# Discus Dan's complete DIY set up.



## discusdan (10 May 2014)

Hey all.

I've been fighting the itch to set up a new tank for a long time and now the times come to scratch that itch!

So whats the plan?

Simple....
New DIY tank
New DIY tank stand
And new DIY lighting

Its easy to say, lets see how easy it is to do.

First off Lets order some Glass.






The initial tank build seemed fine, every thing fitted together as it should.
I'm using 10mm beveled float glass.
tank dimensions are 700x450x400





Here you can see the tank all clamped together. 
After a lot of research I decided to go for the silicone injection method for building the tank.





Instead of laying down beads of silicone and setting the glass onto them as with "normal tank building" the injection method involves clamping the tank together as a whole with cable ties inserted between panes to create an equal gap on all joints.





Once the tank was all set up and ready the nozzle for the silicon was squished down with some pliers so it just fits into the gap created by the cable ties.





Then small blobs of silicone were injected into the gaps evenly around the entire tank. (Small blobs are not recommended, keep reading to see why)





I left the tank over night to wait for the blobs of silicone to cure.





The next day I removed the clamps and cable ties and injected silicone into the rest of the seams. I also siliconned the inside water seal.





All was looking good and I was about to water test the tank when I discovered this!





A large bubble had developed inside the initial blob of silicone used to hold the tank together at the start.
This is why I don't recommend using small blobs to initially hold the tank together.
The reason for this is there is not enough strength in the small blobs to hold the panes together if there is any tension on the tank when the clamps are removed. this is why it is critical for the tank to be on a level surface and perfectly square before starting to apply silicone.

I suspect that when I removed the clamps there was some movement in the panes which caused one of the blobs to fail.

So after some advice from this forum the decision was made to take the tank apart and start again.

I don't have any pictures of disassembling or rebuilding the tank unfortunately.

To separate the panes of glass I used some 30lb fishing line tied between two sticks which i used as a kind of saw to cut down between the panes, this worked extremely well and I had the entire tank apart in about 10 minutes.

However it took me the rest of the day to clean all of the silicone off of the glass!
In the end I resorted to using isopropyl alcohol and 0000 grade wire wool to get every last bit of silicone off, this was hard work.

The next day I had the tank all clamped together again and ready for the silicone.

This time I initially injected as much of the seam as I could and only left a small part where the cable ties where inserted without silicone.
This meant that 99% of the seams where filled with silicone and I only had several small blobs to inject once the cable ties where removed.

I also waited 10 days before removing the clamps. I was recommended that silicone needs 1 day per 1mm of silicone to dry, as I'm using 10mm glass I had a 10 day wait.

After the 10 days the clamps and cable ties where removed and I injected the small gaps that where left.
Once they had cured I cut away any excess silicone inside the tank with several sharp stanley blades and applied the water seal inside the tank.

Because I'm using clear silicone you can see a bit of an edge in the silicone where the smaller blobs where injected afterwards. 
If I were to use black silicone this would not be as visible, however I don't find them too unsightly.






All that's left was to trim the excess silicone from around the out side of the tank and water test it.

Which I did outside 





.... but its now inside





So that was the adventure of part 1 "the tank build"

I'm still undecided on the theme for the tank, I have all the gear for a high tech tank but I'm not sure I have the time or money to devote to it. This tank is a lot smaller than my current tank as I wanted to try and reduce costs however a low tech tank is appealing to me.

Next on the plans is the lighting and them the tank stand.
Hope you're finding it interesting so far


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## Iain Sutherland (10 May 2014)

Fantastic DIY thread so far, thanks for taking the time.


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## allan angus (10 May 2014)

Iain Sutherland said:


> Fantastic DIY thread so far, thanks for taking the time.
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


like ian think this is a great write up looking forward to the next chapter thaks for posting this


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## Lee Sweeting (10 May 2014)

Great thread so far, looking forward to the next instalment.


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## discusdan (10 May 2014)

cheers guys.

I started work on the lighting unit on Friday so hopefully have some pics up next week.


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## allan angus (10 May 2014)

great dan looking forward to the pics @)


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## Jamie McGrath (10 May 2014)

Wow thanks for sharing this with us. The yank looks grate, now I understand why they cost so much too buy. Im looking forward to the lights section. Tank looks awesome.


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## discusdan (12 May 2014)

So I got some work done on the light box tonight.

