My first attempt at 4ft Planted Setup

[np73]

The following documents the trials and tribulations of getting a marine tank converted to freshwater setup. Feel free to read on (and doze off)

Intro
I had this 4(L) x 2(D) x 2.5(H) tank cabinet which was previously for a marine FOWLR setup, came with overflow to sump. This was left over from previous home owner, and I attempted valiantly to continue with the marine tank until the maintenance and sheer boredom drove me to decomm the marine tank and convert in to a freshwater planted setup.

I was tired of maintaining a FOWLER (fish only) setup, and craved for the lush greenery of a planted setup (actually Im just cheapo coz my previous setup required my chiller to cool down main plus sump tank, and the electricity bill is driving me nuts).

So I started to decomm the existing tank. Wanted togive the tank set and order a new custom (and smaller) one at first, but found that it costs an arm and a leg to get a custom tank setup. So in the end I decided to stick with the existing tank setup (minus the sump and overflow).

Started to sell off all parts which I couldnt salvage for freshwater setup, and began in earnest in obtaining all the following parts.


Equipment List
1) eheim 2028 Cannister Filter - 1250l/h, 20w
2) Aquazonic 4ft T5, 4x 54w
3) CO2 Cannister, 5l, w Eletro Solenoid, Difuser, Bubble Counter
4) Wavemaker, 3000l/h, 12w
5) JBJ Arctica 1/4 Chiller, 690w
6) eheim 2260 Cannister Filter - 2400l/h, 50w

All the parts were obtained from various sources (some second handed, some BN from y61 for less than the cost of building a new custom tank. You could say I am happy about that!


Decomm old Marine Setup
Anyway in decomming the previous setup, I removed the sump tank, cutoff all the overflow pipes near the bottom of the tank (as they were longish and traversed all over the place in the cabinet, seriously limiting the floorspace within the cabinet. Decomm was a pain in the arse, and took me all of 2 whole days over a weekend.

Sold off the eheim 1262, 1264 pumps, ATS setup as well as the protein skimmer, but retained my Chiller. Total recouped for all the items sold was only enough for me to get the second hand 2260 and 2028 - but thats a great start. Selling off the eheim pumps turned out to be something I regret later on.

Some kind soul also offered to take over all the livestock in the tank, saving me the mental torture of giving them away to the local LFS (or worse yet dump into the open sea).

Draining the tank was easy part, as I got a hailea pump (100ol/h) to drain the water from tank to toilet (about 12m away). Gravity made my job easy as water was flowing from higher to lower ground as it drained to toilet.

After draining out all the water, what left was the final piece of the jigsaw. I had to remove all the substrate in the tank. All that sand and gunk were stinky. And all I had was a dustpan with an extension pole and a large pole. The tank was 3ft off the floor, sat on the cabinet. and since the tank was 2.5ft tall, and came w a hood as well, which brought the total height to 6.5ft , maneouvering around the top of the tank, and trying to reach in with the dustpan to clear the sand was more than a chore. Took me all of 4-5 hrs, and lots of cleaning up after to get this done.

Now the tank was empty (sort of, some leftover substrate could not be accessed to), I can finally start the freshwater setup.


Setting up the Freshwater tank
I began in earnest to pour in 5x bags of the GEX Green (8kg) which I got earlier from y618. Followed that up w putting some driftwood onto the substrate (still w no water in tank) as mockup, rearranging the pieces till I sort of decided on the final placement of the driftwood. I also bought some tubs of us fissidens, mini pelia, and christmas moss, which I intended to tie onto the driftwood. That will happen later when I am ready to
fill up the tank. That would have to wait till the weekend.

Attachment 25846Attachment 25847Attachment 25855

At this point I should just mention - I used to have a planted shrimp tank back in the office 2-3 years back. Tank was flourishing w SS grade CRS but I had to decomm that tank for some reason. Been itching to get back to planted shrimp setup, and that thought was in the back of my mind when I procured the GEX substrate and the driftwood. Actually, I am still undecided on the eventual setup. Will it be a fish-only freshwater setup, or shrimp-only setup?

