80 Gallon Journal

Wonderboy

Fish Crazy
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This is a Journal that I started February 4th (Sunday) at another webstie, but I wanted to share with you guys as well!

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Okay - after a huge wait, I finally got started on my "big" tank! I've decided to keep it pic for pic so you could easily understand my craziness, and hobbyists new to planting can follow what I might be attempting! Haha.

First things first: Wash the gravel - as a lot of you know, I decided to wash 3 out of 8 bags of substrate to create a "clean" top layer that would "trap" the unwashed bottom bags of substrate. I used flourite (so you know). I was recommended to create a "giant strainer". So, here it is!

The skeleton:
1001078ig7.jpg


The finished strainer (that's window screen on top):
1001080eq1.jpg


This creation held three 15.4 lb bags of flourite easily! Here's the raw stuff:
1001081gn9.jpg


And here's the washed stuff:
1001082gf8.jpg

Quite a difference, huh?

And now, the tank (it measures at 48" x 18" x 24"):
1001097re5.jpg


Rocks and substrate (including clean layer):
1001101iw5.jpg


In order to fill my tank slowly, I used two airlines and syphoned from the bucket sitting on my tank:
1001103ka2.jpg

I'm not crazy, I swear!

Once it got about half way, I took the bucket down and filled it pitcher by pitcher:
1001105dw5.jpg


AND FINALLY!!
1001107ev2.jpg


That's clear enough to work in for sure! And it's now been about a half hour with the filter running, and it is nearly crystal clear! The reason I filled it without planting also is because I took the tank from phx (which has been running for over 3 years) along with all the original water and filter. There's hopefully an "already cycled advantage" I can gain from this... And also, I filled it up without planting because I don't have my plants yet (they come in Monday or Tuesday)! AND I don;t have my light (hopefully Wednesday or Thursday)! But I do have all this other stuff:

1001108aa9.jpg


Tomorrow, I can hopefully post planting pictures!


~ Wonderboy!

The filter is a Marineland Magnum 350 - I've used it on this tank (for fish only) for over three years, and it has never let me down; so, I've decided to stick with it. But the new addition to the filter is a hydor heater that you can see in-line with the filter return. I use one of these on my 180, and I love the "not-visible" factor, not to mention that they're effective too. So, I got one for this tank, too. If you look at the pictures again, you'll notice all my equipment that runs into the tank is in the top right corner (includes inlet, outlet, and CO2 reactor). I was trying to keep things "low profile".

The rocks came from the mountain range behind Mt. Lemmon in Tucson. I went for a little drive to get them (30 miles into the middle of nowhere).

I organized my electrical chaos today:
It may look like a mess, but it's 10 times easier for me to deal with!
1001121yw0.jpg


And here's the tank this morning:
1001123iz9.jpg

CRYSTAL CLEAR!

~ Wonderboy!

The light you see lighting the tank in the previous post is the dusk/dawn light. I have a 48" 4 x 54 W Tek light on there (it isn't on right there). I also have a 130 W Compact Flourescent just to have a 3 hour mid-day burst of 346 watts. So we'll see if it's enough...

UPDATE:
I planted all the plants and took pics of each individually.
My next post will be a bout 300 pictures, so hold on tight...

OH! And want to hear something exciting? Ok. My glass brace that goes across the middle of the tank broke in the middle, and I had to fix that! I'll show you what I mean next post as well.

Okay - here's the broken brace problem I encountered:

The glass cracked like so and the whole tank was flexing outwards :-[
1001137fn9.jpg


So, I had to drain the tank to here (where it stopped flexing)
1001138yi9.jpg


And then I attached two panes of glass to it (one on bottom, one on top) with silicone.
1001139wu2.jpg


And I'm still waiting for that to fully cure.

Fun, huh?
~ Wonderboy!

OKAY!!! I want to let everyone know before you start looking at this post that I went nuts with plants and got $100 worth in wholesale plants (no shipping - special LFS order - yay for working at a fish store). So this is going to be chaotic, but hang in there.