I threw it together quickly after work so its not the prettiest thing at the moment but hopefully once its all finished it should look pretty swanky 

I was initially thinking of using some LED flood lights but after seeking more advice from here I decided to go for some GU10 down light fittings and LED bulbs. Hopefully this will give me much more flexibility over LED flood lights.

Pretty straight forward box glued and pinned together with holes cut out for the down lights, a top will cover all the gubbins once they are installed.





I laminated up some curved arms that the light box will be suspended from.





And here's a very rough mock up of how it will look....roughly.... 





There's still a lot to do, I have brackets to make for the curved arms, aluminium to cut for suspending the box and its all got to be painted.

I'll keep you posted.


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## Alastair (12 May 2014)

Fantastic build Dan and one I'm sure you'll be very proud of given you built it all. If you decide you want tiltable gu10 fittings I have loads spare. I have lots of fixed fittings too..

Looking forward to this 

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## discusdan (12 May 2014)

ooooh thanks for the offer Alastair, tiltable fittings could work out very well, even more control over the light.

Mine are fixed, but I'll see how they get on first. Still got to decided what wattage LED to get?


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## Alastair (13 May 2014)

discusdan said:


> ooooh thanks for the offer Alastair, tiltable fittings could work out very well, even more control over the light.
> 
> Mine are fixed, but I'll see how they get on first. Still got to decided what wattage LED to get?



If it's low tech your going for it won't really matter too much. I have lots of low energy gu10 bulbs but they are 11watt each. They have a good 120 degree spread.
The majority of the led gu10s have 60degree spread or less so will be more point sourced than anything but there are a quite a number on ebay that sell 5 or 6watt smd leds for 2 pound each with 400lumen and a 120 spread. 

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## allan angus (13 May 2014)

great the lighting unit looks like it will be a really nice feature


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## discusdan (13 May 2014)

Alastair said:


> there are a quite a number on ebay that sell 5 or 6watt smd leds for 2 pound each with 400lumen and a 120 spread.



Cheers for the info Alastair, Do you have a link to the bulbs so I can take a look?

I got a little more done on the light box tonight.

Got the Ally cut and fitted into the curved arms.





Wing nuts to hold it in place, need to cut the bolts down.





Got the rest of the bracket done for the curved arm too. It will fix to the back of the tank cabinet and have height adjustment via the groove.





Just got to sort out the top for the light box and give every thing a paint.


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## allan angus (13 May 2014)

looking good


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## Edvet (14 May 2014)

Good job!
I've been looking at those GU10 led's to see if i can come up with something. I still feel we are overpaying for most LED fixtures.


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## Rich_the_gamer (14 May 2014)

I found gu10 leds didnt give me enough light.  I got bright ebay ones from China and they got hot and failed.  Still interested to see someone make it work. Great thread 

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## Alastair (14 May 2014)

Rich_the_gamer said:


> I found gu10 leds didnt give me enough light.  I got bright ebay ones from China and they got hot and failed.  Still interested to see someone make it work. Great thread
> 
> Sent from my GT-I9300 using Tapatalk



It depends on the source and style etc. Never had any fail on me when I used them. 

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## Maxlaf (14 May 2014)

Nice DIY set-up you are having there! 
What silicone did you use to make sure the tank stays put? I used sonoplast on one of my aquarium and the silicone is like an elastic. 
And how did you make curved arm? They look beautiful!


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## discusdan (14 May 2014)

15w is the highest i can find gu10 led bulbs, which are apparently very bright.

i was planning to use either 9w or 12w led bulbs as they seem the best compromise between price and brightness.

im hoping 6 should be more than enough and if i need to reduce the light intensity i can raise the light box up.


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## discusdan (14 May 2014)

Managed to finish off the light box this evening.

Cramped the legs in my vice to see how it all looked.





Top of the box fitted, still got to cut them bolts down 





Also made some knobs which will lock the arms in place when fitted to the cabinet.





And finally gave every thing a dust coat of primer.








> What silicone did you use to make sure the tank stays put?



I just used an aquarium safe RTV silicone.



> And how did you make curved arm? They look beautiful!



Cheers 

I laminated the arms which involves pressing thin pieces of wood together with glue between two formers.

