Journal of a 45-tall (Decommissioned)

[Church]

I'm in the process of finally getting my 45g up and running. Today I purchased some 3M color quartz and finally setup the hardscape. I'm still waiting on the stand to be delivered, so it's still sitting on the ground, lol. Here are a few sneak-peek pics to get this thread started. Tell me what you think so far!

[joonho]

wow thats a nice piece of wood haha
looks good

[Church]

It's actually about 20 nice pieces of wood, and thank you!!!

[EdTheEdge]

Originally Posted by Church

It's actually about 20 nice pieces of wood, and thank you!!!

Nice! Where did you get that?

[jinx©]

Very nice start.

[chadly]

That looks cool! Ever thought about building the substrate up higher on the left side, like a couple more inches?

[Church]

Thanks, everyone! The wood was one of those large pkgs of manzanita courtesy of our good friend badcopnofishtank. And yes, I really would have liked to have a little colorquartz leftover to build the slope up more on the left side, but I ran through the whole 50 lb bag, and this is all I had. I was thinking I could compensate with some clever planting, but if it doesn't get the look I'm going for, I'm going to beg Lauralee to send me a couple pounds worth of her leftover colorquartz! (Thanks again for the offer, Laura, if you're reading this!)

I'm really liking this scape! I mean I really like it! I was so proud of it, and I kept interrupting my girlfriend (much to her annoyance!) while she was watching Top Chef to say "See what I did honey?! Isn't it cool?!"

Yeah. I can't wait to get the stand so I can finally fill it with water. Today I'm going to pick up some super glue and try gluing some key branches together, so that the whole thing won't float away when I add water.

Thanks for looking, y'all!

[Church]

Okay so I need to look into lighting now. I want this to be a low-tech, no-CO2 tank, so I'm thinking of going with two 1x36w retrofits from AH Supply. Does anyone think this is a good idea? I really wanted to get a striplight, but this tank has one of those dang cross braces across the top, which I figure would cast an ugly shadow down below.

Any thoughts?

[Christine T]

Sorry, I don't have any helpful info on lighting...

But I really really love that hardscape! Makes me wish I had room for another 30 long.

[FastTimes]

is the substrate just 3m color quartz, or is the 3m topping something else?

[Church]

It's just 3m color quartz, t-grade. All by itself. I like the way it feels, and it is so easy to work with!

[Church]

I finally got the stand all built and stuff. Here are some pics to see the aquarium as a whole, within the room. It's actually a much stronger stand than I thought it would be, and I'm satisfied with it. Plus it looks nice next to our TV stand.

Please ignore the Seinfeld episode...

[fishboy87]

Great wood!

Perfect, watch a great fish tank and Seinfeld without having to even move!

[Church]

Okay update time. I finally got my shipment of lauralee's leftover 3M color quartz, and I was able to finish the substrate off. Now there is a much more secure slope coming down from the base of the wood and rocks. So now I've finally got the dang thing filled with water!

As I was filling I noticed that one of the beads of silicone that I applied to keep all the individual pieces of wood from floating had apparently not held. So one of my branches, a key piece, IMO, floated up and away. I had to reposition it, which is much more difficult to do once you've begun filling the tank, and eventually had to just accept the fact that I wouldn't be able to keep it in its original location. I then found another "good enough" place for it, and shoved it deep into the substrate, underneath a rock. I won't say which piece got moved, try to figure it out for yourselves.

And here a few pics:








Right now I'm temporarily using a powerhead for oxygenation and circulation, but it will go as soon as I figure out what filter to put on this thing. Also, the water is very stained due to the tannins from the manzanita, but I'll eventually clean that up through some purigen.

I just wanted you (yes, you!) to see where I am with this tank. Happy Holidays, everyone!

[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.

I planted 3 bunches of baby tears, to help clean the water up a bit. I'm also preparing to obtain all the plants that will be living in this tank... starting with E. tenellus as a carpet. Then will come crypts and anubias, followed by some kind of bushy stem plant. Not sure yet.

For filtration, I'm getting a recently-acquired XP2 ready for launch at the moment. I still need replacement hoses, and I'm pretty sure I should be able to use 5/8" inner diameter tubing in place of the stock Rena ones, so I have to get down to Lowe's tomorrow. I tried going to Home Depot tonight on my way home from work, but they just suck at customer service, and at the last minute (after waiting a half hour to get some help) I had to set the merchandise on the floor and walk out. Lowes deserves my money more, because I always seem to be in and out with them. It'll have to wait til tomorrow.

Anyway, I took some pics but I feel like being lazy right now