My 125 Gallon set up

[The Zigman]

Why are you tearing up the canopy? Looks great.

Looks good on the outside.. The lids are delaminating, and the inside is judt plain yuck. my tank has no glass lid, nothing to seperate the water from the canopy, since the water is 86 degrees F, it evaporates and is slowly destroying the canopy. I am adding a set of glass lids and a new top frame to the tank.. Watch for the diy, with the tank 1/2 full...

What kind of lighting are you going for, HO T5's?

Since it is a discus tank, and they prefer low light, I am going to add additional power compact fluorescent lighting. These additional fixtures will be on duruin the peak daylight houors, maybe from 11am till 3pm, just to provide more lighting for the plants... might play with some timers for a dusk and dawn effect..

Changing out the Fluval FX5 for another system? Would you recommend it? I'm considering getting it or a Pentair Aquatics Rainbow Lifegard system.

I like the FX5, but cant seem to get that pristine water that I want. thinking about adding a small sump, or building some sort of water polishing filter.

Agreed! :headbang2:

I want about 3-4 more discus in there!

 

[catnipgal]

Have you thought of taking orders to custom make stands and canopies?

You definately have a lot of talent.

 

[The Zigman]

Have you thought of taking orders to custom make stands and canopies?

You definately have a lot of talent.

I would LOVE to build some custom stands, If I could find a way to ship them, all would be good...

Any interest?

 

[catnipgal]

I would LOVE to build some custom stands, If I could find a way to ship them, all would be good...

Any interest?

Definately interested, but not now, I live in a small apartment. I live in the Chicago area, so when I have more room, I'll pm you.

 

[jimmyt]

zig - very impressive.. I love the sand.. I am in the process of building a 75g custom stand and am very interested to see how you redo the canopy - especially the lighting. Right now I have an all-glass 48" strip light with 40 watts - I am looking into a shop light. I hope to have the stand done and tank running by christmas. is this the sand?
http://www.redflint.com/aquarium_sand.htm - if so where did you get it, I cant find any local distributers here in cincinnati.

jim

 

[The Zigman]

zig - very impressive.. I love the sand.. I am in the process of building a 75g custom stand and am very interested to see how you redo the canopy - especially the lighting. Right now I have an all-glass 48" strip light with 40 watts - I am looking into a shop light. I hope to have the stand done and tank running by christmas. is this the sand?
http://www.redflint.com/aquarium_sand.htm - if so where did you get it, I cant find any local distributers here in cincinnati.

jim

Jim,
that is the stuff, I have the 1/8 inch small size, not the sand in 3 of my tanks. All of the Mom and pop LFS here sell it. 50# usually runs about $20. Its cheap,and I think it looks great.

 

[DrNo]

Zig, I have an FX5 on my 125 gallon moderately planted SE Asian and do enjoy the 'pristine' water you're referring to. What kind of filter media do you use? My bottom tray is a layer of Fluval prefilter:



... topped off with a cut-to-size layer of the 100 micron pads from DrFS:



The upper two trays are exclusively biomedia. I don't use charcoal. I'm assuming you're complaining about suspended particulates and not coloration. For the latter, UV sterilization is the best thing you can do to improve the aesthetics of water quality, IMO. I rinse out the mechanical inside the filter at least twice a month but don't touch the biomedia.

 

[The Zigman]

I have the prefilter in the top tray on a blue fluval pad
Biomax in tray #2.
in the bottom tray I have a bunch of polyester floss...

I am going to order those 100 micron pads from DR FS...

 

[DrNo]

Zig, I have an FX5 on my 125 gallon moderately planted SE Asian and do enjoy the 'pristine' water you're referring to. What kind of filter media do you use? My bottom tray is a layer of Fluval prefilter:



... topped off with a cut-to-size layer of the 100 micron pads from DrFS:



The upper two trays are exclusively biomedia. I don't use charcoal. I'm assuming you're complaining about suspended particulates and not coloration. For the latter, UV sterilization is the best thing you can do to improve the aesthetics of water quality, IMO. I rinse out the mechanical inside the filter at least twice a month but don't touch the biomedia.

Sorry had a brain cramp, above post is not correct.... swap the position of the prefilter tray to the top (not the bottom). I also have a 405 and often confuse the line-up of trays for typing purposes LOL.

Zig, I think you may find the micron pad will make the polyester floss redundant....might allow more room for biomedia if you prefer.

 

[The Zigman]

Yup, I just ordered one of each size microm pad.
Hopefully have them Monday, since this thing is plugged up again...
Grrrr!!