[cradleoffilthfan]

Well, got my wood from Manzanitaburlworks.com......last week. My father in law brought my tank up to Eureka from San Francisco Wednesday, and today, I finally got to play with it. Here is how it's going. I added my substrate and laid out the wood the way I liked it. I am going to add a big narrow leaf java fern in the middle of the wood to grow out, and Glosso around it, maybe somthing tall and thin in the back....maybe Eleocharis Vivipara? Maybe something else, haven't decided quite yet. Anyway, I will post as it comes along.

 

[cradleoffilthfan]

http://s1084.photobucket.com/albums/j414/danidaveyfan/

For some reason, it won't let me download any pictures. So the above is a link to the pictures on my photobucket.....The first 5 are of the tank with the substrate and the wood in.

 

[styxx]

Oh Cradleoffilthfan, you've definitely got my attention now, lol. Now my question is if you have the plans for building that stand and what do I have to do to get my hands on them!? I have a 90P which is 36 x 18 x 18 and I'd like to have a stand maybe 3 inches larger all around, but I have zero carpentry skills. Any help you can provide would be much appreciated. I think if I had some plans, I'd probably have someone here build it for me. As for the tank itself, it looks great and I love the wood. I'm an iwugami man myself but I'm excited to see how this comes along. Of course for the back you could always do the E. Vivipara, but I like Cyperus Heleferi for it's flowing appearance, although it can be a difficult plant in the beginning.

 

[cradleoffilthfan]

I actually had the C. Helferi on my "Wish List" but couldn't really make up my mind. I would really be happy with either. I love a challenge for sure, maybe the helferi is what I will go with. The only concern I have is....the tank is pretty wide as you know. It's 18 inches wide. I have a dual T5HO (30 inches) 31 watts per tube above the tank......I know the reflectors aren't the best, although they are in the "Fair" catagory. When I put the light fixture above the tank, it looks so small, like there would be no way the light would get fully from the back to the front.....I think I am going to have to be really creative on what plants I put in the mid to background, because I will have to have the lights right over the foreground for the Glosso I planned on having.....:/

As for the plans for the tank......I actually stole them from the internet. It's a really (REALLY) beefy design though. Overkill for this tank maybe, but I wasn't going to take any chances. The only thing I would do differently if I were building it again, is on the front of the stand, the way I built it, it makes it almost impossible to put on cabinet doors. I am going to have to fix that, I am just going to have to add wood to the front to get the face, for lack of better terms, to the same level. You can kinda see what I mean if you look at the pictures on my photobucket......I put a 1" X 4" piece on the top and the bottom, but not on the sides in the front. Now, I don't have a place to hinge doors because the sides are too deep.
I will try to find a link for the plans, but as I remember, they were hard to find in the first place......the corners are 4 x 4's notched, you might be able to google diy aquarium stand with notched 4 x 4's lol......Thanks for the kind words for my layout, I appreciate the input.

 

[styxx]

Well I think that a fixture with only two 31w tubes isn't going to be enough light for high-light plant like glosso. You PAR would be too low, even if you had a 3" substrate, at 15" from the light (assuming it was hanging right over or affixed to the tank at water level), I don't know if glosso would grow horizontally like it should (even with Co2 injection). Just a word of caution.

 

[cradleoffilthfan]

Yeah, I was thinking the same thing. I do have around 3 or 4 inches of substrate. I measured the distance to the light and it is at 15 inches. I am hoping(and crossing fingers) it's enough. If not, I will just have to sell the fixture and get a 30 inch fixture from Catalina with some good reflectors. When I bought the fixture, I was looking at a chart on a different site...they had a dual T5HO fixture at 15 inches at high light. I figured even with my Coralife Aqualight with decent but not the best reflectors, it might be enough for at least medium high light and therefore enough for Glosso......I might be wrong, but I am prepared to step it up if need be. This will be an experiment of sorts. Other than the light, I have a pretty decent pressurized system, so co2 won't be an issue (hopefully ). Just got my dry ferts a couple weeks ago......Never done the dry ferts before, so this will be fun for sure. I guess I will be doing the EI method? That seems to be the one everyone does. Is there a link to measurements?

