Complete Tank Redesign Project - Lessons, Learnings and Ramblings of Coach_z

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coach_z

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Jan 12, 2009
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Complete Tank Redesign Project - Lessons, Learnings and Ramblings of Coach_z
My planted 'High Tech' setup was in for a lot of work once i found that I was going to be moving. Problem was that once I actually moved I had no time to actually setup the tank. To put this into a nice little perspective, I moved in May and I setup my tank again on October 10.

My Old Setup
Tank: 35 Gallon (30 x 12 x 22) Oak trim
Stand: Standard oak stand
Lighting: Coralife 2x 65W CFL running 2 6,700K bulbs
Filter: Penguin HOB
Flow: Maxi-Jet 600
Ferts: EI
CO2: Pressurized - 10# bottle Milwaukee 957 Regulator
Heater: (1) Aqueon and (1) unknown brand....hydor maybe?
Substrate: 60 Lbs. Eco-Complete
Decorations: Pirate and Pirate ship theme

Pictures:



The Old Setup had deteriorating silicone that was receding back to the panel joints, the upper oak trim was recently replaced due to a cracked center brace, and there were a ton of chips/breaks along the top of the tank (most likely due to when i replaced the trim with the tank 1/2 full <--Not a fun exercise).

I had the co2 running through an air stone that was inserted inside of the maxi-jet power head. When the co2 bubbles were hitting the impeller it made a loud and annoying rattle noise. It also didn't seem too efficient. I purchased a strainer meant for a bulkhead, removed enough plastic to fit my co2 tubing through, and then fit the air stone and tubing inside of the strainer. This fit onto the bottom of my power head. The finer bubbles coming out of the air stone provided adequate co2 solution into the tank.

How and where I learned most of the advice that I give on a daily basis:
I made the mistake of upgrading my lighting first. 2x65W WOOOO!!!! That's almost 3WPG! Yay! Problem is, after two weeks of good growth, I had major BBA outbreak. I bleach dipped. I dosed Excel. I dosed H2O2. I thought I could battle that with Ferts. Then I battled it with DIY CO2. Then I finally realized I am not enjoying my tank and bit the bullet and went pressurized.
What I learned: UPGRADE ORDER IS IMPORTANT. CO2, then Ferts, then lights.

Then I had GSA on my glass and figured it had to be from too much of something. I found PO4 to be the culprit because i got a test kit and found that i had 2PPM PO4! OMG! How could this be? Water change, water change water change. Remove as much po4 as possible. It did not go away. Then after some research, some suggestions from Tom Barr (plantbrain) and Jpappy I found that you should never limit your Ferts and limiting them most often is the cause of a problem.
What I learned: DON'T LIMIT YOUR FERTS. PO4 @ 5-10PPM is a good thing. Nitrate @ 30PPM is not a problem.



New Tank Setup
Tank: Standard 29 Gallon Black trim
Stand: Standard oak stand (Same from before)
Lighting: Coralife 2x 65W CFL running 2 6,700K bulbs (Same from before)
Filter: Marineland C-360
Ferts: EI (Same from before)
CO2: Pressurized - 10# bottle Building Own Regulator
Heater: NONE. Both have bit the bucket.
Substrate: 60 Lbs. Eco-Complete (Same from before)
Decorations: Pirate and Pirate ship theme (Same from before)

Reason for the changes:
Tank:
The tank was starting to fall apart. I got it in the early 90's and decided that it was time for new silicone. The silicone was worn away to the seams of the tank. After several mishaps and lots of silicone inhalation I hit up the $1/gallon sale and got a standard 29. It was a downgrade in size I know but I was tired of wet armpits. The old tank was tall!

Stand:
Still using the same one. Ill get some pictures of it later. It needs some refinishing but that can wait until next year.

Lighting:
I will be upgrading to a 2 24" T5HO Light setup. I am looking to increase my PAR and also control the electric bill. I am getting a retrofit kit and squeezing it into my Coralife unit after I gut it and possibly sell the spare parts.

Filter:
Needed more flow. I originally got a C-220 but it was broken. Marineland sent me a new impeller which didn't fix the problem. They then decided that it was probably a busted valve block or head. They didn't have any of that in stock so they sent me the C-360 instead. I got a C-360 for a hundred bucks....werd! I am running co2 through the filter.

