Raw teak wood cabinet w 90x45x45 cade tank

[tcy81]

nice setup, eagerly waiting to see the progress of your tank's scape.

[ranmasatome]

Wonderful work...

[craftsman]

This is fantastic Stuff!!!! Really glad to have read your journal. Wonderful, enlightening, and very very enjoyable!!! Thanks!!

[flybaits]

neat job. wish i got the space and talent for these.... lol...

cheers!

[stephenhoe]

Your woodwork talent is impressive. If you offer this service at a reasonable price, people like myself will engage your service.

[shenzhenluohan]

Truly inspirational!!! Call me old school, but seeing a beautiful piece made with hand tools makes me feel nostalgic for when i would help my grandfather in his workshop as a small child. Your choice in scape really works well with the stand also.
Cheers
Stan

[t_tsen]

very nice journal and diy.
maybe next project is to diy a chiller cabinet that comes with ventilation fans?

haha....no need cabitnet for chiller...become too hot. experimented already. chiller cabinet became so so hot even with one side open. tq for your idea though....

[t_tsen]

wow! i did not know i generate so much interest with my tank. thanks to all who visited my tread. however, i will try and reply your queries.

aquarius - the stones were picked from a river bed in the forest of taiping where my in-laws lived. i spent many hours studying the stream there and copied a section of the stream where a tree fell. this is how it looks to me. the stones were from the exact location where the tree fell......

shadow - thank you for your compliment.

blackBRUSHalgae - contrary to the belief, teak wood is not hard but actually medium. green teak is hard and no carpenter would use it for furniture. belian is very hard and knotty which is what i have in my tank also. the moisturising conditioner and oils were given to me by a friend some time ago. think she got it from a mlm thing.

richardesc, zoombee + stephenhoe - many thanks.

tcy81, ranmasatome - tank progress will however take time, but one plant is def growing inches by the day! refer to the pictures.

taken on 10 feb 09 planting day


taken on 12 feb 09


taken on 13 feb 09. over night!!!! and looked what happened! just unbelievable!


taken on 17 feb 09


flybaits - does not need space to build a small one mah..... just for you lah, my previous small 2'x2' wild endlers tank project...enjoy!!



shenzhenluohan - thank you stan. a lot of nature study and home work went in before i created this piece. glad that you liked it. a small peak into some prelim design plans which was meant for a 1200x500x500 tank, but not used and modified to suit 900x450x450. all dims are changed....


so far for the update for now. stay tuned.....hahaha.

[t_tsen]

to all who pm and asked about my fert regime or how come no algae on the plants, stones and wood.

there IS algae here and there, but it is under control. i believe strongly in algae and water management control in a planted aquascape.

1. 1 x 4 tubes T5HO - start with 4 hrs 1st wk increasing 1 hr every wk until it reaches 10 wks. a 'break' of 4-5 hrs in between is a proven algae killer. (max is 5 hrs) algae don't like 'breaks'.
2. teco chiller at 25.5 deg C with 2 deg deff.
3. CO2 fert @ 3 bps at 1st n 2nd wk. increasing to 4-5 bps depending on size of tank for 3rd wk onwards.
4. lushgrow liquid fert. - 5 drops alternate day. (mon, wed + fri) rest 2 days for 2nd wk. stop for 3rd wk. start with 1 dose only per wk, 1ml/50 lit for 4th wk. if no algae is present, continue n increase dosage to 2.5ml/100 lit for 5th and 6th wk. always 1x dose per wk. should algae be present, cut to 2 drops alternate day and add 1 more hr of 'break' to lights.
5. pH - 1st wk - 6.75 during 'on' period. 7.0-7.10 during 'off' period.
2nd wk - maintained.
3rd wk - 6.50 during 'on' period. 6.85-6.95 during off period.
6. water change - 1st and 2nd wk - alternate days 10% chg top up with
diamond energy water.
3rd and 4th wk - 30% chg. top up 10% diamond water
20% tap water add 10 drops genesis
water conditioner.

wk 1 - after planting add in the road sweepers - prawns @ work dot com.....haha....if there is any company of this name, my apologies yah.

wk 2 - presistant algae may occur during this stage. so ottos enters the stage. my theory is 1 otto/10 gal of water. plant melting stage starts, so there is plenty food for both ottos and prawns.

wk 3 - snails gestation period is 10-14 days depending on species. this is the time to let puffy the dwarf yellow submarine clean em' up. fish will come in later. i prefer 4-5 mths later after all the plants have taken root.

the above light and lushgrow dosage is from my experience.....no other ferts. plants not red enough? insert iron fert sticks. it is not a hard and fast rule, and it works for me....that is all that matters. end of the day...cheap and good form of relaxation w/o too much to worry about. enjoy!!

[torque6]

Very good craftmanship on the cupboards. Tank looks good too.

[t_tsen]

Very good craftmanship on the cupboards. Tank looks good too.

thanks torque6.....

[flybaits]

biggest problem is i don't have tat small space or skill either..... love your teaks.....


cheers!

[Verminator]

Simply amazing Not only do you have the craft to make your own cabinet, but you have great skill in setting up a tank and maintaining it.

Looking forward to updates as and when they come

[ranmasatome]

any updates?

[JadeIceGreen]

Wow, I missed this thread earlier. How did you cut manually with a saw and still get such straight lines? I had trouble even with a mechanical saw back in my Secondary school days.

The cabinet looks really solid. I bet it can hold many more times that tank weight, very good construction.

Update us on the progress of your scape!

[Jervis]

the special one and only one light suspension system. designed in cad, cut with jig saw, planed and oiled with with rustic touch. steel leader end crimps hidden in redleaf pen head.

I have no idea what you were talking about... but who cares Your tank is looking really great!

And using Diamond energy water for topup is quite a luxury... have you tried planting purely on Diamond water?

(Diamond is a brand of filtration system for consumable water, high-end)

[Merviso]

Wow! This is the first time I come into this thread.... and this is really a big WOW!!

Very impressive! Just look at the small little details, like the positioning of the screws, and I can really feels the quality of your work! hmmm... BTW... do you accept orders?

Do update us frequently on your tank developments; this is one tank that we will all be very interested to follow through the development stages...

[blue33]

I have no idea what you were talking about... but who cares Your tank is looking really great!

And using Diamond energy water for topup is quite a luxury... have you tried planting purely on Diamond water?

(Diamond is a brand of filtration system for consumable water, high-end)

I came across a youtube video on Diamond Energy water is scam/contam... , it was Hong Kong TV news commenting on this product. I think you guys know what i mean...

YouTube - ????????

I used to use Elken RO water before, find it so troublesome(although is faster than Diamond to fill the tank), LOL...

[fotoudavid]

Good cabinet!! Love it when you can DIY.

[linuswee]

haven't seen the real thing yet... but update!!