90p Mini Project

[Suzerolt]

I restarted this hobby in August with a small tank as trial (http://www.aquaticquotient.com/forum...anted-40L-tank) and recently decided to get a bigger tank.

This is what it looks like now 2 weeks after set up



In any case, here's some photos to share on the set up process.
One of my objectives was to keep a 'clean' look with minimum gadgets inside or around the aquarium. I like to DIY stuff, so this hobby fuels some of that passion.

Received my 90x45x45cm tankon 1st Nov from Fishy Business just ahead of the Deepavali long weekend.


I planned to hang the Maxspect Razor so as to keep the top of the tank unobstructed and decided to build a simple light stand using some left over Ikea wood.
I also built it such that it could support a sheet of rigid black perspex for the background. This allowed me to change the background (black->blue->white) depending of the scape in the coming months or years instead of having oyama sticker on it.



Since the stand is made of wood, i hand the opportunity to hide the wires through a slot. My secondary school technical training came into good use.


Maxspect Razor cable hidden inside



Wood painted to the same color as the wall.
A hole was cut in the Ikea bracket to allow the connector & wire be pushed through.



I was a little disapointed when i found the cable clamp was cracked out of the box.


Too troublesome to head back for a warranty claim. Decided on a workaround to use the brass clamp of an e-connector. Worked perfectly.



I hooked up the chiller & found that it leaked a little at the rubber joints. Smeared some Vaseline petroleum jelly around the rubber plugs & joints. That worked wonders.


Installed some LED lights inside the cabinet


I'm trying the following configuration :
Aquarium Outlet (VIV 17mm glass pipe) -> Eheim 2217 prefilter (Bio ball, course filter, fine wool) -> Eheim Professional II 2028 (Bio filter only - Ehiem Substrat Pro + Biohome) -> Hailea 300a chiller -> ISTA turbo reactor -> Aquarium Inlet (VIV 17mm lily pipe)
The Eheim 2217 is rated 1050L/hr. With this set up, the output flow rate is currently 540L/hr. I suppose its sufficient for a 100L tank.

The small white box on the right corner is a leak detector. It sounds an alarm when the terminals are shorted.

I'm currently hunting for a large enough plastic container to house everything inside.


View of the rigid LED (from ebay)

[Suzerolt]

External drop checker. Hidden behind the black acrylic sheet.




For the plants, they were mostly from C328 & Teo's Aquatic Farm. Here are some pictures :




Not sure what these are called but they looked quite interesting. I bought some.




This is what it looks like in my tank



Cutting out a chunk of HC cuba




Planted the tank on 3rd Nov. Left it to cycle for the past 2 weeks.
I'm quite glad that the HC are growing nicely. Decided to grow them submerged instead of DSM from the start.

HC on day 7 :


HC on day 14. Keeping my fingers crossed they survive


Ah Pek Plant (APP) from Teo's Aquatic Farm. Spreading well. Day 14. But i notice the color is a little faint. I thought they would be of a deep green shade.
Its also quite clear that the corners of the tank do not receive much light from the Maxpect Razor. Growth is a little slower.
I didn't want to hang it too high to avoid further cranking up the power.



Tank is finally cycled. Time for the clean up crew to get to work on the algae.


4 Ottos for a start. Crazy amount of algae in 2 weeks.



Sakura shrimps :

[AQMS]

Nice . Another DIY junkie..
Good job with the Ikea hack light stand.
What is that black box at the left top corner?
For the leak detector,you can find plastic boxes at Daiso or at Toyogo ( http://www.toyogogroup.com/TYGSG/index.php )

[Phillipians]

Nice work! I have gotten some tips from this post regarding my own tank project as well. Thanks!

Just a short question. I am very curious why you would want to use the 2217 as a prefilter. Isn't that a waste of a good filter? What I would have done was to use the Pro Eheim as totally bio filter(which you did). The 2217 would have been used exclusively as mechanical filtration and also to drive the chiller. Either that or the chiller can also be driven by the eheim pro. That's just my thought. That way you have superb circulation around the tank from both ends.

[Suzerolt]

Thanks.
The black box on the top left corner is the the power supply for the Maxpect Razor.

Nice . Another DIY junkie..
Good job with the Ikea hack light stand.
What is that black box at the left top corner?
For the leak detector,you can find plastic boxes at Daiso or at Toyogo ( http://www.toyogogroup.com/TYGSG/index.php )

[Suzerolt]

@ Philllipians.

I already had the Eheim Pro on hand. The clips on the Eheim Pro2 are reputed to be quite brittle so i didn't want to open it too often.
So as I was looking for a pre-filter at C328, the uncle suggested an empty Eheim canister. Prices didn't vary much, so i purchased bigger Eheim 2217 size instead. It didn't come with a motor.

At the back of my mind, i'm thinking that circulation in the tank can be improved. I'll assess the situation again once the bulk of fishes are added.

[Phillipians]

Oh I see. It's just the canister without the motor. Understood.

[blue33]

You're exhausting the 2028.

[marle]

Dear TS, this is definitely not a mini project.

