# New planted



## Wolfenrook (Jul 2, 2010)

New tank came today, Betta Lifespace 700.










The rail I bodged together to hand my EcoAqua 30 watt LEDs lamps from.










The massive sump.










I've put black Fablon on the back, but can't get a good photo of it at night.

Ade


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## JasonR (Mar 27, 2011)

looks very smart, what you planning on putting in it?


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## Wolfenrook (Jul 2, 2010)

The fish, shrimp and plants out of my old Juwel Rio 180 that I bought back in 1996. 

Ade


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## Christie_ZXR (May 14, 2011)

The betta in that has nothing to do with fighting fish does it? I've always wondered you know! Did the company start out making tanks specifically for fighters maybe? Because I've never seen one of their tanks that looks designed for a betta...it's always bugged me!

Otherwise, looks like a lovely tank  can't wait to see it filled


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## Wolfenrook (Jul 2, 2010)

Probably, the logo has a siamese fighter in it. I actually have one of their 35 litre nanos, sans lighting and overtank filter as binned it all within a month of getting it. lol

Afraid we have to wait before I can put water in there. I messed up when preparing the plumbing, completely assembled it all and applied pipe weld to external joins, silicone to internal ones, INCLUDING the outlet/ball valve assembly.... Ball valve obviously wont fit through the hole in the tank, pipe weld is permanent. Doh! lol. Got a new ball valve, pipe and tank fitting ordered from coralculture that should hopefully get to me this week some time.

Next on the to do list though, clean out the display tank, clean out all of the bits of polystyrene that ended up in the sump, install the substrate with a small quantity of water as the bottom layer will include the old eco complete from my old snowball tank, reason been it's full of mahogany trumpet snails, like mts but dark brown/black shells and serious hard to get in the UK now. To the base layer will be adding a small quantity of sphagnum peat, 7k of Flourite dark and then this will be capped with black quartz gravel. Should look good.

Ade


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## Wolfenrook (Jul 2, 2010)

Progress so far, gravel in:-










 









Sump plumbing finished:-










Ade


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## Morgan Freeman (Jan 14, 2009)

Mmmmmmm sumps.

Are you adding co2? If so, could be an issue with the sump?


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## Wolfenrook (Jul 2, 2010)

Not so long as I keep the bottoms of the outlet and overflow pipes lower than the surface of the water in the sump.  The only potential problem after that is the outlet into the tank, there's a good chance it's going to be above the water level. If it is, I'll get a partial elbow join and add a bit more pipe to take it below water level, or plan B, a DIY spray bar using a 3/4" to 25mm converter, an elbow, a length of the PVC-U pipe (plenty left unused) and an end cap. Drill the PVC-U pipe with lots of holes down it's length, et voila, an ugly but effective vertical spray bar.

Now if I was using a trickle filter in there, THAT would be a big problem.


Ade


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## Morgan Freeman (Jan 14, 2009)

Gotcha.

Man, this is such a nice tank.


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## Wolfenrook (Jul 2, 2010)

Morgan Freeman said:


> Gotcha.
> 
> Man, this is such a nice tank.


Thanks bud, it really is a sweet tank. A bargain I reckon for £425. : victory: Plus £30 for my little oops moment, then the cost of the gravel and flourite. :lol2: I wont mention how much the lights cost. :blush:

Ade


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## Morgan Freeman (Jan 14, 2009)

Come on....Spill!


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## Wolfenrook (Jul 2, 2010)

Morgan Freeman said:


> Come on....Spill!





Wolfenrook said:


> Afraid we have to wait before I can put water in there. I messed up when preparing the plumbing, completely assembled it all and applied pipe weld to external joins, silicone to internal ones, INCLUDING the outlet/ball valve assembly.... Ball valve obviously wont fit through the hole in the tank, pipe weld is permanent. Doh! lol. Got a new ball valve, pipe and tank fitting ordered from coralculture that should hopefully get to me this week some time.


I already came clean bud.  :lol2:

Ade


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## Wolfenrook (Jul 2, 2010)

Et voila:-



















I just need to attach the java ferns to wood, and plant some pogostemon helferi in the bare are of the substrate now.

Ade


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## Wolfenrook (Jul 2, 2010)

Tweaked it a bit, still need to attach the Java ferns and plant up the 'valley' with pogostemon helferi:-



















Ade


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## Christie_ZXR (May 14, 2011)

I love the cat! :flrt: What an awesome touch. Egyptian Bast isn't she?