Before the weekend was upon me, I had also procured the CO2 setup, the eheim 2028, the t5 lights and some more plants.
Attachment 25849

I woke up bright and early on Saturday, and began to tie all the tubs of plants onto the driftwood, and placed them back onto the substrate, plus adding on the new plants I purchased days earlier. Arrangement of the driftwood was changed along the way since the plants I introduced into the tank were larger and expected, so eventually some driftwood got left out of the tank.



to be continued....

[np73]

....continued.......


Filling up the Tank
Once all the arrangement was done, I began (trying) to fill up the tank. Now draining the
water from tank vs filling up the tank were two totally different things! Draining was aided by gravity and once siphon was created, draining was easy. Now the problem here was my toilet was miles away from the tank (12m to be exact!), and the pump output was only 1000l/h. What!! the decision to sell the eheim 1262 from my marine setup came back to haunt me. Damn, shouldnt have sold off the pumps just yet!

Well off i went to y618 to get a atman 2500l/h submersible pump. Plugged into the pail of water in the toilet (which was topped off straight from tap), and the pump came to life, pumping the water forcefully into the tank. Within an hour, my tank was almost full.
Attachment 25860Attachment 25861

I had to take care to stop topping up the water, as anymore water and they will spill over into the overflow section of the tank. Not a good idea as I have removed the sump below the tank and sawn off the pipes when I decommed the marine setup! LOL

Water was gratefully stopped in time before they overflowed into my empty tank below. Now water not spilling over into overflow was good, but that presented me w another problem. The water level was now at an unsightly 3" below the top of the tank, and 2" off the bottom the hood.
Attachment 25862That was just plain unsightly - water level so low that it looked ridiculous. So I took of the open hood (do you even call this a hood? its just a box with both top and bottom missing), cleaned it up, and turned it around so that the hood now sat lower, reducing the overall tank height (from 6.5ft to 6ft), and most importantly - the inverted hood now covers over the water level, and voila! now my tank looks nicer too!! One step closed to a freshwater planted tank.


Equipment Connection
Next up for me was to connect the CO2 setup and the eheim 2028. This was my first time setting up a CO2 system, and Im forever grateful to the friendly staff at y618 for
guiding me on the setup and usage. I positioned my co2 cannisted in the furthest corner of the cabinet, and connected all the piping to counter then to th difuser.Difuser goes in the water, and I cranked up the co2 cannister and solenoid valves in succession.

Instantly tiny bubbles appear from the difuser. yay! one less thing to worry about. Next I hooked up the solenoid to a timer. will kick in together with the T5 lights, in the morning (when I wake up), and in the evenings (till 12am).

Cannister setup was a nightmare compared to the co2 setup. I hate priming!! LOL
I tried for the next 2 hours trying to get the eheim 2028 primed. Alot of trapped air was
in the cannister and I could have sworn at one point the noise from the impellor was so
loud I thought the pump was going kaput! Finally I gave up, checked w the seller on how to prime, and gave it another go the following day.

This time round on the next day, armed with Mr.google, I attached my atman pump (used earlier for filling up the tank) to the filter inlet in the tank, and turned it on. Water was pumped at a furious rate into the filter inlet hose, up the hose, into the cannister, filling it up in the process, and out the cannister outlet, to chiller inlet, out the chiller inlet, and back into the tank. Now siphon was created.

I detached my pump from the filter inlet hose (with inlet hose still in water - to avoid letting in any air) and powered up my eheim 2028. Finally!!! the cannister coughed into
life and hummed along as it started pushing out remaining air bubbles from itself and the daisy-chained chiller. Yay! Filtration (and chilling) was finally achieved!! Except for
one small problem - the outflow back to tank was slowed down to a trickle. Think the
distance is too long (about 5m from tank inlet to tank outlet) for the 2028's pump to
handle.

