190g wild discus biotope w/ LED lighting

[boon]

Can I have the full Hi-Res for wallpaper purposes please?

[HX67]

Absolutely stunning tank.
The light is just perfect!

[Hoppy]

Holy mackerel! I'm speechless. That lighting system is beyond belief, and I think takes LED lighting to another level.

[plantbrain]

Do you fine the roselines bully the discus and disturb them?
I had this issue in the past.

Nice wood layout and lighting.

I also like the 3D backgound attached to the overflow, that hid the box very well.

I did this to an older tank I had so you could not see it and attached plants to it. No plants here, but some floating species could be used if you wanted to.

I have some nice wire and quick release suspension stuff you might be find more attractive for the light bar. PM if interested.

I like the light a lot.

The brass valves are 10X better than the stiff, PVC ball valves.
They often do not even cost a whole lot more. I've set up all the client's with these vs the PVC. At some point, I'll do this.

Nice end result, I know you spent a lot of time on it, but.......you got the goal you where after.

[macclellan]

Nice. Display only, or do you wish to breed?

[hydrophyte]

This is like the kind of tank that a German or Norwegian would put together.

You don't see people in the USA taking this as seriously very much.

[jcardona1]

Originally Posted by Dan the Man

Ghasp!!!

Thanks!

Originally Posted by ua hua

Very nice! I love how the LED's give the shimmering effect of the sun shining down through the mazanita branches. It looks very natural especially compared to how flourescents look.

Yeah I love it! That one picture with the wireless flash made the shimmering effect more pronounced, but it's still very pleasing to see in person.

Originally Posted by hydrophyte

This is amazing.

Thanks!

Originally Posted by speedie408

Jose,

All of a sudden after looking through your post, Bette Midler's "Wind beneath my wings" popped in my head.

Absolutely won't miss a beat of this journal bro.

Thanks Nick, appreciate it! I'll post updates regularly

Originally Posted by fishman9809

Fantastic aquarium. My jaw literally dropped when I saw the beautiful shimmering water, the beautiful discus, and the awesome LED build. Just to point this out though, rainbowfish and roseline barbs aren't biotopical.

EDIT: You pointed that out in the first post :p The layout itself is very biotopical so it's perfect. I'm amazed.

Thanks! Yeah the rainbowfish I could do without, I just had nowhere to put them while moving all the fish over. So they're staying for sure now, no way I can catch them in that jungle. The roselines I just can't get rid of. I bought them when they were small and ugly and have watched them grow. I really love those guys!

[jcardona1]

Originally Posted by boon

Can I have the full Hi-Res for wallpaper purposes please?

Here you go, you can get a larger version here, just right click (didn't keep the monster original file size though): http://www.flickr.com/photos/18984651@N05/5593765507/

Originally Posted by HX67

Absolutely stunning tank.
The light is just perfect!

Thanks!

Originally Posted by Hoppy

Holy mackerel! I'm speechless. That lighting system is beyond belief, and I think takes LED lighting to another level.

Thanks Vaughn, appreciate the feedback!

Originally Posted by plantbrain

Do you fine the roselines bully the discus and disturb them?
I had this issue in the past.

Nice wood layout and lighting.

I also like the 3D backgound attached to the overflow, that hid the box very well.

I did this to an older tank I had so you could not see it and attached plants to it. No plants here, but some floating species could be used if you wanted to.

I have some nice wire and quick release suspension stuff you might be find more attractive for the light bar. PM if interested.

I like the light a lot.

The brass valves are 10X better than the stiff, PVC ball valves.
They often do not even cost a whole lot more. I've set up all the client's with these vs the PVC. At some point, I'll do this.

Nice end result, I know you spent a lot of time on it, but.......you got the goal you where after.

Thanks Tom, appreciate it! Yes, I worked a lot on this tank, I'm just glad it's over...for now. No, the roselines are calm as can be. Never seen them mess with the discus. They stick to the lower parts of the tank. Really cool watching them school through the 'roots'.

And yeah the brass gate valve is a must when fine tuning flow. Almost impossible to do with a PVC ball valve. I'll let you know about the suspension cables, thanks for the offer

Originally Posted by macclellan

Nice. Display only, or do you wish to breed?

