New tank, new start :)

[moorin]

Hello everyone, been quite a while since I was last on the forum, this was due to starting a new job, moving house and other general commitments.

I use to have a 200 litre/ 40 gal tall tank which was setup as low tech tank, which then lead into using pressurised co2 etc.



when we moved house it was time for a nicer tank so I got a great deal on a aquaone 980t from my LFS



Getting it ready for the inhabitants of the old tank



A few more plants



A full tank shot



Once the two angels were transferred they immediately started laying eggs but I think they were both female as a week later the egg layer had beaten up the other fish and stressed it so much it died to which then the other died shortly after, was a hard hit to the tank as they were the showcase fish in the tank.



I then decided to swap my co2 setup across from the old tank but change it up a little bit so I have got a pub gas bottle, dennerle Evo regulator, bubble counter, solenoid valve and a ceramic diffuser currently set at 2bps

It's been on for around 3 days and have got it settled to where I can trust it whilst I'm out of the house so just waiting on the drop checker to start turning green.



So that's we're I am at the moment the current lists are:

Fauna

4 angelfish
Assorted numbers of rummy nose, harlequins, zebra danios and dwarf rainbow fish
Golden nugget plec.

The plants I haven't really got a clue what they are but I am going to be doing a rescape soon and adding more plants aswell as upgrading the lighting to t5's soon. The tank has had an algae bloom so still trying to overcome that but I'm on the otherside of it now and things are looking better.

Any comments welcome thanks for looking

[moorin]

Still trying to get the co2 Dialled in and I've been repositioning my powerhead to blow the bubbles around the tank better but I had my little helper with me



And here is a dirty tank shot before water change and hopefully some more plants today.

[moorin]

Ended up doing a little DIY to fit my new light unit, ended up buying a 96w t5 light unit with 6500k bulbs.

Had to remove the old t8 fixture and then hack the lid to make it fit but looks great now it's complete

[moorin]

Ran the tank last night with the new lighting unit and hit a problem straight away..... The unit produces alot of heat and the hood does let alot out so this is the mod I have done to combat the unit getting too hot






I used a 240v - 12v 500ma adapter to power the two fans but they seem
To be quite noisy as they are running flat out so I turned them round to try and quiet the air noise as they are now blowing into the tank instead of blowing out.



Still too noisy so going to get a resistor from work to try and slow them down to quieten the fans.

A little question for anyone who can be bothered to comment :P

Some of my plants now with the brighter lights have started to melt, is this due to the old growth dying off ready for the faster newer growth to come through? Or is it that they need more nutrients with the higher light?

Thanks

[moorin]

Thinking of upgrading the stock filtration anyone have any recommendations for a 48 gallon tank!?

Also ordered some ferts and root tabs, along with 4 pots of dwarf hair grass, a couple of bunches of rotala najean and some ordinary rotala sp "green" as I want to start heading in a Dutch theme with the tank but not totally as I have the bogwood etc.

Thanks

[Brian Mc]

Nice tank and light mod job there. I have always used eheim classics due to simple design with no bypass and they are pretty bulletproof. I have been happy with them but I am running a 2217 on a 46 and don't feel it is enough circulation. If I had it to do over I would step up to the next level eheims. A lot of people here like their aquatops and fluvals.

[moorin]

Thanks I don't know whether to keep the stock filtration and add a canister that will have the suction near the original filter and then the outlet going into the last filter box so it's concealed or dumping the stock filtration all together. I have had eheims in the past and loved them apart from the ugly green hoses

[GMYukonon24s]

Nice start to this setup!

[moorin]

Did a 70% water change and a tiny rescape ( if you can call it that) yesterday before my night shift



Cleaned all the algae from the leaves, wood, glass and gravel but that picture was just afterwards so looks cloudy.

Then my DHG arrived when I got in this morning so planted that and pretty impressed just hope it grows well!

[moorin]

Woke up to find some hair grass just doesn't want to be in the substrate, oh well ill just replant it again lol

[moorin]

Weekly water change along with some
New plants and I bought 3 zebra snails to graze on the algae at their leasure

[moorin]

Bit of a change around and some more plants






The algae infest leaves have started to die off on my crypts etc and the new co2 and better lighting leaves are coming through so can't wait for it to grow in