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Metaframe Deluxe 28g Planted w/Co2 Build

8K views 40 replies 15 participants last post by  SeattleFishGuy 
#1 · (Edited)
Metaframe Deluxe 28g Planted w/Co2 Build

So i'll start this new tank thread with I found a great find on Craigslist for an old Metaframe Deluxe tank, with original lights and back plate in near perfect condition for a GREAT deal!

Currently I only have two small tanks a 14g BioCube and a 2g Fluval. You can see those tanks builds below in my signature line.

This tank is going to my basement in my work area. Its a good fit as this tank is almost as old as my house and the work bench it's sitting on.

I'm still debating on what I will put into the tank but I have a few idea for both flora and fauna but not decided on anything 100% yet.

Here is what I have for Equipment so far and some is on the way in the mail.

Tank: 28g Metaframe Deluxe with original lights and back plate
Lights: Two 6,500 15w CFL's (switching to LED's hopefully in the next month or so)
Filter: Fluval 306 (w/ extra 7/8 OD, 5/8 ID clear tubbing for inline equip)
Heater: Hydor 300w inline
Diffuser: UP AQUA inline diffuser
Co2: 5 lb. Stainless Steel tank, w/ two stage Co2 pressure regulator w/ solenoid (just traded somebody for this and not that familiar with it yet)
Bubble Counter: Fluval 88g Co2 Bubble Counter (Co2 equipment I bought didn't have a bubble counter)
Drop Checker: glass ADA style drop checker
Digital Thermometer: Coralife digital thermometer
Syphon: I just bought a 50 foot water syphon kit (no more hulling buckets)

Substrate: Safe T Sorb (just ordered a 40 lb. bag today)
Rocks and wood: I love great rocks and amazing wood so we will see what I can find and afford.

UPDATED 5/2/13:
Current Plants:
  1. Water Sprite
  2. Fissidens Fantaus (tied to rock)
  3. Anubias Petiete Nana
  4. Trident Java Fern
  5. Java Moss (just a few strands for now)
  6. Rotala Macrandra (Green)
  7. Rotala Rotundafolia (Green)
  8. Hygrophila Polysperma
  9. Pogostemon helferi
  10. Microsorum pteropus 'Windelov'
  11. Lindernia rotundifolia variegated
  12. Pogostemon erectus
  13. Marsilea minuta
  14. Staurogyne repens
  15. Ludwigia sp 'red'
  16. Subwassertang
Current Fish:
  1. 8 Chili Rasbora

Inverts:
  1. 3 Taiwan Red Cherry's (only three because I was moving from another tank)
  2. 2 Zebra Snails

One thing for sure is I won't fish that "pop" like the tank does and there are going to be lots of plants.

As of tomorrow I will have all equipment as the bubble counter, and inline diffuser should arrive. I will plumb the tank and get the water going. I already shimmed the tank (that was an ordeal) on my really old workbench and have an area for it.

Wish List: I will add to this too for anything I want to get.
1. LED's (going to local club's workshop in June)
2. Lily Pipes: Would like to get Stainless Steel Lily Pipes (might start with glass)

Here are a few pictures, one from the add I bought the tank and the rest are of the tank. I like to post a lot of pictures so as this build evolves i'll add a bunch more. Because what's a thread without pics?!?! :confused1:

Tank Picture (From the ad, don't mind the black plastic light on the back, it's in the garbage now):


Tank in my basement on my workbench (testing lights) filled no leaks. I threw in a few frogsbit and a branch of Madrona (common in the NW) for fun:


Side shot so you can see the lights and back plate on these Metaframe tanks:


Shimming my tank (wow 45 minutes to shim it... and yes I used most of the Large Shim package):


Equip shots and more to come... stay tuned!:thumbsup:
 
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#4 ·
I really love this tank and hood! but I really don't recommend shimming the tank itself. I would use a 3/4" thick board under the tank and them shim between the board and the work bench. You could then use some trim molding to hide the gap between the board and workbench.

