PJAN tank : DYI Amano - picture warning

[PJAN]

Originally Posted by scolley

PJAN - the tanks looks great! Will be even better after L. aromatica fills in. But I gotta say, that HC is unbelievable! How did you do that?

Hey Scolly,
Thanks.

HC : easy plant. Just get a healthy bunch growing. Rip out a square inch and replant the HC by pushing it halfway under the gravel.
Place these "dots of HC" about 1 inch apart from each other.
The "mother" carpet will fill in the "harvast" spot again and you can do the trick again and so on.

If you look closely at page 1 of this thread at the pictures, you can see that I placed dots on the left ( bare gravel after pruning and removing some plants).
Because I had already a carpet of HC growing, you hardly can see the "harvast" spots I made in the mother carpet HC....

Gr. PJAN

[Spice]

Originally Posted by PJAN

The stand

Yin-Yang of the stand

This stand is desined to make the tank balance perfect. It is a sort of Chinese beleive if you balance things, it will be good.
So I made everything perfect in balance.....the yin-yang thing

What I did :
- same amount of screws used front/bottom/top
- placed exactly at the same spot left / right / front / back
- the holes ( for hoses tubes etc) : left and right the same
- I needed on extra hole for the electricity-wire : I made two holes to balance things again.....
- the space around the doors is exactly 3 mm (Japenese / Chinees people avoid the number 4 ...)

The inner-side of the stand is also Yin-Yang :
Left = wet compartiment
Right = dry compartiment

The paint-colors : also yin-yang....
Innerside is red = mother earth (magma)
Outerside is grey = grey outer sky..

The end result is a clean look of the stand, balanced :
Well, have fun!
Gr. PJAN

Hi,

I am like everyone else in awe of your fabulously created tank. You should be proud of this accomplishment.

I have one question for ya... Would you consider the design a part of Feng-Shui? This is fabulous. Just hang some nice swarovzsky crystal balls (white, green, red, blue, purple, pink) near your tank for a more brilliant effect. Hopefully your tank is near a door or a window catching the eastern sun.

Love to see more developments from ya. Great job.

[randomrambler]

Sorry if I missed it, but what are those lily-pad type plants in the last set of pics? Great setup, Great tank Kudos

[PJAN]

Originally Posted by Spice

Hi,

I am like everyone else in awe of your fabulously created tank. You should be proud of this accomplishment.

I have one question for ya... Would you consider the design a part of Feng-Shui? This is fabulous. Just hang some nice swarovzsky crystal balls (white, green, red, blue, purple, pink) near your tank for a more brilliant effect. Hopefully your tank is near a door or a window catching the eastern sun.

Love to see more developments from ya. Great job.

Hello Spice,

I know Feng-Shui. But I don't consider this set-up as Feng-Shui.
If I want to, I have to bring the "object" ( tank + stand ) in harmony with the rest of my house...
Well, that's impossible if you know my house right now.
But I will move to a bigger house ( in a month or two hopefully) and than I will bring this "object" im more harmony with the rest of the house.
The place, surrounding colors etc. will be adjusted to create more peace around the green tank.

But I can tell you : this setup is a joy to work with. Everything is in balance.
The stand is organized with a wet -dry zone. Left the Eheim and CO2-reactor etc. This part will be wet sometimes when cleaning the filter. It is seperated by a small piece of wood on the bottom to prevent water flowing into the dry-zone ( right). There are the computers and stuff located.
The maintenance is very easy and no big pain-in-the-@ss. I don't need a small ladder to reach the bottom... and while standing beside the tank I can clean the windows, prune the plants etc.
The tank itself is more yin-yang by it's own as I expained in this thread already, on page 2 under the pictures.

You can see the defintive aquascape here :
http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/sh...ad.php?t=19631

Originally Posted by randomrambler

Sorry if I missed it, but what are those lily-pad type plants in the last set of pics? Great setup, Great tank Kudos

Mmm, which one?

On the left ( small) :
Hydrocotyle Verticillata ( one leaf on a small stemm )

On the right ( big one heading for the surface )
Nymphaea glandulifera ( special green Lotus from South-America)

Gr. PJAN

[Spice]

Originally Posted by PJAN

Hello Spice,

I know Feng-Shui. But I don't consider this set-up as Feng-Shui.
If I want to, I have to bring the "object" ( tank + stand ) in harmony with the rest of my house...
Well, that's impossible if you know my house right now.
But I will move to a bigger house ( in a month or two hopefully) and than I will bring this "object" im more harmony with the rest of the house.
The place, surrounding colors etc. will be adjusted to create more peace around the green tank.

