Ghengis Posted November 24, 2008 Author Report Share Posted November 24, 2008 Back again! Decided to sit the tank in it's final resting place, right beside the 70L. These pics show the commencement of the 'scaping process. As I mentioned earlier, I raided a few bunches of Hygro Stricta for this arrangement. I intend to add maybe some Moss or Hairgrass, or the like in the no too distant. Poor old Ghengis the CT, relocated (again) to the kitchen bench, until his new home is finished. Can you see him giving me the stink-eye? This little plastic tank, btw, was my (our) first tank, three years ago. It now serves as the hospital tank, though for the past six months, it's been Ghengis' home Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ghengis Posted November 24, 2008 Author Report Share Posted November 24, 2008 A (very crappy) pic of the rock arranging process. Basically a quarter circle in the corner of each compartment. I tossed some scoria into the ring of rocks, jammed the Stricta stems in place and then topped off with some nice fine gravel. The idea of all this is to provide somewhere for the roots to take hold... Water!! And some nice pretty white sand. I decided early on that there was just too much black in the tank, so I chose this sand to break it all up... (the lighting arrangement (including "balance rock"!) is only temporary. Have a few ideas in this area, I'll get back to you all on that...) I noticed something of an issue while trialling the filter system... I had no way of priming it! I'd hook it all up, turn it on, unhook it, fill with water, re-connect and test. Disassemble for adjustments, then repeat the whole process... Did that three times, before noticing the air hose nipple a little closer. Fix? Add airline, coupled with flow valve, turn on filter open flow valve and suck hard. Instant priming!! Happy with that Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ghengis Posted November 24, 2008 Author Report Share Posted November 24, 2008 Just a series of random shots: This message is driving me nuts!! THE FOLLOWING ERROR(S) WERE FOUND Sorry, but when your post merges with your previous post, you will have used too many images in your combined posts ...can't add more pics! This message keeps coming up. Can we fix this?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ghengis Posted November 24, 2008 Author Report Share Posted November 24, 2008 Cards in place... And some very happy Betta's (I think they're happy, anyway)... I put Ghengis nearest the couch, 'cos he likes to stare at my Girlfriend. He's weird. So. That's about it... Kinda sad posting this actually, I've had a LOT of fun with this project (and spent possibly three times what I had expected!!) I'll drop back in the next couple weeks, as I make little updates and the plants start to grow in, but as far as all the hard work goes, she's pretty much done. Thanks to you all for reading along, and for your advice and ideas. Although I didn't use any of them, they did help to make me think more!! Cheers, I hope you like :D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
divy Posted November 24, 2008 Report Share Posted November 24, 2008 OMG!!! i love how it turned out ghengis ten thumbs up from me your right the white sand looks really good in there and breaks up the black so are you happy with how everything is running? like filter flow Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ghengis Posted November 24, 2008 Author Report Share Posted November 24, 2008 Filter flow is VERY gentle. Just about perfect, I'd say...which is worrying, as it might block easily. Still, the 90* elbows are in the experimental stage, and I may revert to the spray bar idea, yet... Will keep you posted. Cheers for the comments! :wacko: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aleisha18 Posted November 24, 2008 Report Share Posted November 24, 2008 Wow absolutely amazing!!!! Well done, all ur hard work paid off!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bettarazzi Posted November 24, 2008 Report Share Posted November 24, 2008 Good job! Looks terrific. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brettc777 Posted November 24, 2008 Report Share Posted November 24, 2008 Looks good mate. Plants, rocks and sand make it look great. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chuckie Posted November 25, 2008 Report Share Posted November 25, 2008 Looks beautiful! ..can't add more pics! This message keeps coming up. Can we fix this?? You need to wait a little longer between making posts, or they will merge. Try looking at a different thread, then come back to this one. Or even shut down the browser between posts. Sorry if it is annoying. We do our best. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ghengis Posted November 25, 2008 Author Report Share Posted November 25, 2008 Yeah, I did try all that, Lilli. I even posted it all on another Forum, shut the computer down, logged back on, re-copied from the other Forum, and tried to post again. Those last two posts (#78 and #79) were actually four different posts, that merged for some reason. If you read them, you can almost spot the point where I finished one, then went back to add more pictures, but couldn't, got frustrated and typed something to try and break up the pictures, but found that the "something" had tacked itself to the existing post, meaning that I still couldn't add new pictures... Nasty words were spoken, let me tell ya! Have a look at the time on the "this post has been edited by..." note. According to that, I had edited each of them before they were posted! Very, very odd. I'm OK, now, though...the twitching has stopped. Oh, and