Also, if this is a working workbench, pounding on it will not be pleasant for the tank inhabitants.
 
#5 ·
I really love this tank and hood! but I really don't recommend shimming the tank itself. I would use a 3/4" thick board under the tank and them shim between the board and the work bench. You could then use some trim molding to hide the gap between the board and workbench.

Also, if this is a working workbench, pounding on it will not be pleasant for the tank inhabitants.

Thanks, yeah i knew not to do that, I do have a 3/4 thick plywood underneath it then shimmed that.:proud:
 
#6 · (Edited)
UPDATE: Recieved the Co2 Inline Atomizer/diffuser in the mail today and my Bubble counter.

Plummed in the inline diffuser and have it up and running, testing for leaks now. I'll post pics later tonight but one thing I'm debating about is if I should paint the back of my tank black or leave it clear. I know that plants will cover it up eventually but for now I don't like it.

Pics: Bubble Counter and Inline diffuser


Inline diffuser plumed in, it took a while as I really had to tighten the stainless steel tighters I bought more than I thought I would be, but it's not leaking. Unfortunately the fluval tubing that i'm using from the 306 to the heater is leaking just a tad so i'll have to tackle that soon.




I added some rocks for fun to the tank, don't think I'll use them but maybe the big one in the middle which you can't see in the pics but it is petrified wood.




I also don't like the way the outflow tubing goes across the back of the tank so I may need to cut a larger piece of tubing and make it come straight up from the back. That being said as soon as I get plants and Co2 going i'm sure they will fill in that background anyway.

Next i'm going to get a few timers for my lights and Co2 solenoid and then get my Co2 tank filled up. Then I wait for my substrate in the mail and then I can start cycling my tank. Oh and pick out plants and fish.
 
#11 ·
Picked up some Malaysian (Kiki) driftwood today at LFS (Aquarium Co-Op), great selection and prices!

The piece I selected for my tank is a rather large stump and it anchors the whole tank. I may need to cut the ends to make it fit better but I put it in the tank today to get it soaking. Once I get my substrate in it I will slope it from the back down to the front so it will look much better...that and i'm going to pull the unwanted rocks out.


Full Tank shot:


Close up of driftwood:
 
#14 ·
Thanks guys, i'm trying to figure out how to position that wood a little bit better. It's tight up against the back and front glass and because of that it sits a little higher than I would like. So depending on how much substrate I have to work with will depend on if I cut the "arms" off the wood so it sits down a little bit more.

For fish I'm thinking this (today):
10 - Boraras brigittae (chili rasbora)
10 - Forktail Rainbowfish (Pseudomugil furcatus)
2 to 4 - Pair of Aphyosemion Australe (Lyretail Killifish), and most likely another pair of something else, not sure what
2 - Loaches (not sure but something that "pops" Panda Loach maybe?)
 
#17 ·
Yeah I didn't think I was going to find a piece of driftwood that easy and I was thinking I might get Manzanita wood (grows around here) instead but I saw this piece and knew right away this is the look i wanted.

Because it's so massive (for my tank) I think it will make most since to have not much if anything to the right of the wood. So the wood is the focal point of the tank. I'm looking around now for similar tank layouts to get inspired.

If anybody have any pictures of tanks that would have a similar layout please let me know and send me a link...

:icon_bigg
 
#16 ·
Kind of disappointing. Putting that tank in the basement. The basement? Oh the sacrilege. Oh, the pain, the pain. That tank needs to be displayed in the open not hidden in a basement. You should be ashamed of yourself!
 
#19 ·
Got the substrate yesterday, the 40 lb. bag was huge but for $10 plus shipping was a great deal. So I already knew it would be reallly dirty as it's clay after all but wow, after rinsing it off it still looked terrible...

Here is how it went...

