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An Untraditional Nature Aquarium (Rescued ADA 90P)

7K views 34 replies 15 participants last post by  Bserve 
#1 · (Edited)
Most recent FTS:



Last weekend I happened across a Facebook Marketplace listing selling a 35" rimless aquarium for $50, so naturally, I had to check it out. Turns out it was an old 90P that had been painted all over, had sump holes drilled, and looks like had been left semi-filled for years. So I bought it, cleaned it up and scraped the paint off, and made a simple stand with some 2x4s.



I have no clue what I'm gonna scape it to be, but I'll be using all the equipment from my 20G long setup, plus some extra aquasoil. I may turn the 20G into a sump, might not. We'll see.
 
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#10 ·
Thanks!

Wow! That's awesome. Out of curosity, what LED are you using? The colour rendition is great and it looks pretty bright.
I'm using the Chihiros WRGB60 II. None of the pictures really do it justice- really great colors and the app is very handy.
 
#13 ·
Damn, that's a great find! Did you see any scratches at all? It would have been cool to use the drilled holes for plumbing and make it a clear tank on top.

I remembered I followed your tanks years ago, glad to see that you're back <a href="http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/images/smilie/icon_smile.gif" border="0" alt="" title="Smile" >:)</a>
There's a few scratches and chips but they're hardly noticeable. Based on how many pint layers I had to remove and the condition of the bottom holes, I'd guess the tank is ~10 years old, which means it's probably an ADA, so well worth the scratches for the price.

And yeah! Not too many of us still around from back then, it's crazy how things have changed.

Nice find! That looks awesome. I like what you did with the scape. Cool light stand as well. You gonna keep the pipe elbows white or paint them grey to match the rods and the light sits on and the stand?
Jury's still out on these PVC arms- they're not even cemented in and still have the return labels. I'm thinking of switching them out for aluminum ones.
 
#14 ·
Here's a little 2 month update:



A bit annoying that UG is hardly growing after a month but eh. Have had a bit of a struggle with staghorn and just regular green algae, I'm gonna turn down the brightness from 100%R 80%G 90%B to 70%R 50%G 60%B and see if that helps.
Also, the back left and right behind the wood is completely empty (like a square-foot-worth of area), save for a few rare ludwigias and echinodorus I'm growing out. Thinking of maybe getting some Hygrophila corymbosa or 53B but I'm not sure yet. If anyone has any suggestions I'd happily listen.
 
#18 · (Edited)
The helanthium tenellum took a while to acclimate, now it's starting to grow better. I used to have more eleocharis, but now I just have it here and there. (great minds think alike)

I would go with some Syngonanthus macrocaulon. I think it is a beautiful plant with a different texture than the one you already have. I've never grown it, but I suspect it grows slower than most stems, so it won't be make your maintenance routine harder.

Tank is looking really nice. I really like the hardscape.
I like the different texture, but it's major $$$. I'm considering getting som ranunculus inundatus for some variety, but the jury's still out on where it's available.

Awesome Bserve! ... looks fantastic!
and a very nice story too...

I love the idea for the light frame...
could you please share the list of plants you used and the amount. It definitely differs from hardscape to hardscape..But want to use it as a base line.

I am setting up my tank.. so "borrowing" some learning!
thanks in advance...
Starting amounts don't really matter so much as you cover as much surface area as possible when you start up a tank. The current plants are:

Rotala colorata
Rotala h'ra
Rotala sp green
Ludwigia sp white
Utricularia graminifolia
Hydrocotyle tripartita
Hydrocotyle vivipara
Blyxa japonica
Blyxa aubertii
Helanthium tenellum
Eleocharis vivipara
Fissidens fontanus
Weeping moss
Java fern trident
Bolbitis heudelotii
Bolbitis difformis mini
Nymphaea rubra
Hygrophila pinnatifida
Anubias nana petite
Anubias nana petite white
Cryptocoryne wendtii brown
Cryptocoryne becketii
Alternantherna reineckii mini
Echinodorus kleiner prinz
 
#17 ·
Awesome Bserve! ... looks fantastic!
and a very nice story too...

I love the idea for the light frame...
could you please share the list of plants you used and the amount. It definitely differs from hardscape to hardscape..But want to use it as a base line.

I am setting up my tank.. so "borrowing" some learning!
thanks in advance...
 
#23 ·
Turns out turning down the lighting and upping CO2 did the trick. UG is almost fully carpeted and Rotala sp Green is growing well, staghorn is at bay for now (some BBA here and there but a quick excel squirt fixed that). Filled out the right with more Rotala sp Green and the left with Hygro Corymbosa and the Echinodorus. Added some more crypts to the foreground and more trident fern to the sides. Now to get the Rotala colorata and Hygro Pinnatifida red again... just ordered some new dry ferts. Gonna try to dose no NO3 and rely solely on the fish waste and dosing bacteria to get Nitrogen in the system. Did a mini-rescape of the left side and removed the front rock as well- balance is much better now. Tomorrow I might run to the hardware store to get some superglue to propagate some more. New outflow pipe is coming from aliexpress any day now so I should be able to get both filters up and running soon; once that's done I'll finally be able to crank up the lights and CO2. Looking at maybe 2-3 months till full maturity I'd say, then I can probably let it ride for a year or 2 before rescaping.
 
#24 ·
Looks great! I'm about to rescape my rimless 50g also and plan to do a naturescape, glad i came across this for more inspiration. I have the same light as you also. Did you stick with settings from a few posts ago that you mentioned? I run similar, but a bit higher now and have been having good plant growth, but not great. Thinking about dialing the light back just a tad.

You've incorporated a few things into yours that i want in mine, so I'll be following along. Please keep up the posts!
 
#29 ·
Rescaped the entire left side and back right/front right (left the center and mid-right alone)... the whole flow of the layout changed so hopefully it's different enough for this to be valid in IAPLC... so I will have a photo update by September. (Unless is posting close-ups allowed? Anybody know about that?)
 
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