CmLaracy's 75P ADA II

[CmLaracy]

Originally Posted by jinx©

Beautiful start and good luck on round two.

Nice clean look on those bent glass rods as well. How hard is that to do? (I may be stealing that trick myself...lol)

Not very hard at all. As long as you have a gas stove

You can really only buy them in bulk anyway (it's also the cheapest) so there's not big deal if you mess a few up. I have tons of them lying around now, but I've probably used over 10. They really look so much better than tubing, and they're dirt cheap!

[CL]

Nice. Glad to see you not giving up.

[lauraleellbp]

Looks really nice, chris- nice and clean setup.

Sorry if I missed it somewhere; is that E. tenellus in the foreground?

[bsmith]

Tank looks great. Where did you get those glass tubes from and how do you bend them with out closing them up?

[CmLaracy]

Originally Posted by lauraleellbp

Looks really nice, chris- nice and clean setup.

Sorry if I missed it somewhere; is that E. tenellus in the foreground?

Thanks, it's actually Lilaeopsis brasiliensis. If I started with that much E. tenellus the tank would be completely full of it in a week lol

Tank looks great. Where did you get those glass tubes from and how do you bend them with out closing them up?

bsmith - I got them off a science lab supply website, something like $7 for a pound. If you bend them slowly over a blue flame they wont close up until you hit some wicked acute angles. When the blue flame starts coming off of the tubes yellow, that means it's burning and melting the Na in the glass, which is your cue to start applying some bending pressure. As long as the flame is blue you can't actually leave burn marks. The longer it's under the firs the more polished it becomes. Also, the ends can be quite sharp, so you can just fire polish them real quick. It's all easy work, but I can almost guarantee some NASTY burns, the glass gets so hot it's unbelievable. I still have scars...

[lauraleellbp]

Originally Posted by CmLaracy

bsmith - I got them off a science lab supply website, something like $7 for a pound. If you bend them slowly over a blue flame they wont close up until you hit some wicked acute angles. When the blue flame starts coming off of the tubes yellow, that means it's burning and melting the Na in the glass, which is your cue to start applying some bending pressure. As long as the flame is blue you can't actually leave burn marks. The longer it's under the firs the more polished it becomes. Also, the ends can be quite sharp, so you can just fire polish them real quick. It's all easy work, but I can almost guarantee some NASTY burns, the glass gets so hot it's unbelievable. I still have scars...

(*excuse the slight threadjack* It's a bad idea, Nick... I can see you thinking it...)

[Down_Shift]

Originally Posted by CmLaracy

Thanks, it's actually Lilaeopsis brasiliensis. If I started with that much E. tenellus the tank would be completely full of it in a week lol




bsmith - I got them off a science lab supply website, something like $7 for a pound. If you bend them slowly over a blue flame they wont close up until you hit some wicked acute angles. When the blue flame starts coming off of the tubes yellow, that means it's burning and melting the Na in the glass, which is your cue to start applying some bending pressure. As long as the flame is blue you can't actually leave burn marks. The longer it's under the firs the more polished it becomes. Also, the ends can be quite sharp, so you can just fire polish them real quick. It's all easy work, but I can almost guarantee some NASTY burns, the glass gets so hot it's unbelievable. I still have scars...

that's very bad ass

[roybot73]

Looking good bro! Glad to see that tank full again!

[fishman9809]

Originally Posted by lauraleellbp

(*excuse the slight threadjack* It's a bad idea, Nick... I can see you thinking it...)

i dont have a gas stove :P

i always have loved ur hardscaping skillz Cm, great job on the hardscape, i forgot to mention.

[Jens]

Great setup. Glenn's emersed Anubiuas do look nice indeed

Great job on the glass bending! Did you use anything to get the nice round bends??

[tazcrash69]

Really nice work there, and great glass bending. i can't wait to see the Eleocharis vivipara grow in.

(not to hijack, but fishman if you have a propane torch for sweating copper pipes, that will work).

[plantbrain]

Hair grass on the way.
Weird, this species is all over Florida.
Grows in flowing water only.

Never seen it in still waters or lakes.

Regards,
Tom Barr

[CmLaracy]

Originally Posted by fishman9809

i dont have a gas stove :P

i always have loved ur hardscaping skillz Cm, great job on the hardscape, i forgot to mention.

Thanks Fish, it's all in the practice and patience. You really gotta THINK

Originally Posted by Jens

Great setup. Glenn's emersed Anubiuas do look nice indeed

Great job on the glass bending! Did you use anything to get the nice round bends??

They're the best anubias I've ever come across, he did an outstanding job growing them

Thanks Jens! Didn't use anything, just my hands. It's actually quite easy. Just a little bit of patience and some precise pressure. It helps quite a bit that I have enough that I can just throw any out that I mess up on

Originally Posted by tazcrash69

Really nice work there, and great glass bending. i can't wait to see the Eleocharis vivipara grow in.

(not to hijack, but fishman if you have a propane torch for sweating copper pipes, that will work).

Thanks. I can't either, I'm sick of looking at a blank black background. I'm going to be letting the viv hang over the surface to give the anubias some shade, and until then the photoperiod is stuck at 3 hours. Doesn't give me much time to watch it

I'll bump it up to 4 hours once the vivipara is fully draping over the surface

Originally Posted by plantbrain

Hair grass on the way.
Weird, this species is all over Florida.
Grows in flowing water only.

Never seen it in still waters or lakes.

Regards,
Tom Barr

Awesome Tom, you're a life saver. I can't get this plant anywhere right now.

Funny that you mention the whole flow thing. The first time I grew this stuff it was in a steady and consistent flow that made it lean to the right, I couldn't keep up with the stuff. I'd trim it 6" back, then a week later it'd be all the way back to what it was and then some. Another time, I placed it in an area with very little flow, it slowly rotted!

It seems to me like most tall plants like flow (Cyperus helferi to name another). Which is probably why they evolved to grow tall, so they can catch the flow and be easily moved by it.

Thanks again Tom

[dthb4438]

I found my Lilaeopsis brasiliensis growing very fast in the ADA. I had to start pulling them out and throwing them away or selling them after 6 weeks it was going so fast. It's amazing how enriched this substrate is.

Very nice tank and pipes. Very nice.

[roybot73]

I've gotta say, your glass tubing inspired me! I made a few ADA style "Joint Glass" tubes to replace the silicone tubing on my 60-P and Finnex! I actually made them out of scrap borosilicate tubing at work on my lunch hour. Easy-Peasy! Just remember to use heavy leather gloves and wear eye protection! A propane torch is better than a stove!!!