I had earlier reserved a 2260 from a bro, so time to take up that offer. Collected the
2260, and man this is huge!!! Now thats what I call a cannister filter. LOL more like a
dustbin with lid and a pump ontop of the said lid. proper old school cannister. I
can only imagine how many billions of nitrifying bacteria will be housed in this baby once I set it up.

The water is cloudy at this point. could be bacteria bloom as I just whacked in close to 500ml of Nutrifin Cycle, and a fair amount of Seachem Prime into the water. But hey! things are looking up already!!



to be continued......

[rascal]

nice set up bro!! what you keeping? tetra?? shrimps?? post more pictures!! congrates!!! im sure all be nicer when it is matured

[np73]

nice set up bro!! what you keeping? tetra?? shrimps?? post more pictures!! congrates!!! im sure all be nicer when it is matured

I'm still undecided at this point. Want to get back to shrimping but been out of shrimp keeping for so long I've almost forgotten the basics LOL.

So much has changed since 2-3 years ago. Back then CRS was the top tier shrimp and king kong was just emerging thanks to silane. Now I'm just utterly confused with all the new terms and mutations that have appeared on the market. All I know is that it damn frigging expensive for the newer breeds! I suppose if I decided to go back to shrimps, I would want my top grade CrS back. Nothing like the sight of mass orgy when these beauties congregate for the daily feedings

Well back to the tank. I'm not quite sure what are my options if I were to go with shrimps and fish combi. I don't want anything that finds shrimps tasty snacks. I want something that can coexist with the shrimps.

Any bro/ sis has any recommendation?

[np73]

Anyway went shopping just now for the filter media for my 2260 dustbin. Went to c328 came back w the following, and not sure if they are good combo. But since bought Liao, suck thumb even if it's not the most optimal. Of course money comes into the picture now coz ehfisubstrat pro is v expensive.

1x 2l ehfisubstrat pro
1x 2l ehfimech
2x mechanical wool (similar to ehfifix)
2x 5l mr aqua ceramic rings

Will be loading them onto the dustbin tonight and connecting to the tank. This will take the place of the 2028 which I setup successfully last night. LOL so it was all wasted effort on my part last night setting up the 2028 after all.

[Fishy Business]

Very detail Journal! Keep it up!

[Yany]

Do continue to post and I'm sure your aquarium would look great once its more matured.

Thanks for sharing!

[np73]

....continued.....

Got home early and began to unpack all the media like a boy unwrapping his christmas presents. In my haste, I forgot to take group photo w my media.
Anyway I dismantled my 2028 and set it aside. The time has come for the dustbin to report for duty.
Attachment 25879

I read somewhere that it is always good to have shutoff valves for the inlet and outlets since the eheim classics dont have built-in shutoff valves. So I took out some spare 16/22 piping and snipped off 2 short piping, affixed them a pair of "proper" eheim shutoff valves, and voila!!! instant shutoff valve for the dustbin.
Attachment 25880

Next I took out all the media, and washed them a bag at a time.Dumped them into the dustbin till it was full. In total, I used 2L ehfimech, 8L mr Aqua, 2L ehfisubstrat pro.

Next I connected up all the piping, and used the exact same method used previously to prime the 2260. I pumped water into the inlet in the tank till the dustbin was filled up and the water returned via chiller to the tank. Boy am i glad I decided to get the dustbin. It really has good flow, and a large capacity for my media.

From my vantage point at the top of the tank near the hood (coz that was where my electrical outlets are, and i was holding onto the atman 2500lh pump in one hand and its outlet to the tank inlet with the other hand), I could hear water gushing into the dustbin. Perfect!! I saw the water in the tank recede as the dustbin was taking in alot of water. I turned on the 2260.

Happy right??!! Wrong!!! The water kept receding and there i was up there near the top of the tank, wondering to myself how come the dustbin is taking in so much water. Water was returning back to tank, but the water in the tank kept receding......

