New 110 Planted Tank

[BigMac]

I picked up the 110 Plexi today. The stand needs to be cleaned up a little. I'm entertaining changing the color. I want to build or buy a canopy to house lights and finish off the furniture look.

It's dimentions are 72"x18"x20'". It has a black background and will get black flourite sand.I have seven bags, and I can get 4 more tomarrow. Unfortunetly, my brand new HO t 5 light will not sit corectly on this tank. I'm hoping to hang it in the canopy centered and have low lighting on the ends of the tank simulating shady areas. I'd hate to have to buy two 36" lights.

http://www.aquaticcommunity.com/fishpictures/data/746/medium/new_120.JPG

[Northernguy]

Thats a georgeous tank.I like the stand as well!
Any thoughts on inhabitants ?
Nice grow out tank!

[BigMac]

This is going to house 2 Angelfish, 4 pepper cory, 3 panda cory, 8 zebra loaches and two brisltnose pleco. Oh and about 10 nean ;)

I am literally moving my 55 into this tank.

My next step is to actually locate it where it will be setup. I'm trying to make where it goes my wifes idea.

Anyone know where I can get some canopy plans?

[Lady Hobbs]

Nice tank and the stand looks good to me too. I would up those neons to about 50! Check the DIY fish tank canopies in Google to get some idea's. Sure wish those things were made of fiberglass so they wouldn't be so heavy! I have one for a 55 gallon and can't even put it on the tank by myself. Maybe I'm just too puny.

[Kayla-Bug]

I'd hate to have to buy two 36" lights. Imagine having to buy a 72in light...... But congrats on the tank! I got a 150 couple days ago.

[Northernguy]

I have mine posted in the DIY section.You may be able to figure it out.Its pretty simple.There are also some plans on the net.
You could go to an lfs and take a look at the way theirs are done and get a few ideas as well!

[mac]

Hi,
Congrats on the tank. Looking forward to seeing what it is like.

mac

[gunk]

Tank looks great. A canopy shouldn't be too hard to build, just make sure you figure out a way to add fans so nothing gets too hot. Since you have a 55g, I'm assuming your T5 lights are 48" long. You could try to find a 24" fixture to make up the difference and have high-light plants across your entire tank, or just find a way to mount some other kind of fluorescents in there for pretty cheap.

Anyway, with a tank that size you could probably increase your stocking quite a bit. The angels might eat your neons, so if you haven't already bought the neons I would go with cardinals instead to be safe. You could probably go with 20 and maybe a school of 10 bleeding heart tetras or something a bit bigger.

[fins_n_fur]

Awesome! You and your fish will love all of the extra room in there! Can't wait to see it set up now!

[BigMac]

Thanks everyone! This tank is for the fish as much as it is me.

I went crazy when I was stocking my 55 and found myself needing alot more space.

I'll have 11 bags of black sand tonight. I almost have my wife invloved in it's final location. I think if it sits in the middle of the living room for one or two more days she will be on board ;)

Believe it or not, my LFS doesn't have any tanks with this kind of stand.. no canopies at all.

I'll poke round while I'm supposed to be working today ;)

[teach]

Congrats on the tank a tank that size would be awsome. And 55's do seem to fill up fast

[Lady Hobbs]

Shop Lights. Get a couple from Home Depot, upgrade the bulbs and stagger them when you attach them to your canopy so all areas of the tank get light.

The top of my canopy opens (the back is open) but I have no openings in the front for feeding without having to open the top of it. Those with openings in the front are really handy.

[BigMac]

I think I need about three more bags of sand.

http://www.aquaticcommunity.com/fishpictures/data/746/medium/more_sand.JPG

Then I have to move my 55.

http://www.aquaticcommunity.com/fishpictures/data/515/medium/wholetank1.jpg

The Boss says the tank goes in it's spot.

[Northernguy]

You will have a better idea if it was out of the bags.You may want about 3-4 more bags before your done.
Are you rinsing it first?
Sweet tank,have you decided if you are changing the finish on the base yet?
That color is easy to copy if you are building a canopy.
Straight varathane maybe over a natural stain should do it from this angle and light..

