13 Stones-UPDATE--3-5-2013...BGA gone, now brown algae...

[talontsiawd]

I have done a few journals here over the years. I stopped because I was bouncing around a lot, my recording studio was at my parent's house, I lived at my GF's apartment more often than not, couldn't keep things going the way I wanted. I just bought my first home, super happy, living with my GF, and hopefully will have time for both her, and my 2000 hobbies, lol.


Enter 13 stones. I am no Igwami expert. I love the style, to a point, but I also love mountain scapes. I really just love rocks with plants. I used 13 stones as 13 is my lucky number, it also breaks down to 4, a very grounding number. I did my best to make what I wanted, with limited stone. Don't get me wrong, I have 100lbs of this, it just doesn't have the same character as expensive Japanese stone.

My goal of this tank is to have something that looks nice and is interesting. My girlfriend may a requirement that it has to look good 100% of the time. I have done that before, but never with CO2. I have had plenty of lush non-co2 tanks. I have had lush CO2 injected tanks as well but every CO2 injected tank I have had in the last 3 years only gets about 48 hours per week of viewing, much less maintenance.

This will be my first "high tech" tank that I really have time to deal with in a long time. I really hope it works.


Equipment:
Standard 20 Long (top de-rimmed)
Eheim 2215 w 2217 impeller
Aquaticlife T5HO fixture (24x4) ((overkill))
Petco stand
Coralife UV Sterilizer
Fountain pump autodoser
Heater (if need be)
20lb CO2 tank (will be swapped out to a 5lb if I can fit everything under the stand)
Beverage regulator w/ Fabco needle valve
GLA inline diffuser

Plants
Thinking just HC for now


Initial picture (not all that interesting)





I would love any advice on arrangement. Not sure how fast I can get HC.

[steven p]

Congrats on post #2k. Also, i'd maybe just stick some vals and green wendtii in there, especially if the rocks are sitting in-between the two front to back. It'd save you some change on CO2, too.

[GMYukonon24s]

This looks to me like the beginning of a good scape.

[talontsiawd]

Originally Posted by steven p

Congrats on post #2k. Also, i'd maybe just stick some vals and green wendtii in there, especially if the rocks are sitting in-between the two front to back. It'd save you some change on CO2, too.

Haha, I didn't even realize that was my 2000th post.

I forgot to put CO2 in my first post. I actually have 2 needle valves so I may go with both an inline diffuser and an in tank diffuser since I have both, as well as the ability to run both. Done it before and it works well.

[talontsiawd]

I didn't plan on planting so quickly but I was out by Albany Aquarium, one of my favorite places to get plants. It's kind of far from me so I decided to stop by and get some HC.

I didn't separate out the HC as much as I usually do but I also have never started with this much. I will probably separate it out more. I don't foresee a long dry start, just enough to get it rooted. I don't care if it fills in before I fill the tank, I just dry start HC to make life easy. Once it's rooted I will likely fill.

Still have a lot to do in the meantime. I need to clean my pipes and glassware. Then I need to plumb my filter. I don't even have my CO2 stuff here but I may have to convince the GF to let me have a big 20lb tank outside of the stand because I have other financial priorities.

Feel free to give me advice on anything. The hardscape isn't necessarily finalized and I have a bunch more rocks. I am still messing around with it, not really noticeably.

However, here is a pic:

[Overgrowth]

That looks really nice!

[beedee]

I like that alot, great hardscape man!

I'm also doing a dry start with hc and dhg, (link in my signature), it's been going for a month now, and i have nice growth, and deep roots. I'm JONZING to fill it though! lol

[talontsiawd]

Originally Posted by beedee

I like that alot, great hardscape man!

I'm also doing a dry start with hc and dhg, (link in my signature), it's been going for a month now, and i have nice growth, and deep roots. I'm JONZING to fill it though! lol

It's ironic because I was looking at your journal right before I started my hardscape.

This is my personal opinion on filling it. Do it when you feel like it. HC grows more quickly submersed to begin with. I like to dry start to get it rooted as it's a pain to plant but I have yet to let a tank totally fill in. I actually like seeing it fill in underwater myself.

I would up your CO2 at first and have a 5-6 hour photoperiod to avoid algae. It takes time for HC to transition to immersed so you almost want to treat a dry start tank as though it has no plants. Then extend the photoperiod and dial down the CO2.

[talontsiawd]

Originally Posted by Overgrowth

That looks really nice!

Thanks. Hopefully it turns out well.

[beedee]

Originally Posted by talontsiawd

It's ironic because I was looking at your journal right before I started my hardscape.

