CivilPlanter's DIY 5G Project

[CivilPlanter]

Hi TPT!

I've been a long time user of the informative forums here. I wanted to contribute my part through this journal for an office tank project. I've been recently successful with my first Iwagumi project and find myself becoming more mesmerized by ADA aquascaped tanks. I wanted to try my own on a smaller scale with budget in mind with possible upgrade to ADA products if this is successful.

Here's some specs on what I have collected so far for this build:

Equipment:

Tank - rimless 5.5G with generic black foam mat
Light - 2 x 10W chip LED light with heatsinks and fans on a custom DIY acrylic light support
Filter - Eheim 2213 canister with DIY acrylic lily pipes
Supplements - dry ferts, DIY CO2, Rhinox 2000 diffuser and Metricide dosing

Flora:

TBD - trying to get hold of some Elatine Hydropiper

Substrate:

Red Sea Flora Base or Eco Complete however ADA Amazonia is only slightly more in cost so I'd like to try that if I can buy it close by. ADA in Canada is hard to get a hold of locally it seems.

Hardscape:

Some Ohko stone or Dragon stone that I have

Thanks for reading - until my next update!

[GMYukonon24s]

Welcome to the forum. I can't wait to see this setup.

[RD3557]

Agree. Looking forward to what's to come.

[Couesfanatic]

where did you get the dosing bottles?

[CivilPlanter]

Thanks for the support guys!

Ill post some more pics of the hardware when I get a second to upload the pictures.

Bottles are hand soap bottles from grocery store - I tried these liquid soap and also the foam soap type. The foam ones did not turn out well so I stuck with these normal ones - plus the tear shape looks nice though Ill have to get some more for micro, macro and Excel dosing.

I cleaned them with hot water and vinegar soaked them. The pumps have lots of soap stuck in them so try to disassemble them as much as possible to get all the soap in the small nooks and crannies. Usually just pulling on the parts breaks them loose and you can pretty much take the major components of the pump apart.

[CivilPlanter]

I finished my LED light stand so I wanted to post some pictures of it. Made of solid acrylic rod, heated to create the bend and drilled to an aluminum plate. Nice thing is that it can rotate for water changes or maintenance.

Old test setup that's been running on a 2.5G for testing:


New and old light fixtures: (drill bit broke in old acrylic rod while drilling )


Replacement fans installed - the computer fans were too big and noisy:


Bottom shot:


On the tank the light output is pretty good - probably medium light (glosso has been growing slowly with Excel so far):


From the front - pretty slim profile:


Top shot - light can rotate for maintenance:


Dosing bottle - liquid hand soap pump bottle from Safeway grocery store:


DIY acrylic lily pipes - will get some more tubing to make new ones without the wrinkles at the bends:


I just need to get the substrate this week and start the hardscape arrangement. I will grow this out at home for a bit before transferring to the office if things go well.

[CivilPlanter]

Today I decided to pick up Eco-Complete since it grows my HC and glosso well and its dark to match the tank trim and silcone.

I re-did my lily pipes with acrylic tubing from a local supplier - 1/2" diameter and 1/16" thick for my Eheim filter. I found some electrical cord to help with the bending and it turned out a lot better because of the thicker acrylic tubing and the wire inside the tubing during the heat bending.

Slide the wire in (used some canola oil to help slip it in):


Heat and bend:


The new ones look much better side by side:

[xiaxia]

wow you have some insane DIY skills. *jealous*
but with the new lily pipes do you have space to 'hook' it onto your tank? or is the angle just off?

[CivilPlanter]

Originally Posted by xiaxia

wow you have some insane DIY skills. *jealous*
but with the new lily pipes do you have space to 'hook' it onto your tank? or is the angle just off?

The lily pipes were supposed to fit tight so I wouldn't need suction cups but they crack pretty easily when stressed so I made the new ones with a gap.

Here's a picture with my rough layouts:

[CivilPlanter]

Second layout

[CivilPlanter]

Third layout - any favourites so far? I'll give it some time to think about it.

[awcoburn2]

You may have inspired me to try my hand at making my own lily pipes. Great idea and certainly good on the budget.

[fishboy199413]

I really like the scapes and I believe that the 2nd scape looks best as it makes the tank look bigger plus it looks very natural. Keep up the good work.

[CivilPlanter]

Thanks that was my favourite one too. Here's what I have now - will fill with what once I get some plants in tomorrow.

[discgo]

I really like how clean the light setup looks. Would really like to see more details but I think your pictures ran away.