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d2's Planted Tank Adventurama

65K views 344 replies 53 participants last post by  EdWiser 
#1 ·
Hi all!
After more than a decade and several successful builds in the Saltwater Reef hobby, I've decided to jump ship and try my hand at this planted tank thang. I need something new to learn but still need to have a tank in the house, so I figure let's try something a little different and go green! Isn't that what all the cool kids are doing these days? :grin2:

I took down the reef a few months back. Meanwhile, I set up a little 7g cube that I've been fooling around with to kind of dip my toe in and start familiarizing myself with freshwater planted practices. But it's really just scratching the surface. For the big tank, I'm going all in! And I'm going to need some (lots) help along the way. I hope you all will be patient with me as I fumble my way through. I do understand the basics of fish keeping and growing things underwater. I just need to mentally let go of some things and pick up new ideas/practices if that makes sense.

Anyway, let's get on with the show, shall we? :)

Here's a quick rundown of some of the basics of this build.

Tank: WaterBox Clear Pro 6025 - 143 gallons (541 Liters)
Lighting: (3) GHL Mitras 7004
Controller: GHL Profilux 4
Doser: GHL Doser 2.1 <--- will be implemented later, but I have it from my Reef tank

Those are the current "knowns".

Now to the "unknowns" and "leaning towards" items...

Filtration: Thinking of starting with a Fluval FX6 and possibly adding a second one later if needed
Co2: 10lb tank? And Dual Stage Regulator needed. Suggestions welcome.
Heater: Possibly something in-line?
Water Changes: Leaning towards setting up some sort of Auto Water Change system

Fish, Plants and Scape style: Going for more of a nature-scape, Amano type of thing but maybe not so plant heavy. A good amount of hardscape with large branch. I'm not really sure. I think I'm just going to have to feel it out. I'd really like to try Discus. But I know they prefer warmer water which limits plant selection. So I'll be talking with the guys at ADG here in Houston to help figure that out.

It will probably have a pretty asymmetrical setup, partly to help hide equipment in the tank, and partly because the tank is being located close to a corner of the room.

Which brings me to the final part of my first post of this build... the tank location.
The tank will be located on this empty wall, next to the large sliding glass doors, behind the sofa.








That's it for now! Comments and suggestions appreciated. I'm here to learn and share ideas. :)
There will be more coming next week as the lights and hopefully the tank arrive!
Thanks!
 
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#2 ·
Man I can’t wait for this Dennis! Your reef tanks were superb! I am in the same boat you are. I was in reefing and I need a change. I am going with a 50 gallon setup 90P and I am leaning towards heavily planted with a large school of cardinals. Discus are amazing fish, I would love to see you go that route with that large of a setup. Can’t wait to see your progress.
 
#5 ·
I saw this post and thought, "I wonder if this is Dennis. I just converted my 200 to planted. So far so good minus the ich I'm dealing with now. Welcome to the other side.
HA! Thanks for checking in, guys. Hopefully this build doesn't turn into an epic fail. :grin2:

Hello,

Looks like you are off to more then a good start with the equipment you have/are choosing.
Thanks! Lots of great info. Let me try to answer...

Regarding the CO2 regulator. You will hear people referring to "building" their own but what they mean is they are taking an existing CO2 regulator and then screwing on parts to make it more precise and better suited for our needs. The best option is to either "build" your own from a used regulator and use parts from some place like diyco2regulator.com. Or to buy one from a member in the sale and trade section who has already done this. After that there are off the shelf options specific to our hobby. CO2Art is the nicest "cheap" brand probably. GLA is well thought of but more expensive.
I've done both before (build vs buy) for my calcium reactors on the reef. I think this time I'll be purchasing. I just don't have as much free time as I've had in the past to search out all the parts.

