illumnae's CADE CB450 (Photo intensive)

[illumnae]

I've been rather inactive lately due to real life catching up with me. The crystal glass tanks at Aquarama tempted me though, and I ended up ordering one from Mizuworld to set up in my office

I'm sure some will be surprised that I have elected to try out the full ADA substrate system. A friend challenged me to try it out, plus I wanted to compare its effects against the DIY substrate system I devised last year.

Without much further ado, here's the tank!

Specs

Tank: 45 cm x 30cm x 36cm CADE CB450
Light: 3x Arcadia Pod 11w
Filtration: Eheim 2213 with CAL Nano Lily Pipes
Substrate: ADA Power Sand S, ADA Amazonia I Powder, ADA Bacter 100, ADA Clear Super, ADA Tourmaline BC, ADA Penac W, ADA Penac P
Fertilization: KNO3, KH2PO4, Seachem Equilibrium, Wondergro Micro+, Dennerle S7
Flora (for now): Rotala wallichii "Long leaf", HC, HM, Didiplis Diandra, Anubias barteri "Golden", Eriocaulon cinerium
Fauna: 1 pair of wild apistogramma (species undecided) + undecided dithers + zebra otos

Pictures

1. Arrival of the tank and accessories. Ordered from Mizuworld and got great service and fast delivery after a slight hiccup that got cleared up fast.



2. Sent the tank to CR Aquarium to custom make a base and cover to hide the clip on Arcadia Pods. CR Aquarium has great quality and service, my 4th time using them and as always, I'm a satisfied customer!



3. Time to set up the tank! Creating a border of Amazonia so the Power Sand doesn't show



4. In goes the Power Sand



5. Then the 5 powders



6. I had some granite leftover from past projects and ordered 3 pieces of beautiful Old Black Wood from Mizuworld. I like my hardscape!





7. In goes the water and the plants!





I take back what I said previously about cloudy/yellow water after using ADA. I filled it as per normal, and the water was only slightly cloudier than a Gex soil tank. I do find Gex easier to plant in though. ADA powder tends to clump up and isn't as soft after it gets dampened.

I'll be bringing the filter to office on Friday. Till then it will be still water. Hopefully that allows the plants to root before the filter starts moving water around.

Tomorrow is anubias day! Will try and get the anubias positioned right on the hardscape!

[marle]

great effort, thanks for the pictures!

[Xianghao]

nice and promising aquarium.. what will be the fauna?

[fireblade]

nice tank but feel that the base and hood a little eye sore ...

[illumnae]

Thanks for the comments

I find a bare tank alone even more of an eyesore, hence the choice to make the base and hood haha.

Fauna wise I'm still deciding. Zebra otos and a pair of apistos are a must, the rest is still in the air

[torque6]

Nice tank illumnae, been a long time since i posted as well, is married life a little different for you? . I'm more into aquatic gardening than following the roots of an aquascaper of the late, focusing more on sustainability instead of other forumers on their frequent tearing down and redesigning of scapes. I just don't have respect for aquascapes that don't last more than 6 months. IMO.

I see you have managed to acquire the CB450, wanted to order the CB350 as well but figured paying a high price for china made tanks may not be worth while, considering ADA sells for the same price, but without similar specifications.

The photo shot and lay out of the tank looks good. But using 3 arc pod ?? Abit on the high size. Been playing around with a 24w vs 18w a few months back and found the later abit better and easier to manage. You're looking at "spreading" your wattage? low + low => wider coverage; might be a good idea. Using my existing illumax for almost a year and i do find my plants inching /bending towards the centre of the tank, leaving the background plants arcing.

Again, look forward to seeing your tank matures.

Take care friend.

[illumnae]

Thanks torque Married life is indeed different, though to be honest I set up more tanks during the first 3 months of my marriage than in any 3 month period in my life! Thank God for a supportive wife!

I understand your reservations about the tank, but I did get quotations for crystal glass/optiwhite tanks made by local tank makers, and it was markedly more expensive! Hence I decided to go with CADE, and I'm very happy with the quality and clarity.

Light wise, I understand your concerns...but 3 arcadia pods isn't alot for a tank of this size. I used 2 arcadia pods on a 30cm cube, and it was sufficient for a high tech tank. This tank is 1.5x the length so a 3rd pod was needed...and it's deeper than the 30cm cube (36cm deep) so the light is actually weaker at the base. This tank has CO2 as well pumped in via a diffuser, which I just installed today. I've always believed in lower wattage spread out over a wider area instead of just an intense strip above the tank

I just replaced the HM with Micranthemum umbrosum and put in golden nana...will try and update again next week. Also replacing the pink arcadia bulb with a white philips one to see if it looks nicer

[torque6]

Growing Micranthemum umbrosum? I tried those about a month back intending to keep at infront of the stemed rotalas, but they kinda melted away.

You mentioned 36cm deep? i thought they were 36cm in length while keeping 30cm height and depth? It looks retangular on your photo shot.

[ranmasatome]

M. umbrosum is a finnickey plant..but if you manage to grow it... it looks great!

[illumnae]

The tank is 45cm x 30cm x 36cm.

I was trying my luck on M umbrosum... if it fails i'll switch back to HM

Thanks for the heads up about M umbrosum...never knew it was so hard =)

[f3nd1]

For that how much roughly you spend?

[illumnae]

Some updates:

With nana gold put in:



With more stems planted:



I'm thinking i mis-ided the M. umbrosum and it's actually just HM instead

[marle]

Hi illumnae,

I really like the wood. Looks very nice! But i find the rocks seem to lack the kind of character to add depth to the scape. The rocks look more like slabs, thus it makes the scape look slightly unnatural. Maybe if you can change the rocks to something that has more contours it might help to enhance the overall look of the hardscape.

Also, the nana gold's leaves are kind of big in proportion to others, thus the focal point is all on your nana. The Nana gold is also situated at the mid of the scape but since its location is low, it seems like you have an extended foreground. Nana petite will probably be better and it can also help to fill in the gaps between the rocks and the wood. You can also tie some moss on small pebbles and put them in between the gaps.

Great effort! Really like your equipment!

[illumnae]

Thanks I chose the nana gold because I had like 5 pots lying around at home in my spare tank with nowhere to put them! I'll consider replacing them with nana petite. Thanks for your comments about the rocks...I agree with you that they aren't shapely enough...but i think I'll have to leave them where they are. Hopefully when the plants grow they will soften the entire effect. Appreciate the comments =)

Now to decide on the apistos...Ap. bitaeniata or Ap. agassizii 'tefe'?

[marle]

Welcome!

I'll go for Ap. agassizii 'tefe'!

[EvolutionZ]

biteaniata lah.. isn't that your favourite apisto?

[iwishweallcouldwin]

Hello Yi Xiang,

Nice journal, great tank. Thanks for sharing it with us.

Go for diplo or purple chin la haha. Or is it back to your orange/yellow bit? Keeping us all in suspense man.

[illumnae]

Thanks everyone I've decided on my apisto, will be in next week!

I'm now wondering about dithers. I'm really interested in crystal red tetras, but I doubt they'll hit our shores anytime soon. I may have to settle for Trig. espei!

[doppelbanddwarf]

So what apisto shall it be? What about pencilfishes as dithers.

[marle]

my guess will be either a agassizi 'tefe' or uaupesi?