peet

I have been using Tom Barrs Estimative Index (EI) on my new aquarium setup. This requires 25-50% water changes every 3 days for the first couple of months followed by weekly 50% water changes. I used to bucket water out of my small tank but that gets very painful in my 340L tank and makes a huge mess on the lounge floor much to my wifes disgust. I have developed the following method which makes the whole thing so easy and clean that its hardly a chore anymore. The first thing to create a fitting between the hose pipe and shower pipe fitting at the wall. The parts were all obtained from Bunnings and from left to right are: 1.) Hose fitting with 19mm barb end 2.) 19mm clear vynl hose (temporary clamped on to hose fitting with cable tie until I buy another pipe clamp) 3.) Threaded shower fitting from the bathroom tap section at bunnings 4.) wrap thread with heaps of plumbers tape and slot into clear pipe with pipe clamp Unscrew your shower hose at the wall and screw on the new fitting. Now plug in your hose. I used my digital thermometer to work out how far round the tap handle needed to turn to achieve 26 degrees at the tank and put a hidden mark on it. Now I can simply turn the tap to this position and know the exact temperature of water entering the tank. To prevent the water jetting into the substrate I have constructed a diffuser from a bit of drilled pvc pipe with an end cap and some fittings I had left over from a previous reefing project. Basically its another tap connection. This setup spreads the water nice and even around the tank tank and keeps it from stirring up the gravel. I have used a washing machine anti-kink device to bend the hose into the tank. This works absolutely fantastic as you can confidently turn the tap on in the bathroom without the fear that the hose will jump out of the tank So my water change process is: 1.) Put the hose in the tank with the diffuser on the end 2.) undo the shower hose, screw on the fitting and attach the hose 3.) Turn on shower for about 10 - 20 seconds to charge the hose with water 4.) Turn off tap, takeoff hose and stick down shower drain 5.) Go to tank and takeoff diffuser and set to desired depth (e.g. 50% water removed). Sometimes I attach a gravel vac although I tend to find the suction not adequate with a 13mm hose so I rather gravel vac into a small wheelybin. I also wash my filter media and throw my plant trimmings in the wheelybin before tipping out over the lawn or veges. 6.) Once water is siphoned to desired level I replace diffuser, plug hose on to shower fitting and turn tap to desired temperature and let the tank fill.... JUST MAKE SURE YOU KEEP AN EYE ON THE WATER LEVEL!!!!!!!!!!!

Update 27/06/2012 Tank has been up and running a few months now... and I have finally been brave enough to take some photos. At last the tank seems to have finished cycling.. its been a tough few months of BBA, greenwater, surface scum and brown snot algae. It was so bad I couldnt even look at the tank until a few weeks ago and had to keep apologising to guests when they looked at it. I also lost my large discus to skin ailment (probably due to bad water quality). I have been following the Tom Barr EI method (search "EI for non techy folks" for simplified information). I was only doing 1x 50% water change per week and the algae just seemed to hang in there despite the pressurised CO2, fert dosing and MH lights. Then I read that Tom Barr reccomends you do water changes every 2 - 3 days for the first couple of months of a new setup. Since then I have been doing a 25 - 33% on a wednesday night and a 50% on a saturday morning and the algae has dissapeared fast. Also my testing has shown that Tauranga water is incredibly soft and additional dosing of CaCO3, MgSO4 and baking soda has helped to stabilise the pH swings caused by the lack of buffering of the CO2. Plants have started to really take off in the last 2 weeks, with glosso spreading out along the bottom in nice compact chains. Sword plant has tripled in size and stem plants are starting to hit the surface (snip snip time). Give it another month or two and it will have filled in nicely and will be time to start thinking a bit more about the long-term look of the scape. Next on the list to do is my internal heater and CO2 reactor followed by the skirt around the top of the tank and aroudn the lights. Also, check out my post on my DIY shower water changer setup... if you are going to be doing EI in a large tank you dont want to he bucketing water or sucking on hoses,

Thanks to ANZAC day I got some time to work on the tank again.... but not before a massive outbreak of green water algae... I guess I'll have to swallow my words Antwan. I have now picked up my CO2 bottle from Air Liquide, and purchased my EI dosing ferts from Stockers Hydroponic supplies. All thats left too do in the immediate future is to finish up the inline heater and stock it with stacks of plants. Later Ill get the lights, spray skirt and door sorted (I need to space these things to keep the inhouse finance manager happy. Tank Shot Heres the base all sorted 2x 6 point power adapter

I've just purchased KNO3 + KH2SO4 + Aquatic Trace Mix from stockers hydroponics supply. I purchased 1kg bags of each for around $60 total. I reckon that it will last me years and will be much much cheaper than buying proprietary products. I also add MgSO4 and CaCO3 to raise my GH and provide magnesium and Calcium (this in combination with pressurised CO2 seems to get rid of algae quick smart). I previously used to mix up my own PMDD type solution and add daily to my tank but this time I have started using EI (estimative index) after reading a very simple explanation by Mr EI (Tom Barr) http://www.barrreport.com/showthread.php/2819-EI-light-for-those-less-techy-folks.