[BigMac]

I get to leave it the honey color.

I started to rinse the sand last night. The poor guy that filled his 10 gal with black sand and didn't rinse it must have had a chocolate milk tank.

I'm going to put the fish in my backup tank so I can place the big tank and set it up. I dont want to put too much sand in before I have to move it ( I'm moving it alone). Once it is setup and has water in it I'm going to run the now dead (bacteria dead) filter on it with some filter floss and a pantyhose pre filter to clear the water some.

This tank will be running by Thursaday.

[Northernguy]

I get to leave it the honey color.

I started to rinse the sand last night. The poor guy that filled his 10 gal with black sand and didn't rinse it must have had a chocolate milk tank.

I'm going to put the fish in my backup tank so I can place the big tank and set it up. I dont want to put too much sand in before I have to move it ( I'm moving it alone). Once it is setup and has water in it I'm going to run the now dead (bacteria dead) filter on it with some filter floss and a pantyhose pre filter to clear the water some.

This tank will be running by Thursaday.

I'll be right over to help you move that thing! LOL
Keep it empty until you get it in place,your back will appreciate it.
Good plan to clear the water,but why is the bacteria dead?
Is that your filter or the one that came with the tank?

[BigMac]

The tank came with a 404 that hasn't been running since last Sunday or longer. I have another 404 on my 55 with 3 baskets of bio materiel to go on the new tank when the fish move. So the new tank will sport two 404.

I'm going to clean it out and put in some filter floss. I'll install it on the new tank to clear the water after carefully filling it. Once the water is clean and up to temp, I"ll start moving over fish. This tank will get mostly new plants. I'll move my cherry hedge and my Anubus, but the sords are history. My bristlenose have them skelitonized. Their root systems are fantastic but the greens are toast.

I moved the tank around a little this morning. I have it in front of my 55 just to get some pics. I'll post the pics after work tonight.

I'll get my sand washed, I have 7 more bags. I hope I have enough, my wifes not to thrilled with this stuff spread out like this ;)

[BigMac]

So I moved my big tank into position.

I'll get the sand washed tonight.

http://www.aquaticcommunity.com/fishpictures/data/746/medium/size_persective.jpg

http://www.aquaticcommunity.com/fishpictures/data/746/medium/the_end.jpg


http://www.aquaticcommunity.com/fishpictures/data/746/medium/move_over.jpg

I wonder why my back is sore ;)

[Northernguy]

LOL The pain goes away after its set up! :19:
Its going to look pretty amazing soon .

[BigMac]

Tonight I'll finish the sand washing and if I don't need more sand, I will fill it with water and start my filter and heaters.

[BigMac]

Sand washing sucks when your doing a couple hundred lbs. ;)

I did develope system to make this go faster. Black flourite sand is my base so a good washing was in order.

http://www.aquaticcommunity.com/fishpictures/data/746/medium/gravel_cleaning_system.JPG

I found I could wash two bags at once and get some decent results. You really have to be thorough with this sand or your tank will look like chocolate milk. I washed this 1/2 bag at a time.

http://www.aquaticcommunity.com/fishpictures/data/746/medium/mud.JPG

You dont want that in your tank. I cant help but thinking that your washing your money down the drain taking all that mud out of there.

[BigMac]

I learned a couple of things... my stand is too short! My 404 don't stand up strait under them :14:
I hope my CO2 system fits. I have all this room under my tank, but it's empty space because my filters are slap in the way. I may have to design a new stand to match my wifes furniture after all.

My T5 4" fixture will light this tank just fine. I may actually fire up the second pair of lights but it is nicely lit with just one pair.

170lbs of sand will make your back hurt ;)

[BigMac]

http://www.aquaticcommunity.com/fishpictures/data/746/medium/long_way_to_go.JPG
So this is where the sand goes.. I should have hired help ;)

http://www.aquaticcommunity.com/fishpictures/data/746/medium/almost_there.JPG

So this stuff looks pretty good! Over the top of the flourite I put 40 lbs of Tahitian black sand. All I can say about this stuff is WOW.. thats black!

