- Sanding down and mask out what I didn't want painted.




Just finished painting:


Still has the Coralife Logo (still need to pull off the rest of the masking tape):




And I cut the rear section because you don't see it anyways.. I mainly didn't want to paint it because there was the switch, safety label, and power cord. So I just masked and made a cut:
 
#20 ·
Almost there...

CO2 regulator came in today.. so the Dr Foster Smith semi auto kit... comes with a Azoo Regulator.. just an fyi for anyone that was looking into it.

The Diffuser came broken, they are replacing it. I plan on using a nano one anyways. The diffuser they offer is INSANELY big..






I have the bubble counter in the cabinet.. Figured it would be cleaner that way. The only thing I don't like is, it has suction cups on it.. so it keeps falling off the cabinet.. I'm going to drill it into the wood tomorrow as it's almost 1am here!



Oh and here are some plants.






Plan for tomorrow includes drilling the counter holder into the cabinet and filling my CO2 tank as the co2 places are only open during the weekdays :icon_roll I'll probably start putting in the substrate tomorrow also. I'm still planning on using eco complete with a mix of some Schultz/Flourite.

I want to get my lily pipes in before I really get the tank running.

Drop Checker was shipped today though :thumbsup:
 
#25 ·
Had some issues with filling the co2 this weekend.

Also had some issues with the canister filter ehh.. I guess it doesn't run with without the tank being mostly full =X.. also need to fix the hoses.. yikes.. I'm such a noob.. First time with a canister haha.

Tank is half full of water.. driftwood/rocks are all ties with moss now..

I ended up using the Flourite/SMS instead of the Eco. I think it's just too much black in the tank.

I need to finish up tomorrow.. and Where the F are my lily pipes???
 
#26 ·
So the tank is running on a spray bar right now until my pipes come in. Grr..

Co2 filled today. Will mess with the regulator and stuff tonight.

I'm not very happy with my scape.

My stems I got were all bent and crooked. Also I don't how I want it set up.

I tried to put together a moss tree, but I don't like the way it looks (probably needs a few months to grow out).

I'm going to try a rescape tonight or tomorrow depending on how much I have after work/classes.

Make sure to take some pics of the current scape so you guys can give me some pointers also.
 
#29 ·
Here are pics from this afternoon. Moved some stuff around.. and put in the CO2!! Co2 is setup with a timer so it only opens up when the light is on.

the floating cups are cups of moss and riccia..

I'm kind of lost on the layout/scape at this point.. If you guys have pointers please post em up. I'm really close to getting rid of the moss tree as it looks fugly!





Is this some kind of Fern? I dunno what plants I have anymore lols.


the Ugly Tree


These things grow way too fast... small amount filled up 4 tanks..


The mess of stems/driftwood/co2 diffuser/bubble counter








work in progress.. let me know your suggestions..

Things I've encountered:

Co2 tank that i bought fit under the cabinet.. it was a #5.. the one I got from the swap.. was taller!@#!@# So now I have a 6ft co2 air line run from the one end of my couch to the tank :confused1: Only place I can fit it...

My tank is sooo cloudy from micro bubbles.. turned the flow down from the spray bar.. Canister hoses need to be shortened.. but waiting for my lily pipes this week... Then I can throw the canister into the cabinet...

The Co2 counter says i'm doing 2 bubbles per a second.. Is that right? recommendations?



I guess that's it for today.
 
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