A FX6 is probably adequate though a lot of people choose to go the sump route when they have tanks this big.
Yes, I considered both options. Was looking at some wet/dry setups too. I don't know if it's just because I want to do something different this time or what but decided to try going the canister filter route.
I was also considering two slightly smaller filters like the FX4 but they are the same diameter and I like the extra tray in the FX6.
Also thought about a couple of Oase 600 but reviews seemed to be pretty mixed, making me hesitant to go that route.

Have you given thought to substrate or plant choices yet? Do you want a plant to carpet some or all of the tank floor?
Yes, I'm most likely going with the ADA substrates. I would like some ground cover if there is something that is slower growing and easier to trim. But i may limit this, keeping it to the mid-ground, with a white sand in the foreground. Again, still kinda figuring this out and the hardscape may drive my final decision.

If you want to do discus I would seriously consider finding a way to put in an auto water change system. I have not owned discus but my understanding from reading about people who are successful at keeping them is that water changes more then once a week is not uncommon.
Yeah, i did notice that and one reason I'm leaning towards the AWC, especially with the size of the tank. It would be hard for me to do single massive water changes.
Plus, I always have an AWC with my reef tanks. So much easier. In that first pic you can see a bunch of 1/4" RO line coiled up outside, from the reef setup. Haha. It goes through the wall to the tank inside. And directly behind that wall is a half bath, so I have access to the sink drain.

What are your tap water parameters? Pretty much anything can be worked with but some plants / fish will be easier to work with certain types of parameters then others. The worst case scenario is the need to use RO/DI water for some or all of your water changes. If this is required you will either need a monster system to keep up with a tank this size with discus or reconsider the discus thing.
We have pretty high TDS in Houston... and high in both chlorine/chloramines. I have a SpectraPure RO/DI with Auto Flush. What I'm still unsure of is exactly what I would need to remineralize the water.

Edit: one last thing. Regarding the CO2 tank. Before you buy a bright shiny new one figure out where you are going to be refilling the thing. Some places don't refill your tank but trade it in for one of their tanks they already filled. These places also sell tanks. So before you pay for something nice and shiny make sure you will actually be getting to hold on to it after the first fill up.
Yep, good point. We have a Home Brew shop just down the street that I will check in with before purchasing a tank.

Thanks!!! :smile2:
 
#4 · (Edited)
Hello,

Looks like you are off to more then a good start with the equipment you have/are choosing. Regarding the CO2 regulator. You will hear people referring to "building" their own but what they mean is they are taking an existing CO2 regulator and then screwing on parts to make it more precise and better suited for our needs. The best option is to either "build" your own from a used regulator and use parts from some place like diyco2regulator.com. Or to buy one from a member in the sale and trade section who has already done this. After that there are off the shelf options specific to our hobby. CO2Art is the nicest "cheap" brand probably. GLA is well thought of but more expensive.

A FX6 is probably adequate though a lot of people choose to go the sump route when they have tanks this big.

Have you given thought to substrate or plant choices yet? Do you want a plant to carpet some or all of the tank floor?

If you want to do discus I would seriously consider finding a way to put in an auto water change system. I have not owned discus but my understanding from reading about people who are successful at keeping them is that water changes more then once a week is not uncommon.

What are your tap water parameters? Pretty much anything can be worked with but some plants / fish will be easier to work with certain types of parameters then others. The worst case scenario is the need to use RO/DI water for some or all of your water changes. If this is required you will either need a monster system to keep up with a tank this size with discus or reconsider the discus thing.

Edit: one last thing. Regarding the CO2 tank. Before you buy a bright shiny new one figure out where you are going to be refilling the thing. Some places don't refill your tank but trade it in for one of their tanks they already filled. These places also sell tanks. So before you pay for something nice and shiny make sure you will actually be getting to hold on to it after the first fill up.
 
#6 ·
Ah you are in really good shape with the RO/DI setup already in place.

