jasonnz

I'm using the Marina Aquavac in my 1400 litre tank. I had to make up a fitting for the sink but it works well. It takes 25 minutes to remove 20% of the wate from the tank. And less time to fill it again. It screws on and the black thing at the bottom pops up and down. While down it's sucking the water out of the tank. Using 16mm aquaone hosing it works well as a gravel cleaner even though it runs 30 metres through my office. It's around $49 for the fitting as pictured - or you can buy the kit with gravel cleaner and a7.6m hose for around $110. My process before was to use my hand pump gravel cleaner to put the water into a 80 litre rubbish bin - carry it through my office and pour it outside .. then use water cooler bottles .. which I would have to proportionally mix with hot and cold water ... would take around 2 hours to complete a water change of around 100 litres in my 270 litre tank. GRRRRRR. I can't see you would spent much more .. I did consider a hose and fitting as above - but then I couldnt really use it as a gravel cleaner and also I like the idea of a clear pvc pipe so I can see what's coming out of the tank.

Yes - there are no rules when creating a planted aquarium. I wasnt interested in conforming to 1 scene - or limiting myself to 1 or 2 plants. At the end of the day - I have to look at it all day .. and wanted to have as many scenes and angles to the tank. I didnt like 2.4m of rocks .. although it would look cool in a small tank - in a large tank it would look very bare and plain. At the same time - an entire tank of wood would be a mess. I was interested to get a mix of the 2 elements and to see if I could somehow join them together. Now that we are going to change the wood .. some additional thought will go into the layout.... Stay tuned.

Thanks for the heads up! I have some dark driftwoods actually from a petshop and have located some more! The last thing we want is the tank being destroyed by dodgy wood! Re the comment about the tank looking fantastic! I dont expect anything to look fantastic for a few months yet! Little plants need sOme time to grow!

A quick run down on the planting : 1. On the right in waht looks like squares of grass are Riccia Fluitans .. each section is attached to the tile and will form a nice complete carpet (hopefully) which fully covers the right hand side foreground. (the tiles keep it on the bottom and will eventually disapear from view). 2. On the extreme left is 3 moss trees. These were made from pohutakawa roots and grown over a period of 6 months. (I did not make these but actually got them from trademe user VALRAY - who by the way is an amazing aquarist and supplier). 3. Behind and around the stones we have Dwarf hairgrass - Echinodorus tenellus and Echinodorus quaricostatus and although not much of it was available we also have some Eleocharis parvula in and around the foreground to the left. 4. You will notice the large misplaced rocks on the left. This is because the wood was partially submerged and decided it didnt want to sit still. Although not completely planned - I'm not too worried about it. 5. We have plenty of java ferns of different sizes, jungle VAL on the left hand side at the extreme back. 6. In the foreground on the left i am trying some Glossostigma which seems to be everyones fav carpet plant. Under the hood of the tank is 1. fx5 running biological media 2. aquaone1200 pure mechanical filtration 3. 36 watt UV Steriliser 4. co2 setup with an inline CO2 Atomizer Over the tank: 1. 4 x dual bulb t5ho fittings which are 120cm each. 2. 4 x GLO power glo bulbs 3. 4 x GLO day glo bulbs. In the tank : 1. MX-1014 with 1000 watt Titanium Heater 2. custom made piping for filter fittings. 3. spraybar from aquaone.

This is a pic of the tank as it stands this evening. See how many plants you can spot. The cabinet is my next job - it will be finished over the next few weeks - dressing it nicely etc. two themes in one tank. why not when you have the space.

Thanks for that antwan and FraserNZ I put the bubbler aside for now. As for ferts, I have some of the new aquavitro range of ferts from seachem. I will give them a go - see how they work out. Alot of reading was done to try and get a good understanding of the requirements. I'm not 100% sure about it all just yet .. as everything here is new to me .. however the Barrreport was very useful. First photo of the semi completed setup .. coming in a few minutes.

Frasernz I setup the bubbler because while you might be right about the surface area - I'm just not totally comfortable during dark hours not having one running. There are a hell of a lot of plants in my tank. For fertilizers, I have some flourish products from seachem which i will dose as required, I only have a few plants that do not have roots - so most of the plans will actually get a good dose from the substrates. just setting up a spreadsheet actually - to track dosages. need to look for a testkit for checking iron levels.

Big night last night. Added second filtration unit - removed the filter material from the FX5 - and as per my previous post - filled it with healthy media from another tank - added some new media and some cycle to the tank. Setup a the second filter (1200) as a mechanical filter - installed the inline UV filter - the atomizer for the Co2 and the inlet outlet valves. Installed some home plumbing to get the intak and outake of the fx5 in the right place. It doesnt look pretty at the moment - but once I have figured out where it is all going to sit - I will make it permanent - paint the pipes etc. Installed a bubbler and set it up on a timer - (for dark hours). Set the lights on a timing sequence so they come on in stages and go off in stages. Need to install the the other heater - prime the second mechanical filter didnt get time last night. and make up some plumbing for the second inlet/outlets. Then I need to finish filling the tank - (it's 85% full at the moment) and then re-cut the class hoods to fit.Look at hanging the lights. Then finish. Hope to spend 4 or 5 hours after work tonight and tomorrow .. then I think we will be ready to start dressing the cabinet - and look at building a hood. Then this weekend I will be ready for some fish. hurrah.

OMG Opened my older canister filter to take the bio out and i saw something move! A full grown female betta fish living in my filter! WTF

done. Now for some fish. I even managed to get the co2 done today - timers setup - lighting on timer system - pump running (just mechanical at this stage) - heater in place .. etc etc. All that is left now is to tidy all the cables and install the pump in place. Then it's time to start preparing some biologicals for the fishies that will be living in the tank. I am exhuasted. Good thing I had a whole lot of help. I will update with photos and a journal of events as they unfolded .. from start to finish .. when I have some time this week. Jason

Thats the plan! Planting starts tomorrow!

