125 journal - "Impending Doom" (56k) Updated GROWTH PIX 10/28!!!!

[brainwavepc.com]

Well I got rid of my cichlids and I'm starting my new 125g build named "Impending Doom". It is MTS substrate topped with earthworm castings and them capped with Safe T Sorb. The background isn't staying like that FYI. I'm going to experiment with diff colors once I get it setup.

The name of the tank will become apparent later. I plan on doing a dry start as well to get the foreground plants started.

Equipment:
Unknown brand 125g aquarium
Home made stand with custom concrete top
Fluval fx5
2x36in 4 bulb t5 ballasts with moon LED's
Co2 injection with a Max Mix reactor
Various power heads and circ pumps
2x300w Jager brand heaters



My substrate:

MTS 80lbs of topsoil turned out to be 1 5gal bucket full.


My source of potassium and the dolomite lime to line bottom of tank:



Worm castings to put on top of the MTS:


Cap for substrate, Safe T Sorb, yes the pic is upside down, iPad won't let me edit it on photobucket.


More details next reply

[brainwavepc.com]

Stained the stand and added the trim, still have to do the tank top. I added the safetysorb around border to hide the dirt and lined the bottom with dolomite and potassium salt.







Adding the MTS, I leave a spot for my hardscape on the right, and I'm building a hill on the left for a small tree. Halfway through building the hill I put in a sewing grid thing to help support it so it won't crumble later.







End of the tank where the hill is, I've been building up the safetysorb on the edge as I go up to keep it looking uniform.



This stuff packs extremely well, great for shaping a hill!



After capping the support mesh I added some more dolomite and potassium since its so deep then capped it with more MTS.



Here's a close up of the safetysorb. I am VERY impressed with this stuff, it took about 30 mins to get it rinsed but the water clears fast either way. Im sure this stuff will be awesome for planting.

[brainwavepc.com]

The hardscape. Well some of it.

I took manzinita sticks from a craft store and anchored them to a heavy tile with screws. After that I siliconed them on just for extra stability and to cover tips of screws for safety reasons.














Still going to raise the hill more and e whole substrate overall, but was tired and wanted to go home. Will add more tomorrow.

[brainwavepc.com]

Added more of the hardscape








Test filling, water is cloudy but seems to be clearing up pretty fast








Raised up the small tree and weighted it down with tile

[brainwavepc.com]

LED testing on the small tree.

Going to have red LED's hidden in the rock highlighting the tree. Havent gotten the red ones yet so tested with white.

[rustbucket]

Awesome, I need to get some underwater lights.
I have a 125 as well so its always interesting to see what people do with them.

What are you stocking?

Maybe its the name but this tank has an almost Jurassic park feel to it, can't wait to see it planted, are you going tall jungle plants or well groomed?

[HD Blazingwolf]

this is looking good

the only thing i might add is with such a big tank, the long thin sticks look a litle out of place but should look better if u fill them in with some plant mass

[brainwavepc.com]

Haven't decided on stock or all the plants yet, the theme is basically the right side is an encroaching evil "force" if you will that is slowly taking over the tank. The left side on the mound is going to either be a small house, or perhaps a little tree with a tire swing or something on it to give the innocent and helpless feel.

The sticks are going to have some moss or something hanging from them to give them some bulk, I just need to research types of moss more to find one that will hang and look good.

[jkan0228]

If you want moss that hangs down, I'd suggest weeping moss or fissidens. I have both, PM me if you ever want some

[brainwavepc.com]

I will take you up on that weeping moss in a few weeks when I need it. I stopped by wet spot and picked up limnophila aromatica 'hippuroides' for the right background plants, and some micro sword and glosso for my ground covers. Also got some flame moss that I want on the rocks. I'm probably going to get some more of the thin crinkled looking water onion plants to litter the middle area, large ones on right getting smaller as they go left.

[jkan0228]

I also have some other mosses if you're interested pm me.

[zzrguy]

Looks good

[brainwavepc.com]

Planted the ground covers and added a castle I liked that I found at the LFS. How does this look for DSM? Is that enough water or too much? I covered the top with saran wrap.

Also do I need to leave the lights on all the time or just turn on and off as normal?



The height of the micro sword should work well with the height of the castle.



Added the glosso in the middle, there are a lot of small ones you can't see very well in the picture.



I stole some dwarf hairgrass that was floating in my wifes tank and put it around the tree on the right.

[brainwavepc.com]

I was thinking about adding a "river" between the hill and the field under the spikes, perhaps with some blue rock or something along those lines. Ideas?

Like this



This is my wifes version of the river idea, the grey is just to scratch out mine lol

[jkan0228]

That's a bit too much IMO. You only want enough to cover the substrate line but that'll be a problem with the hills you have.

Personally I feel like adding blue substrate to a planted tank is for newbies no offense. You only see that kind of stuff in people who are having their first tank or two. May I suggest having a white pathway instead of a river?