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## Morgan Freeman (Jan 14, 2009)

Wolfenrook said:


> I already came clean bud.  :lol2:
> 
> Ade


I meant the lights! But I'm pretty sure they're around £160 each :gasp:


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## Wolfenrook (Jul 2, 2010)

Christie_ZXR said:


> I love the cat! :flrt: What an awesome touch. Egyptian Bast isn't she?


Well spotted, it is indeed Bast. : victory: Very special to my wife.



Morgan Freeman said:


> I meant the lights! But I'm pretty sure they're around £160 each :gasp:


Ah right, uhm and the rest bud. :whistling2: I paid £179.95, but most sites are selling hem for £190 to £230 each. They were a serious investment, the tank, cabinet and sump only cost £425 delivered. :whistling2: Worth every penney though TO ME. Some might question such expensive lighting, but I wanted the tank to look as awesome as it could (without paying ADA money. lol).

Ade


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## Morgan Freeman (Jan 14, 2009)

If you have it to splash go for it!

I only go cheap as I don't have a choice :lol2:


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## Wolfenrook (Jul 2, 2010)

Five pots of pogostemon later:-










Ade


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## Christie_ZXR (May 14, 2011)

That is looking cracking!


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## Wolfenrook (Jul 2, 2010)

Thanks Christie.

Got 12 pieces of mini lava rock ordered off ebay, going to tie the Java ferns to these and then pop them back in the same positions (a Takashi Amano trick I believe. lol), I know from experience it will grow onto the wood from these and take hold eventually, it's just a nice easy way to add epithytes without removing the wood to attach them.

Had to place another order with Coral Culture. Turns out my outlet pipe is 32mm and NOT 3/4 as I read all over the internet, so my imperial to metric converter doesn't fit. I took the opportunity to order a 2nd 90 degree elbow whislt I was at it so I can better hide the 'spray bar' up the back.

Now to get off my backside and go find my CO2 glass ware and solenoid valve... lol

Ade


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## Wolfenrook (Jul 2, 2010)

Dug out my glassware and solenoid. I've ordered a new diffuser though (one rated upto 300 litres) as my old ones wont be up to the job. Managed to salvage (so far) a glass bubble counter, 2 brass needle vales (to go with the one built into my reg. lol), a glass none return valve and my backup plastic none return valve. To expalin I tend to put the plastic one close to my solenoid as the glass ones sometimes let a dribble of water through, but they look very pretty out where you can see them. lol

Ade


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## Wolfenrook (Jul 2, 2010)

This is becoming a joke! I have now discovered that my wife can't read a flipping tape measure. Remember me saying it was 32mm? That was because she read 2.5cm as 3cm "but the 3 is in the middle"..... It's actually 27mm, but how the heck I am supposed to find a reduce for that I don't know. I give up, I'm just going to get my rotary tool and bore out the impreial converter I have. The lesson here is yet again I listened to my wife, rather than going by my own measurements.

Ade


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## Wolfenrook (Jul 2, 2010)

Job done, home made spray bar drilled and fitted, CO2 system setup. :dance: 

The 'spray bar' is working a treat, creating a nice gentle current around all levels of the tank, and pulling the bubbles from the CO2 diffuser with it. Doesn't stick out like a sore thumb particularly either:-




























A good result I reckon.

Still on the to do list, get my wife to tie the Java ferns onto the mini lava rocks as I can't tie stuff on for toffee thanks to my tremor.

Ade


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## Wolfenrook (Jul 2, 2010)

I've done a bit more work on this today, removing some crypts, cutting back some overly large anubias on the left side and planting some pots of pogostemon erectus and rotala rotundifolia. In my opinion at least it now looks a LOT better:-



















Shocking news though, I've been dosing using EI so far, figured I'd give it a go and see what happens. Oh and just to note, these were taken right after I'd been working on it, so still a bit cloudy.

Ade


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## Morgan Freeman (Jan 14, 2009)

Layout looks much better!

Nice job with the spray bar, it's barely noticeable.

IMO the large crypt in the foreground needs moving but I know what whiney little things they can be when disturbed.

How do you get on with the pogostom helferi?


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## Wolfenrook (Jul 2, 2010)

Cheers Paul. Yeah the 'spray bar' turned out alright, although I do miss the effect the surface outflow had, it used to get a nice swirl going and a lovely shimmer from the lights. I have to confess I am tempted to go back to it to be honest, but I am already having to inject a LOT of CO2 just from the volume of water. lol I know 62 gallons probably doesn't seem much, but there's probably another 15-20 gallons in the sump.

