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815 Posts
Awesome job! Lots of talent and dedication there.
PhysicsDude's 7 Foot River Tank Journal UPDATE 1-4-2016 New Sump!
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Perspective is being restored little by little. The tank looks great already, but I'm sure it will continue to look better as it matures.
Off topic: A turbo 4-cylinder? What make? Reminds me of the box my Prosport gauges came in.
Off topic: A turbo 4-cylinder? What make? Reminds me of the box my Prosport gauges came in.
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339 Posts
The parts are for a turbo C5 Corvette. Its the main reason this aquarium project took so long :hihi:
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Dang! I was thinking that could have just been one head. I actually started my aquarium project because I couldn't get in the garage to finish my turbo project! Haha. I find fish much more relaxing to sit back and watch.
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339 Posts
Automotive work is definitely a lot more frustrating that aquarium stuff.... I like working on cars/boats/motorcycles/engines, but after a few hours I usually have to stop and do something else for awhile and "cool down". I do better working on the corvette, because believe it or not they're very easy to work on, and generally more fun than mundane maintenance or issues with daily commute vehicles.
Kind of sad, but kind of funny, I think one of my tiger barbs ate himself to death? I bought quite a few new fish in the past few days, and have been overfeeding to observe the eating habbits of the new fish (what foods they like, etc.), and I just got my arduino controlled autofeeders working, so in testing them I probably fed too much also.
This guy was my biggest Tiger barb (out of ~15), and he seemed to be at the top of the pecking order, and has always looked very bloated. This morning I woke up to him like this:
After a ~75% waterchange last week, all of my turquoise rainbowfish died. It looked like the incoming water was very very hard? I don't know, none of the other fish were affected.
A fish store near me had 10 "Apollo sharks". I've never heard of them, but they're super cool looking, and extremely active. They look like small barracudas, and have large mouth and streamlined bodies. I also got a pictus cat, and a "dinosaur" bichir. Very happy with the stocking now. Tank looks pretty full, and a lot more active than in the past.
I've noticed quite a bit more algae in the past few weeks, not sure what to make of that. I've been trying to find a true siamese algae eater, but of course they're difficult to find. My BN Plecos don't seem to be doing their job. I think part of the issue is that I've been overfeeding.
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339 Posts
Thanks! I initially wanted a 180g tank (8'X2'X2'), but there weren't any on craigslist when I was looking for them. I was about to get a standard 125g when this interesting 7' acrylic popped up for cheap. I really love the extra width, it worked perfectly for my situation.
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339 Posts
UPDATE 3-30-2015
I got a bunch more plants this week. Mostly Jungle Vals and microswords. I'd like more variety in the plants... but I'm pretty terrible with plants, so I've always had the best luck sticking with a only a few different plants which grow well.
The fish are doing really well. They're still not as active as I would like, so I'm still working on getting that sorted out.
Updated full tank shot, its finally near its final form. I don't intend of changing much of the setup from here on out.
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I really love the Apollo Sharks that I got about a month ago. They're very interesting fish. Extremely fast, extremely active, extremely tight schooling fish, big mouths, and also completely non-aggressive. I bought a school of blood fin tetras that are about 1.25" long. The 5" Apollo Sharks don't even seem to notice them. They haven't touched the Amano Shrimp either, but they'll eat shrimp pellets whole and eat .75" freeze dried shrimp whole. Apparently in the wild they skim the water surface eating insects, and rarely eat fish. They are a great aquarium fish, although pretty rare.
This is the best shot I could get of one, they usually stay in the top 2" of the water.
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I've done some work on the Arduino stuff, but mostly just bug fixes and some minor changes in how the lights dim. Still a couple more features I want to add, but nothing major. I'm considering this project done, and moving onto some unfinished projects in my garage that I've been neglecting.
I'll try to update the journal about once a month. Probably get a couple videos of the tank once the fish are grown in a bit more.
I got a bunch more plants this week. Mostly Jungle Vals and microswords. I'd like more variety in the plants... but I'm pretty terrible with plants, so I've always had the best luck sticking with a only a few different plants which grow well.
