Behemoth planted tank
- Thread starter plantbrain
- Start date
Like most large gardens, the cost is really in the upkeep.
You spend lots of $, and then really louse it up fast by not tending it.
I look at them as long term projects.
Not set and forget.
I have about 1000lb of Siryku rock and several large pieces of redwood to match the cedar on the other side for scaping.
So I'll be removing the Petrified rock and finding a new home for that, the client is going to have a 450 gal tank at the office done, open top and ADA style discus so that is a project I really am looking forward to.
If you do good work, save $ for them and take care of good clients, they give you repeat business.
I think the tank will have an open top and a HQI MH style moving light system, one that goes back and front about 18" to cover the entire surface area every few minutes like for the MH's in growing rooms. It'll have 4x150 w and 3x 70 for lower light and high light noon day blast combos.
This will reduce the spray and allow more light to be focused into the tank with very little over spray. It'll also produce better fuller growth without sitting the MH right on top of the same plant all day long.
I think it'll be a star fire glass rimless etc.
I'll post some photo's after I am done this time.
Next week sometime.
Regards,
Tom Barr
I'm doing a similar tank fro myself, a 225 gal, 72Lx30DX24T
You spend lots of $, and then really louse it up fast by not tending it.
I look at them as long term projects.
Not set and forget.
I have about 1000lb of Siryku rock and several large pieces of redwood to match the cedar on the other side for scaping.
So I'll be removing the Petrified rock and finding a new home for that, the client is going to have a 450 gal tank at the office done, open top and ADA style discus so that is a project I really am looking forward to.
If you do good work, save $ for them and take care of good clients, they give you repeat business.
I think the tank will have an open top and a HQI MH style moving light system, one that goes back and front about 18" to cover the entire surface area every few minutes like for the MH's in growing rooms. It'll have 4x150 w and 3x 70 for lower light and high light noon day blast combos.
This will reduce the spray and allow more light to be focused into the tank with very little over spray. It'll also produce better fuller growth without sitting the MH right on top of the same plant all day long.
I think it'll be a star fire glass rimless etc.
I'll post some photo's after I am done this time.
Next week sometime.
Regards,
Tom Barr
I'm doing a similar tank fro myself, a 225 gal, 72Lx30DX24T
Here I am pruning, a new method called flotation and blind planting.
Works very well and is rather soothing.
Angels grew 2X since I was last here.
Note big discus, I'm not a little guy either.
Well, I thought I was walking into disaster, but it was not that bad of shape this time down.
I found out if you fill the tank 1/2 way and float in the tank, it makes replanting very easy. Trying hang or balance on sharp rocks with hands or feet hurts
Fish bit my toes.
These Altums...........well they have to be the biggest pigs in the tank, I fed them daily for 3 days and they always came to the front of the tank begging like the worst of dogs.........
He has not added all 64 of 18 of the largest fattest ones have been added and have done well. I saw these when they where under 1", they are 5" long now.
I did a total rework this time, spent about 30 hours of reworking labor.
I re[planted most of the front 2/3 of the tank except for the hair grass lawn, I added a large piece of Anubiasized wood to balance the sides, I could have added another log on the other side but filling in the blank space on the left removed that need.
I added 500lbs of ADA like Siuyo(sp) rock, this makes a very nice contrast and divides the tank up into workable units.
I'm trying to get one of the friends there to have us do a tank for Jim Carry. He has marine tank, I figure he needs a Freshwater equilvalent.
LA Zoo exhibit is a go and in the planning stages. There will definitely be 2 large tanks in the Amazon display there I will get to work on. We are also going to Amazon to collect the fish with Heiko.
They will film the entire process. Should be cool.
Note, this is the tank before I fixed it, it'll take a few days before it's happy and the plants have filled in more. It was literally covered in algae when the CO2 was off for 7 days before being fixed.
Ho hum.............never get to see the tanks I do in full bloom, but I can wait a few months and see it again.
We used Excel+daily 40% water change, blackout and virtually all plants where algae free after 6 days. This is before I redid the tank.
Regards,
Tom Barr
Works very well and is rather soothing.
Angels grew 2X since I was last here.
Note big discus, I'm not a little guy either.
Well, I thought I was walking into disaster, but it was not that bad of shape this time down.
I found out if you fill the tank 1/2 way and float in the tank, it makes replanting very easy. Trying hang or balance on sharp rocks with hands or feet hurts
Fish bit my toes.
These Altums...........well they have to be the biggest pigs in the tank, I fed them daily for 3 days and they always came to the front of the tank begging like the worst of dogs.........
He has not added all 64 of 18 of the largest fattest ones have been added and have done well. I saw these when they where under 1", they are 5" long now.
I did a total rework this time, spent about 30 hours of reworking labor.
I re[planted most of the front 2/3 of the tank except for the hair grass lawn, I added a large piece of Anubiasized wood to balance the sides, I could have added another log on the other side but filling in the blank space on the left removed that need.
I added 500lbs of ADA like Siuyo(sp) rock, this makes a very nice contrast and divides the tank up into workable units.
I'm trying to get one of the friends there to have us do a tank for Jim Carry. He has marine tank, I figure he needs a Freshwater equilvalent.
LA Zoo exhibit is a go and in the planning stages. There will definitely be 2 large tanks in the Amazon display there I will get to work on. We are also going to Amazon to collect the fish with Heiko.
They will film the entire process. Should be cool.
Note, this is the tank before I fixed it, it'll take a few days before it's happy and the plants have filled in more. It was literally covered in algae when the CO2 was off for 7 days before being fixed.
Ho hum.............never get to see the tanks I do in full bloom, but I can wait a few months and see it again.
We used Excel+daily 40% water change, blackout and virtually all plants where algae free after 6 days. This is before I redid the tank.
Regards,
Tom Barr
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so how much excel did u go through? and is there any prep work u hav to do to float in the tank?
A normal dosing of Excel is 750 mls, we buy Excel in 20 liter amounts.
So it's not a long term solution, just for neglect and CO2 related issues.
Regards,
Tom Barr
So it's not a long term solution, just for neglect and CO2 related issues.
Regards,
Tom Barr
If you would like, give the owner another few weeks and I think SCAPE might have a visit and you could come with them => Southern California Aquatic Plant Society. They came once before.
No con involved.
The other good news, I am doing a large predator tank and a similar community tank for the LA Zoo's Amazon exhibit.
One tank will be 16x 4x 6 and the predator tank will be 4 nice species of Piranha, stingrays, large Pseudacanthirus plecos etc and it'll be about 20ftx8Dx 5-6ftH.
The plans are being drawn up.
So lots of folks can go see it.
I have a simple design for the large predator tank so they will not need to go inside the tank once planted and fish are added.
Let me know on this tank, it's crazy sitting there.
Regards,
Tom Barr
