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ADA 60P---Failure....Low Tech again.

32K views 194 replies 23 participants last post by  OVT 
#1 · (Edited)
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START


Since everyone with ADA tanks gets to do a long thread, showing all their things getting shipped in, I feel like I get to do the same.

I got a 60P for my wedding present from a good friend/member on the board. I will keep him nameless, unless he wants to tell, because I don't want people thinking he is just throwing out ADA tanks to people he knows.

I knew about this in advance and started my plans. First, I was going to tear down my 20L and replace the tank with this. Would not have been a bad idea but I want to finish that tank which will be a bit, plus start something new.



That said, I got this on Saturday and thought it looked very good were set it down:


I got this 30 inch PC fixture awhile ago for $20 new. I used it on a low tech 20 long (raised) and it worked OK. A bit too much light but algae was minor. I am starting without co2, but dosing Excel so we will see what happens. CO2 is in the future.



I knew the light wouldn't fit but had some other cool stuff. I am not sure if I am going to put the inline heater on this tank or my 20 long.



I am trying to use existing furnature that is proving to be a pain. My Ecco 2234 didn't fit so I had to shave off the top.



Back to the light. Got out my little miter box and went to work


Before...


After...



I cut 6 inches off, repositioned the light holders, made some wiring shorter and all that. Hard work but only took about 45 min


Did the plumbing. I started with both the intake and outlet on the same side. The intake looked really bad with the tubing extending over the tank. I moved it to the other side, looks better, but not great. I need to decide if I want to sacrifice the shelf above. I kind of like how I got everything to fit in a small space so not sure what I will do. I need 90 degree elbows


Lastly, filled the tank. It was easy as I had a 1 gallon pitcher so it only took 17 trips to the sink and back. Pretty cloudy.







Obviously, at this point, it isn't a planted tank. My goal is to do as close as I can to a true dutch scape on my first attempt at a 60P. Though it is way small than a dutch tank should be, I do feel it has good dimensions for the style.

I am starting without CO2. My reasoning for that is my first planted tank, many years ago, went so well. I went from very low tech to fairly high tech over about a year. I want to do similar, starting with better stuff and move faster.

Now to the "specs" (revised)
Tank: ADA 60P
Light: Aquaticlife T5HO 24wX4
Filter: Eheim 2215 (may switch back to the 2234, not sure)
Pipes: ADA Poppy glass outflow, generic DIY acrylic inflow (for now)
Heater: Hydor 200w inline
CO2: Trustly beverage single stage regulator w/ solenoid and Fabco needle valve. JBJ style bubble counter to Atomic inline diffusers
Substrate: ADA Aqua Soil Amazona (Regular)
Other: Coralife inline 9 watt UV
Stand: Ikea Besta shelving unit w/ door

Plants:
None, obviously. Will update. Will be a collectoritis tank. I want to add as much as I can.

Live stock:
Not sure. It may be community, it may be single species. For the first time, I am not going to try to go small. I may go with Congo Tetras or some type of Rainbow fish if I can fit. In basic research, seems like my tank is too small. We will see. Last priority.


End Goal:
I really want to do a successful dutch style scape but I don't want a large tank. To me, a dutch style tank is not as simple as having a lot of plants, it's about arrangement, manicuring, and soft-scaping. I don't know that I can achieve that, it's my goal.

My real goal is to impress my wife enough to have her want this in our bedroom. My 6 gallon is in there now and she loves it. I want to hopefully show her I can do better, have her move the nano to her office (or mine) and move this in our master. I think I will like it in my little recording studio but it seems a bit big now that I have done the work. Shoehoring the filter was a pain, CO2 will be a pain, heater may be a pain. Plus, I don't like water over all my vinyl.


Long story, not to much going on. I am off to AFA tomorrow, hopefully. We will see what the wife lets me get. Plants are easy, hoping to got some lily pipes. I want SS ones but they only have the inflow, or did as of last time. I may still buy that and hope to get the outflow online or something. We will have to see.

Thanks for looking,
Matt
 
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#4 ·
So I have a bit of lily pipe dilemma here. I really want SS ones but AFA only has the intake. I actually was thinking about going with off brand but they won't fit.

However, with the Eheim piece, flow is pretty strong and I think anything similar to it may be too strong for an all stem tank. Now I am thinking a Do!aqua poppy glass. I am not fond of glass but I have no choice in this style.