My wife isn't super happy about all the black, but I think it will look fantastic as the plants start to take it over.

[BigMac]

And here is the final product.

http://www.aquaticcommunity.com/fishpictures/data/746/medium/finished.JPG

Maybe not final.. but it is up and running. I have alot more to do, but my fish have alot more room and the substrait shouldn't be hurting the loaches any more.

[Northernguy]

Outstanding job! Your tank looks amazing. Well done!
I love the look of the black sand and black background.That should really make your fish colors pop.:19:

[korith]

I bought the same bag of black sand, I'm not looking forward to it as I live in an apt. So no outside bucket washing for me. How many bags of sand did it take it all take? I remember seeing a picture with some bags of sand inside the tank at some point.

[BigMac]

That is nine bags of black flourite sand and two bags of Tahitian Black Moon sand.

I had to wash the flourite 6-7 times to get it clean enough for the tank. The tahitian only took two rinsings.

Its funny watchng my cory dig in the sand.. burying their noses. This ws totally worth it to my fish. Only my nervouse male bristlenose is still hiding.

I noticed some freyed fins today.. I hope that clears up soon.

This sand will have me cleaning daily. The fish poo collects in two or three spots so I will be able to keep things real clean without too much work. about 8 gal per day and weekly large changes should keep it really nice.

[mac]

Hi,
Looking great so far.

mac

[fins_n_fur]

It looks great! Can we have a pic with the fishies in their new home?

[Tolley]

Firstly your tank is amazing!

Also I agree with fins we need more pics. THis'll be a challenge but any chance of a photo of your loaches together? I love zebra loaches. your group must be awesome.

[teach]

Looks great good job

[BigMac]

The fish are in there. If you look carefully there is a 4 in Angel bottom center.

I put the fish in as soon as I had the temp close. I have been trying to get pics.. the loaches cruise 4-6 at a time but they are fast. I have video of them I need to learn to post.

Today I'm going to try to get a couple of new plants. I'm looking for tall plants to screen the stuff in the tank.

[BigMac]

Sad day... I no longer have two Angels...

I guess one of the pair I had wanted to be a "pair" and was not met in a receptive manner.
In less than 8 hours this one fish darn near killed the other Angel ( my favorite fish).

If the REALLY torn up Angel makes it I will be down to 1. I have no special hopes.

Anyone in SanJose CA area want a 3-4 in angel.... well mannored I promise ;)

I'm taking it to the LFS in an hour or so.

[BigMac]

I did a filter clean and 50% water change today. I ended up pulling a bunch of plants out because they were falling apart and rotting.

I got some replacements today.. None had a scientific name attached to it ;)

http://www.aquaticcommunity.com/fishpictures/data/500/medium/plant01.JPG

http://www.aquaticcommunity.com/fishpictures/data/500/medium/plant03.JPG

http://www.aquaticcommunity.com/fishpictures/data/500/medium/plant02.JPG

While we were at the fish store mt fie pointed out a cabinet with canopy she likes because it matches her furniture ;)

I'm waiting for a price quote now.

[Sir Tristen]

Sorry the angels didn't work. That tank sure is looking great though! I'm a little envious.

[Northernguy]

I'm sorry to here about your angels!
Strange name for a fish that can be so mean!
I wish you were closer,I'd build you a stand that would last for ever.

[BigMac]

Thanks!

I have the skill to build a stand but not the time. I hold down a full time job as well as run a business of my own. I just built a fantastic work bench for my business partner.

I whish I knew what kind of plants these are, it would make them easyer to place in the tank. I guess it will be like Christmas, never knowing what I'll get.

I'll try to get a full tank shot posted later tonight.

I'm almost done collecting up the parts for my CO2 system :19:
I have about 1 week till the rest of my stuff arrives.

