[jamntoast]

problems came up

So a few problems have come up. First the holes that I had drilled are all plugged up.
I am going to cut slits in the top of the bg like an overflow intake. That should fix it.
The second thing is I didn't silicone the bottom of the back ground (rookie regrets) so now the sand in what seems like only one corner is being sucked in behind the bg. Hopefully once I remedy the flow problem there won't be as much suction down there.
There is also the issue of the outflow into the sand.
And finally there is some weird mould or something in one of the prices of drift wood. Does anyone have experience with this?

 

[jamntoast]

I fixed the out flow problem, got a elbow bit so now the flow is pointed towards the top as opposed straight to the bottom

Kind of ruins the whole having everything hidden esthetic I was going for but its ok, if it really bothers me after a while I might paint it.

 

[jamntoast]

I also cut some slits in the top of the background which seems to be keeping everything even. Here's a pic of the slits, they are pretty thin. Hopefully they don't clog too easily

 

[jamntoast]

Here is the fts

 

[jamntoast]

Got the fish back in today too! Moved the geos the corys and about 35 gallons of the old water in there and they are doing great. Everything is working fine so far and I have 2 sponge filters in temporarily to take care of the biological filtration until the mat filter is ready and mature. Here is a dark FTS

 

[jamntoast]

Still have an issue with the inflow holes getting blocked I guess the water, levels are different. It doesn't seem to be major but I'll have to keep an eye on it.

 

[jamntoast]

Despite that here is the fts with the lights on. Way too bright in my opinion. It looks dark in this pic but its really quite bright.

 

[jamntoast]

Here are a couple shots of my geos in their new home.

 

[Betta132]

Gorgeous tank and fish! They look very happy in there. Those are the ones famous for digging things up, right?
I love the rocks on the branches, and the background-wall-thing is really nice.
Hmm... To be honest, I think it's a little bit empty in the back compared to the front. I've read of people placing eggcrate buried under the sand with vals growing up through the holes if they have digging fish, that could look really cool. Just a random idea.

 

[jamntoast]

Gorgeous tank and fish! They look very happy in there. Those are the ones famous for digging things up, right?
I love the rocks on the branches, and the background-wall-thing is really nice.
Hmm... To be honest, I think it's a little bit empty in the back compared to the front. I've read of people placing eggcrate buried under the sand with vals growing up through the holes if they have digging fish, that could look really cool. Just a random idea.

thanks, i've thought about what i could put in there but i think i'll hold off for now. i actually had jungle val in with them before and they were rooted well and actually werent bothered too much. occasionally one would be floating. it was the dead plant matter that was giving me trouble with them. i was tired of fishing out and sort of dead leaves that had fallen off or anything like that, which is why i'm sticking with slow growing plants for this round. i might get some more frazeri or something to fill in the back a bit.

 

[jamntoast]

Update, the geos have only been in this tank a week and guess what...more eggs
That's mom in the back and dads big head up front

 

[jamntoast]

Just wanted to give an update. The whole pump behind filter foam idea I had is a bad one. I imagine with the airlift tubes normal mat filters use would work better since they don't do so much mechanical filtering, more biological. Since I'm using a water pump in effect I'm creating a in tank filter that is impractical to clean, I would only do it again maybe on a bare bottom tank. I've had crazy problems with preventable illnesses because I switched to this method. I'll be sticking with canisters and hobs for the foreseeable future.