Journal of a 45-tall (Decommissioned)

[Church]

^ Thanks!

So I went to Lowe's on my lunch break and got some el-cheapo vinyl tubing. I was hoping to find some shiny black tubing that some people have talked about on other threads, but the only stuff they had with inner diameter of 5/8" had an outer diameter of 1", which seemed really bulky to me. Plus, at $1.55 per foot, the choice was easy. I picked up 10' of clear vinyl tubing with outer diameter of 3/4" for $3.33. If it's too cheap, flimsy, or kinky, then big deal, I lost $3.33. That's better than wasting $15.50.

I will be launching the XP2 this evening, woohoo! That means I'll be able to take that ugly powerhead out of there...

[chase127]

i almost got that stuff for my eheim but the dimensions were a bit too narrow. what size hoses do you have?

[Church]

Well the stock Rena hoses are like 17mm or something metric like that... but I measured the I.D. with a ruler and it looked like 5/8" almost exactly. So I made sure to buy 5/8" I.D. tubing, and I'm pretty sure I should be able to make it work. I'll probably have to bust out the old hair dryer and heat the ends of the tubing to make it fit, but it should work. If not, then I guess I'll be ordering some replacement tubing from planetrena.

[mizu-chan]

The hardscape is amazing! I also have an XP2. Nice filter.

[davemonkey]

The tank is gonna look amazing. I can't wait to see it fully planted, have you decided on the stem plants yet?

-Dave

[Church]

Thanks. No I haven't decided yet. If the baby tears do well I may just end up using them. Otherwise, I don't know. It just has to be able to handle low light conditions and be prune-able to a bush shape.

As I saw this thread in the forum list a second ago, it has 666 views!

[Church]

Okay well I ended up being able to use the $3.33 special as my tubing. Only, I had to go back and buy another 10ft roll, because it turns out only half of the coil is useful. The inner most part was completely kinked up. But for $6.66 (there's that number again!) it seems to be doing the trick. I did a 60% water change as well. That pretty much got rid of the tannins, so the water doesn't look like tea anymore. It's still a little cloudy, but that's to be expected while it's cycling. In the meantime I've begun the process of obtaining the plants, and I like what I see in my head, so I'm very excited.

Stay tuned for the aquascape...

[Badcopnofishtank]

Originally Posted by Church

Lately I've been dealing with some fierce wood fungus, so the other day I overdosed like 8x an Excel dose. As of today it's pretty much all dead, leaving just tattered threads of its previous existence behind. At least it's invisible now.

Excellent start! Glad to hear the fungus cleared out. I rinse all the wood with a super concentration of Excel before letting it dry and it usually kills the fungus and spores.

Anxious to see your scape.

[Church]

^ Thanks!

So, the water's all cleared up nicely now that I've done the waterchange. I also added 3 more bunches of baby tears, just to help cycle the tank. The water is cloudy with bacterial bloom, but at least it is not tannin-stained. Here are a few pics:









*Actual aquascape coming soon...

[cah925]

WOW! I'm jealous about the wood, great placement! Looking forward to seeing this develop.

[Church]

^ Thanks!

Yesterday I received a package of E. tenellus 'micro' and I've already planted it. It makes a lovely carpet! Pictures to come tonight, hopefully.

[bsmith]

Nice start. Is that a coralife t5 no fixture? If it'd not that's what I was going to suggest to you.

[Church]

Yes it is, but it's a 30" fixture I'm borrowing from my 20 long. This is just temporary. Once I'm not broke anymore I'll be getting a 36" one. I'm surprised that the 30" one is lighting the tank as well as it is! So I figure the 36" one will only be that much better, since it will cover the entire length of the tank.

(I'm taking pictures right now).

[Church]

Okay here are the pics. Keep in mind the baby tears are only temporary. I'm thinking I might put some floaters instead, just to help keep the water clean, but until I do they have to stay. Here they are:

[Zack2112]

Thanks for your help on my thread. I have looked through your threads and I love the 10g. The 5g is great too, I may have to set up one of my 5g as planted now... As great as the 5 and 10g are I am most excited about how this tank will come out. I love the wood and actually just ordered some from badcopnofishtank. Looks great, cant wait to see it when its finished. Its going to be awesome