First I worked out what radius I wanted the curve then made a two part former (male and female)





Next I machined Timber to the required dimensions. The pieces where 3mm thick and I used 6 to make one arm.
Depending on the radius of the curve effects what thickness the pieces have to be, the tighter the curve the thinner the timber has to be.

Then a resin based glue is applied to the timber, I don't recommend synthetic polymer glues like PVA  for laminating as they have to much flex when cured resulting in excessive "spring back" which is a term used for how much the shape deforms from the curved shape when removed from the former.

Once the glue is applied to all pieces they are stacked on top of each other and placed into the former then cramps are used to pull the two halves of the former together which shapes the wood.

A bit like this (minus the timber)




Once the glue has cured the cramps are removed and you're left with the solid curve ready for final finishing.

Has a present waiting for me when I got home too.





Really pleased with them, very nice quality so a big thanks to CO2 art.co.uk


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## Maxlaf (15 May 2014)

Thanks for your repply, I will use your technique for my own stand I think  The result will be fabulous i'm sure!


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## discusdan (19 May 2014)

I've been busy the last few days so not had much time to spend on the set up but I did manage to get all the priming done.

All ready for top for top coat now.


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## tim (19 May 2014)

Top diy thread this, looking forward to seeing it scaped up when it's done, quite a accomplishment dan


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## discusdan (19 May 2014)

cheers Tim, hopefully it wont be too long away now, i'm itching to get it finished.


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## flygja (20 May 2014)

I think you're the most accomplished wood craftsman I've seen so far!


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## EnderUK (20 May 2014)

Looking good, wish I had the patients  to do wood work.


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## AverageWhiteBloke (20 May 2014)

Wow, nuff said!


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## tmiravent (20 May 2014)

amazing!
i use GU10 and recomend.
chosing the right lamp can hard but will give you some flexebility.
cheers
tiago


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## discusdan (20 May 2014)

Cheers for all the support guys 

What bulbs and how many are you using in your GU10 fittings tmiravent?

Got the top coat done tonight, got to wait a week for it to fully cure then I'll set about it with the machine polisher to get rid of the orange peel and give it a deep shine.










Its getting closer!


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## tmiravent (21 May 2014)

Hi
I'm using in the big tank (200l) a main Comercial Led Unit 18W [LFL-C 18W] and a DIY extra GU10 to the background plants (that grow like crazy).
In this moment i'm using (in the DIY GU10):
3x GU10 4w | 4000ºk | 38º | 180 lumen | 526cd + 2x G10 6w | led smd | 4200ºK | 45º | 400 lumen | 830cd + 2x GU10 1,3W Blue led just for fun!

In my other tank (CovaMoura) i use only GU10. But is a nano tank with 20 liters...
3x 1.3W Blue + 2x 1.3 Red - for colour effect - 10/9 hours
2x 4W 6500ºK angle 30º - very powerfull, small light cone, no algae - 8 hours (very good optics, use this if you want light power in the substrate)
2x 3W 6500ºK angle 45º - correct power, no algae - 8 hours
4x 4W 4000ºK angle 45º - very nice color but some algae, also too much power - 4 hours

From my small experience with GU10 is very comfortable to use if you pick the right lamp!
Optics is crucial to send power to the deep of the tank. Lamps with only a simple difuser will give high power next to the lamp 10/20 cm, then we lose most of the energy... In a big tank the standard size of GU10 is comfortable to control. In a small tank can be tricky...
One advise that i followed is to keep away from high power and cheap lamps! Can burn easily since heat is badly dissipated!
I don't use any fan's and still haven't burned any lamp...
I try also to point each lamp to a specific group of plants... (at least i try)
I'm very curious about your solution and to learn a lot more.

Thank's for sharing your project
cheers,
tiago


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## discusdan (21 May 2014)

thanks for the detailed reply lots of good info there.

got to do a bit more research but hopefully i should get some good result.

cheers


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## Deano3 (21 May 2014)

Brilliant read dan just got round to it, same lily pipes as mine seem good for the price, thanks for sharing everything step by step, bet you needed a lot of hand putting all the glass together but keep the updates coming


Thanks Dean


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## discusdan (21 May 2014)

cheers dean,

 funnily enough building the tank with the injection method and cramps means its a one man job.

more updates soon


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## Edvet (21 May 2014)

Impressive Dan!


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## discusdan (22 May 2014)

I let loose with the buffer tonight! muchness whizzy fun 

I cramped it in the vice to polish the curves.





too much paste!