Any advice? I don't want to do half glass half SS. I am thinking the poppy glass is better, even though I don't like glass. I may post this in the equipment forum as well.
 
#7 ·
I have considered the BW SS pipes. I have a few Cal Aqua things that I don't fit my personal aesthetics but they are super durable. I have had a drop checker for many years, dropped it more than once on hard wood and it is still going strong.

I will say part of my reasoning for thinking ADA/Do!aqua is I can buy it tomorrow. I don't like mail order on general but more so on things that are pricey, probably over priced, that I just want to spoil myself with. I haven't had money to spend in awhile on this stuff so I want it now. Who knows, I may spend my money all on plants. I may just do the outflow for now as this is the first tank in a long time I can hide things. I could do a spray bar if it goes right, outside of trimming.
 
#8 · (Edited)
Edit: never have done pics off phone, can't figure this out

So I ended up deciding on an ADA Poppy Glass outflow. I couldn't decide if I wanted a matching outflow or a violet glass. The didn't have the poppy glass inflow so that made my decision easy, I got neither and spent the rest on plants. I have never been to AFA on the weekday and it was great, so much personalized attention. They do carry their own stands as well, not nearly as nice as ADA but look good in the right color (dark grey). The wood ones look decent for the money but look a bit cheap. Cost is around $200 for a 60p. Will take that into consideration if I put my 60p where my 20l is.

Here is what I got:


Not to be a brand whore but there bag is cool too:
 
#15 ·
So, this tank is going in another direction. I was being stubborn about my 20L. It is on it's 4th or 5th try, finally kind of coming together and I just wanted to finish it. It was the first time I felt like I did decent at a natural style tank so I just wanted to see it through. At this point, it just doesn't interest me all that much and I got far along enough to know how it would have looked.

On the flip side, the 60P is just too big for the room it is in. It's about 150 sq ft. On top of that, about 1/3 or more of that room is taken up by my recording equipment, vinyl collection, etc. The tank just looks out of place. It's cool to know my Ecco 2234 will fit in here and I got verification that some paintball co2 setups will work but I just can't have the 60p in the room.


That said, I will tear down the 20 long and move the 60P in the space. I bought an Ikea Besta stand which I think looks nicer than the stands at AFA (not sure if they are branded as Archaea or not but I think they are exclusive to AFA, not sure). I haven't set up the Ikea stand, I hope I bought the right parts, lol, but it will have to have about a 1/2 in gap for the door. The AFA one fits the 60P perfectly so it may be a better choice for those who may be interested (can't find it on there site but they had more than a few in stock).

In addition, I go from a 65 watt PC fixture to a 4 bulb T5HO fixture that should be more light than I should ever need. I will now use CO2.

I was hoping to get this all together tonight but between stopping by Ikea on the way home, then Berkeley Bowl (both pretty tiring), I won't lie, I am exhausted and popped a beer the second I got home. I will assemble the stand tonight at the least, likely drain the 60P and start the rest tomorrow.
 
#17 ·
I couldn't decide so I went with the Black-Brown. I do like the glossy door but I didn't know how it would go. We may do a small Besta setup for our TV and stuff to tie things together.

Just put it together and looks pretty good. I have slight fitment issues right now. One thing I didn't consider was height. I didn't have measurements to go off of and it's about 4.5 in lower than the stand it is replacing. On the flipside, the 60p is about taller, making it 2.5 in shorter. I didn't want to add the legs but that can be an easy fix. The hard part is I really don't want to go back out to Ikea tomorrow to get them as it's about 45 min away without traffic.

I am about to drain the 60P and see how it looks. I hope it is light enough to move with substrate. That is about all I have in me tonight. I was so ready to tear down my 20 long and setup the 60P at 12:00, got home and I am absolutely dead.
 
#18 ·
So this shows the difference in height. I kind of felt my 20L was to low, going from a 29 gallon. In our new place, I like the tank not having to be the main fixture of the room. I am kind of iffy if the 60P is too low but think it will look understated. My wife actually really likes how low it is so it will stay as is for now.

I am trying to figure out if I have the energy to tear down the 20L tonight. I may just transfer the fish, maybe not. I don't know what to do with all the HC and DHG. I may be able to move it with some help and go to DSM until I figure out what to do, put it where the 60P was but that thing is heavy with that slope. Even with rocks out, I have about 40-60lbs of substrate.