 

[cradleoffilthfan]

Well, update, I bought the plants yesterday from Albany Aquarium (love the place if your in the bay area, it's definitely the best....even though I moved to Eureka, I'll pay the shipping. You can't beat their stock). Anyway, I bought one pot of Glosso, just to try. I don't think I have the lighting, but at least then I will know. I also bought narrow leaf java fern, which was GD expensive (GD=gosh darn ), and I also bought three pots of C. Helferi.....I get these plants on Wednesday, so more pics will be posted then. I already had anubias barteri nana petite, and I will buy some Christmas moss, or Fontinalis....haven't decided yet, for the wood.

 

[cradleoffilthfan]

I have an update. I planted my plants I got from Albany Aquarium....Glossostigma Elatinoides, C. Helferi, Anubias nana petite, and Java fern "Narrow" leaf. I guess we will see how this stuff grows. And today I got my co2 to work and got my Greenleafaquariums bubble counter filled and working. Everything is as it should be. Now to see if the T5HO lighting (30" fixture....2-31 watt bulbs) is strong enough for Glosso.....I don't think so, but I guess I will find out huh.

 

[cradleoffilthfan]

For some reason I keep getting "improper image file" when I try to download here, but it's a jpeg I promise, otherwise photobucket would not accept it. You will have to go to my photobucket to view the pics of the tank planted.

 

[cradleoffilthfan]

Thank you to Flynn for forwarding my message to Orlando from Greenleafaquarium....I appreciate it. With your help and Orlando's I got my bubble counter working and filled. I even put a picture of it on my photobucket for you guys. Thanks again for all your hard work helping me!

 

[2wheelsx2]

You're copying the wrong link. Don't use the direct link. Copy the one that says "IMG Code" and paste it in here like above.

 

[zenche]

^

so far so good!

 

[cradleoffilthfan]

 

[cradleoffilthfan]

 

[cradleoffilthfan]

It has a long way to go as far as growing in, but now with the co2 up and running, it should get going I assume.

 

[jcgd]

Looks good. If you want to have a carpet anytime soon you should try to get about 5x more glosso than you have. You could be waiting a long time with your current amount.

The trick is to buy a pot of foreground plant a few months ahead of time and grow it out in an emmersed setup until you get your tank ready. A clear Tupperware on a windowsill can turn $10 worth into $100 in a couple months. Then you can pack the foreground from the get go.

 

[styxx]

So far so good!

Looks good. If you want to have a carpet anytime soon you should try to get about 5x more glosso than you have. You could be waiting a long time with your current amount.

The trick is to buy a pot of foreground plant a few months ahead of time and grow it out in an immersed setup until you get your tank ready. A clear Tupperware on a windowsill can turn $10 worth into $100 in a couple months. Then you can pack the foreground from the get go.

I've never attempted the immersed method, but I must agree that whenever starting a new tank, the best method is to pack it with as many plants as one can afford. Much easier to get a handle on algae, with more nutrient competition (especially, when using ADA Aquasoil - at least in my experience). Don't forget to keep up those water changes...I will say this however, those plants look like they're in really great condition (especially the c. Heleferi)! I think in about 3 months this tanks is going to be awesome and I might have to come to Eureka and slap you in the face because I'm so jealous, lol!

 

[cradleoffilthfan]

Thanks Styxx! I really have to say, the plants did come in very good condition....and they were only sent priority, so it was a couple days in the mail. If you get a chance to check out Albany Aquarium online, they have great products! My C. Helferi is really taking a long time to get going, must have acclimation issues. I hope it turns out ok. Also, embarrassingly enough, I did order all I could afford lol, that's why it's not really heavily planted. This setup sucked me dry. I even want to get different lights because I have a feeling my Coralife Aqualight T5HO's dual bulb fixture just might not cut it with these plants.......and I can't afford it right now. It's just going to have to work . Thanks for all the nice things to say though!