Great effort and for reduction of algae, try lowering your photoperiod.

[AQMS]

oh yes, about the algae issue,tell us more about your tank,like photoperiod,co2,fert and so on.

[Suzerolt]

You think i'm taxing the pump excessively?

You're exhausting the 2028.

[Suzerolt]

This is my light setting/timing.
\

Fertilizer & other regime for the first 2 weeks before fishes are added. Objective is to speed up plant growth and while the tank is being cycled.
- Initial tank fill : Lushgro Aqua 10ml, Potassium dihydrogen phostphate (mixed to get about 1.5ppm), Flourish Excel (5ml), CO2 3bps, BioBacta (5ml), Chiller : 26degC
- Dose on Mon, Wed, Friday : Potassium Nitrate : ~ 8ml
- Dose Wed & weekend : Lushgro Aqua 8ml, Potassium dihydrogen phosphate
- Dose on Tues, Thurs, Sunday : Flourish Iron (5ml), Flourish Trace (5ml), Flourish Excel

**Others :
- Biobacta (1ml) every 3 days.
- Air pump switched on 12am - 8am to ensure sufficient oxygen for beneficial bacteria to grow

Now that fishes are added, I plan to cut back a little on fertilizer, light intensity & possibly CO2. Priority is (1) keep fishes comfortable & (2) plants lush & bright
I'm still learning. Inputs will be highly appreciated.

[blue33]

Yes. Not effective and exhausting connecting. Chiller alone just nice for 2028 beside prefilter/reactor and too many pipe connected in one running.

You think i'm taxing the pump excessively?

[Suzerolt]

I've been thinking hard on blue33's comments about relieving some load off the Eheim 2028 filter in the current system.
Over the past 2 weeks, I've tried removing the inline reactor & went back to a regular diffuser (CO2 utilization does not seem very effective) & also went back to the inline atomizer (didn't like the misting).
I've decided to stick with the ISTA inline reactor.

Not sure if running a 2nd filter/external pump for the ISTA turbo reactor would be an overkill? This also means a 2nd set of inlet/outlet in the tank on the opposite end of the tank.
Any advice from the experts?

[Suzerolt]

2 questions on Alternanthera plant.

Some portions of my plant seem to be dying off. Edges seem to thinning off or rotting.


Is this due to deficiency in some nutrient? Lights too strong causing it to burn?

Also, I'm dosing 5ml of Seachem Excel daily (100L tank). Leaves are not red. I assume i'll need to dose more?


A couple more queries on Hemianthus callitrichoides (HC Cuba)
I'm currently using a Maxpect Razor & moved it up now to about 30cm above the water. During its 7hrs of photoperiod, its roughly running around 65% power.


The front left side looks like this. Leaves not green.


Centre looks like this : Generally better. Lusher & green.


Is the brownish HC on the left due to insufficient light? Poor C02 / circulation?


And just to share a recent purchase : External breeder tank. Using it for shrimps.



I hope the little ones make it.

[Urban Aquaria]

From my experience so far, the red in leaves seem to be more connected to nutrients and light. Light-wise your tank is already well served with the razor maxspect, so maybe try dosing more micro/trace ferts, in particular try adding more iron and potassium, see if it helps.

For the HC, the color of the leaves react to light intensity in different areas. I had a similar experience too, the HC that was overshadowed by hardscape or by other plants tend to be darker, while the ones under direct light tend to be brighter. I guess the maxspect has a narrower beam angle (can already see from the photos), so that probably explains the difference in leaf colors.

[blue33]

During emmerge to submerge, you'll see the plants melt and change and sometime die totally due to insufficient of light/nutrients during the transition period, is the nature way how it survive into another form. Whether your plant is growing or not, after photoperiod over, under dim light you'll see a GLOW light green colour on the leaves, is the sign of life of plant growing.

Potassium is the most important of all nutrients, without it, plant cannot create photosynthesis, the rest of nutrients can forgo except potassium. Have you ever ask why ADA soil has wood chips? That is actually potassium, cause they cannot bind potassium into the clay, but many people scoop out and throw it away cause they're very unsightly including Amano. Lol...

[qngwn]

If this is a mini project, i wonder whats a normal project for you

greath growth in this short 1 month, hope to see more updates and more DIYs!

[Suzerolt]

Thanks for the tip on Potassium. This helps on the next steps.

During emmerge to submerge, you'll see the plants melt and change and sometime die totally due to insufficient of light/nutrients during the transition period, is the nature way how it survive into another form. Whether your plant is growing or not, after photoperiod over, under dim light you'll see a GLOW light green colour on the leaves, is the sign of life of plant growing.

Potassium is the most important of all nutrients, without it, plant cannot create photosynthesis, the rest of nutrients can forgo except potassium. Have you ever ask why ADA soil has wood chips? That is actually potassium, cause they cannot bind potassium into the clay, but many people scoop out and throw it away cause they're very unsightly including Amano. Lol...

[qngwn]

Thanks for the tip on Potassium. This helps on the next steps.

interesting science and research to it, never thought potassium had such an important role in plant growth, i just dose accordingly..