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Dan's 45p - A Blank Canvas.....

dfinn

dfinn

Member
Joined
20 Sep 2014
Messages
122
Hi everyone,

So I've taken the plunge and done a bit of investing. Met up with Chrisintheuk today and left with a few goodies to start my next challenge including an ADA 45p, Aquasky light, Eheim classic 250, CO2 kit and a hydor external heater.

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Now I have decided to start my journal whilst I'm still in the very early stages so I can see how the plans evolve before I go ahead. I think it will be a fair few weeks until I start setting up as I still don't really have a plan for the scape.

All I know is it will be high tech planted. Whether that be an Iwagumi style or more jungle. Who knows..., I am tempted by auto dosing my EI ferts. Another issue with these tanks is what stand to get. I kind of feel that a solid oak sideboard would be the perfect complement to it as I'm not a massive fan of the ADA stands.

So scape ideas/ general ideas on a postcard guys, I will post a more detailed plan soon for people to critique.

I am really looking forward to this project, my current setup (see here) is reasonably low tech with EI ferts, T8 lighting and yeast CO2 with "easy" plants. So this is a bit of a jump for me, hence lots of planning. Any advice will be greatly received and will keep everyone updated along the way.

Cheers,

Dan
 
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Next on the agenda is glassware. I can't decide between a lily pipe outlet or a poppy type.

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or
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I feel like the poppy type will reduce the flow slightly. The filter is a Eheim classic 250 so think the poppy might be better given the tank is only 36 litres, any thoughts?

Dan
 
Playing around with scape ideas.

Tried a couple of Iwagumi type layouts in an old tank with some spare rocks I have (unsure on the rocks) and also a piece of wood which I really like. If I went for the wood I feel it would have to be surrounded by small rocks at the base. More of a fan of wood than rocks. Also all the substrate will be aqua soil, no sand. I'm only using sand and a similar sized old tank at the minute as I don't want to scratch the 45p if anything falls (and I have no aqua soil lol)

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Iwagumi or wood/ jungly theme...

Dan
 
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Playing around a bit more with the hardscape, again still only with sand and an old tank. Feeling something along the lines of this:

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Dan
 
dfinn said:
More of a fan of wood than rocks.
Click to expand...
reason enough to choose wood!
sand is nicely artistic in this dry tank but that shape won't hold in a running tank unless you add in substrate supports (more wood, rocks, plastic supports etc)

As for which outlet type, can you buy both & then return one?
you might add in an Eheim valve to adjust flow if you prefer the look of 1 outlet over the other, also as you add in the Hydor & any CO2 inline reactors, filter flow rate will drop significantly (not to mention filter media etc).
 
I think I will be going for glass Lily pipes to keep things as aesthetic as possible.

Latest scape:

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Now what plants/ livestock to have. I feel a shoal of Ember tetras would look good here?

Dan
 
Green Pekoe Pond is a 45P - lots of ideas on plants there ;) (look for small leaf structure to suit the smaller tanks)
Fish - much depends on what you like in movement & color, there are many "micro-rasbora" , you might see if any local shops offer Sundadanio Axelrodi
Possibly some of the Pseudomugil type rainbows may work, depends on your supplier though as (source) location seems to alter size even within "species"
 
Thanks alto, I think I can only dream of achieving anything like that!

I feel my carpeting plant will be Eleocharis sp. mini, with echinoderms tuneless between the wood/ stones.

Lots more planning to do...

Dan
 
When you find that piece of drift wood in a box somewhere.... this could take a while.

IMG_1767_zpsmtapmrz9.jpg

Dan
 
I am thinking of just buying the power sand and aqua soil (powder type?) and setting the tank up somewhere and just hardscaping it until I'm happy with it.
 
Upside down we go, quite like this, gives the scape some height.

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Dan
 
I like the twigs parts upward as original photos,but the branch on the left was perhaps a bit too vertical
 
Update: An impromptu trip to IKEA ended up meaning I have a cabinet for the tank! It's pretty sturdy but I am going to replace the back board with chip board so that I can fix extension leads, heater, dosing pump etc to it.

I have an order from TGM on the way with aqua soil and seiryu stone etc to play with.

Here's a pic:

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Next step is to plan how all the equipment will be arranged in the cabinet before I cut the backing board with cable/ pipe holes etc.

Dan
 
Hi Dan,

looking good so far!
Just keep in mind that, depending on what you are going to plant, you will end up trimming around your stones, to keep them visible.

Cheers,
Chris
 
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