Tributary's 125 Gallon
Four years later the tank has changed a lot... here is how it currently looks...
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Here was the original post...
So I figure I should start my tank journal since I finally got my 125 gallon tank going yesterday.
The Project:
I wanted to create a tank in the style of James Findley's "Tributary Aquascape" tank at The Green Machine.
There are several modifications between my tank and Findley's masterpiece. First, my tank (183 x 46 x 53 cm) is much bigger and deeper than Findley's tank which was an ADA cube garden (120 x 30 x 20 cm). Second, I am using the tank as a kind of room divider in my home office, and it needed to be visible on all sides. Third, my budget does not currently permit me to purchase ADA quality equipment. Finally, although I've been in the hobby for a long time, I took a break over the last ten years and am a novice at planted tanks. So I am still learning the ropes... Luckily, my lfs is pretty awesome and they helped me to set up the tank and I've been reading this forum to get lots of pointers. Okay here are the details...
Equipment:
Aquarium: Marineland 125 Gallon (72" x 18" X 21")
Filter: Fluval 406 Canister
Heater: Hydor External Canister Heater (300 watt)
Lights: Current Satellite Freshwater LED+ 25watt x 2
Carbon: 10lb CO2 tank + Flourish Excel
Substrate: Caribsea Eco-Complete Planted Aquarium
Flora:
Malaysian driftwood
Anubias (barteri coffeefolia?) on driftwood
Eleocharis (montevidensis?) [Hairgrass 'Giant']
Ceratopteris thalictroides [Water Sprite]
Cryptocoryne (wendtii?) [Watertrumpet]
Cabomba (caroliniana?)
Limnophila (hippuridoides?)
Riccia fluitans
Hemianthus callitrichoides ['Cuba']
Fauna:
[To be added after the tank cycles.]
Day 1 -- pH 7.6; Temp 78.6 F - Water is still settling
So this is the basement home office before:
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Here is the tank and stand set up (it was a miracle that this fit into my basement, trust me)...
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The water is still cloudy, but here is the left side of the tank
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And the heavily sloped right side of the tank...
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I will post more photos once the tank settles... Wish me luck.
Here was the original post...
So I figure I should start my tank journal since I finally got my 125 gallon tank going yesterday.
The Project:
I wanted to create a tank in the style of James Findley's "Tributary Aquascape" tank at The Green Machine.
There are several modifications between my tank and Findley's masterpiece. First, my tank (183 x 46 x 53 cm) is much bigger and deeper than Findley's tank which was an ADA cube garden (120 x 30 x 20 cm). Second, I am using the tank as a kind of room divider in my home office, and it needed to be visible on all sides. Third, my budget does not currently permit me to purchase ADA quality equipment. Finally, although I've been in the hobby for a long time, I took a break over the last ten years and am a novice at planted tanks. So I am still learning the ropes... Luckily, my lfs is pretty awesome and they helped me to set up the tank and I've been reading this forum to get lots of pointers. Okay here are the details...
Equipment:
Aquarium: Marineland 125 Gallon (72" x 18" X 21")
Filter: Fluval 406 Canister
Heater: Hydor External Canister Heater (300 watt)
Lights: Current Satellite Freshwater LED+ 25watt x 2
Carbon: 10lb CO2 tank + Flourish Excel
Substrate: Caribsea Eco-Complete Planted Aquarium
Flora:
Malaysian driftwood
Anubias (barteri coffeefolia?) on driftwood
Eleocharis (montevidensis?) [Hairgrass 'Giant']
Ceratopteris thalictroides [Water Sprite]
Cryptocoryne (wendtii?) [Watertrumpet]
Cabomba (caroliniana?)
Limnophila (hippuridoides?)
Riccia fluitans
Hemianthus callitrichoides ['Cuba']
Fauna:
[To be added after the tank cycles.]
Day 1 -- pH 7.6; Temp 78.6 F - Water is still settling
So this is the basement home office before:
Here is the tank and stand set up (it was a miracle that this fit into my basement, trust me)...
The water is still cloudy, but here is the left side of the tank
And the heavily sloped right side of the tank...
I will post more photos once the tank settles... Wish me luck.
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Day 2
It is now day 2 of the silent cycling. The tank is starting to look a bit more clear. Here is the front of the tank.
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And a bit more detail... (still a tad cloudy)
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Since this tank is a room divider and I am rather obsessively tidy, I wanted to have the equipment as hidden as possible. So (perhaps unwisely) I have put as much underneath as possible (even the bubble counter and thermometer).
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Here is a view under the hood. (I don't know why I am bothering to show this, but I always like to see how other people organize their equipment).
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More soon...
It is now day 2 of the silent cycling. The tank is starting to look a bit more clear. Here is the front of the tank.
And a bit more detail... (still a tad cloudy)
Since this tank is a room divider and I am rather obsessively tidy, I wanted to have the equipment as hidden as possible. So (perhaps unwisely) I have put as much underneath as possible (even the bubble counter and thermometer).