I peered into the cabinet. My gosh!!! Water was everywhere in the cabinet! as I began soaking up the water with bits and rags i could get hold of, I noticed that the inlet piping near the inlet of the dustbin had sprung a leak. What are the chances. Damn
I quickly turned off the electrical outlets, and disconnected the pipes. Luckily I have already installed the shutoff valves on both ends of the dustbin. Shut them off and began cleaning up the mess. Snipped off that end of the piping with the leak and reconnected back to the dustbin shutoff valves once more. I never thought the shutoff valves would present such a quick return of investment. LOL

Anyway after that re-piping, and further checks on all other piping and connectors, I turned on the dustbin once more. This time, there would be no more water drama.

Except.....the 2260 pump was making this low audible humming noise when it is in operation. Plus the fact that the dustbin was in the cabinet....seems to resonate like a subwoofer in there!!! I will take care of the noise issue on another day.....Enough drama for one night. Heres a pic of the dustbin next to the decomm'ed 2028.See the size as compared to the 5L Co2 canister in the background. Monster filter!

Attachment 25881


....to be continued....

[Jovel]

Wow, awesome journal! Keep it up! Nice scape too, thinking of carpeting the empty foreground with plants? I bet it'll look damn magnificent anyway, for fishes you can go for ottos (safest), or the boraras family, I have some boraras merahs, smallest of the 3 types, they leave my shrimplets alone even if I don't feed them for a day or 2. Still, there are always slight risks. So it still depends on you. Oh they are great white worm eaters too, if your tank ever got infested by pests.

[np73]

Wow, awesome journal! Keep it up! Nice scape too, thinking of carpeting the empty foreground with plants? I bet it'll look damn magnificent anyway, for fishes you can go for ottos (safest), or the boraras family, I have some boraras merahs, smallest of the 3 types, they leave my shrimplets alone even if I don't feed them for a day or 2. Still, there are always slight risks. So it still depends on you. Oh they are great white worm eaters too, if your tank ever got infested by pests.

I've been thinking abt the foreground too.not sure what plants to go w for the foreground. Which LFS can I find a variety of foreground plants? I'd love to start adding fish and inverts soon but it's a new tank. I need to cycle for a couple ofweek minimum so I will resist the temptation for now.

While on the subject of cycling, I also read somewhere that if a new tank is heavily planted, there is really no need to go thru the nitrogen cycle. Could this be true?! Lol

[naz]

nice journal!

As foreground, these are some of my favourites: HC, Glosso, Riccia (i have them on driftwoods) I got them at Jalan Kayu (sorry but my mind is blank right now and i can't think). But do beware, foreground plants require good light reach. I'm having a dilemma right now, currently my tank depth is 2.5ft, using AquaZonic 54x4 fixture, light ain't reaching the base well enough. Perhaps, because i'm using some other brand of tubes which has 6500k colour temp instead of the manufactured ones @ 12000k.

Can't wait to see more of your journal! Good Luck!

[Jovel]

I've been thinking abt the foreground too.not sure what plants to go w for the foreground. Which LFS can I find a variety of foreground plants? I'd love to start adding fish and inverts soon but it's a new tank. I need to cycle for a couple ofweek minimum so I will resist the temptation for now.

While on the subject of cycling, I also read somewhere that if a new tank is heavily planted, there is really no need to go thru the nitrogen cycle. Could this be true?! Lol

HC, glosso, UG, jap HG, you name it. UG and jap HG is a little rarer, so it depends on you. thou i feel HC will look good in your tank, but it's quite demanding (high light, co2). is that some HC in there as well?

Please please please cycle your tank for at least 3-4 weeks. time is needed for BB to grow, and further break down ammonia. dont rush things and you might lose all your livestocks, not to mention money and little lives are at stake.

[Shadow]

You will need MH or maybe those 50W LED module If you want to grow foreground plant like HC or glosso, since you have 2.5 ft deep tank.

[limz_777]

maybe more plants to fill up the triangle layout

[np73]

Naz: Your tank depth and lighting is the same as mine. I got some jap HC yesterday. Looks like I will have a lighting issue, same as you.