Here is the Safe T Sorb 40#



This is it after putting it in the tank, stump out:



After cleaning the filter and draining the tank and restarting the filter here is last night before lights out:



Here is the tank today, looking better:



It's not cyrstal clear yet but looking really good. I'll scrub it tomorrow, clean the filter and do a large water change and get start cycling it. And now that the substrate is in i'm really liking it and envisioning what it will look like.

Also picking up some Osmocote Plus tomorrow to fertilize the substrate.
 
#23 ·
Thanks, i'm liking it so far, now I just picked up some ferts and I will add them to the tank and mabye add a few MTS snails and a few plants I have a lot of like Frogsbit for fun. My goal will be to have ferns, moss, fissidens and Anubias Nana covering most of the wood.

Still deciding on what plants I want for the back wall and then what if any in the front... I have Dwarf Hair Grass and HC carpet in my 14g so I think I will go a different route here, just not 100% sure. :icon_neut
 
#25 ·
I added one lonley plant to the tank...got it in my bag when I bought an Amano Shrimp the other day for my 14g. I've seen this plant a million times but can't rememeber what it's called. :icon_redf

Anyway i'll upload the pic soon... becuase who doesn't like more pics!:thumbsup:
 
#28 ·
Update:

Well the tank is coming along nicely. Since my last post I have cylced the tank and parameters are perfect. I cylyed the tank quickly by adding first some snails and then a few cherry shrimp. I added a few plants, Anubias, Java Fern, Trident Java Fern, Java moss, Fissidens, frogbit and a few others I can't remember their names. The tree stump in the tank has lowered my PH considerably so I have added a PH stabalizer from Seachem and that worked nicely.

Now today I finally filled my Co2 tank set up the equipment for the first time and added a drop checker, which looks nice emerald green.

Oh and I also attended the GSAS (Greater Seattle Aquarium Society) anual auction which is huge and takes all day, quite amazing if you have never been to a big "everything aquarium" auction. I picked up some cheap ferts and chatted with friends. Everything I wanted for my tank went for big $$$. That's ok though...

Here are a few pics:

Here is my new Co2 setup all dialed in...


Here is a new front tank shot (it's getting there, not sure about the plants yet but I had these plants in another tank so if I don't like them or the placement that's ok. Also the tank is still a little hazy and I believe that is from the wood (tannins) and the substrate was very dirty so every water change it's looking better. I will add Chemi-Pur if it doesn't clear up after a few more water changes.


Lastly, I still don't like the background, and the fact you can see that tubing on the right so i may add a backdrop. I like the look of wax paper but when I tried it...not so much. Partly my problem was my roll of wax paper didn't cover the tank enough and I had to add more to cover it all and you could see the lines where I added more paper. Anyway maybe I'll try again. Plants will cover most of it anyway.

I also am getting closer to picking out my fish now that the tank has cycled. I'm for sure getting some Chilli Rasbora's as I mentioned on my first post and I think I will get them tomorrow or later this week. After those I'm still not sure, maybe a Panda Loach but at $25 a pop at my LFS that is money better spent somewhere else, for now anyway.
 
#31 ·
Thanks, the driftwood was a great find and a good price. Now i'm just waiting for it to stop leaching tanins in the water, but no big deal. I have some Purigen coming in the mail on Tuesday so that will help.

Yeah the light fixutre is great and since it's all alluminum it shines nicely. However, it's hard to fit big enough CFL's in it due to the fixture size and space I have to work with. I try and post a pic of that later. Long story short I have two 15w CFL's in there now and I think I can get two 25w CFL's in there. The only one I have been able to find that are screw in (e27) are these long narrow bulbs by JBJ called Macro-Glo 25w Refugium Lghts. I checked with the manufacture and they have 1600 lumens and should put out much more light. Hopefully that will help my lighting situation.

If that isn't enough I will go LED. My first thought is DIY LED underneath the original hood, and I might go that route if I can find a way to make the lights waterproof as there is a lot of condinsation under the hood. If that doesn't work I'll just get a nice Finnex Ray2 or something similar and remove the original hood, which will pain me to do so but I need/want good light. We will see...

