Operation Maximus

[Wilfred]

That's a lot of work bro Is the spray aquarium-friendly?

Got my filter, super boy submersible pump & power head 800 (800 Liter/Hr, 210 Gallon/Hr) just the flow i wanted , Tested and it's work beautiful.

Finally i upload some photo, blur sorry, use my hp to take de everything is growing and moss are all growing new bud/moss.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...j/DSC00067.jpg

[Blue Whale]

No bad at all, Lights are good, now your moss need a bit of work out there. Have you work out your CO2 yet? DIY or Tank based? Now given the most optimum condition, you could achive "pearling effect", there are many people here who have achive that and posted some of the nicest photo around here. Suggest you browse around the photo gallery.

Those who wish to show him the rope, please counter post your links here too.

Spray aside first, now the moulds (expendable) are coming up nicely. Currently builting about 8 of em, might need to increase further for mass production of concrete slaps.

[Blue Whale]

12-18-2009 9:50am
Here are the moulds, this should clear doubts on why uhu is being used in the first place and what on middle earth does ice cream sticks got to do with builting structures?

Next week have a few things to do.
- Black sand supply coming in next week. So temporary can relax a bit.
- Will need time to figure how to use the white cement. What to use for containers. By now you should be able to tell that the more moulds I have the faster the creation, drying the cement shoud take about 1 day to set. Next comes the color spray.
- Oh yes, the thermometer.
- The solar fan.
- After the sand and drift wood have been introduced, will need to wait for another week of water changing. So the first intro. of water should be to drain off 95%, whereas the 2nd intro of water would be the one to start me off the tank.
- In the meantime, the structures will be created as concurrent activity.

Still got my 3 ft to maintain, yiaps!
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Time now: 12:25pm

Starting to think about the plants:
- Vallisneria gigantea
- Cryptocoryne wendtii
- Ammannia gracilis
- Didiplis diandra
- Alternanthera reineckii
- Blyxa japonica
- Cryptocoryne aponogetifolia
- Hemianthus micranthemoides
- Bacopa myriophylloides
- Nuphar japonicum

This is gonna be another bigggggg......headache..

[Blue Whale]

Black sand 5 kg (not quartz)
Black paper
White cement
all in.

Time to rock and roll. The first packet will allow me judge how much more black sand I should get next week. Will built up a 3" to 4" thick sand bed first. In the meantime, I will be pouring the white cement into the moulds. Let them cool for a day or two before removing them. After one week of repeating the process, I should be ready to create the heads, the main pillars etc. By then, hopefully my water will start cycling in two weeks time roughly after christmas before year end.
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Edited:
Okay, time now is 1:56pm.

Backdrop is up and better than expected. Uploading the pict. so that you can visualise with me. Lighting a bit weak but will enhance further later.

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Redited:
Time now is 3:20pm

Uploading the moulds for you to take a look at the white cement. Basically have to wait for it to set for one day before removing them out of the moulds. If got diffculties, can remove the side just by using hand to ply open, however must stick back again thereafter.

At the moment, am thinking whether the king's face is structually feasible or not. To be continue....

[limz_777]

interesting , are you building the structure brick by brick ?

[Blue Whale]

I am actually exploring possibility to build a temple like structure or not. Something that is secondary in standard to the viva like structure that Eddy have built with his 633. But so far, its not going very well with the white cement. This if successful will be used in the 2ft that I am building now.

Maybe I take out too early, it just breaks apart -.-" Might be the mix itself. I will wait for tomorrow and see how first.

Backup plan is not to built the structure if really need a higher skillset and still go for the regular looking aquatic tank, but still there are elements which will move away from traditional tank. Based on the current calculation, its 1+ wpg at the moment. So modifying as I go at the moment. After adding the black sand, the tank look stunning but as the water is cycling, there is not much of a photo to take. But the black wall and floor will bring most of the plant and fish color out.

At the moment, still not ready to raise the white flag so fast yet. =) Learning Learning Learning!