Here is a view under the hood. (I don't know why I am bothering to show this, but I always like to see how other people organize their equipment).
More soon...
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94 Posts
More Driftwood
Instead of waiting patiently for my tank to cycle, I went and added some more driftwood and rocks that I had laying around from an old tank. I also moved around some of the plants. I like the new look, but the consequence of my impulsiveness is that the water is again cloudy....
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I need to learn to be a bit more patient, particularly during this rather boring part of the set up...
I've also discovered that there are a host of pest snails in the tank that must have sneaked in with the plants or substrate. I am just ignoring them for now, since removing them manually seems to be a lost cause.
Instead of waiting patiently for my tank to cycle, I went and added some more driftwood and rocks that I had laying around from an old tank. I also moved around some of the plants. I like the new look, but the consequence of my impulsiveness is that the water is again cloudy....
I need to learn to be a bit more patient, particularly during this rather boring part of the set up...
I've also discovered that there are a host of pest snails in the tank that must have sneaked in with the plants or substrate. I am just ignoring them for now, since removing them manually seems to be a lost cause.
Joined
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596 Posts
Awesome man! A room divider aquarium is something I would love to have in my future (you know, when I am all financially stable and such, haha). Best of luck with all of this!
I really like the look of it with the driftwood and once things grow in it's going to look good!
If I may, my one criticism is that you don't have opposing corners diagonal from one another quite sloped up as high as you could. Yours is more sloped in one corner and then just a central hill on the other side. IMO, the diagonal symmetry of Findley's scapes, Tributary and Reciprocity, are what really make them something to look at. And similar to Reciprocity, I think staurogyne repens would look nice near the "riverbed."
That be said, I do like the look, can we see a picture looking from your office side?
I really like the look of it with the driftwood and once things grow in it's going to look good!
If I may, my one criticism is that you don't have opposing corners diagonal from one another quite sloped up as high as you could. Yours is more sloped in one corner and then just a central hill on the other side. IMO, the diagonal symmetry of Findley's scapes, Tributary and Reciprocity, are what really make them something to look at. And similar to Reciprocity, I think staurogyne repens would look nice near the "riverbed."
That be said, I do like the look, can we see a picture looking from your office side?
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Haha, fair enough. I know what you mean, I just paid my credit card bill tonight after buying lots of plants and supplies for a new tank...yikes... :help:
Keep us updated on the tank!
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Yeah, I love the folks at ABC Aquarium. They are certainly the best in the Rochester area for freshwater (and probably saltwater, but I don't know about that side of the hobby).
Bump: I just like this side view of the tank...
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Weird Glowing Algae
Okay, so this seems really odd. After doing tank maintenance on this relatively new tank, including a 50% water change, I added water conditioner (NovaAqua Plus 1 oz) and for the first time I added Flourish (10 mL) and Flourish Excel (60 mL). A couple hours later I noticed some new hair algae on the glass that I had cleaned earlier. I cleaned it off and thought maybe I should shut off the LED lights for two hours. When I turned out the lights I noticed that some of the algae on the white rocks were glowing (which reminded that I had forgotten to use the toothbrush on all the rocks). Anyway here are photos...
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I am just really puzzled about this. After the water change I had run through my usual tests and all the results were pretty normal (pH 7.6, Ammonia 0 ppm; Nitrite 0 ppm; Nitrate 0 ppm; gH 9 degrees; kH 6 degrees). Since I am silent cycling the tank, I have only added four amano's and four oto's and all are doing just fine. The plants are happily pearling and producing little bubbles. So I am not worried, but I just wonder if anyone else has ever had this happen or has a scientific explanation....
Okay, so this seems really odd. After doing tank maintenance on this relatively new tank, including a 50% water change, I added water conditioner (NovaAqua Plus 1 oz) and for the first time I added Flourish (10 mL) and Flourish Excel (60 mL). A couple hours later I noticed some new hair algae on the glass that I had cleaned earlier. I cleaned it off and thought maybe I should shut off the LED lights for two hours. When I turned out the lights I noticed that some of the algae on the white rocks were glowing (which reminded that I had forgotten to use the toothbrush on all the rocks). Anyway here are photos...
I am just really puzzled about this. After the water change I had run through my usual tests and all the results were pretty normal (pH 7.6, Ammonia 0 ppm; Nitrite 0 ppm; Nitrate 0 ppm; gH 9 degrees; kH 6 degrees). Since I am silent cycling the tank, I have only added four amano's and four oto's and all are doing just fine. The plants are happily pearling and producing little bubbles. So I am not worried, but I just wonder if anyone else has ever had this happen or has a scientific explanation....
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Where did you get those pebbles? I'm not sure it's the algae that's glowing, seems like it's the pebbles themselves. http://www.coregravel.ca/core-glow/
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The white pebbles came from the local fish store. I don't recall them glowing before tonight, but I am not usually down there after the lights go off. It is also worth noting that the glowing stopped when I went back to look an hour later.
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THAT IS WEIRD. maybe paranormal activity. LOL
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Let's hope not... :icon_mrgr
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