I decided that while my tank was drained, I will plant EVERYTHING! So I started with the glosso carpet (which is going to be ALL of the lower part of the setup). In this picture, you can see that I already have planted the glosso:
1001140gn1.jpg


And now, here are all of the plants to be added (they're already in there, but it's too murky for a photo):

Rotala Indica
1001141jy9.jpg


Ludwigia Arcuata
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Bacopa Amplexicaulis
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Hygrophila Corymbosa
1001144kd9.jpg


Limnophila Aromatica
1001145dd6.jpg


Narrow Leaf Ludwigia
1001146ut2.jpg


Crypt pontederriifolia
1001148kr5.jpg


Alternanthera Rosaefolia
1001149pt6.jpg


Lobelia Cardinalis
1001150tj3.jpg


Crypt Mioya
1001152wf7.jpg


M. Micranthemum
1001153jh7.jpg


Byxa Japonica
1001154lw9.jpg


Myriophyllum heterophyllum
1001155fy9.jpg


Crypt Petchii
1001156dp7.jpg


And, there will be Java Moss, Christmas Moss, Phoenix Moss, and Riccia in there as well, but not quite yet.

Pictures of CLEAR tank with plants coming soon (when I can fill the tank back up...)!

~ Wonderboy!
 
Neat journal!

I've been up Mount Lemmon too. I was at Davis Monthan Air Force Base for 3 weeks. There's some damn good bars in Tucson.......

What's the lighting? Any plans for aquascapes?

I look forward to following this.
 
Thanks, right now, I am just copying and pasting from another site I started this journal on, so your questions will be answered in a couple minutes. I just wanted to catch up to where I left off at the other site.

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Here's a picture of the tank this morning:
1001161xp0.jpg


I know the glosso is high, but I sunk it in DEEP (it was very tall glosso I guess), so now I will have to wait for some sideways growth until I chop off the high parts.

And, you might think I'm crazy or something, but I filled in all the cracks of the rocks with Java Moss using those twisty wire things that held the names of the plants to their pots. Like this:
1001157kp0.jpg


And this:
1001158tw0.jpg


~ Wonderboy!

"Where did the plants come from?"
I ordered them through Pet Land - where I traded them a black volitan lion for $100 in wholesale plants! I didn't have to put a penny towards them.

"What kind of lighting are you going to have"
This:
1001165zc0.jpg

I already have it - Tek light 48" 4 x 54 Watt T5 HO - this thing is BRIGHT.

Here's a picture with the light on - I don't want to fill it quite yet, as I want the silicone to really be dry.

1001167ca8.jpg


I added fish, too:

20 blue tetras
20 bumblebee gobies
10 corydoras pygmaeus
10 ottos
5 gold white clouds
5 amano shrimp (that's all they had)
1 honey gourami (just because)
1 bluefin killie (given to me)

I will be adding:
10 dwarf puffers (will these bother shrimp?)
30 - 50 white clouds (how many would you say?)

What do you think?

Here's an update:
1001173uj7.jpg


Everything's coming together. I got the Tek light, a 130 coralife fixture, automatic feeder, and a little 20 watt flourescent strip (dusk/dawn) all underneath that canopy! I sunk the glosso into the substrate more, and trimmed back some stray stuff here and there. I think I'll let it grow for a while and see how things work. The "undertank" area (in the stand) is nice and clean/organized. I have the CO2 roughly at 30 ppm, and I start EI Monday (until then, I will just use the Flourish line). I'll explain the whole lighting situation now:

12 hour day:

.5 hr - 20 watt flourescent
1 hr - 130 watt compact flr
9 hrs - 216 watt Tek T5 (in the middle of this - 3 hr - 130 watt compact)
1 hr - 130 watt compact flr
.5 hr - 20 watt flourescent
12 hrs - LED moonlights

Again, but a little differently explained:

12:00 pm - 12:30 pm = 20 watt flourescent
12:30 pm - 1:30 pm = 130 watt compact flr
1:30 pm - 4:30 pm = 216 watt Tek T5
4:30 pm - 7:30 pm = 216 watt Tek T5 and 130 watt compact flr
7:30 pm - 10:30 pm = 216 watt Tek T5
10:30 pm - 11:30 pm = 130 watt compact flr
11:30 pm - 12:00 am = 20 watt flourescent
12:00 am - 12:00 pm = 2 LED moonlights

Oh, and I'm not crazy, I'm just having fun with the extra lights I had laying around - haha. Here's what it looks like with the dusk/dawn light on:
1001174yw6.jpg


And Here's the moon lights
1001175xz1.jpg

Haha - my camera's not cool enough to capture moonlighting!