This is my personal opinion on filling it. Do it when you feel like it. HC grows more quickly submersed to begin with. I like to dry start to get it rooted as it's a pain to plant but I have yet to let a tank totally fill in. I actually like seeing it fill in underwater myself.

I would up your CO2 at first and have a 5-6 hour photoperiod to avoid algae. It takes time for HC to transition to immersed so you almost want to treat a dry start tank as though it has no plants. Then extend the photoperiod and dial down the CO2.

haha, that is a trip that you were checking my journal before you started, good stuff!

thank you for the pointers on the submersed state. like you mentioned, i really just wanted to get everything rooted, and then fill. my stand should be coming this monday or tuesday, same with my co2 needle valve, asa valve, etc....then it is fill time!

i noticed on my old 11.4g that after i filled it, the hc seemed to take off and thrive much more than it did when it was dry starting. right now my photo period is 12hrs, so i hope it doesn't trip out after i fill it, crank the co2, and reduce the light to a 5-6 hour photo period.

thanks again, and i will be watching this thread for updates!

[Amandas tank]

Sunscribing to this one! It looks great so far! Your placement of the 13 stones is perfect IMHO. Will be fun to watch your tank progress.

[talontsiawd]

Originally Posted by beedee

i noticed on my old 11.4g that after i filled it, the hc seemed to take off and thrive much more than it did when it was dry starting. right now my photo period is 12hrs, so i hope it doesn't trip out after i fill it, crank the co2, and reduce the light to a 5-6 hour photo period.

thanks again, and i will be watching this thread for updates!

Many don't reduce the photoperiod so it's not something you have to do. I didn't even learn that from anyone else, my dry starts were hit or miss with algae issues so it's just something I decided to try, it worked a few times, kept doing it. Cranking the CO2 will be helpful regardless though.

[talontsiawd]

I am seeing noticeable grow with the HC under my Coarlife T5NO. Nothing that would be noticeable in pictures, but I may decide to keep this fixture. I was really looking forward to having an open top tank with a raised light but my Aquaticlife T5HO fixture but if I can get HC to grow with this light, I know algae will stay at bay, likely getting not much ever.

I guess my point of this is I am pretty surprised how well this light works on HC. I just stuck it on because I hadn't built a mounting system for the other light. I am not a firm believer that HC needs high light, I have successfully grown it in lower light, even in a non-co2 enriched tank.

If this works, I will be very happy as I am not a huge fan of high light and can consider ditching the autodosing system which is bulky. Well, not so much the auto dosing but the constant dosing daily. I will have to see if this continues, especially after filling.

[talontsiawd]

I got the filter in order. It was a bit challenging as I need to conserve as much space as possible. I don't have a crazy amount of inline stuff, just a UV sterilizer and an inline diffuser but I wanted it to take as little space up as possible. I have had some ugly plumbing in the past so I wanted to do this nicely. It also means I may fill it earlier than later, we will see.

Before I fill I plan to change the outlet to a GFIC. Already have it, would have done it today if it wasn't raining like crazy. My 20lb CO2 tank won't fit under my stand so I am going to get a 10lb or 5lb on next refill since I exchange. Hopefully I still have room for my autodosing system and some shelves. I may just do a macro autodoser since micros are easy.

First "under the hood picks"

[talontsiawd]

This is more of a home owners thing but I STRONGLY recommend doing this. This is one of the most important things I am doing on this build. It only costs about $7, DIY, not sure how much professionally but its worth it.

I am sure many know but I am installing a GFIC (ground-fault circuit interrupter). I do this on all fish tanks, or anywhere there is water and electricity (bathroom/kitchen).

What this does, if you don't have one or don't know is it basically cuts the power to the outlet if you were, to say, drop the light in the tank and it fried. Oversimplified but the circuit trips before something bad happens.

Picture of what it is:


Didn't do a picture of what was there but it was UGLY. Had to remove some drywall. Somebody basically used some taping mud or similar and filled the receptacle in.

Ugliness on the floor...wish I did this before putting the tank in.



Done:


Sorry, I forgot to turn my phone sideways so it's different sizes.



Next, I am "downgrading" my 20lb tank to a 5lb. I wasn't sure if I wanted 5 or 10lb. Luckily, my local filling place only has 5lb, problem solved lol. Now that I installed the GFIC, I may fill as soon as tonight. Just got to hook the CO2 up first. I am using an inline diffuser but I also will use an in tank one at first. It's mostly for looks, I like glassware, but hopefully it's more flexible. I will see what I get done tonight.

Sorry for the kind of BS updates, I just want to be very clear on what I am doing for myself so when I look back on it, I know what I did and can compare.