Yeah, not so keen on that crypt there either. I'll probably bin it. It's not a bought one, I bought it's ancestor about 13 years ago now.... lol I've only ever had one species of crypt melt on me, and that was griffithii (SP?) which are probably the most difficult of them all. lol But then my approach with crypts has always been to leave them well alone, don't even put a gravel vac within inches of them...

I can't really say how well I will get on with the pogostemon helferi yet to be honest, but so far it's doing well. Quite a bit of growth and pretty sure some new little plants have appeared. The pogostemon erectus at the front complements it really well as well. I bought 2 more pots today in my local Pets at Home, £3.99 a pot as opposed to £7.99 a pot online (still Tropica).

I also ordered a GORGEOUS plant from TGM last night, I couldn't resist it. An aponogeon crispus 'red'. Not a cheap plant considering they're a 'bulb' plant, but the leaf colour and shape is going to be PERFECT behind the wood and plants on the left in front of the weir box. It will look really good opposite the small branches of the redmoor wood over on the right, and should give a nice focal point, rather than the current one that is too far right to my eye.

Ade


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## Morgan Freeman (Jan 14, 2009)

I'll have that crypt!

I have a R.U.B full of emersed plants I'm growing just for fun.

I could never got on with the P.Helferi. Melted in my co2 tank, survived emersed for a while then melted when I moved it.

"aponogeon crispus 'red'"

Great plant! Should look really good in there.

63 gallons plus an extra 20 will definitely consume a fair bit of co2, part of the reason I've moved away from using it is the amount even a relatively small tank uses. I may try it again at some point as I still have all the parts (minus a decent solenoid) in the shed.


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## Wolfenrook (Jul 2, 2010)

Yeah, I use a fire extinguisher. I know there are some safety issues around this, but I found a 500g bottle lasted me about 1.5 months on my old 180 litre. lol

It's definitely guzzling the CO2 though. I used EasyCarbo in the past, but found a few critters really don't get on too well with it, where CO2 they don't bat an eyelid at. With the lighting I have on this beast CO2 is pretty much a must anyway! I can't even count the bubbles in my bubble counter though as had to turn it up so far they're too fast! The drop checker STILL isn't perfect lime green.

I may have to get a 5kg FE nex time... lol

Right now though I'm just excisted about the aponogeton. We have a real soft spot for them. Even managed to grow some normal crispus from seed once that my mature plants produced.  Then my wife bought a plec...... She has a bad habit of doing that. I made her have an ancistrus instead the last time she tried it. lol They're much better behaved.

Ade


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## Morgan Freeman (Jan 14, 2009)

Wolfenrook said:


> Yeah, I use a fire extinguisher. I know there are some safety issues around this, but I found a 500g bottle lasted me about 1.5 months on my old 180 litre. lol
> 
> It's definitely guzzling the CO2 though. I used EasyCarbo in the past, but found a few critters really don't get on too well with it, where CO2 they don't bat an eyelid at. With the lighting I have on this beast CO2 is pretty much a must anyway! I can't even count the bubbles in my bubble counter though as had to turn it up so far they're too fast! The drop checker STILL isn't perfect lime green.
> 
> ...


I used an FE aswell, as long as it's secure I really can't see a problem with it. It works on exactly the same principle as any other pressurised co2 system!

I do like Plecs but all my local shops have specimens close to 2ft, enough to put anyone off....At least it should.


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## Wolfenrook (Jul 2, 2010)

I like plecs, in BIG unplanted tanks. lol That said, my fave is also one of the smallest and probably most expensive.

I used to love seeing all the different ones when I worked for an LFS. Gold nugget plecs etc etc. All of the ones I have kept though have been lethal to stem plants, ripping them up or just snapping them off. Platies can be as bad though!

Ade


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## Morgan Freeman (Jan 14, 2009)

Wolfenrook said:


> I like plecs, in BIG unplanted tanks. lol That said, my fave is also one of the smallest and probably most expensive.
> 
> I used to love seeing all the different ones when I worked for an LFS. Gold nugget plecs etc etc. All of the ones I have kept though have been lethal to stem plants, ripping them up or just snapping them off. Platies can be as bad though!
> :gasp:
> Ade


There's just so many Plecs to choose from, they could become an obsession. I'm not going there.....!

Ah damn, there goes my planted platie tank idea then :gasp:


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## Wolfenrook (Jul 2, 2010)

They're usually fine bud, just the ones I had were little demons that loved to uproot my stems.