[BigMac]

http://www.aquaticcommunity.com/fishpictures/data/500/medium/fulltank.JPG

I hope my bristlenose don't do to this new bulb pant what they are doing to my sword plants.

[BigMac]

As you can see, I still have one Angel. This is the fish that got nearly killed.
It's almost back to normal. I can live with just the one. To bad for the other one.
This one doesn't bother other fish, including the neons. I was telling my wife tonight that we should video them eathing together. The Neons swarm all around the Angel during feeding time.

[Wild Turkey]

As you can see, I still have one Angel. This is the fish that got nearly killed.
It's almost back to normal. I can live with just the one. To bad for the other one.
This one doesn't bother other fish, including the neons. I was telling my wife tonight that we should video them eathing together. The Neons swarm all around the Angel during feeding time.

That sounds really cute! cant wait to see the vid, tank is looking great!:19:

[BigMac]

I pulled out a heater this morning.
When I got up today and looked at my tank I could feel the heat coming off of it. I turned on a lamp and the temp was @ 82 and my 300 watt heater was on! The little bugger was turned all the way down too.

I'm going to look into a titanium heater and controller. Thats the second heater I have chuked in 1 month.

[james481]

I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but AFAIK Tahitian Moon Sand is not an appropriate substrate for any bottom dwelling fish, especially fish who filter it through their gills, like I believe Cories do. TMS is actually an industrial by-product of glass manufacturing (iow it's made of tiny shards of black glass) and will quickly injure or kill your Cories and probably at least stress out your Bristlenoses from the irritation it causes them. If your looking for black sand that is bottom dweller safe, try 3M ColorQuartz Type S.

[BigMac]

That is bad news.

I have not seen any irritation. The cories are darn near burying their heads digging along in it.

Now I'm going to be thinking about tearing the damn thing down t replace 50 bucks worth of sand ;(

[BigMac]

I just did a web search and cant find anyhting about that sand being bad. If anyting they say its expensive and light.

Got links?

[james481]

That is bad news.

Sorry again. After seeing all the work you put into this (tank looks great BTW), I was hesitant to say anything, but I figured you should know. You could always just watch them and see how it goes, but given that the damage is going to be mostly in the gills (at least with the Cories), it might be pretty hard to monitor short of any fish dying.


Now I'm going to be thinking about tearing the damn thing down t replace 50 bucks worth of sand ;(

:scry:

[james481]

I just did a web search and cant find anyhting about that sand being bad. If anyting they say its expensive and light.

Got links?

From the manufacturer, CaribSea:

http://www.caribsea.com/pages/products/super_nat.html

Notice on the comparative table on the bottom of the page:

Tahitian Moon
Soft Belly Safe: No
Burrower Friendly: No

[james481]

After looking into this a little more, apparently some people have major problems with Cories (Corys?) and TMS, and some report no problems at all. From what I can tell, the major damage is usually to the barbels, the loss of which can lead to bacterial infection and death. You may just want to wait and see how your fish react to the particular batch of TMS you got (that's the other part of the equation: This "sand", being an industrial by-product, probably varies from batch to batch). I found a few threads through Google about this. Here's an interesting one from PlanetCatfish:

http://www.planetcatfish.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=24266&p=143424

[BigMac]

Well, thank you very much for making me aware of the issue. I actually put it in for them :scry:

I'll go do my homework and I watch my fish very closely anyway so I may find I need to replace this. If I do, it wont be the end of the world. Too bad the little guys will have to live with it either way till after the hollidays.
It will really stink scooping this off the flourite.
Do you have a sorce for the other black sand? I could just have strait black flourite. I find it is even more fine than the TMS and I would like a cover coat of black sand.

[james481]

Well, thank you very much for making me aware of the issue. I actually put it in for them :scry:

Not a problem.


I'll go do my homework and I watch my fish very closely anyway so I may find I need to replace this. If I do, it wont be the end of the world. Too bad the little guys will have to live with it either way till after the hollidays.
It will really stink scooping this off the flourite.