If you don't want to mess with researching regulators then there are folks in the buy/trade forum that can sell you rebuilt regulators for a few hundred dollars that will be better then pretty much anything you can buy elsewhere. The reason being that the solenoids on the off the shelf regulators are usually not great and the needle valves are sometimes less then ideal. Most off the shelf regulators will come with a bubble counter but given the size of tank you will be using this will not be very useful to you, likely you will want a flow meter instead. I know you said you want to buy instead of diy, but diyco2regulator.com makes it pretty easy to do it yourself because they sell everything you need (minus the used regulator itself) in a kit. But not everyone wants to go down that path, sounds like you have gone both ways so to quote my wife, "whatever sparks joy in your life". :p

Carpeting plants tend to be a lot of work to keep trimmed and looking nice, especially if they cover a lot of real estate in a tank. Your tank is going to be pretty big so yea I get wanting to keep it low maintenance. If you have the patience you could go with something like Cryptocoryne parva. It will carpet, but its going to take a while (like 1 or 2 years) before it grows in really well assuming you plant with decent density to start with. It doesn't require much/any maintenance so it makes it an easy choice given what you described.

For discus you may want to consider going with a blackwater aquascape with a lot of tanin in the water. This is a very natural environment for them but its not to everyone's taste.

If you do commit to going with discus it does simplify your plant choices a LOT because most things won't work with temperatures in the mid to upper 80s basically you are can do lots of different kinds of amazon swords, anubias, and crypts. These are relatively low maintenance plants which sounds like that is a goal of yours. The anubias doesn't grow in substrate so you will be planting that on wood/rocks. The crypts and the swords are easy to grow plants that do go in substrate. I will say the ADA aquasoil is kind of overkill, especially if you are planning an auto-doser anyway, but certainly those plants won't mind. The lights you picked I am not familiar with but a google search says they are each capable of 130watts. This is crazy high overkill for swords, anubias, and crypts so you will need to turn those down a lot. If you run your discus a little colder (lower 80s) it gives you access to a lot more plants but /shrug then you are running them at the lower end of their comfort range.

If you think you might change things up down the road then all of these choices make sense, otherwise you may want to consider inert substrate options. An inert and homogeneous substrate has a lot of advantages when aquascaping long term because it doesn't matter if pieces from one part of the tank find themselves in another part. If you have decorative sand in the front and aquasoil in the back then its only a matter of time before you are picking bits of aquasoil out of your sand. As for the lights, certainly you could use much less powerful (and cheaper) lights then the ones you picked out, but it sounds like you either already own these or budget is not a factor to be concerned with?
 
#8 ·
You rock, brother! Thanks for all this info you're throwing my way, really appreciate it. :)

I'm going to look into that diy regulator website. Thanks for the tip. I like the building part, but last time I was scouring ebay for weeks and it was kind of a pain in the butt.
This sounds much easier.
Definitely will look into that carpet. I don't mind the wait. Although I might eat those words 6 months from now. :laugh2:

My thoughts on the soil is this... I figure if I can get the tank setup initially as optimum as possible, it removes certain factors from the equation if I'm having issues.
And I won't have to bother with the doser for awhile, keeping things simpler in the beginning.
I figure as the soil starts to deplete and/or livestock starts taking too much out of the water, I can slowly start dosing. Does that make sense?

As for the discus/plant issues, will probably swing by ADG next week. Having a resource like that locally... can't let that go untapped! haha

Budget.... yeah... so coming from the reef side of the hobby, you guys have it made!!! Everything is so much cheaper. LOL
But even with my reefs I tend to have a buy once cry once mentality and get good equipment from the start. I also would rather overbuild than underbuild.
And to top it off, I'm a professional designer, artist, and photographer. And my wife is a graphic designer, too. So style plays a massive part in EVERYTHING. I don't deny it. How do I pick out a bottle of wine, even? By the label design!!! :grin2:
So quality, performance, and design are first and foremost. If the equipment has the ability to grow with me, rather than hold me back, even better.
I've been a huge fan of GHL equipment for years. Ticks all the boxes. I won't trust my tanks to any other controller on the market and their lighting has the same build quality and robust/stable software and firmware. Might be overkill from an intensity standpoint, we'll find out. But that's ok since they are so controllable. Again, I'd rather have to turn them down than regret my purchase and wish I got something better.