Ade


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## Wolfenrook (Jul 2, 2010)

Added more p. erectus now, another 2 parts. I've also move the CO2 diffuser into the pump chaber of my sump and put the pump on it. Dissolved CO2 levels haven't changed, but now the only bubbles in the tank are coming off the plants.

Oh and the p. helferi is doing really well. Lots of new growth, including new young plants popping through the gravel.  Made me think actually Paul, you weren't by chance using liquid carbon when you tried it were you? I've heard of some plants not liking it and melting as you describe. I am just injecting lots of CO2.  Need a new drop checker though. Currently using a JBL permanent test one, and to be honest I can't read it front on. I have to look at it from the side as front on the white plastic reflects the blue from my lighting.........

Ade


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## Wolfenrook (Jul 2, 2010)

Six days later:-










Ade


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## Wolfenrook (Jul 2, 2010)

The spray bar has temporarily been removed today whilst I modify it, reasons been 1) it reduced surface distrubance TOO much, massively reducing the 'shimmer' effect from the lights and 2) I drilled too many too large holes in it, meaning that despite having more than 10x flow the circulation effect was too far reduced. So, basic modification time, I've bunged up 3 of the 6 big holes with silicone and drilled 3 tiny holes in the part that sits across the surface to create a small amount of rippling on the surface to bring on the shimmer.

Ade


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## Wolfenrook (Jul 2, 2010)

Uhm, I sort of, erm, tweaked it a bit...

When I say tweaked, I sort of mean completely and utterly rescaped the tank... :lol2:

Confession time, I got hit big time with BBA and staghorn algae. Given I am dosing EI, have a LOT of flow (3000lph return pump, Koralia 1 1600lph flow pump, giving 4600lph....In a 225 litre aquarium. :lol2, pressurised CO2 etc, the only option left to me was to increase the number of fast growing stems, so you could say I did. :Na_Na_Na_Na:










Ade


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## Ron Magpie (Oct 11, 2009)

Only popped in at the end of this thread, Ade, so I'm sure it's been mentioned, but loving the cat! Bit of Bastet worship going on here?:whistling2:


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## Wolfenrook (Jul 2, 2010)

Hiya Ron.

Yeah, my wife has heavy Kemetic influences in her beliefs, Bast/Bastet been the main godess she favours.  Probably helps folks to understand why insisting on removing that statue wouldn't be a great move. lol

Funny isn't it how sometimes you say a truth in jest? lol

Ade


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## Wolfenrook (Jul 2, 2010)

I'm getting fantastic growth in here. I did however notice that the daonoi has started to become a little leggy since I reduce the time the white spotlight is on for, so I have increased this slightly.

Anyway, took the first pic on the 18th March:-










This one I took just now, 22nd March:-










Very happy with the growth.

Ade


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## Wolfenrook (Jul 2, 2010)

Been playing with my camera settings, I reckon this one looks quite good.










Ade


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## hemps123 (Nov 13, 2009)

well i just read throu this thread and its a bloomin good one :2thumb: the end result is a stuning planted setup!!! nice work mate and some lovely camra work as well . 
can i be a pain and ask how long you used easycarb for and what you thourt of it? i know you said that some of your tanks inmates didnt seem to like it what ones wer thay ?
cheers ade 
realy top tank :notworthy:


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## Wolfenrook (Jul 2, 2010)

Thanks bud.

Right, I used EasyCarbo for a good 2 years, and discovered that apple snails couldn't tolerate it at all, they died a few days after dosing it. I tried EasyCarbo again more recently in a smaller tank, and got the exact same result, dead apple snails within days. This led me to conclude that it wasn't just coincidence. Weird really, as every other snail I had was fine with it, as were freshwater shrimp, it only effected apple snails.

Thanks again for the complements.

Ade


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## hemps123 (Nov 13, 2009)

smashing thanks ade .im on you with that one sounds to much like a coincidence strange tho eh i always thout the apple snails wer bullet proof (well the ivory ones i had wer lol) now that you pointed it out il stear clear of that combo rather than risk it 
thanks again


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## Wolfenrook (Jul 2, 2010)

Aye, it's flippin' annoying! I really rate Easy Carbo, even using pressurised CO2, it makes the fight against nuisance algae considerably easier to win. My wife loves apple snails though, so I have to do it the hard way. lol

Ade


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## Wolfenrook (Jul 2, 2010)

One last little tweak, in the form of 2 pots of Tropica ludwigia repens 'rubin':-










Should look really good once the red developes.

Ade


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