Manik's planted 40b "Midnite" PIC UPDATE 2 months after planting

[manik]

Alright.... Here I go. This project has been in the works for the last 6 months. Time to hit the GO button on this and see if I've learned anything .

SPECS

40 gal. breeder (spray painted background (on the outside))
DIY Aspen stand, modified to fit the 40b

Lighting
100W HO T5 (timed to 8.5 hours)
strip led for a moonlight effect
(taking it to the "rediculous" stage)

Filteration
RODI H20
Auto-top off
5.5 g sump
Cascade 500 canister

C02
5 lb. canister
Milwaukee reg with solenoid/bubble counter
4dkh drop checker
Glass diffusion

Substrate
Left over laterite on bottom
MTS- Vital Organics Potting soil with clay added
Organic Cheesecloth for separation
Black sand cap

Driftwood locally harvested

Plants
Hemianthus callitrichoides
Blyxa Jap. (if I can find it)
Limnophila hippuroides
Vesicularia montagnei
Pogostemon erectus

Livestock
Some kina tetra
Otos
Black mystery snail (possibly)
Angels (pending)

and... pics

[manik]

Here's some more shots. After tweaking the hardscape a bit from my previous thread, I fell for this. I removed quite a bit of stonework, Moved the DW a bit more centered. This will change slightly once I take the top off. This is after the sloping... added the DW and then meticulously arranged the cheesecloth (which I'm expecting to breakdown and feed the microbes after the HC has carpeted). Capped with the sand. I then filled it up a bit and covered it to keep it humid. Definitely don't want the DW to dry out and float.

[manik]

Got my fogger working .. maybe I shouldn't flood it and keep it a vivarium

Back to the build. CO2 is coming this week. Once I get that I'll be sourcing the plant life. I've been considering going DSM with this one... but seeing as how have been HIGHLY impatient to get to this point... I'm not sure if I can go DSM. Time will tell. Updates soon...

Thanks for looking!

[manik]

First Wabi-Kusa attempt

[Zuni]

Hardscape looks awesome.
I'd be really careful when you fill it though.
Wouldn't want that driftwood to float up.

[ua hua]

Very nice start.

[andrewss]

heh the fog pictures look pretty awesome

[manik]

Originally Posted by Zuni

Hardscape looks awesome.
I'd be really careful when you fill it though.
Wouldn't want that driftwood to float up.

Yeah... that's a concern for sure. It's been wet this whole time. I'm thinking about flooding the tank soon, just to keep the DW wet while I wait on the plants. No lights,just to start the cycle and keep the DW submerged.

Originally Posted by ua hua

Very nice start.

Thank you!

Originally Posted by andrewss

heh the fog pictures look pretty awesome

The fogger was free It's got these cheesy LED color changing light on it. Otherwise, I was thinking about blacking those out and putting it on an extra tank and starting a riparium/vivarium (or whatever the name for those things is now)... but WITH FOG!

[reefboi16]

Awesome hardscape. Nice wabi also, tagging along.

[speedie408]

Great start! Love your hardscape.

[manik]

Originally Posted by reefboi16

Awesome hardscape. Nice wabi also, tagging along.

Originally Posted by speedie408

Great start! Love your hardscape.

Thank you both! Much inspiration was derived from what I've seen of you stuff.

I'm falling in love with it. I flooded it today, to keep the DW waterlogged and hopefully start some bacterial colonies. Oh man, 75 gpd RODI sure makes for a LOOONG fill up. Been going for 10 hours now! I've been entranced by watching the little "pearling" sand bubbles. Now... I just need that C02 to come in and some plants..

Who's got some plants for the cause?

[manik]

As I mentioned in the last post. I've decided to flood the tank... after a rediculous amount of time... It's over. I ordered my green stuff today. This is whats coming:

Limnophila hippuroides
Vesicularia montagnei
Pogostemon Erectus
Blyxa Japonica
HC


I've added my first bits of life to the scape... bio from the previous filter and an air plant. I received my replacement parts from Penn-Plax today as well. The canister is back up and running. My thoughts on the Cascade 500. Good filter, does a good job. Cheap plastic parts are not cool, customer service at Penn-plax is great. Shipped $15 worth of replacements 2 day air, at no cost to me. So... until the plants are here the end of the week... this is what I've got.

[Heartnet]

Man that is some killer wood. Nice job scaping it, I love the addition of the little bromeliad too.

I noticed that you're using a DIY PVC overflow. Any trouble with it so far?

[manik]

Originally Posted by Heartnet

Man that is some killer wood. Nice job scaping it, I love the addition of the little bromeliad too.

I noticed that you're using a DIY PVC overflow. Any trouble with it so far?

Thanks Hearnet Yeah, I'm digging the bromeliad too. Regarding the DIY PVC overflow. I have had one in my reef tank for about 5 months now, and just made this one for the 40b (I must like them, cause I made another one for a larger volume of water) I like them. I like not having to drill holes. They're pretty reliable. In my reef I had an issue of the siphon failing because of the air that gets trapped in the top of the siphon. It would, without fail, fail at almost 7:30 pm everyday. I had a run of this for a couple weeks. (Luckily, I had the water level right in the sump and the display, that it wouldn't overflow the tanks) To this day, I don't know why it would fail at the same time everyday. Possibly because it's nearly the same amount of water going through in that 24 hour period....

Anyway, I think the siphon failing because of air is due to the lack of flow going through the siphon (on my 20g reef, it's a slower flow), the pump going in wasn't as strong, the bubbles wouldn't get pushed through the siphon.

What I'm noticing with the 40 b... with higher volume of filtration (even though it's only been about 12 hours running) is that it's producing the gurgling noise. This starts at the outlet in the sump, the air trapped in the tubes gets flushed through occasionally, produces a gurgle then goes back to equilibrium with the return pump. It's not bad, just could be better. It hasn't failed yet. The thing with any siphon based overflow, is you've just got to check it every once in a while, to purge the air or micro adjust the valve. Other than that they're great!

I'm interested to see how well this filters the tank, as it's pulling from the top of the WC (NO BIOFILM! ) instead of the bottom, as the canister regularly would. Maybe more detritus... not sure yet. I'll let you know once there's plants and fish.

[andrewss]

that driftwood really is nice