Sand from the beach will work too... The aim of the game though is to have nutrient rich substrate for a longer period of time. If your plants dont have access to all the nutrients they need - your going to be wasting a whole lot of time and effort for minimal results.

I was always intending on getting the best substrate base, i think i was pretty sure the flourite was going to do the job! Its ok! I went on a successful journey and found some plants today and a few other little surprises! But im tight lipped just at the moment! Substrate down and hardscape tomorrow! Plants due for sunday at this stage! This is it ! Its party time! I have a whole lot of updates in addition which :happy2: i will post later tonight!

Trip to hollywood fish farm today in Mt Roskill to pick up my substrates and a few other random bits. We are now all set for our install and arrangement of our hardscape. First up we have for base - JBL Aquabasis plus - this base mix will ensure the plants root system at the bottom of the tank will have a nutrient rich system to tap into. - effective for a minimum of 3 years. essentially it is a fertiliser tha does not require any mixing with sand as it is already premixed essentially. JBL Florapol 200 - this is essentially the concentrate fertiliser that makes up the above product. I won't be pre mixing this and it's certainly not normally required - however given my tank size and the amount of plants - I've decided to add another nutirient layer to the tank. My first base if you liek is Seachems Flourite Black Sand - This will be spread on top of the ferts - It can be used on it's own - but is only good for a short time if not using a base. The last layer is a black grit - it is a fine grit and looks like course black unground salt. I will post a photo when I have one. If I am a bit thin I will use the grit to top the tank up. I also got my first 4 bulbs today - 4 more to pick up tomorrow. Filter wool - couple large bags of this .. - will be used in my mechanical filter. I got http://www.hollywoodfishfarm.co.nz/deta ... -25/m/937/ which is the Marina Aqua Vac - you would have seen this in your local fish shop - most of them use it for quick water changes - no buckets required. I also got some additional hose to go with it. Also got some other general products that I will need for cycling the water and prime etc. Here is a generic photo from this afternon showing some goodies and my hospital tank in the background. This weekend we hope to start our scape. This all depends on how our wood. I am also looking for tons of plants - if you have loads of plants - can recommend someone who has them or just know where I can go - please let me know .. especially interested in mosses, grasses, carpeting plants, blades etc.

Oh - and it's substrate day! - fingers crossed I get some time to go and pick this up.

Ok - awesome news - lights arrived yesterday minus the bulbs. I will have to go and hunt some of these down from the usual retailers. I AM going to be using t5 fluro bulb setup for now - and this will be supplemented in the future with some other lights - which I am planning for at the moment - but not in a hurry to buy. The lights I got were GLO T5HO 48" 122cm (2 x 54w). I was very lucky to be contacted by someone who provided these to me at a very reasonable price. Nice to have made a decision - given the amount of different views and opinions of some people. Everyone has a preference - which has allowed me to explore the different aspects of lighting and learn alot about what I could setup. I am going to hange these above the tank. The idea is to have them able to be hoisted into the roof when maintenance needs to happen. Rather than having to remove them everytime someone wants to hope into the tank. As tempting as it was to setup LED's - I just don't have the time to learn - trial - error - learn - rebuilt a setup just at the moment. The 8 t5 bulbs will give me sufficient PAR to grow almost all of the plans I want to put in the tank - I'm going to have some very small limitations in some areas within the tank - so I will use low light plants for those areas. If I need more lighting - a couple of MH lights will be added to the setup in the centre of the tank which I will run for 4 - 6 hours per day in addition.

Thanks for the thecap Yeah - i was actually inspired by the greenmachine to do this tank as a planted tank - I saw the size of the stuff they would with and decided that it was a worthwhile challenge and looks amazing.

Thanks Caper - I am looking forward to it also - I think I have the lighting sorted .. next stop .. plants.

THanks for that antwan - I have posted on that forum asking for some lighting advice - I am sure they have a wealth of knowledge to share .. I'll keep you posted.

Ok so .. earlier in the thread I talked about how the top of the stand seemed to be around 2mm out at one end of the tank. This meant that there was 2mm that you could lift the ply of the base before it made contact with the tank. So tonight I stood around looking at the stand for an hour before using wooden builders wedges and selleys no more nails to fill the gap. The ply now sits hard up against the glass in all corners .. along front and back. When water is slowely put into the tank, everythihg should sit tight and level. :roll:

Ok - so cancelled my order for lighthing .. stressing a little over the right setup. I'm back to square one. :facepalm: Anyone have a deep planted setup and care to share they lighting setup with me? :nilly: Also - is anyone doing LED on a big tank. Keen to hear some thoughts here. The idea was for 8 t5's in the tank - however .. 4 x gropro and 4 x day lights - but with so many comments about the depth and light - I am worried it could be an expensive mistake (around $2500).. So now I look for some wisdom from those who have walked this path before... Or if you have an idea as to how you would set the lighting up - please post your scenario for me to consider. Cheers.

Thanks - yes - I have not been able to find a setup that I think its going to be suitable for my tank - at a reasonable price. I can always just lower the water level slightly should I need to. This will get my by for now. Went on a trek to port waikato today to see about finding some wood - got some really nice bits of drift wood. Also went to stone and water world and got some amazing schist - very nice large rocks and only $1.04 per kg - (got 70KGS).

Yeah I think we will have to supplement the T5's with LED's to get some of the plants which require an extreme amount of light. Once I get serious with some carpet plant's I can see this might be an issue for me.

Sweet - yeah my maths came out about the same - I have another small 100 watt as a backup - so we have around 400 watts available should one heater fail for a bit.

It can drop to 18 in the summer