Speaking of the lights, I'll be showing those in detail. Lots of pics and possibly some videos too.
You don't see them around here and these smaller 4-puck versions are brand spanking new.
I'll be a bit of a guinea pig around here I guess!



I subscribed to your journal because your house looks really cool. Very nice.

You have lots of sunlight coming in. Will that not be a problem about algae?

Looking forward to see your progress.
Ha!!! Thanks. I'll pass that on to my wife. :grin2:
Yes, sunlight may definitely become a problem. Will have to wait and see. That spot doesn't really get a lot of direct sunlight, but lots of filtered.
We've talked about getting some drapes or other treatment for those, so worse comes to worse we do that.
 
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#10 ·
HA! Gimme about 6 months. When the cats are done shredding the back two corners :mad: I'll give it to you. :red_mouth


So I forgot about one other piece of equipment I was thinking about.... UV Light.
I ran AquaUV Classics on my reef.
Suggestions for this tank? Do it? Don't do it? What size if I do it?
 
#16 ·
Welcome to the planted tank world.

It seems in the last year or so we have seen a large number of reefers converting to planted here. The attention to detail required for reef will be very helpful to you. They are both complicated but in different ways.

I am not familiar with the lights you mentioned, but after a quick search looks like they will be capable of producing lots of PAR. Keep in mind more is not necessarily better, and you will want to match the light intensity to type of plants you choose.

Good luck and look forward to seeing how things develop.

Subscribed!
 
#18 ·
Welcome to the planted tank world.



It seems in the last year or so we have seen a large number of reefers converting to planted here. The attention to detail required for reef will be very helpful to you. They are both complicated but in different ways.



I am not familiar with the lights you mentioned, but after a quick search looks like they will be capable of producing lots of PAR. Keep in mind more is not necessarily better, and you will want to match the light intensity to type of plants you choose.



Good luck and look forward to seeing how things develop.



Subscribed!


The great thing about the GHL Lights is that they are fully adjustable. Something that planted tank light makers have decided to not include in their designs.
You never see a Reef Led light that is not fully adjustable. So you can give the corals the right amount of par. Would be so helpful if it was a thing in the planted tank world of lighting too.
 
#20 ·
I'd say lighting functionality is pretty similar on both sides of the aquatic hobby these days. But I'd consider GHL extremely high-end.

You're not going to see it on low-end fixtures available on fleabay or Amazon but most high-end planted LED fixtures are fully adjustable, customizable, programmable. Probably goes far beyond what most planted tank hobbyists require.

Even the medium tech Current brand of fixtures are adjustable in terms of intensity and color and have offered that functionality for at least 7-8 years.

Fluval has some products with decent functionality.

Not trying to compare them with GHL but the functionality and features are definitely available.

My frustration the past couple years has been with locating decent, affordable 6500k-ish LEDs that aren't adjustable and don't require much effort. Especially when it comes to lighting shallow or smaller tanks. That's only recently started to improve.
 
#22 ·
LOL, thanks man.


So TODAY IS FINALLY NEW TANK DAY!
UPS Freight should be swinging by the house later this afternoon. :grin2:

 
#25 ·
IT'S HERE!!! :bounce:

I've got a vid I'm working on but here's a couple pics after I dug into it to make sure it made the trip in one piece.

One thing I've got to say... it's a lot bigger in person than on paper!!! :grin2:









 
#27 ·
From what i can see in the box, silicone looks nice.
Can't see much as far as clarity or anything else yet. I need to get busy building the stand. Luckily the wife keeps my IKEA building skills sharp. LOL
 
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#31 ·
I need to make a decision on the filter.
I'm down to two.
Fluval FX6 and Oase Biomaster 600 Thermal
One major concern is the power. The fluval is rated much higher, but how accurate are these number? I read somewhere that the Oase rating is much closer to reality. Maybe the two aren't that far apart???

