Back in the trenches......

[myswtsins]

Thumbs up all around! Sounds like you've got most of it down now. Only thing I'd comment on is put the doors on the stand AFTER you bring it upstairs, if possible. And now I'm just waiting for pictures.

 

[lousyweather]

Thumbs up all around! Sounds like you've got most of it down now. Only thing I'd comment on is put the doors on the stand AFTER you bring it upstairs, if possible. And now I'm just waiting for pictures.

CO2 tank filled.....urethane finished on cabinet....waiting on hinges for the doors. I can't bring it upstairs because my son is at the Asphalt Convention in Nashville. Hopefully bringing it upstairs this weekend, unless my girlfriend STILL wants me to sledgehammer her steps out.....ugh.
Current obsession: lighting. Looked at building my own or buying pre made ones. Current leader is the Ecoxotic E120.....after pricing parts and perusing the DIY stuff, I would be into a fixture for a little over half what the E120 is.....with no warranty, and no real PAR data. Some folks online say there are overheating issues tho. Some say they are great. Wonderful. Anyone have firsthand experience with them? I like the integrated ramp timer, size, a sleekness of design.Some folks put 2 fixtures on the achieve adequate values, but I would rather avoid that.

So, that's where we are currently! Pics shall follow once I get everything upstairs.

 

[lousyweather]

ooooh....just went on Aquabid looking at plants! Dear God, alot of choices there! Do you folks buy there, or the plant houses online? My LFS just seem to have lackluster stock, unless you want cabomba and anacharis....and even those seem, well, algae-infused.

 

[myswtsins]

Never heard of that fixture but that's pricey! It is a bit like the Finnex planted+ 24/7 from the brief overlook I did but with slightly higher par and maybe more customizable. Have you looked into the Finnex yet? I know there are TONS of fixtures out there.

Aquabid is a popular place, just make sure the individual has good reviews and it's all good. "plant houses online"?

 

[lousyweather]

Never heard of that fixture but that's pricey! It is a bit like the Finnex planted+ 24/7 from the brief overlook I did but with slightly higher par and maybe more customizable. Have you looked into the Finnex yet? I know there are TONS of fixtures out there.

Aquabid is a popular place, just make sure the individual has good reviews and it's all good. "plant houses online"?

"plant houses online"......I meant places like aquariumplants.com, etc

 

[lousyweather]

deciding on plants is worse than this whole adventure! lol.......is there any popular concensus as to where you guys (and girls!) get your plant stock? The LFS is a nogo here.....

 

[fishorama]

Depending on what plants you want & how many of each, you might be better off with a "plant house" seller than getting a few from other hobbyists. Hobby people sell a little bit of this & or a stem of that & only a what they can spare. Shipping can really add up if you use several sellers. I belong to an aquatic plant club & have an awesome plant LFS,so I rarely buy mail order. The 1 time I did I was very disappointed, 2 inch pieces without labels, meh, caveat emptor!

You might check Bob's Tropical Fish (it's ACs mgamer) or Rachel O'Leary (msjinxd, I can't think of her web address but I'm sure there's a link in the Buy/Sell area of the formum for both.

 

[Aqua nut]

welp, New Member here......I heard of this forum from a couple evil members on a totally unrelated board....a firewood burning board, if you can believe it! They will recognize my monicker from that forum......anyhow, I digress....

I am old...54 this year, and have kept aquaria in various forms since I was a young kid. Started fresh, went to marine, then reef. Then, my ex and I had 4 wonderful kids, who, as you might know, cost alot of money and time....well, OCD as I am, I stopped keeping fish/aquariums to raise kids to adulthood. Now, I have only one almost 23 year old left home, and while I dont have oodles of time, I am considering starting up a planted tank. I still have old units, a 120, 55, and a bunch of smaller units. Still have my reef stuff....ORP controllers, pH controllers, reaction chambers, canister filters, etc. (heck, I even have a water chiller!). The issue is stands are old, my metal halides are ancient, so, will likely have to build a stand and lights.....I am currently reading through this forum for the wealth of info it seems to contain.....HO florescents versus LED's, etc.....

I do have a couple questions though....

1. Where do you folks get the wide variety of plants? Yea, Anacharis and Cabomba are everywhere here, but I am pretty rural, no clubs nearby...cant be all that rare...do you guys just mail order stuff? If so, where?

2. Im pretty good with a plethora of petrified wood which I will use....used to live out west, picked up some large pieces, biggest one, about 40 lbs, they look pretty cool, but driftwood? Would like to incorporate some, but,again, where do you folks get it?

3. Floor covering. My whole home is hardwood floors. What do you folks use to protect the flooring from runs and drips? Does it make sense to incorporate a tray into the bottom of the unit? I have availability of some very heavy plastic.....has anyone done this? I am fairly handy wood-wise, will build my own base, so, am pretty flexible there...

4. Call me crazy (don't laugh!), I think I will start out by putting guppies in with plants...had an uncle who used to breed them, always held an interest there.....(Ive kept angels, cichlids, discus, etc....now I want something that mmoves around....lol)

5. I will have more questions, but want to research here more before I ask questions which have been answered prior.

Thanks for your patience in reading my tome here!

Extraplant.com for plants

 

[lousyweather]

thanks, Aquanut! Ill check it out!

 

[myswtsins]

My LFS are a nogo too, I order everything online. I have not bought anything besides a handful of the most basic low light plants in many years now. I got most of mine through the classified ads here but the ads are dead now. Aquabid, aquariumplants.com and Bob's tropical plants are always popular choices though. Msjinkzd (invertebrates by msjinkzd) does not sell plants typically and only low light ones when she does but she has great inverts!