ringram's 90g -- Updated 3/6/09!

[mrbelvedere]

Have you given any thought to what 'scape, plant selection, or fish stocking?

[Nightshop]

Wow, this is looking great. Your equipment choice is excellent. But why so little powersand?

[Wingsdlc]

Going to Lowes!

[ianmoede]

Originally Posted by Nightshop

Wow, this is looking great. Your equipment choice is excellent. But why so little powersand?

From what i've understood its purely supplemental. I've been perfectly happy just using aquasoil. And the tek's of course

[kzr750r1]

Great deal on the timers. Lucky man. Thanks for the heads up. That is exactly what I need to finish off controlling my current setup.

The 2026 is a nice filter but you may need more. You do at least have the room for a 2126 in the stand with the 2026.

Nice clean slate. Have fun and keep us posted.

[Betowess]

I like your stand. Did you make that yourself? If you are hanging the Tek from the ceiling joists, you might have to move the tank/stand a little to get it perfect, so ( I imagine you know this) be sure to hang the light first. At least that is how it went with mine. The Griplock hanger system does kick A.

[ianmoede]

I've been a little less than satisfied with the sunlight systems hangers. The 2 issues i have are that you have to tie a knot holding the bracket that holds up the light, not super steady. And also, it has clicks on the way up, meaning you cant raise it to just any old height, it has to be a preset height. Judos on the griplock, i may be getting some in the near future.

[ringram]

mrbelvedere: I'll probably go with something fairly simple. It will be my own style I guess, kind of a mix between dutch and amano scapes. I know for certain that I'll have blyxa japonica, ludwigia gladulosa, ludwigia brevipes, rotala sp. green and for foreground...either HC or glosso. As for slower growers for the wood, I'll probably use java fern "narrow leaf", moss(xmas moss?), as well as anubias barteri 'Coffefolia" which I already have. Fauna? Decent-sized schools(20-25) of rummynose tetras and maybe either cardinal tetras or harlequin rasboras. I'll also have a bunch of ottos and a school of cory cats. My wife wants me to get some angelfish, so we'll see

Nightshop: Why so little powersand? Well, originally, I was going to get 2 or 3 bags of it and 4 bags of AS, but decided to go 1 and 5. Someone in my club was suggesting this as just a small "base" foundation, but not to be overused -- mainly b/c it has a greater chance of getting mixed with the AS and also b/c many people use just AS alone and it works fine. I just wanted to add a little extra "umppph" (yes, that's a technical term).

kzr750r1: Yes, I agree that the 2026 may be a little underpowered for this tank. I'll have to see how things go. Since it was previously a fish-only tank, I had an Emperor 400 (HOB w/ bio-wheels) as well, but won't be using that as I'm afraid of too much surface agitation, etc... If I feel that I need more filtration down the line, I'll look into adding something...

Betowess: I bought the stand as unfinished wood from a LFS over a year ago and stained it myself. I used Mohagany stain to try and match our furniture, which is mostly darker wood. I'm not hanging the light from the ceiling as my wife would blow a gasket if I drilled any holes I'm using conduit bars, which will be attached to the back of the stand and the light will hang from that. I've seen it done on tanks and it looks real slick.

[ringram]

Just a quick update:
Monday night and Tuesday I worked on finishing up the electrical workings of the tank(mostly) and started with getting the Tek-lights set up. Here are a few pictures that I snapped.

outlet converted to GFCI.


Back of tank, showing U-brackets for conduit bars(for lighting) and wireing harness (red plastic piece), as well as the U-bars with one side open which will be used for filter tubes.


Top part of tank w/ conduit bars (pay no attention that the left side is higher - that is an easy adjustment).


Full shot of tank w/ conduit bars mounted:


Tek strip light with all six T-5 bulbs installed. I turned it on and....wow! I think this rivals the brightness of the sun. lol.


I finished up a couple things underneath the tank that I'll take a quick picture of when I get a chance. ALSO, I poured the substrate into the tank today and have a preliminary driftwood arrangement. I'll post a few different hardscapes to see what you thinks look good as well. This is by far the largest project I've ever tackled in the aquarium hobby. More to come!
-Ryan

[ringram]

Ok, almost done!
The ball valves and filter hose came in the mail today, so I finished hooking the filtration system up. Tell me what you think. The kinks really bother me. I'm not quite sure what to do about them. I may use newer hose or get some of that flexible tubing from the hardware store if it'll fit into 5/8" nipples.

Here's the left side with a powerstrip and some neatly tied up wires:


Here's the center area, so you can see the output from the filter going into the heater and UV, in that order:


Here's the right side with everything as neat and complete as I can make it:



Co2 you ask??? That will go on the left side of the stand, but it still being used on my 20g, to keep the plants growing until they're ready to be moved over

Now I just need to finish the hanging system for the Tek lights and then figure out a hardscape!

-Ryan

[retoid]

i wnat to see a shot of the tank with the light on

[ringram]

Hopefully this weekend I'll figure out a means of which to hang the fixture from the conduit bars. Chain, cord or whatever it's gonna be.

[Betowess]

Looking good! You could still use the griplock hangers from the conduit. You would have to drill a very small hole big enough for the wire to go thru. The conduit would stop at the nut end. Very clean, but not too cheap. But it makes raising up/adjusting the lights a breeze for cleaning and such. You just wouldn't use the part of the kit which mounts on the ceiling.

[ringram]

Are you referring to this?
Buy Cable Hanger System for Tek Light & Maristar Aquarium & Grow Lights
It's $33 + shipping, but it looks to be a pretty good solution if the chain doesn't work. Certainly cleaner looking and easier to use.

[Betowess]

Yeah, that is it. It looks different on the outside from the one they use to sell at Reefgeek, but that is the one from Sunlight Supply who makes the Tek. Sunlight use to get the hardware for this from Griplock systems... Unless Sunlight supply quit using the Griplock hanger (and I don't think they have), you can easily raise and lower the light on some stainless steel "airline" wire. It has a little spring button on the top of the part that screws into the center threaded hole on the Tek light. They are really a sweet way to hang a light with the ability to move them up and down effortlessly. Galleries and museums use the "Grip lock" system because it is so clean and unobtrusive. Here is a link to the Griplock components that TEK (Sunlight Supply) use to and may still use for this hanger. HTH. bob
GRIPLOCK Cable Suspension System