Pros for Fluval:
Stronger Flow
Self starting
Auto air evacuation
Can probably get away with one for awhile

Pros for Oase:
Integrated Heater
Easy clean pre-filter
Smaller diameter tubing fits Lilly Pipes
Customer service

Probably going to need two of the Oase right away or fairly quickly. Or at least one plus a power head?

Interested in what everyone else thinks.

Thanks!
 
#40 ·
I need to make a decision on the filter.
I'm down to two.
Fluval FX6 and Oase Biomaster 600 Thermal
I have a Fluval FX5 on a 125 and it's a TON of flow in a 6'x18" tank. Though I'm also of the mind that on a tank this size that 2 smaller canisters might be preferable.


Just one thing I'll mention that I wish I'd known when setting up my own tanks. There are some plants that once you put in your aquarium, they're pretty much in there for life. The worst of these for me is Java moss. It grows over and all around plants that I am trying to cultivate. I hate it and consider it the herpes of planted aquariums. Second on my list is duckweed. While it's a floater, it can still be really hard to get rid of. You leave one cell of the stuff and duckweed is covering the surface again in a month's time. This is even worse if you have other floaters because trying to get rid of just the duckweed when it's mixed with Salvinia minima or so forth is nearly impossible. Last would be subwassertang. I like to put some in shrimp tanks and it's a neat looking plant. But once established, your tank is pretty much always going to have it barring breaking the tank down. But at least it's not Java moss. I'm pretty certain that even a full tank breakdown isn't enough to get rid of that. One tiny speck of it left on a filter tube or so forth and it comes right back. Avoid these 3 unless you are sure you want them. Forever.


I can't wait to see more updates and best wishes setting this up and getting it going from another reef to planted convert.
 
#32 · (Edited by Moderator)
Hey man, glad to see this is finally starting to come along! I'm just down the street if you need help with anything hit me up!

My take on a couple of things. For the filters, the Oase are pretty awesome, especially because of the integrated heater! If you change up the media setup in them they are easy to work with and effective. They have a priming bulb on them which is very effective, as well as an integrated dry break for the tubing. Very clean solution all in all, just need to delete some of the blue foam blocks and replace with a good biomedia, and run a finer filter pad (and possibly some Purigen) up top. I would run two of them so you get added flow and added filtration.

UV filter all the way. I don't know how it took me so long to start using them, but I have an AquaUV on both my reed and planted tank now and they are absolutely awesome. They polish water, kill diseases, and kill algae - why would you not want to use one?!? :) That being said you need a much lower rating for FW compared to SW so the one you have may be a massive amount of overkill.

For CO2, if you don't want to build a medical grade one just get a GLA system. I have several of them and they work well, are well built. Get a PRO-SS dual-stage changeover setup and you will be set!
 
#49 ·
i am local houston too. I have UV on both of my plant tanks and i never have issue of green water. To me, it is an extra step to eliminate certain issue when dealing with algae.

i have 2 GLA Co2 regulators and they are working fine.

I am running 2 eheim filters on my 120g and i would suggest to have 2 small instead of 1 big.

Bump:
Well, I just pulled the trigger on TWO Oase 600 Thermo canisters.
The integrated heater, prefilter and ability to easily use glass pipes won out.

Next I probably need to be looking at c02 and how best to hook that up.
Seems like inline would be most efficient. GLA has regs with multiple outputs so I could run one line to each return.
DIY a reactor that is what i did. i have run inline diffusor and it is a pain to clean. and if you don't clean it on time it effect the co2 level of entering into the tank.


i have a extra inline that you can try it. Let me know.
 
