Our 155 gallon planted aquarium with AquaTerra 3D background.

[Herbicidal]

Started assembling it in July, 2010.
155 gallon aquarium with black 4-door stand and matching black 4-door canopy.
Lights installed within each of the four under tank cabinets so I can see!
AquaTerra Tanganyika rock 3D background.
1 – Rena XP3 canister filter (filled with peat, pads, and various bio-media).
1 – Rena XP4 canister filter (filled with peat, pads, and various bio-media).
2- 300 watt heaters.
1 - Koralia water circulation pump mounted behind the background.
160 lbs of Eco-Complete.
2 – 48” dual bulb, low-tech Lowes florescent shop hoods with a total of 4, 6500k bulbs mounted to the inside top of the canopy and on digital timers. Soon to be replaced with some Catalina T-5 HO retrofits.

Fish:
5 – Rams
4 – Clown loaches
3 – Yoyo loaches
1 – Upside down butterfly catfish
5 – Ottos
8 – Rummy Nose Tetra’s
?? – Discus, waiting for tank to cycle and stabilize

Driftwood:
Several pieces of Malaysian driftwood to help maintain the pH.

Plants:
Work in progress, some Anubias to start.
************************************
That's the basics to get me going. I've kept both fresh and salt water fish about 15 years ago. This is my first foray into a planted tank. Wow! Aquarium technology has so changed over the years! My wife and our two wonderful kids are my motivation behind this project, gotta love the support!

Here's some pictures to get started. I've enjoyed the journey so far!

The background has arrived! Just sitting on top for the picture. Now to get it into the aquarium.


Angle view to try and show a little more detail. We are very happy with this background. It is quite stout and very detailed.


Sitting on the floor to show the undulations:


Had to cut it into 1/3's to get it to fit. THAT was a bit nerve racking! The pink high-density foam on the bottom will lift up the background so that it is snug against the glass supports at the top of the aquarium. Obviously the pink foam will get covered by substrate.


More pictures to follow as I reassemble it in the aquarium. Feels like building a ship in a bottle, but on a larger scale.

[slapnutz]

well, i was all excited to see pictures...but there isn't any!

[problemman]

yah i know right! pictures please?

[Herbicidal]

My bad! Can you see them now?

[slapnutz]

Yes, looks like a good start! Can't wait to see the hardscape next.

[switcharoo]

that backround is going to look real nice, GL. and im watching this

[Herbicidal]

Thank you! Just received a piece of (what I think is unique) driftwood from AquariumPlants.com. Hopefully I can find a good place for it. Tomorrow, I pick up some Catalina T-5 HO, 36 inch, twin bulb, retrofits with a 6,500k and a 10,000k bulb in each unit. The Catalina aquarium lighting company is only 20 minutes from work, so that makes it real easy to make a lunch time run! Plus no shipping! I'll put the Lowes shop lights in the garage.

[VadimShevchuk]

This is gonna be a cool tank. love the journal and background so far. Do you still keep saltwater?

[Herbicidal]

Originally Posted by VadimShevchuk

This is gonna be a cool tank. love the journal and background so far. Do you still keep saltwater?

Thanks! No saltwater. I gave it all up when my wife and I had our daughter about 14 years ago. It was only fish. Some moray eels, a Lion fish, some other kinds that I've since forgotten. They were in a 135 gallon aquarium with a few other in a 55 gallon. At the same time I was running several fresh water tanks, the largest being a 120. The whole house just hummed from the air pumps, filters, etc. It was pretty cool! But a lot of work!!!

[problemman]

I'm excited now!

[Herbicidal]

Reassembled the three pieces into the tank successfully! Whew!!! I thought long and hard about how to "glue" the pieces and then hold them in place. I used black silicone sealant, T-pins and rubber bands. I stuck the T-pins in at about a 45 degree angle before gluing up and down each section. Then siliconed the two pieces together and then strung the rubber bands across the seam to the T-pins, thus holding it all together! Waalaah! Waited 24 hours and repeated on the remaining section. Prior to that I cut a rectangular opening that allows water to pass from the front to rear and covered it with some included plastic mesh, glued from the backside. That black blob looking thing is where the mesh is, see second picture for a front view.

First sections re-joined:


Front, medium-close view of the pass through. Cut it high enough to allow for about 3 inches of substrate.


It took awhile to figure out where to place all the equipment. Two filter intakes and returns, two heaters and a circulation pump to move the water around behind the background. My goal was to have as little equipment showing as possible. Facing the back of the aquarium, this is to the right.


This is the view to the left, again when facing the back of the aquarium. The 'looping' return line has an opening through the "rock" wall out to the front. The return line at the top of the picture is for the 2nd filter and I had to run the return to a spray bar that sits in the upper right hand corner and streams water out right to left down the entire length of the aquarium.


This is a top view looking straight down on how I routed the return line from filter #2.


This picture shows the spray bar return and the black circle (to the right of that flash flare) is the return end of filter #1. The spray bar is the only piece of equipment in front of the background. Since it's tucked way up and to the right, it's barely noticeable. Still trying to maintain that "clean" look.


Finally the background and equipment issues are sorted out. Ready for the Eco-Complete! 8 bags worth all ready to go.


Next, add Eco-Complete and will it hold water without leaking??? Did I do a thorough enough job figuring out the placement of everything? I think I have...I think I have...

[slapnutz]

Awesomeness right there! Love the setup with the heaters and stuff, hope its not too hard to clean behind there if you need to.

[TeamTeal]

that background looks great!

[ridewake210]

Awesome looking set up so far!
Cant wait to see more

[switcharoo]

Originally Posted by TeamTeal

that background looks great!