This is the exact same tank and light setup I had in Oz, plants grew like weeds (see pic below) but right balance of CO2 and ferts kept the algae at bay. I will probably shorten the duration to around 8 hrs under the MH and will put on some other smaller lights for the 10 - 12 hr duration. Also looking at LED options but dont have the money for the setup cost right now .....

Tank update 10/04/2012 The tank is running YAHOOOOOOO!!!. I spent hours planting out the front with Glossostigma. I've also transferred crypts around the rocks, and anubius on wood. The lights are supported on temporary painted timber stands and I still need to make the skirt around the top and around each of the lights... but it can wait till last as setup doesnt look too bad for the moment. I'm now working on the external heater which is almost complete. Then its getting the gas bottle and connecting up. Door setup doesnt work the greatest so need to find a heavy duty hinge system. Also have an auto-top currently in my mind. In answer to previous question, The wood is very dense and has been submerged in a river a long time... possibly years based on the silt build up over it when I discovered it. I think rotting will be minimal and so far there has been no leaching (5 days and counting) Anybody have any of the following plants they want to get rid of or part with at a low price for a great cause?? Acularis eleocharis Echinodorus tenellus Hydrocotyle verticilliata Crypts (all types) Heteranthera zosteraefolia Echinodorus (all types) Vesicularia dubyana Vesicularia montagnei Riccia fluitans Microsorium (all types) Rotala wallichi Rotala indica Ludwigia arcuata Limnophila aromatica (all types) Hygrophila corymbosa siamensis Alternanthera reineckii 'roseafolia'

I pulled the wood out of a local river in January and have had it sitting outside the house for a couple of months. I have been soaking it the last couple of weeks in the tank but it was still floating so had to put the lids on the base. I am hoping to get the tank planted with some glosso that is sitting in a tank at the back and transfer across a bunch of crypts and anubius... will take a few months to get my plant stock up but will keep the pics coming

You can also get them direct http://www.uniseal.co.nz these things are an aquanerds best friend and as you can see the price is right. Window would be great, but Im trying to keep the price right down, figured I will monitor it with thermometer in tank and pull them out for a check every 3 months or so. Adrienne... Being a resident of Mount Maunganui makes me nervous about buying any brand called "Rena" :sml2: Just doing some quick calcs on the costs, looks like a 300 watt would be around $NZ 67 + postage. I'll get that price and then compare the build costs.

mainly because heaters are fairly cheap, uniseals are very cheap and I can get plenty of PVC pipe for free... and I love DIYing. I've never seen inline heaters.. how much would one cost for a 340 L aquarium?

I'm trying to make my new tank setup as minimalistic as possible. One of the key components of this is removing as much equipment as possible from the tank, including heaters. I am planning on making an undertank heater unit using a 500mm high section of 100mm diam PVC with glued caps on both ends. I will then use uniseals and pvc stubs on the side at the bottom and side top for inlet and outlet connections. The inlet will come directly from the tank and the outlet will feed into the cannister filter. Then I was hoping to use 2x uniseals in the top cap to push the heaters through. The uniseals provide a watertight seal and are rated in excess of 50m of head and are heat and chemical resistant so perfect for the job.. only issues is that the uniseal only come in 21mm and 27mm diams with only +2mm of tolerance. Only one of my heaters will work (23mm OD). Would be great if some of you guys could measure the diam of your glass heater tubes (mainly interested in the bigger units say >300 watts) and let me know the brand if it falls between 21 - 23mm or 27 - 29mm as I will need to buy another heater. The other option would be to wrap the heater in some kind of water proof tape to pack it out so that a smaller diameter can fit the 27mm seal. Would probably only need to add 2 -3 mm to my other heaters to get up to 27mm. Any suggestions on tape type? Can't afford for this to start leaking as will be a catastrophe on my lounge floor!! Heres a section view of what I was imagining the setup would look like Thanks in advance - Peet

The morning of the triffids

Tank construction from 19mm MDF with 4x2 timber frame glued and screwed internally. Screw holes were bogged and whole unit was painted with acrylic enamel. And here is the tank as of tonight.. hardscape is complete and looking to do the first bit of planting next weekend. I have a 2ft tank out the back of the house full of glossostigma which I collected last winter and just left sitting out the back... I have crypts and anubius in a temporary tank in the garage. Pics below show the pot plant trays I used to hold down the driftwood, and the daltons aquatic mix and propagating sand topping