Plans has been made to go to Simlim to pickup Solar DIY Fans, my nearby LFS to pickup more blacksand min. 15kg, C328/Yishun Aqua Star Trading to pickup filter of my choice and/or plants, Biotope for some plants, etc.

[Wilfred]

Black sand and black background sound nice, structure in white cement.. don't know your act-work but sound stunning,

I have the same idea as bring out the color, but my soil not black in color.. anyway only got 3 guppy in my tank now . Spend like 45min in the LFS to get this litter guys, only one word after i release them into the tank "BEAUTIFUL". My Tank look so lively now.. sorry hand phone camera suck everything white or blur, drop the idea on taking them.

[Blue Whale]

I was thinking we can drop by C328 this week and help you get a PH tester there. Since you have the fish in, you have to take good care of both the plant and the fish.

I will calculate the flow and light with you when we in office. =) alright?

[Wilfred]

Got some photo anyway lol.

Yeah, let me know when you going, i also want to drop by and take a look at some fish-food and see what kind of fish i can get from there, 2 LFS there, best place to see see look look.

[eddy planer]

Hi BW

Just back from Manila,

Phew, you really used white plaster! This plaster isnt water proof at all, when its contact with water and its will leech white powder and turn your water to milky water! You will never able to clear the water even you did WC a hundred times.

What you need is a real cement mixture with waterproof substance and sand if you plan to create Angkor Wat structure.

Continue to build the skeleton of your Angkor Wat until you satisfy your structure. I can give you some remains cement for your project.

hope this will help you.

[Blue Whale]

Hiyo Eddy, welcome back.

White Plaster I think I do have it somewhere, its different. But hey, let's try it anyway. I realised the first batch was too fragile because I added too much water using a cup. Hence this morning, I have mixed it with a spray instead where water is much more controlled whilst the mix is stronger.

Milky water, I will test one of the 2nd batch block in water after it is dry in about 18hrs. Well, that was part of my worry but there is also the paint layer which will come in later. WC is white cement. =P WC I already have difficulty managing much less cement, I doubt my skill is sufficient, another thing is both hands are injuried before, hence difficult to do delicate things. I have to do quite a lot of electric therapy using my osim nowadays. And I certainly want to do as much structure as possible before my next blood test in 3 weeks time. Got some thyroid issue over my end, nothing life threatening.

Yo Wil,

Now camera issue, hand too shaky. You can place a high chair in front of the tank, put your hand with the camera on the high chair to guide the camera. Alternative way is to use a tripod. Whilst the resolution may be grainy, it will still much of a good picture. Make sure your camera don't follow your golden guppy. Let the guppy come to you. You put some pellets at the position you wish to photograph but note that because your water flow is still strong, the pellets will swrill away. Ha ha...you have to watch the flow and then wait for the next swim pass.

I learned a new trick call tapping. Way back during the Kampung time, I will see this uncle making brick. Whilst taking out the brick, he will use the hammer to hammer all sides of the mould, and pop comes out the brick. Real cool trick there.

Right, today will be Sim Lim for Solar DIY Fan kit. Next stop will be Aqua Star trading, come back home work work, then go my sis place to play with my nieces (very very young), reach home, then koon (sleep). -.-" Next day work. haz haz...haiz....

[eddy planer]

Hi BW

Ok, good for you, at least you will know what you test and trial on white plaster with spray after 18hrs curing. But you need to fully submerse the cured white plaster into the water for a week. Check for any white plaster's broken/soften debris that leech and the water condition.

If I were you , I 'll never try it or even bother to test it as white plaster will increase the PH as high as 8-9 and still skeptical and consider it as toxin to fauna. I would recommend you to try using foam spray and silicon to mould it to Angkor Wat and use epoxy the whole structure with black sand or mixture white/black sand to make your project look real natural and sexy.

Hmmmm.look like I'll be planning another 2x2x2 tank paludarium project...this time will look like Indiana Jones back ground!

Let see it bro!

[Blue Whale]

Oei Oei oei...don't tempt me.

I gather first mix would be a failure beforehand anyway since I do not understand the mix, never thought it is this bad.