Thanks. For now, display only. I've read that wild discus will do fine in tapwater, but they won't breed unless you start messing with the TDS/ph, not something I want to take on at this time.

Originally Posted by hydrophyte

This is like the kind of tank that a German or Norwegian would put together.

You don't see people in the USA taking this as seriously very much.

Thanks. And that's a good point. Tank setups in Europe are just insane!

[night9eyes]

Fantastic set-up and amazing pics! You've done a stunning job all around. Very natural.

[kuni]

See, you didn't need to see my biotope presentation after all!

Lovely tank! I love the dappled LED effect and the tree roots - they look very natural. I wish I'd seen this thread sooner - I would have used it as the discus biotope example tank.

The only thing I would have done differently is a black background, but that's pretty minor. I like the way your background hides the box.

You might consider adding a few dried leaves down the line to keep the tannins going and to provide a natural feel(tree roots means trees overhead, which means fallen leaves). A few catappa leaves every so often would probably work.

Incidentally, you're really close to a roseline biotope as well - all the pictures of their habitat I've seen have been branches, leaves, and sand/mud. I suspect both the roselines and the discus are feeling quite at home!

[Tbakes]

Jose - gorgeous tank and a superb write-up. I am in the planning stages for my 178G tank and plan to "borrow" (or outright steal!) many of your plumbing ideas.

Based on your tanks inhabitants, I doubt you have problems with critters going over into the overflow box. I am going to be keeping small schooling fish in a heavily planted tank, so I am still working out my overflow box design.

-Tony

[NJAquaBarren]

Very nice. Worthy if a public aquarium. Impressed with the light design too - industrial chic . Would love to see a write up of the light too.

Great work.

[Coltonorr]

Wow! Very nice setup!
makes me want discus...those colors are fantastic!

[VadimShevchuk]

Any updates of this magnificent tank?

[jcardona1]

Originally Posted by night9eyes

Fantastic set-up and amazing pics! You've done a stunning job all around. Very natural.

Thank you!

Originally Posted by kuni

See, you didn't need to see my biotope presentation after all!

Lovely tank! I love the dappled LED effect and the tree roots - they look very natural. I wish I'd seen this thread sooner - I would have used it as the discus biotope example tank.

The only thing I would have done differently is a black background, but that's pretty minor. I like the way your background hides the box.

You might consider adding a few dried leaves down the line to keep the tannins going and to provide a natural feel(tree roots means trees overhead, which means fallen leaves). A few catappa leaves every so often would probably work.

Incidentally, you're really close to a roseline biotope as well - all the pictures of their habitat I've seen have been branches, leaves, and sand/mud. I suspect both the roselines and the discus are feeling quite at home!

Thanks Matt, appreciate it! I have been thinking of collecting some oak leaves or buying indian almond leaves to use as litter. I've used them before and I like the black water look it gives the tank. On the background, I've done black for far too long. I was tired of it and wanted something different. Discus seem to look better with light colored backgrounds also.

Originally Posted by Tbakes

Jose - gorgeous tank and a superb write-up. I am in the planning stages for my 178G tank and plan to "borrow" (or outright steal!) many of your plumbing ideas.

Based on your tanks inhabitants, I doubt you have problems with critters going over into the overflow box. I am going to be keeping small schooling fish in a heavily planted tank, so I am still working out my overflow box design.

-Tony

Thanks Tony, appreciate it! I actually purchased a small school of lemon tetras and within an hour all ten were in the overflow box! I scopped them out and I guess they learned their lesson. Now I'll get one or two in their every few days. Thank goodness for the intake strainers!

Originally Posted by NJAquaBarren

Very nice. Worthy if a public aquarium. Impressed with the light design too - industrial chic . Would love to see a write up of the light too.

Great work.

Thanks! Unfortunately that's all I really have on the ligthing. As I mentioned, I didn't build the drivers, that would be Aaron. So really the write up I have in the first post is all the information I have on them

Originally Posted by Coltonorr

Wow! Very nice setup!
makes me want discus...those colors are fantastic!

Thanks! They really are king of the freshwater aquarium

Originally Posted by VadimShevchuk

Any updates of this magnificent tank?

Yup, see next post