Anyway, here is the height comparison:
 
#19 ·
I'm starting my build thread in about a week but I'm slowly getting stuff together. But, yeah the Besta is too short for my taste. I was going to buy the legs too but they only added around 4" in height. I wanted at least 8" and then I started considering building a DIY pedestal and painting it. I felt too lazy and wanted a cheap solution. Then I was looking at my speaker stands that are cement blocks with aluminum rods... as shown here:

Then it hit me, I'll get 8" cubed cement blocks! 3 tightly grouped gets me 60cm long, fits perfect. Lol sounds ghetto, but it works... industrial meets chic. :)

 
#20 ·
That looks pretty good. The glossy door is different than what I saw as well. The other one is black and grey with a pattern. I like the straight grey. Nice to know there are more than a few options if you go this route.



Now I have to decide how to run my pipes. I know they need to go on the left side so people don't play with them and the front pipe should go close to the glass front. I can do small holes for each pipe but that will limit me to my pipe position. Or I can try to find a wide grommet and do it that way.

Today I will tear down the 20 long and replace it with the 60P. It's more of a pain that it should be since I have autodosers and a lot of inline. I actually will have more usable room in this stand (I think) due to no center brace. I hope I have enough room for one shelf but I am not counting on it.

I hope I am able to move the 20 long so I can get started sooner on the 60P. I really don't want to have to pull up all the HC/DHG at once. We will see. It's going to take me a lot longer to tear down the 20L that it will be to start the 60P.


On that note, if anyone wants a 20 long and is willing to pick up, PM me. I have two, the one I was using has scratches. I believe the other one does not as I think I mixed them up on my start. I have both this wood stand (in very mediocre condition), as well as a metal stand. I live in Concord CA so if you would like to pick up, let me know. I could probably throw in a Coarlife T5NO fixture as well.
 
#22 ·
Ok, now onto the stand. I always like to see what others do under the tank, especially high tech or a lot of inline. I have to be honest, I didn't really know how to fit this in so I just did my best. It's a pretty tight fit.

One thing I did not take into account was the hole sizes for lily pipes. I thought 1.5in would be more than enough. However, I did not consider the quick disconnect. It still can come out, you just have to pull the grommets out too so they will not be permanent for now. I am also getting some kinking but that may or may not go away. Worst case, I will step up to 2.5 and use those for the autodosing tubing on the top of the stand, behind the tank.

Plumbing..


With Filter...


Now it just got crazy. Talk about tight fit. I still need to find a better solution for my dry ferts and autodoser. It has about 40-50ft of power cords combined because the fountain pump cords are so long.






Now it is time to fill.
 
#23 ·
Sorry for all the constant updates but I just have done a lot. I finally have it filled and planted the few plants I have. I may start moving things over from my 6 gallon but those trimmings are like 3-5 in tall most.


I wanted to give a review so far of my Besta stand because I couldn't find much info on it.

Pros:
-This thing seems very sturdy. I did the sit on it and see how it feels and it is much sturdier than the stand pictured above with my 20 long. I am not too worried about it failing

-Very affordable. I spent around $70 I believe for everything with tax if I am not mistaken.

-Fits the 60P width as close to exact as I would ever care.

-It assembled perfectly level and stayed level. Unlike other things I used, this thing was pretty square just putting it together.

-It is attractive and customizable. If you like the simple ADA style, this is really similar in style. It has a variety of options, 3 colors for the stand, I believe you have 5-6 for the door (including the 3 colors the stand comes in).

-It keeps the noise very isolated. I used the back piece and only drilled one hole in that. My filter is purging air and is somewhat loud right now. With the door closed, it's totally silent.

-It's easy to come by, easy to assemble etc.

Negatives (what most probably want to hear).

-Unlike an ADA style stand, the tank must go behind the door, leaving a 3/4 in gap in front. In back, you have 3.5 in. Obviously Ikea didn't design this for a 60P so I am not complaining.

-Construction is not even particle board. It's some sort of "semi hollow core" construction. This actually surprised me greatly when drilling in to it.

-As per above, I know this will delaminate quickly as I have other furniture with the same laminate. Now I know, the laminate is actually part of the construction.