The fish are doing really well. They're still not as active as I would like, so I'm still working on getting that sorted out.
Updated full tank shot, its finally near its final form. I don't intend of changing much of the setup from here on out.
I really love the Apollo Sharks that I got about a month ago. They're very interesting fish. Extremely fast, extremely active, extremely tight schooling fish, big mouths, and also completely non-aggressive. I bought a school of blood fin tetras that are about 1.25" long. The 5" Apollo Sharks don't even seem to notice them. They haven't touched the Amano Shrimp either, but they'll eat shrimp pellets whole and eat .75" freeze dried shrimp whole. Apparently in the wild they skim the water surface eating insects, and rarely eat fish. They are a great aquarium fish, although pretty rare.
This is the best shot I could get of one, they usually stay in the top 2" of the water.
I've done some work on the Arduino stuff, but mostly just bug fixes and some minor changes in how the lights dim. Still a couple more features I want to add, but nothing major. I'm considering this project done, and moving onto some unfinished projects in my garage that I've been neglecting.
I'll try to update the journal about once a month. Probably get a couple videos of the tank once the fish are grown in a bit more.
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815 Posts
Great job! I saw apollo sharks for the first time last week and was wondering what they're like. Thanks for sharing your experience. They look like they'd be amazing in a large school.
I like the look of your plants. I always prefer a few types rather than a huge mix of different types. It just looks more natural when the plant types are limited.
I like the look of your plants. I always prefer a few types rather than a huge mix of different types. It just looks more natural when the plant types are limited.
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285 Posts
great looking tank. thanks!
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16,742 Posts
Nice Tank! Where did you find the tree roots?
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339 Posts
Thanks!
I got them from a lake bed in Kansas last summer. The water level was pretty low and there was a lot of previously submerged wood. I brought a sawzall and a tape measure and got some good pieces.
The middle 2 pieces are actually the same trunk/root piece that's cut in half down the center.
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16,742 Posts
Dang, I need to get a cordless saw.
Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD
Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD
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339 Posts
Figured I'd give this a small update.
Everything is going really well with the tank. Haven't done anything special besides monthly water changes/filter cleaning and feeding the fish. The plants are at "equilibrium". They are doing well, but no major new growth. I'm quite happy with the tank, and get lots of positive comments from guests. The tank looks extremely natural, which is what I was going for.
Here's a full tank shot I took today. I couldn't get my cell phone to take a very good picture. One of these days I should invest in a real camera.
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Everything is going really well with the tank. Haven't done anything special besides monthly water changes/filter cleaning and feeding the fish. The plants are at "equilibrium". They are doing well, but no major new growth. I'm quite happy with the tank, and get lots of positive comments from guests. The tank looks extremely natural, which is what I was going for.
Here's a full tank shot I took today. I couldn't get my cell phone to take a very good picture. One of these days I should invest in a real camera.
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339 Posts
Been almost 2 months since last update. Tank is doing better than ever. I added a new air pump which pumps air into a diffuser and into the output of my filters. It works excellently, the fish "breath" very slowly indicating a lot of 02, and the plants seem to be growing a lot better and look greener, so I'm thinking there's more C02 dissolving in the water also.
I bought some more plants last week and did a major trim, trying to bring some more diversity. Hopefully they continue to thrive.
The automation features are still working great. I left the tank by itself for 22 days with no one touching it, and the fish and plants were doing great.
Full tank shot:
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My favorite livestock addition, albino Senegalus Bichir (dinosaur bichir). He's doing great, I was afraid he'd have a hard time eating with so many other fast fish in the tank, but he's nice and plump, and about 6" long. He's eventually going to eat the corries, but I'm OK with that.
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I bought some more plants last week and did a major trim, trying to bring some more diversity. Hopefully they continue to thrive.
The automation features are still working great. I left the tank by itself for 22 days with no one touching it, and the fish and plants were doing great.
Full tank shot:
My favorite livestock addition, albino Senegalus Bichir (dinosaur bichir). He's doing great, I was afraid he'd have a hard time eating with so many other fast fish in the tank, but he's nice and plump, and about 6" long. He's eventually going to eat the corries, but I'm OK with that.
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