#33 ·
I haven't used either canister filter, but when I watch youtube videos of planted tanks in the 120 gallon class, if they are using 1 oase then they are all using 2. If you decide to go that route I wouldn't hesitate for a second to just buy 2 out of the gates.

I have seen people running fluval 6's on 120 setups. The King of DIY is running a single fluval 6 right now on a 120.
 
#34 ·
IMO always better to run two filters on a tank that size.

With two filters you have more flow, and more control of that flow. The filters get dirty at a slower pace. More debris is removed from the water column. When you clean one filter, the bio field of the other is untouched.

And if for some reason one needs service, it's no emergency as the other filter can keep things going while you get it figured out.

There is no such thing as too much filtration. The more the better.

Good luck and enjoying following this build.
 
#37 ·
Thank you very much! :)

I definitely agree (after much research over the past few months) that two filters is the way to go on this tank if not running a sump.
In this particular case I was just thinking maybe I could get by with one for a little bit, until the bio-load increased, then pick up the second.
But yes, all good points and I do like the idea of alternating maintenance between filters.
Right now I'm leaning toward picking up two Oase.

Hey D2, I've followed all of your builds on RC for quite a few years. On RC I was known as vitodog. You helped me with my reef tank quite a few times. Glade to see you on this forum. I too will be converting my 125-gallon reef tank to a planted tank in the very near future. I currently run a 56-gallon planted tank that has been up ad running for about 7 months now. I'm very excited about your new tank build and will certainly be following along. I own an Oase 600 and am very pleased with it. I think you will need 2 for your new tank. These filters are very easy to maintain. I can't believe how big your children have become. I remember the little girl when she was just a baby. I would like to ask one question, any particular reason you did not just convert the Elos? I can't wait to see this builds progress.
Hey man! Good to see you here. :)

The Elos was a fantastic reef tank. Small overflow and perfect dimensions for a reef. But as you can see in the pics/vid, we did a bit of remodeling this year and the tank has to move location, 90 degree around the corner. The deeper dimension of the Elos was going to make things a little tight there and overlap the windows more. And this new spot allows for a longer tank which is kinda nice for planted.

Man, they grow up fast, don't they! And neither kid knows what it's like to NOT have an aquarium in the house. haha
And think about it... my daughter started showing up in my photos back when I was just about to start running beta units of the first gen Radions. LED was just starting then! Crazy. :icon_eek:

Thanks for the tip on the Oase. So you going to run a sump on the 125?
I dunno why, but I just didn't want a sump this time. Maybe just to have something different than normal???
 
#35 ·
Hey D2, I've followed all of your builds on RC for quite a few years. On RC I was known as vitodog. You helped me with my reef tank quite a few times. Glade to see you on this forum. I too will be converting my 125-gallon reef tank to a planted tank in the very near future. I currently run a 56-gallon planted tank that has been up ad running for about 7 months now. I'm very excited about your new tank build and will certainly be following along. I own an Oase 600 and am very pleased with it. I think you will need 2 for your new tank. These filters are very easy to maintain. I can't believe how big your children have become. I remember the little girl when she was just a baby. I would like to ask one question, any particular reason you did not just convert the Elos? I can't wait to see this builds progress.
 
#38 ·
Hey D2, My plan right now is to keep the sump but would like to do a little more research before I make the decision. My 56-gallon does not have a sump and it just seems cleaner and easier to manage. I also have the Mitras LX7's. Can I adjust these lights to accommodate the plants?
 
#39 ·
Can I adjust these lights to accommodate the plants?
You have the reef version of the LX7 so a lot more blue and less of the others. I haven't tried it, but you could probably get close in spectrum? But you'd have less par available to you, not utilizing some of the leds.

7004/6 (fresh) 9 channels: Royal blue, blue, warm white, cool white, true green, sky white, blue white, yellow, red, hyperred
7204/6 (reef) 9 channels: Royal blue, blue, cool white, true green, sky white, blue white, hyperred, hyperviolet, ultraviolet

Probably worth a shot since you have them. Plus if you don't use some of the channels like the UV for example, you can overdrive some of the others in your settings.
 