Anyway, latest tank photo. Getting too bright for the eyes. You will see a row of led lights there but I have not even assemble the Solar fan yet. During the test run, I took down the pict. of the tank before any cable coiling. Left top is 1st time when I set up. Right top is after adding background. Left bottom is the test run. Right bottomis the row of LED lights. Running out of space, have to wait for the tank to cycle first. Quite silent at the moment with the filter. See how first.

Meantime, the LED lights itself is already brighter than my PL lights. =P

Silcali (If) I run out of space to put the handicraft, then the so-call temple would be a house ornament. If good, maybe I should call for an auction..ha ha...confirmed bad. So you see Eddy, I got backup plan here and there....as usual. Actually fixing 3 ft tank a bit daunting. How? Eddy? Want to change your mind fix a 3ft tank instead or not? hee hee.

[Wackytpt]

I am shifting this to the aquascaping section.

[Blue Whale]

okies, been thinking of that too. Thanks.

Important note:
Those who are eyeing this thread for Solar, please note that solar panel only reacts with sunlight and not with normal FL lights.

So far no power from the panels, maybe insufficient sunlight, but I am using 2x3v panels to power a motor 3v, parallel connections. Time now is 6:05pm.
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12/21/2009 20:51

WC Block Test Subject on 2nd batch:
Started taking 2nd batch out. Wow...it is very very diffcult to take out. The WC (White Cement) is a very hardmix this time round. Now the side is like chalk but the top is very smooth with no particles coming out. My guess is that it is not dry. But I am now testing PH condition for water on one of the batch 2. Water at PH7.8 at the moment. Will test and watch for reaction in a few days time, most likely will know result coming Sunday. If there is any fluctuation of ph, should be testing thereafter. Current conclusion is that this is not for asthmatic people to try and it is very messy. I am working from the door of a small cabinet as my workbench.

DIY Solar Education Kit Test:
At 6+pm, cloudy condition, found that the solar panel is generating power but at a very very low rate. The fin of the fans hardly moving but can see it start rotating after a while. Current conclusion is that the DIY Fan will not do for Aquarium Tanks since it does not react to the lights. I have tested the solar panel under PL, FL, LED light. No T5 to test at the moment. So I will shift be shifting the Solar project out of this current tank setup. Those who wants to try it its about SGD $23 and note that the Panel aren't the power sort and its less than palm size. Don't expect much.

LED Setup Test:
I have been reading post in the forum that LED Lights is the one. So the current DIY LED Led cost about SGD $28 for just the strip of leds, it is arranged as 3by3 so if 3 leds spoilt/short circuit, then I just need to cut the three off for the rest to function. I don't have the cost for the connector (Given to me free), forgot to ask the price for the 1000MA 12V Adaptor. =P I just pay only. hee hee. Okay I admit, I got carried away after seeing so many toys at Sim Lim Tower. From current observation it is brighter than my PL Light. If you are building one, you should have a reflective surface and point it downwards, I am testing hence will not be builting one for the time being.

Please do not try this if you don't know where you are going.

[Blue Whale]

Eddy, it is currently clear blue, it is already off my current PH chart, I certainly not doubting my test kit even though it's old. Verdict from my LFS that he have difficulties with the water at the moment. But like Shadow shared in other thread, no signs of any sort does not mean the water is not problematic. I am a bit worried now. If this color turns purple, I know for certain, that the ph is raising. =P keep figure cross. If it's turns yellow or orange, I will be worry also. =P Forgive me, I am more practical side than a theory person. Not good at theory, more on the practical side/hands on. I can accept failure if I fail. Allow space to succeed and allow space to fall. (If the portion on raising and lowering is wrong, please forgive me, I do not have chemistry background, but do correct me if wrong)

[Blue Whale]

Wil,

Countermeasure for cooling deployed. 15mins run already drop less than 1C. Good investment, should buy one to cool our office, lol.

White Cement Observation Day 1
No bubbling or crumbling, no color change to water. Block still intact.