But I can tell you : this setup is a joy to work with. Everything is in balance.
The stand is organized with a wet -dry zone. Left the Eheim and CO2-reactor etc. This part will be wet sometimes when cleaning the filter. It is seperated by a small piece of wood on the bottom to prevent water flowing into the dry-zone ( right). There are the computers and stuff located.
The maintenance is very easy and no big pain-in-the-@ss. I don't need a small ladder to reach the bottom... and while standing beside the tank I can clean the windows, prune the plants etc.
The tank itself is more yin-yang by it's own as I expained in this thread already, on page 2 under the pictures.

You can see the defintive aquascape here :
http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/sh...ad.php?t=19631

Mmm, which one?

On the left ( small) :
Hydrocotyle Verticillata ( one leaf on a small stemm )

On the right ( big one heading for the surface )
Nymphaea glandulifera ( special green Lotus from South-America)

Gr. PJAN

Hi PJAN!! Thanks for directing me to another fabulous thread of yours and for the explanations. Your art-approach to aquatic designing is fantastic and it did remind me of Feng Shui which is why I asked if you studied the theories. No matter what, I really like your approach to the aquatic design a lot. Keep me posted to your new challenge (relocation) and re-setup. That's another challenge in itself.

[Betowess]

Tank is WOW, Inspirational. My favorite yarn is the the "5 minute" stand. You have some fast drying glue. Its a Wonderful tank, Pjan. Like others, I'm jelous of the dimable T5s. Great job and thread .

[jeffboyarrdee]

hey pjan

i am going to build my own stand too...and i wanted to know what glue u used...and maybe any other tips or instructions...

thanks

[PJAN]

Originally Posted by Spice

Keep me posted to your new challenge (relocation) and re-setup. That's another challenge in itself.

Thanks Spice for the compliments! Yeah, the new house... Means a new opportunity to aquascape something different. Must be in a month or two.
Keep you updated.

Originally Posted by Betowess

Tank is WOW, Inspirational. My favorite yarn is the the "5 minute" stand. You have some fast drying glue. Its a Wonderful tank, Pjan. Like others, I'm jelous of the dimable T5s. Great job and thread .

LOL. Yep, humor is important to start DYI projects. To be honest : I build this stand in a week, during the evening hours after work. The painting took the most time. Paint-wait-paint-wait...

Originally Posted by jeffboyarrdee

hey pjan

i am going to build my own stand too...and i wanted to know what glue u used...and maybe any other tips or instructions...

thanks

On page 2 of this thread are a few clues. The stand is very simple to reproduce. I used "construction glue" and screws to fix the wood together.

Gr. PJAN

[jho51e]

in regards to the stand, what paint did you use to seal MDF...

i have read that unless MDF is properly sealed by painting, it may warp due to the water it lets in...

also, what is the lighting for this tank? MH or T5 or ??

cheers!
Jhosie

[Jack]

Very nice PJAN!

[PJAN]

Originally Posted by jho51e

in regards to the stand, what paint did you use to seal MDF...

i have read that unless MDF is properly sealed by painting, it may warp due to the water it lets in...

also, what is the lighting for this tank? MH or T5 or ??

cheers!
Jhosie

I used 2x primer ( eh.. ground paint?) and finished it with normal paint, two layers.
I know MDF is vulnarable for moist/ water if not painted properly. That's why I used 4 layers of paint total.
Of course you can use waterproof MDF, which is resitant to water/liquids but a little bit more expensive.

Lights : T5
Explained in this thread : http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/sh...ad.php?t=16792

Originally Posted by Jack

Very nice PJAN!

Thanks, Jack.

Finished aquascape with final pictures can be found here :
http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/sh...ad.php?t=19631

Gr. PJAN

[Marc]

That 4 coats of paint made all the difference- That bright shiny red is great!

[Martin]

I've been playing with setting up a light schedule.
now I don't have a fancy dimmer though I might get one at some point.
until then, I'm going to try & control my lights with timers.
My idea is this:
11-12 2x54W Bank A
12-14 4x54W Bank B
14-19 6x54W Bank A+B
19-21 4x54W Bank B
21-2230 2x54W Bank A

Anyone care to give their opinion on this?

How will the tubes react to being turned on & off like that?

[nornicle]

PJAN lovely tank! could you give us details on the stand, it looks easy to make (and fast) compared to traditional stand building techniques!!

I like it alot!

[Betowess]

Originally Posted by Symbiot

I've been playing with setting up a light schedule.
now I don't have a fancy dimmer though I might get one at some point.
until then, I'm going to try & control my lights with timers.
My idea is this:
11-12 2x54W Bank A
12-14 4x54W Bank B
14-19 6x54W Bank A+B
19-21 4x54W Bank B
21-2230 2x54W Bank A

Anyone care to give their opinion on this?

How will the tubes react to being turned on & off like that?

The tubes will be fine. But 6x54 sounds like a LOT of light for 5 hours and its a fairly long photoperiod overall, so to me it sounds like algae invitation unless you have the ferts spot on.