Also sill trying to figure out the background, i hate it right now.

Oh all the plants are going nuts right now, roots shooting all over, nubs on the water sprite, they are loving the Co2!!!:flick:
 
#34 · (Edited)
Update:

Fish:

Went to the LFS this weekend and picked up 10 Chili Rasbora. They are very small right now (1/2 inch max) and unfortunatley two of them got caught in the filter over the first night.

Luckily they were alive in the filter, hard to believe. They looked ok but i'm sure they took a beating. Also one of them looked very thin from to get go so I was worried about that one.

Anyway I wasn't sure if they got stuck because they were just too small or maybe it was because they weren't healthy to start. For the small and thin one I would say it wasn't doing well but i'm not sure on the other.

Chili Rasbora:


I took some porous sponge from a filter and put it in the Fluval 306 intake opening, making it impossible for the fish (so I thought) to enter the filter even if it was weak. Well to my surprise when i was counting fish tonight two were missing....oh oh! :icon_eek:

So tonight I made it fool (maybe) proof by putting the sponge on the outside of the intake tube.

intake filter w/sponge cover:




Ferts and lights:

Today I received a package in the mail with some Seachem products, Excel, Prime, Neutral Regulator (low PH due to tree stump) and Purigen. I love these products and also use Flourish but didn't need any.

I also got two 25w Macro-Glo CFL 6,400k (1,600L) and they help brighten up my tank. Maybe not how I want it but better than the 15w variety. The problem i'm running into is I need CFL that is no bigger than 2'' at it's widest spot...this is due to the retro aluminum light fixture. DIY LED will be my best option but i'm worried about condensation. We will see what happens. The 25w bulbs will work for now, already seeing crazy growth in just a week since the Co2 addition. :icon_smil

Last Week (old lights):


Tonight (new lights and a lot of growth):


I'm going to list/update (in blue) my plants and fish at the first post:icon_excl

That's it for now...stay tuned.
 
#37 · (Edited)
BIG UPDATE:

Lots of changes in the last week:

So I did a large plant swap with a fellow GSAS member and now have these plants planted in the tank along with my others (I'll update the first post too)...

  • Pogostemon helferi
    Microsorum pteropus 'Windelov'
    Lindernia rotundifolia variegated
    Pogostemon erectus
    Marsilea minuta
    Staurogyne repens
    Ludwigia sp 'red'
    Subwassertang

I took all of my flora and fauna and made a clipboard list with pictures and names of everything I have since I'm bad at names of plants, especially the scientific names.

New plants lined up (sorry for bad pic, camera phone didn't focus):
:


Side shot of new plants ( also have four pots of Dwarf HC and HG to sell) and added lights, I also added some wax paper as a background for now:


FTS:


Front Left:


Front Right:


Pogostemon helferi:


Staurogyne repens:


Marsilea minuta:


Lindernia rotundifolia variegated (background: Microsorum pteropus 'Windelov'):


Pogostemon erectus:


I also rewired my hood over the weekend to add two more CFL's for a total of four. you can't really tell from my low quality pics but it looks much brighter and the plants are liking it. :thumbsup:

It was a DIY project. I had a double light fixture in my basement that we were using so I pulled it apart and had all the parts to wire it in my hood. It was perfect too because there were two small holes at the end of my hood, one I used for the wire going in and the other I mounted the switch for the light. So now it has a separate switch and I plugged it into a separate timer so it comes on an hour after my first lights and goes of an hour before. I had two of my old 15w 6,500k CFL's lying around so I used those for now. Eventually i'll get two more 25w bulbs like the others in the above post. THat will give me 100w of CFL at 6,500k. It will suffice for now even though I like a little bit more blue tint to my tank. I like the 10,000k lights color better but can't find a 10,000k CFL. :mad:
 
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