thanks! :wacko: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Notorious Posted December 6, 2008 Report Share Posted December 6, 2008 wow, well bloody done awesome job make me one? ha ha Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ghengis Posted December 7, 2008 Author Report Share Posted December 7, 2008 A mate of mine said the other noght that I should get into making custom tanks for people.... But, I dunno. I don't reckon there'd be much money in it, and I don't know if I could justify the labour costs involed in doing something like this tank commercially. There's probably about fifteen or twenty hours in the thing, and at $20-$40 an hour, all of a sudden it's not a very cheap tank... But thanks for the compliment! :( Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Callatya Posted December 7, 2008 Report Share Posted December 7, 2008 That looks FANTASTIC! the white sand was a wonderful touch. I'll be looking forward to a picture in a month or so to see how it has all settled down :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Notorious Posted December 7, 2008 Report Share Posted December 7, 2008 Hows the filtration going for you and what type did u end of goijng for? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ghengis Posted December 8, 2008 Author Report Share Posted December 8, 2008 That looks FANTASTIC! the white sand was a wonderful touch. I'll be looking forward to a picture in a month or so to see how it has all settled down Cheers, Calla. I'm actually having drama's getting the plants to take off, for some reason. The Stricta you see in all of the shots above melted (literally) in about four days. Having heaps spare, I cut some more and replanted Wednesday or Thursday, last week, but they're not looking to be doing any better. Also, the Wysteria that I've now put in ain't lookin' to well either... I got a new light, 2x39w T5HO (from which I've actually removed one globe as a spare), to replace the temporary setup in the pictures, and thought that'd do the job. But, no, it would seem. Could it be the water that the plants are in? We all know how stinky Betta water can get... Hows the filtration going for you and what type did u end of goijng for? Basically the "suck from the bottom, flow into the top" style. Had always planned it that way, and it seems to be doing well. I might try to find a way of increasing the flow some...it's actually alot less than I had expected...although, any flow is good flow, I guess. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bettarazzi Posted December 8, 2008 Report Share Posted December 8, 2008 I doubt you have enough fish in there to foul the water enough to worry the plants. Could the water be getting too hard? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chuckie Posted December 8, 2008 Report Share Posted December 8, 2008 yeah, I wonder if the sand is making the water hard. Have you done a pH test? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ghengis Posted December 8, 2008 Author Report Share Posted December 8, 2008 Will check that tonight. Just to make sure I have this right, in a general manner of speaking, hard water is usually quite alkaline, yeah? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chuckie Posted December 8, 2008 Report Share Posted December 8, 2008 yep :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scrappy Posted May 19, 2009 Report Share Posted May 19, 2009 i just had a great time reading through this, and looking at the pictures!! Though being a newbie still, I still didnt understand the whole DIY filtration things etc but yeah.. One day I will get there Im just used to buying a filter fromt he pet store.. Anyhow, the tank looks ABSOLUTELY AMAZING Ghengis!!! Have you got any recent photos? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fergus Posted May 19, 2009 Report Share Posted May 19, 2009 I was reading this thread last night LOL It's an awesome set up isn't it! A recent pic would be nice if Genghis is still around *hint hint* Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ghengis Posted May 19, 2009 Author Report Share Posted May 19, 2009 Im still around. Don't have any recent pics, though, sorry. To be honest, the white sand has not worked out the best. It was a great idea (because I thought of it, obviously ), but it's real hard to keep clean. I have the intention to replace that sand with some darker gravel, once I can find some at a suitable price/grain size. I also need to have a concerted effort at getting the thing more densely planted...I just have some Bacopa atm, which I grow in the garden and replace into the tank every couple of months. Overall, though, I am still quite stoked with how it came up. The filtration works a treat and there is never a hint of Ammonia on the test kit, although that prob has more to do with the minimal bio load, than anything else... If anything, I would like a little more flow through the system, but haven't been able to figure out how, just yet. There is a similar powerhead available that flows 700lph. Might upgrade to that at some stage too. Thanks for the comments! It was a surprise to hit the "View New Posts" button and see my old Thread featured again! Cheers!! :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bettarazzi Posted May 20, 2009 Report Share Posted May 20, 2009 SNAP!! I was surprised to see this old chestnut revived as well! Very disappointed not to find updated pics though. You can grow bacopa in the garden? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
divy Posted May 20, 2009 Report Share Posted May 20, 2009 damn it! when i saw this thread pop back up i was hoping for some new pics ghengis Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.