I decided I would take a picture of "the jungle" - my idea with this super packing with different species is so I can pick and choose my favorites, and thin out the ones that I feel I can do without. Anyways, here we are:
1001178wk6.jpg


And here's a few of those blue tetras... and a bumble bee gobie... and a gold white cloud:
1001179xy2.jpg


I'll post a full tank shot for the day at around 9:30ish.

~ Wonderboy!

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OKAY!

NOW I"M ALL CAUGHT UP - I'LL KEEP EVERYONE POSTED FROM HERE ON OUT!!!

~ Wonderboy!!!
 
This tank look really promising can't wait for it to take off.....good job dude and keep us posted..... :good:
 
Looks great but I would leave out the puffers as not only will they eat your shrimp but they will harrass your other fish.I wouldnt add that much more for now.Also some people disagree but IMO/E bumblebee gobies need brackish water for long term health.But your layout looks great and I like your moss idea.What about having a glosso lawn on the bottom part with some big pebbles covered in riccia(im kinda addicted to riccia).
 
WOW, that is super cool tank, i am out of my expression.
I will come everyday to see whether u update or not :)
 
I like the idea of "moss" too. Cant wait to see how it looks in future... Keep us updated yeah.
 
Looks great but I would leave out the puffers as not only will they eat your shrimp but they will harrass your other fish.I wouldnt add that much more for now.Also some people disagree but IMO/E bumblebee gobies need brackish water for long term health.But your layout looks great and I like your moss idea.What about having a glosso lawn on the bottom part with some big pebbles covered in riccia(im kinda addicted to riccia).

It's funny, while at work, I decided against the puffers, so they're out. I do plan on getting riccia in there somewhere, but I's always had a dream of having a LARGE glosso carpet, so I don't think I want to disturb it quite yet

WOW, that is super cool tank, i am out of my expression.
I will come everyday to see whether u update or not :)

Thanks so much! I'm just as stoked as you are, believe me!

I like the idea of "moss" too. Cant wait to see how it looks in future... Keep us updated yeah.

Thanks!

Here's an update for tonight:
1001203fv0.jpg

1001208dw8.jpg

1001206qu1.jpg

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Tomorrow, I plan on adding 40 penguin tetras (and then I am DONE stocking!).

~ Wonderboy!
 
In terms of carpetting plants, I reckon your tank is big enough for you to experiment with different types in various areas. Then you could decide on the most successful plant and allow it to take over.

Your layout is fairly similar to one I am turning over in my head, but I plan to use more wood in mine. Is your hardscape finished?

I suspect this is going to be very impressive when it matures. Good luck!
 
It will look great when the plants have grown out, a nice design too.
 
Thats a great looking scape, lots of potential there and once it all fills out and the glosso carpets should look great :) like the rock arrangement too.

Sam
 
The riccia and glosso can be done no problem, in fact together they look great.The rocks that are on the bottom part could be covered in riccia with just a simple hairnet.

Heres what I have going in my nano.

DSC02176.jpg
 
That tank is going to be something when it's mature. If it were me, I'd stick a few weeds on the other side until things settle down, but that's just me. Despite the mature filter, it's still a new tank and prone to new tank things.

That's a great shot of the blue tetras, mine never pose.

I agree with Dave, you have such a large tank, that you can really play with your foreground and have a few different species. I'd personally love to see HC or HM spilling over rocks and such, that would look super pretty.

It is a sweet system, I can't wait to see it when it's mature.

I also don't like the puffer idea. I think a better idea for you and snail control is perhaps a smaller botia. You'll be able to have a nice group 10 or more of them. I would also evenly distribute the school fish a bit more. Add more white clouds, but also add more pygmy cories. These tiny catfish look most striking in large numbers and they do swim about all tank levels, so they are fun to watch. Do you have a heater in this tank? The white clouds and the pygmy corys would appreciate a lower temperature, between 72 and 74. I keep my blue tetras at 74, so they won't mind the dip. In fact, the only fish that might not like the lower temp is the gouramis, and possibly the killie and the shrimp, but they should be able to tolerate 74. That temp will certainly benefit your other fish.

llj
 

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