I hope it works out well for you and your fishies. thumbs2:


Do you have a sorce for the other black sand? I could just have strait black flourite. I find it is even more fine than the TMS and I would like a cover coat of black sand.

3M ColorQuartz comes in two grain sizes, referred to as type S (the smaller size) and type T (larger). I use the black type S, and it's quite nice, although it's a very small grain size so you may want to look into which might be better for your needs. The best way to get this product is if someone stocks it locally in your area. It is used mostly (at least where I live) in pools and industrial floor finishes, so those may be places to start looking. You might also be able to find someone in your area through Google or 3M's website. If you can't find any local (like myself), you can mail order some from here:

http://www.vbpstore.com/50-lb-bag-of-3m-color-quartz.html

$38 / 50 lbs bag including shipping isn't a bad price, but probably quite a bit more than if you find a local source and pick it up yourself.

[BigMac]

Thanks Again!

I just ordered a 50lb bag. I'll go get two more bags of flourite sand to make up for what I'm going to scrape off.

I have a couple weeks off coming up, so I can tear this bad boy down, polish out a scratch my daughter made and take out the TMS.

I guess that will be a good time to set up my CO2 as well.

[BigMac]

I got off work a little early today. I dropped by my LFS and picked up 4 more bags of flourite sand.

I puled up all my plants and carefully scraped away the layer of moons sand and scooped it out of the tank.

Then I put the freshly washed flourite sand into the tank the same way I took out the flourite. Just backwards. I scooped it out of the buckets I washed it in and carefully submerged it into my nearly full tank. I lower it all the way to the bottom and pour it carefully inot the bottom.

http://www.aquaticcommunity.com/fishpictures/data/500/medium/plus_sixty.JPG

Not too cloudy and I even turned the sand before I added the new 60lbs. of sand.

Here is the tank after I got all the plants back in.

http://www.aquaticcommunity.com/fishpictures/data/500/medium/all_done.JPG

[Wild Turkey]

I love the way it looks!!!:19:

When do we get to see the angel + neons vid or did i miss it?:ssmile:

[BigMac]

I have to learn how to post a video. I haven't had them do it for a couple of days.. they found out they are back on the menu.

[BigMac]

The tank is nice and clear today!

I will clean the filters tomarrow.

I was out fish shopping this afternoon. I certainly am glad I checked befoe I bought.. I had my eye on two green scats ;)

Then I found out they get to 15in !

My neons are on the angel fish menu, so I'm looking for another tetra type fish to replace them.

[LORENZO]

:fish: :fish: The rummynose tetra or harlequin are great with angels. i have both of them but need more of both of them! Those rasboras are beatiful withe the zebra angels. The marbles look good with all those rummynoses.

[Sharon]

Check out Congo Tetras...I keep recommending them because they are my favourite!thumbs2:

[BigMac]

It will be hard to choose.

I may even look at fancy guppies. That would keep my angel in fresh food ;)
My tanks a little warm for them though.

I have been loooking at rummy's and diamonds but those congos are nice looking fish. I had not seen them here locally.

[BigMac]

I got some new gear this afternoon.

I still need a 10lb bottle.

http://www.aquaticcommunity.com/fishpictures/data/746/medium/CO2_gear.JPG

I'm about to grow some seriose algea ;)

[james481]

Did you end up getting the 3M ColorQuartz? Any update on how it's working out for you? Tank looks great, BTW...

[LORENZO]

:fish: :fish: Yes Sharon those emperors are lovely tetras you see plenty of them around. Did you say you keep them now?

[BigMac]

No, I went with the strait flourite sand. THe order I placed for the color quartz was cancelled because it wasnt in stock.

I picked up 60lbs of flourite instead and everyone is happy.

I'm shopping for rocks for another rock pile right now.

[BigMac]

One of my new plants is truely taking off. This bad boy is growing one or two leaves a day and has three or four flowers growing already.

http://www.aquaticcommunity.com/fishpictures/data/746/medium/crazy_bulb.jpg

Can anybody ID this plant? It was about half this size 2 weeks ago. I'm going to try and trim it back soon.

