dee_jay_01 Posted January 12, 2006 Report Share Posted January 12, 2006 hey all, Just a little thing you could do, with your tank aswell, and it looks good. Is to place Blue Neon Strips around the Outside of your tank so when your watching TV at night with the light off you can have the Lights around the tank on aswell. Most Auto Shops have them for a reasonable price and they can be attached to a small trasformer to pluginto the wall. I seen this in a display at a LFS and it looks amazing. especially with the Discus. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
freshwest Posted January 17, 2006 Author Report Share Posted January 17, 2006 Week 4. The maiden fill went with out a hitch. No creeks or groans which was a relief. Here are few pics of the progress so far this week. As you can see the aquascapes are glued in place and the gravel is in. Will post some details of the plumbing and lighting later in the week. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tanksman Posted January 17, 2006 Report Share Posted January 17, 2006 All right Freshwest - Massive tank - you don't muck round in Waiuku - Now bring on the plants - who's got a million ground cover plants to get us started Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
evilknieval69 Posted January 17, 2006 Report Share Posted January 17, 2006 that is one nice tank you have got there. hope all goes well :bounce: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sharn Posted January 18, 2006 Report Share Posted January 18, 2006 lol rogan... heard you were getting into breeding? angels wasnt it? ive got competition now dont i lol. youll have to come round some time to see my setups Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
evilknieval69 Posted January 19, 2006 Report Share Posted January 19, 2006 sharn i hav PMed u... Got anymore pics of your tank freshwest?? is it up and running or what??? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BK Posted January 19, 2006 Report Share Posted January 19, 2006 Warren you stated that table top etc should have no more than 0.5mm out of square to plain. Timber tops will never conform to this as the standard is 0.3mm either side of aim sizes as standard and timber can also move upto 4% depending on mositure content. This could be what is best but does it happen. How flat are all our tops, mine included. I allways thougth a bit of poly goes a long way. What is the use/recommendations to use thicker poly for bigger tanks about? Just asking not saying anyones wrong. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
freshwest Posted January 19, 2006 Author Report Share Posted January 19, 2006 Quick up date. M/H lights up and running. Working on the sump today should have it all up and running by tonight. Plumbing turned out to be a bigger job than planed and as for the price of fitting don’t get me started If everything goes to plan I should get some plants in over the weekend. Pics to come. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
freshwest Posted January 20, 2006 Author Report Share Posted January 20, 2006 Everything is up and running and working well. The only problem I have is water clarity. It seems the JBL aquamix is causing the problem. I put a good layer of gravel over it so it should clear in time. Im on the look out for floating plants. With 800watts of M/H light the tank is very bright. I plan to use some floating plants over the middle surface area to give some shade for my discus. The plant that comes to mind is Ceratopteris thalictroides (indian fern,water sprite) if anyone has some they would like to sell let me know. I will post a plant list of other plants Im on the lookout for in private trade and exchange. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caryl Posted January 20, 2006 Report Share Posted January 20, 2006 I was recently given half a ton of it :lol: If you want to pay for postage you are welcome to it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Warren Posted January 20, 2006 Report Share Posted January 20, 2006 I'd wait until the leafy plants are well established. Once Echinodorus osiris is well established and the stem plants take off there will be plenty of shade for them. If you put floating plants into the tank you will be forever removing them as they grow like crazy under MH. It took me 2 years to get rid of some Duckweed I accidentally introduced with a new plant and I was only using fluro's then. Many floating plants will completely cover the surface in 1 week. Duckweed used to take about 1 week to go from nothing to complete coverage cause I'd missed a bit. Eventually I got the whole lot and now it's gone. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luke* Posted January 21, 2006 Report Share Posted January 21, 2006 Nice work Warren, I had the same problem which I eventually (manually) rid myself of in my 4 ft tank. Are the M/Hs pendants? How many are there? There's a product you can buy from LFS which actually does work called magic clear, that might help your cloudy water problem. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Faran Posted January 21, 2006 Report Share Posted January 21, 2006 I think Riccia is by far the best floating plant. Many people use it for carpeting, as well. I had some create a nice carpet on a heater guard, was great until a double dose of Flourish Excel killed it off. If you want some, you're welcome to it. Easy as to scoop out as it grows into mats if there's not too much surface agitation. I've recovered completely from losing nearly all of it in the move, so there's enough to spare. Can TrackPak a bundle overnight for $3.50 and it's some expensive stuff on TradeMe, ask Mrskz Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
freshwest Posted January 21, 2006 Author Report Share Posted January 21, 2006 Thanks for the offers of floating plants everyone . I have decided to heed Warrens and Lukes advise and wait a few weeks and see how the other plants develop. I drained the tank yesterday and added an extra layer of gravel which seems to have stopped the aquamix from leeching out . Did a run into Auck and brought some plants will add some more today . Heres some pics of the progress so far. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
monaro1 Posted January 21, 2006 Report Share Posted January 21, 2006 starting to look very cool 8) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
evilknieval69 Posted January 22, 2006 Report Share Posted January 22, 2006 nice tank mate 8) 8) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Discusguru Posted January 22, 2006 Report Share Posted January 22, 2006 Looking better each day. Can't wait to see it when everything is establish and the fish put in. Ronnie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sharn Posted January 22, 2006 Report Share Posted January 22, 2006 i am totally, insanely jealous! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
freshwest Posted January 24, 2006 Author Report Share Posted January 24, 2006 Everything is up and running. Got the co2 in yesterday. Have started to think about a background. At this stage Im thinking of using 10 mm poly painted black. What backgrounds colours are people using out there? Maybe a lighter colour would crate more depth? Penny for your thoughts. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brianemone Posted January 24, 2006 Report Share Posted January 24, 2006 a dark background with no light on it will create good depth, very dark blue or black would high light the plants that have the light on them in the foreground, if you do it right then it looks as though the tank never finishes Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DiverJohn Posted January 24, 2006 Report Share Posted January 24, 2006 I have recently put a piece of black fabric across the back of mine. looks heaps better than the "back ground picture" that was there... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
candy Posted January 24, 2006 Report Share Posted January 24, 2006 we get the plant tank backing and stick it on with the back of it to the tank so its just black.looks realy good as makes the tank look deep and not over crowded.and unlike using fabric or stuf like that its not big deal if it get a bit of water splashed on it and its thick so u cant see through it ect Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tanksman Posted February 14, 2006 Report Share Posted February 14, 2006 Looking Good Fresh. Are your discus in here? Should be a heap of room for a pair to spawn? The other trouble you will have with the floating plants is they will end up in your sump or always up against the overflow until they end up in the sump. Got any pics of the plumbing? Is your overflow quiet? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
freshwest Posted February 15, 2006 Author Report Share Posted February 15, 2006 Sorry for the lack of up dates. Been a testing few weeks. I ran into a major problem with blue green algae, which required a dose of erythromycin to clear it up. I would have gone with the black out method but decided it may have been to hard on new plants. Any way the erythromycin has done the job. The challenge now is to get the water parameters right so it doesn’t come back. As for fish I have called in a crack squad of SAEs to fight the algae battle. They have done a great job on the thread algae shame they don’t eat b/g. I don’t plan to put any discus in until the water conditions are stable and the plants are bigger so there is cover and shade for them. The plants are really starting to pump now they are getting their roots into the JBL aquamix. I still have a bit of fine-tuning with the fertiliser dosing. Heres some pics of the tank and plumbing Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luke* Posted February 15, 2006 Report Share Posted February 15, 2006 Wow absolutely stunning, the extra light of the metal hallides really is worth it. So the SAEs eat thread algae aka hair algae? Was that the green stuff? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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