CO2:
Still using the same tank although it needs to be refilled. I don't like the stability of the Milwaukee regulator anymore so I am building my own. More news on that later.

Heaters:
I am currently seeking new heaters. My aqueon died the other day. Laura (GF) kept waking me up in the night saying that my tank was making a weird clicking/popping noise. I thought it was the filter but it would stop every so often. 5 Nights of being woken up later I am staring at the tank and notice that the clicking happens when the heater is on. I stick my hand in, touch the heater, and feel the 'click' that I am hearing. This Aqueon is probably about a year old, my old hydor that is in there is about 10. They need to be replaced.

I am looking for a good inline heater for my c-360....let me know if you know of one. I don't want a heater in my tank anymore.


Look forward to more pictures and more information as I finish writing some stuff up. I am going to cover substrate changes, tank moving, filter maintenance, benefits of densely planted tanks and not really caring about losing your cycle when you move, how long a tank cycle can last with no fish bioload.
 
Last edited:

fishycat

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Dec 9, 2009
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Sweet, looking forward to following this! :thm:

PS: how'd you solve the GSA?
 

coach_z

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can't wait to see the new build. Any ideas what types of plants you are going to add?
A 3-5in deep(from the front of the glass) mat of glosso or HC , followed by a good dense row of blyxa.

By request of the girlfriend I am going to go squeeze a tiger lotus in the midground. The rest of the mid ground is going to be Alternanthera reineckii and Rotala macrandra.

Background is going to be an amazon sword and Pogostemon stellatus.

If i can actually find these plants is one thing....I might also just change my mind about it all.
 

coach_z

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Why I Stick with Eco-Complete for my Substrate

Why I stick with Eco-Complete for my Substrate

Summary:
It's so darn easy!

As per their website it is:
High in Iron
pH Neutral
Grain size 1-6mm
High surface area
Soft belly safe

Adding to tank:
It requires no rinsing or prep. Eco-complete will barely cloud your water if you are setting up a new tank. Open the bags, dump them into your tank, put a clean, well rinsed, dinner plate on the substrate and fill your tank (landing the water on the plate to avoid clouding your tank). Any cloudiness should clear within an hour or so. It came with a little packet that was meant to clear the tank. I guess it worked.

If your tank already has water in it when you add it eco-complete. The Eco-Complete clears in the water column pretty quickly and your tank is cloudy for only a short period of time. You can reduce cloudiness when putting in the Eco-complete by minimizing the splashing and agitation that your create when placing it in the tank. If you dump the stuff into a full tank, don't expect your tank to clear for 24-48 hours.

Planting:
Planting is a breeze! Plants never uproot because the substrate is too lose. They require no weighting or playing around with them. I always use tweezers to plant and everything stays put like it should.

Maintenance:
No need to gravel vac or do anything else to your tank. If you start to get unsightly buildup on your Eco-complete, use your gravel vac and hover over the area. Everything should come right up. If it does not come right up, wave your gravel vac around to disturb the surface and then grab the stuff out of the water.

It does not compact and form gas pockets, so after you put it in your tank....just leave it there. Like the good old infomercial said "Just set it, and forget it"

Nutrients:
It has nutrients in it so you don't always have to be fussing around with root tabs and such. I have been using it for over a year now and have several very demanding root feeders that seem to be growing just fine on a daily basis. Maybe I will eventually need to start supplementing the substrate with an alternative fertilizer, but not yet at least, and I don't think I will anytime in the future.

I also have the belief that the substrate will retain some of the nutrients that are in the water column. The water column does penetrate through the substrate so the ferts must get down there in a way.
 

dundadundun

;sup' dog? ;woof and a wwwoof!
Jan 21, 2009
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are you going to try the dry start method for the HC carpet?
or the glosso carpet for that matter. :idea: it's growing well emersed for me as we speak, so it's definitely a candidate.

great thread idea, coach. it's just a shame it's not getting more attention/posts/questions. don't stop now...
 

coach_z

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or the glosso carpet for that matter. :idea: it's growing well emersed for me as we speak, so it's definitely a candidate.

great thread idea, coach. it's just a shame it's not getting more attention/posts/questions. don't stop now...
It was inspired by a thread I read recently so I figured I would start it up. In that thread I mentioned that many of my threads receive no responses, so I am not surprised. I am sure I'll add something to it today...mainly about EI dosing.

Plants will not be dry started or grown emersed or emerged...
 
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