DIY CO2 1 (JBL DIY CO2 Bottle size) recharged and deployed in 3ft. 27.9C with FL light, Electronic Thermometer. All Plants Nutrient 2x dosage. CO2 tablets 6x.
DIY CO2 2 (Nutrifin DIY CO2 Bottle size) recharged and deployed in 2ft. 28 C with PL light, LED Light, Cooling Fan, Electronic Thermometer.

White Cement Block building
- no building today, let the existing block dry first due to rainy days.

Bought some vegetables today, currently swimming in my 3 ft. Will showcase once I deployed them in the 2ft tank. 6 different plants, 4 types. Will ID the plants later when I have time against my dictionary. Tired after work.

[limz_777]

how long can the DIY CO2 2 (Nutrifin DIY CO2 Bottle size) last ? 2 meaning 2 bottles ?

[Blue Whale]

how long can the DIY CO2 2 (Nutrifin DIY CO2 Bottle size) last ? 2 meaning 2 bottles ?

2-3 weeks, each bottle differs in height and circumference. It depends on your mix during preparation of the CO2. I learned this from AQ and a few other sites few years back. 2 means No.2 2x that means twice the amount or two in your context.

I am dismantling the tank for Top up, the DIYs are in place usually when I need to top up the tank. =) Like I said before in other threads they are backups.

[Blue Whale]

The 2ft tank is currently live. PH hovering 6.8-7 at the moment. Color is quite close. Plants have started to shift in. 2 Long fin flying danios and 4 badis badis are patrolling the area since last night, so far so good. No pearling effect of course since I am temporary just using DIY CO2 in view of the CO2 tank still in the process of topping up. Be collecting from BioTope once they are ready. Festival season so much give them more time.

Running out of space in 2ft. Phew...must rethink what I want and what can be done. Come worst just do a normal tank. The lights are not fixed yet. I actually wanted to get 78W T5 but it is out of stock at Aqua Star Trading yesterday. Guess I have to look somewhere else. Changing the tubes to 2x39w with the ballast of a 2x24w will not work as the ballast is the one giving the high output effect hence must get a real 2x39w T5 light. Be doing some hunting again, once the light in, then I will reposition the 3 lights together. Namely the 2x13w PL light, the LED Light and the would be 78W T5. Photos difficult to take now due to the orientation of the tank which induce losta reflection. Hence will do it later.

Solar Panels will have to chuck one side first, although I tested them to be working. Most likely Jan project will include how to mount them onto some wood blocks which I have goto DIY Shop to look see look see again.

By far the white cement test water is still very much clear hence the fear of clouding water is not there. I don't think there will be significant change in ph later but have to confirm later by test it this week. So what if I run out of space. Still be practicing with the white cement of course. Since I am hyper-active at the moment, at least a hobby there to pass time. Craving tools have some, let's hope my hands are steady.

In case you are wondering about my filter, its a Hydor Cystal R10, which is generally have a very powerful flow rate running at 11w sufficient to drive a tank of 415cm2. Basically it's an overdrive but I can tune it down since the flow rate is adjustable. In terms of L, it would be 120-200 meaning can drive a 3ft to 4ft tank..ha ha.

Nothing goes wrong then everything will be set properly next week just nice before I go for the blood test the following week which by then, hand will not have the strength for at least another week. =P

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2:08pm
1st batch of wc all throw away, taking out the 3rd batch and putting in the 4th batch soon. Hard and slow work.
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11:16pm
Main light and fan off. Managed to maintain 25-26C throughout the day.
Did an observation and discover my hc is not doing very good. Found the problem to be air stone for the DIY CO2, have removed them. CO2 is oozing out now. I am going to leave the LED overnight.
10 mins and see an immediate reaction from the hc from dying to suddenly like being fattened. Grey off area also seem to reduce. I dosed an emergency CO2 4x pills in within the dissolve path of the water flow too. If tomorrow still not doing good, I will shift the 2nd DIY CO2 over. Nurtients should not be a problem at the moment. Tackling light and CO2 as I go, these are the two area currently need improvement. CO2 tank wouldn't be ready till next week...haiz...still topping up.