Here is a shot of its first flowers.
http://www.aquaticcommunity.com/fishpictures/data/746/medium/flower_1.jpg

It has matured a little since this shot..
http://www.aquaticcommunity.com/fishpictures/data/746/medium/flower_4.jpg

[BigMac]

I have added one more piece of hard ware.

http://www.aquaticcommunity.com/fishpictures/data/746/medium/new_bottle.jpg

I tried to set it all up and found my glass diffuser is defective.. it has a big hole in the side of it above the check valve that lets the CO2 out before diffusion. So I put my CO2 line to the pickup of one of my cannisters and it seems to be working just fine.

When I put my PH controller on I learned alot about my water. My tap water is 8.3 My tank water is 7.6. My water with CO2 injection is 7.1 at this injection level. I'm looking for a drop checker to finish this project.

[BigMac]

I went to the local lanscape supply house and bought 140 lb of rocks. I cleaned a couple of them up and put them in my tank... and out they came.. they looked awful under water.
So I used my new rocks to hold down lanscaping covers in my yard and brought in a pile from the yard.

http://www.aquaticcommunity.com/fishpictures/data/746/medium/new_rocks.jpg

As you can see from this pic... I'll not be growing my Amazon Swords. My BN female tears them up slow but sure feeding on algea.

I am activly looking for another background plant.

[BigMac]

Here is a fuzzy but current wholetank shot.
http://www.aquaticcommunity.com/fishpictures/data/746/medium/wholetank1.jpg

[BigMac]

http://www.aquaticcommunity.com/fishpictures/data/500/medium/corkscrew.jpg

[Hailey]

wow, whats that plant?

[BigMac]

Some bulb plant ... it was labled corkscrew.

[Sharon]

The tank looks great, and that plant is gorgeous!thumbs2:

[fishlover49]

Awesome!!! thumbs2:

[BigMac]

Here is a shot 1 year later.http://www.aquaticcommunity.com/fishpictures/data/746/medium/tank_pic.JPG

[Lab_Rat]

Awesome looking tank! I got caught up reading that thread on TMS and cories as I have my cories on the flourite sand and TMS combo. They've been on it several months now and no sign of any barbel erosion.

[rich311k]

Beautiful tank!

[BigMac]

Thanks for the props.
This has been a huge learning curve.
I have done everything that can be done wrong, wrong and still ended up with some plants doing well.
Of course more died than flourished.
I have considered scrapping the whole idea of plants and doing an african tank.

[BigMac]

here is a closer shot of a sword I recently got. This one doesnt seem to get very big. It is putting of runners so I know its a happy plant.

http://www.aquaticcommunity.com/fishpictures/data/746/purple_sword.jpg

sorry about the shaded area.. I wanted to post this one but ran out of time for a re shoot tonight.

[BigMac]

this is a closer shot of the big sword in the back..

http://www.aquaticcommunity.com/fishpictures/data/746/medium/big_red_sword.jpg

[BigMac]

I just finished tearing this tank down today.

http://i850.photobucket.com/albums/ab63/MartinMacDonald/freshwater%20planted/Brokedown3_4_2010.jpg

I'm putting this one outside and on to craigs list if none of my slatwater club wants it.

I just finished setting up this one in the dining room.

http://i850.photobucket.com/albums/ab63/MartinMacDonald/freshwater%20planted/Planted903_4_2010.jpg

I pulled out ALOT of plants.

I put in all the fresh young plants and discarded all the older growth. I wanted to give it to myy LFS but they dont sem to be interested. I tool them some really pretty red swords and they almost didnt take them.

I had to move this tank out to make room for my 120 gal reef. I also HAD to get that ugly old paneling off the walls.

[hockeyhead019]

wow... just read through the whole thread and its crazy haha great story of the tank please keep posting about the 120 reef tank you have planned :)

[BigMac]

I'll do a build thread.

I'm allmost done collecting tha parts.