#41 ·
Agree on 2 canister approach. 2 FX4 and then split each one into 2 225gph outputs, that will give 4 outputs to spread around around tank for good coverage front and back and each output will be more plant tank friendly at 225gph or valved back slightly. In planted tank any output over 250gph is to hard, in fact right at 200 would be what I’d shoot for in your tank.

Also the alternating the filter cleaning is a definite plus to me, alternating every 2 weeks.

What you did in reefs has no place in fresh planted, you want good coverage but overall circulation needs to be calmer, not blowing your plants sideways and making large portions of your tank inaccessible to fish because of bombastic current there. Design it so currents work together to create a greater whole and you can easily get by with 6-7x turn over rate in tank with no dead spots, just a nice gentle breeze all around tank making plants gently wiggle in the current.
 
#46 ·
Well, I just pulled the trigger on TWO Oase 600 Thermo canisters.
The integrated heater, prefilter and ability to easily use glass pipes won out.

Next I probably need to be looking at c02 and how best to hook that up.
Seems like inline would be most efficient. GLA has regs with multiple outputs so I could run one line to each return.
 
#47 ·
For a tank that size you should consider building a CO2 reactor (Cerges or Griggs).

Inline diffusers need maintenance, as they get clogged up and need to be cleaned. I also had one fail (burst at the seam), which would have been a disaster had I not been standing there when it happened.

With a reactor that is sized right you should have zero bubbles in the tank. I use a 20" house filter housing for my Cerges, and it works perfectly.
 
#50 ·
More work completed on the stand last night. Only thing left is doors.
There has been some concern about the black interior but the side walls are white.
At this point, I'm not seeing much of an issue with it being too dark inside. Plus I'll be adding a light anyway.

There are just two things I'm a little disappointed with. Disappointed may even be a little strong... more like "not as impressed with".
1. It's obviously the same stand used for their reef-ready tanks. A cutout in the top panel and huge opening on the rear wall for all the plumbing coming down from an overflow. You're selling a new line of NON-DRILLED tanks, specifically marketed for freshwater. There should be a stand specifically for that. I have an email into support just to confirm it wasn't an oversight. If I was sent the correct stand I'll be offering some "advice" on that.

2. The white exterior panels are... "OK". They are glossy but from what I can tell they are powder coated or lacquered or something. Comparing them to my previous Elos stand, the finish is not going to be as durable. The Elos had a strong laminate that was glossier and could really take a beating. I've drilled through it, it's thick. And even though the interior was some sort of man-made pressed wood, overall it was impervious to water and wear, and very strong. I'm worried about how the finish on the Waterbox stand is going to hold up over time. The interior plywood construction is nice from a water damage standpoint, but I can tell by the edges and corners that the outer layer is not nearly as strong. It's definitely wayyyyy nicer than the new Planet Aquariums stands. Those things look like a home spray job. On a scale of 1-10, with Elos being a 10, I'd rate the finish of the white panels around 8.5, and the Planet tanks a 4-5 at best.

That said, the stand seems very sturdy. I like the finish of the black panels which has a bit of a texture to it and feels more durable than the white panels. I like that it actually has a floor (the elos is designed without a floor, so vibration from equipment is not transmitted/reverberated through the stand), and the floor is raised which is kind of nice, even though it technically does eat up a little interior space. I think I mentioned earlier that there are tons of leveling feet. There are some good cutouts, plenty of room for cables and hoses. Although in my case, I do kind of wish there were cutouts on the right like there are on the left. Again, this is an issue that it's a reef stand, not freshwater. ADG makes some custom stands that have hose cutouts on the side panels. I waiver back and forth on that vs the rear placement, but at least there are provisions for multiple canister filters or a choice of placement if just running one.





 
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