-Door fitment is challenging. I actually thought my door was warped at first. It's not so much that the fitment is hard to adjust, it can be hard to understand what does what. Once you play around, it's not bad but took me longer than other furniture with simpler adjustments.

-Stand is pretty short compared to commercial stands. This is covered in above posts but at 6ft 1in tall, the top of my tank is at my waist. I don't really mind and you can get the legs to raise it up more but it's still going to be on the short side.

Advice:
-One thing I didn't take into account on carpet is the weight of the tank compressing into the carpet. There is not enough adjustment to make it not hit the carpet, though I was able to make pretty easy to open. There is adjustment on the bottom so if I would have raised it up, I would have had the clearance. I only would have need 1/4 of an inch. Hard to go back and do after setup

-Get the legs if you don't like a low stand.

-Adjust the door after you have the tank on. I spent a lot of time getting the door right, just to have to readjust it after the fact. Part of it is my carpet issue. However, it was just easier to do after the fact.


I don't know if anyone cares but I had trouble finding much info on this setup, outside the fact it fits the 60P well. I didn't consider the height part, didn't think of some of the issue I encountered and would have never known with the info I found on the net that this could be problematic. I really like this stand overall and just want to help the next person. I would consider the stands they carry now at AFA as well, though more expensive, they are actually made to fit a 60P and should not need modification.
 
#25 · (Edited)
Yeah, I forget about shipping. AFA isn't even that close to me, 2 hour round trip if I try to avoid traffic, took me two hours to get to SF in commute traffic the other day. SF is a fun city so I find myself out that way but it's not some where I just get into the car and go to. My wife and friends understand it's an absolute must that we stop there if we are out in SF though, haha.

I am thinking about putting car wax or something to try to keep the water from getting into the stand. Won't be a great fix but good enough. My last stand was MDF so I think I can handle it.

But yeah, I just wanted to give a review as it seems widely used but nobody really says much about it. I could only find a few pictures when I was trying to figure it out.



ON A SIDE NOTE...I just spent about 2 hours trying to figure out how I just went through my whole CO2 tank. Checked everything with the little CO2 I had left, couldn't find a leak. Turns out I forgot to turn my valve back open, how fun of a time.
 
#26 ·
Sooo, I am happy with the Poppy Glass outflow (I think). Between letting my filter go while I was taking down my 20 long and trying to reslope my AS after filled, my filter is really dirty. I cleaned it once but every time it purges air, it starts spitting out all the mulm/sediment inside. I am wondering if I should just let it be or thoroughly clean the filter. I just rinsed the mechanical, I want to keep my bio media intact so I don't have a super long cycle.

What would you experienced people recommend? Keeping the filter as is and letting it cycle with established media, knowing my filter has all sorts of stuff in it or try to thoroughly clean the filter, hopefully keep the bio media (I usually mess that up) and risk having a long cycle with ammonia leach?

Let me know, I will take some pics soon. My tank is still cloudy since I keep messing around and I have only a few plants at the moment.
 
#27 ·
Moving forward. I guess this picture is to show that I have plants and a water bill. Nothing really to see.





I will give a bonus picture as there is not much to see. I have not done much in terms of planting, forgot to buy one plant, and this will come together in time. If you are local, and watch morning news, here is me and the wife at Kron4 news.
 
#46 ·
I will give a bonus picture as there is not much to see. I have not done much in terms of planting, forgot to buy one plant, and this will come together in time. If you are local, and watch morning news, here is me and the wife at Kron4 news.
Nice tie, dude!
 
#31 ·
Oh snap, more people with the Besta stand for their 60P. I got the glossy red doors with glossy white top. Maybe a new pimp group, hmmm?

Get the glossy glass cover, it's awesome!
I probably would have went more wild on the color if it was in another room besides our living room. I couldn't figure out if they made the blue/teal door in this size but I really like the white/teal setup they seemed to have on display everywhere in Ikea.

What is the glass cover? Not sure I saw that. I can't tell in the picture how thick it is.

You need more plants.

v3
I think you are right. Honestly, I held off on buying plants specifically because we were planning to meet. Just bought plants I really wanted.

I agree with OVT. Always best to start heavy in planted tank and then remove/replace as you get the tank to the look you want.
I agree. I almost always do it that way. I don't have many local places (that are truly local) that I trust for plants. I would say I get 90% of my plants from OVT these days.
 
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