Shadow: Wonder if it will work too if i hook up another 4x54w? Then it should be 8x 54w (432w total) for approx 130g = 3.3w/g. Does it work this way? Is that how you count the wattage per gallon then?

limz777: Im still looking for plants to fill out the spaces there. Slowly add.

New Plants
Anyway I bought 2 mesh pieces of jap TC yesterday from Polyart. Shopkeeper said no need high light and much fert as water temp more important. So I took them home and just sank the 2 pieces into the tank. Read about TC later on, seems like I will have to do some planting tonight to make sure they are not clumped together. I want these babies to be my foreground.

Lighting requirements
Looks like I will need to up the lighting and also the photo period. Water temp is now set to 26deg.


Cycling/ Readings Taken
Anyway while I was fiddling with the tank, I checked the Ammonia and Nitrite levels. Seems like not much ammonia and nitrite in the first place.
Ammonia: 0.25ppm
Nitrite: 1ppm

This was taken yesterday, ie 4th day of the new tank setup (w water). Ammonia readings seem low. Looks like I dont have much bioload to begin with. May have to pop by some LFS later to get some hardy shitters. Do snails count??

I was dosing Nutrafin Cycle. Was reading the labels and just found out - it was meant to remove ammonia and nitrites!! Wouldnt introduction of this slow down/ screw up my cycling>??!!! Or would it actually speed up? Was thinking to cycle properly, that I should just add in a raw shrimp.

Any ideas? Suggestions??

[chris168]

Indeed a very detail journal of your 4ft setup... Good luck and will be looking forward for your updates. Happy planting!

[Loudness]

Think throwing some dead prawn will help to bring up the ammonia. Just put it in small breeder box, easy to remove. Great journal, hope to see more update.

[np73]

......continued......

A short follow up today.

Last night went to Aquastar got an additional 2x54 T5 light for the tank. After turning it on next to the existing 4x54 T5, the tank suddenly looks much brighter and more dare i say it "luscious"? Everything looks greener and brighter. heck, even the substrate looks prettier.
Now total wattage = 324W, for a output of approx 2.3w/g.

I have also upped the CO2 to 2ppm since more plants in there.

Of course while I was there, I also picked up some other items. Some additional eheim piping to hook up the 2028 which i decommed earlier (but there aint no such thing as over-filtration right??). Began dosing some additional bacteria solution (name of the bottle escaped me) into the water. And being someone who is easily poisoned, I also picked up some more greens.

One thing led to another, and beforeI knew it, I also brought home some 20x guppies for cycling. Yeah I know. Raw porn *erm* i mean, raw prawn dont move in the tank while the tank cycles. A few reasons why I chose them:

1) They look and swim slow and lazy - easy to catch later once cycling is done
2) They are poop masters
3) Their mouths are too tiny to attempt to attack shrimps later on if I decide to intro shrimps - which also means if i fail to catch them, then so be it
4) They are rather colourful and hardy too

Wallet damage for the fifth straight day. LOL I can already imagine the cash tills ringing at all the LFS I frequented these few days.

Here's a little update on the tank. I removed the riccia in the foreground as they kept floating up. Replaced them slowly with HC. Will need to start planting properly over the weekend then. Shifted some plants around and this is what I ended up with as of last night.

Not sure what else I could have done to the layout since this tank is like a room partition, acts as a giant screen as you walk in through the front door and screens off the living room area. So as you see, the layout has to somewhat be nice on both sides. Somehow something still seems off-ish with the current layout.

Attachment 25928Attachment 25927

[Shadow]

I have also upped the CO2 to 2ppm since more plants in there.

You mean ppm or bps? But either way its too low. You need to target 30ppm.

I saw some not aquatic plants in your tank.

[np73]

You mean ppm or bps? But either way its too low. You need to target 30ppm.

I saw some not aquatic plants in your tank.

ermmm ur making me sweat now......
Which ones may I ask? Id like to get rid of them if they are not.

Ya and btw i meant 2bps.