I've had to take down the lumersion site for the moment, so have transferred my current tank project to this post. Below is the idea in my minds eye of what I want it to look like. Going for a minimalist style, very ADA I guess, but I decided to go with the white cabinet instead of the grey. Tank: 1370 x 500 x 500 (around 320 - 340 Litres) Lights: metal halide shoplights 2x 150 watts in painted metal housing Cabinet: painted MDF on 4x2 timber frame Substrate: Daltons mixed with about 10% pummice sand, Daltons No.2 propagation sand topping Hardscape: DIYsourced rock and wood

I used to go down to a place that sold perspex sheets and got a whole lot of square offcuts. I then screwed one/several (depending on the size of the driftwood) to the underside of the wood (put in a spacer if needed to get the wood to the right height off the bottom of the tank) and then pile the substrate over the perspex. The weight of the substrate holds down the driftwood and you dont have floating issues and no nasty strings or weights. See image below for visual translation of the above rambling

You'll want to be very sure that the heat from the flue doesnt affect the tank temperature??

A friend gave me a box white worms which my discus loved... but the bread kept going mouldey and suddenly all the worms up't and died. Does anyone know where I can get a new batch and how to look after them? What other live foods are people growing (other than brine shrimp).

Finally I have started my planted scape, you may have seen a bit of an intro on http://www.lumersion.co.nz (temporarily taken offline). I'll post some more pics of my plans soon, but was out boating a couple of weekends ago and found this little gem.. well not so little, its almost 6ft long... Its going to stick right out of the top of the open tank, and I hope to grow some bromiliads or similar along the section exposed to air which will merge straight into java fern below the waterline. I have a bunch of glosso growing in a tank outside for carpeting plant in foreground. Planning on having the wood piece "dripping" with java fern, riccia and anubias (in darker sections). Mid ground plants will be crypts and echinodorus. Havn't decided on background plants yet but would love to get hold of some aromatica (posts on this website indicate we might not have the red variety here in NZ &c:ry ... also keen on balansae, but need to do a bit more planning on aesthetics.

Hi guys, just wondering where you are getting your chelated iron from?? Have you thought of mixing it into your substrate mix.

Definately change the fish... plants are better than fish :slfg:

I've done a bit of web research this afternoon and havn't managed to turn up much in the way of research on the effectiveness of LED downlights for planted tanks. I was at Bunnings yesterday and noticed that they have crompton bulbs and that you can get various wattages, colour temps (3000 - 5000 K)... no idea about PAR of these bulbs other than they reckon a 20W is equivalent to a 100W (....light output???) http://www.crompton.com.au/uploads/Lightstar_Energy_Saving_Mouse_Pad.pdf Has anyone tried growing plants under these lights or know of some research about their effectiveness? I would think that they have quite small coverage with their 20 degree angle so would need quite a few. But some nice fittings available and might suit nano tanks

Lets start a thread of links to the best planted tank pictures/links on the web. Probably best if we don't have comments other than a simple heading (see my examples below) as it makes trawling through pages and pages a real pain. Worst comes to worst I can copy the links up to the start. I'll keep adding as I come across those perfect tanks 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_XCOzLIip0QU/SWeFLMul-XI/AAAAAAAAC00/0YqN9_mnpjs/s1600-h/PVD350L.jpg 7. http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_XCOzLIip0QU/R8aMoj_LkHI/AAAAAAAAA94/w72ujGdKh8s/s1600-h/20080227_1280x800.jpg 8. http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_XCOzLIip0QU/Rp_mz9bGHJI/AAAAAAAAAU4/7i_xc1pHkqI/s1600-h/20070719_1.jpg

As said by si_sphinx, If you are wanting to take out nutrients then you shouldn't put JBL or any other type of fertiliser in there. I've seen a few marine setups which grew mangroves in their wet/dry to remove nutrients but I dont think it really took off. If I was going to do it I would use a grass (vetiver is really good at removing nutrients but grows to big I would think) grasses suck out nutrients but are very hardy and will survive lean times as well... have a look into the nutrient removal capacity of something like mondo grass which will handle being wet....

Go for it Shaun.. wait till you see the growth with CO2... it's like steroids for plants. Keep trimming those hydrocotyle so they stay low to the ground. If I remember correctly you can stick the cut off piece with the leaf back into the substrate and it will re-root. That will give you a nice compact carpeting look

Hi all, I sent Siak your questions and he has replied that the tank is definately on pressurised CO2, and that the excel every couple of weeks is only to combat algae.

Hey Joshlikesfish, where in Taupo did your mate get the sand?? I am looking for a sand thats dark...but not brown like the Daltons propogating mix. I actually got a beautiful white sand from a local lake whilst hunting...looked really suspicious two grown men with guns on their backs carrying out bags of sand and no deer But the sand turned out to be a pumice sand and is so light that a fish only has to flick its tail to dislodge nearby plants...... Do you have any better photos of the sand... does anyone have photos of the raglan sand, might head over there this week for a surf and pick up some sand