And the results...









It's all far from perfect I should have spent much more time cutting back between coats but it will do.

Got to get my electricians cap on next to wire the lights up.

Watch this space...


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## Hamza (22 May 2014)

Impressive work! cant wait to see it finished..


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## Maxlaf (23 May 2014)

This is so shiny!!! :O


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## parotet (23 May 2014)

Lighting art!


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## discusdan (24 May 2014)

Had a spare few minutes to have a play with the layout of the tank today.

I'm after a centrally focused design with open space at the edges and plants coming up through the wood.

The focal point will be these pieces of mopani wood.
I'm going to have a good couple of inches of aqua soil capped with floragrow for the substrate, banked up towards the back of the tank to give the illusion of depth.





Just chucking ideas around at the moment. What do you guys think of these 4?

1




2




3




4


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## tmiravent (24 May 2014)

number2 and 4
cheers

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## Vinkenoog1977 (24 May 2014)

Yeah, 2 and 4 for me as well... Number 3 "could" be great, but there is something missing, maybe a third piece at the right front of the tank, to complete the root-system?


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## discusdan (24 May 2014)

2 and 4 where also my favorites. I know what you mean about 3 the open space looks wrong.

Its hard to place things properly without the substrate in but I'm thinking something along these lines.

This is the dismay of my current tank, Its been massively neglected over the past few weeks, I've put it in shut down mode and removing the wood from it today has made it look most odd.

Most of the healthy plants will be reused in the new tank.


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## discusdan (25 May 2014)

Got the light box finished today.

The big tear down is fast approaching!

Wires are hidden inside the ally tube.





Should no one copy my electrical prowess, I'm a master of the bodge! 





From underneath 





and with the lights on





and one from the top






I've got to spill the beans.....I've already made the cabinet for the tank, unfortunately I didnt take any pictures of the building process as I made it at the same time as the rest of the furniture for the room and it just wasn't feasible for me to keep stopping to take pics, sorry 

However I will be doing some modifications to the cabinet for the lighting and filter tubes etc so will take pictures as I go.

As I have no other tanks to house my fish and plants I'm going to have to break down my current tank, modify the cabinet, set up the lighting, set up the new tank, plant and restock as quickly as possible while my fish are kept in containers.
I'm going to dedicate a weekend to this, just not sure when but i'll keep you all posted.


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## Lee Sweeting (25 May 2014)

It's looking good dan. Can't wait to see it up and running. 


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## Maxlaf (26 May 2014)

Agree about the 4th picture. The lighting is just awesome. How much did it cost you?
do you have any picture of the cabinet at its present state?


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## tmiravent (26 May 2014)

Amazing, you really have a hand for DIY! 
What bulb's did you use?
I now see that you completely closed the lamps inside the box,any hole for let the air flow?
And you still have space for more bulbs if you need!
I want to see the final result!
cheers,
tiago


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## discusdan (26 May 2014)

Cost wise its cost me about £3 to build the box, luckily I got the wood free from work I just had to buy the ally tube and the bolts.
You should easily be able to pick up all the bits for under £15

The light fittings i got on special offer from B&Q for £8.
and a few quid here and there for wires and plugs etc.

I've not ordered the LED bulbs yet but these will be around the £30 mark I suspect.

Hopefully the LED bulbs wont kick off to much heat but If i feel its a problem I'll just drill some vent holes in the back of the light box.

Here's a quick pic of how the cabinet currently looks.





If I use co2 in the new scape it will all be concealed inside the cabinet. Oh and I've got to change the handles these are just temporary ones


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## discusdan (27 May 2014)

Can anyone give me some advice about setting up a low tech tank?

My current tank is high tech, co2, Ei and glute and I'm thinking I'd like to have a change and try something different on the new tank.

Only thing is i'm not sure on the essentials. I was planning to use a soil substrate which I've heard is a good start but beyond that I'm a bit clueless.

whats peoples thoughts on Lighting and filtration? and is there any over musts for a low tech tank.

I've seen some amazing low tech tanks on here and If i could replicate any thing half as good I'd be happy.

cheers.


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## Lee Sweeting (27 May 2014)

Hi Dan! A soil substrate is a good idea. I use original pond aqua soil which has a negligible effect on water parameters. I know john inns has been used successfully to. They just need to be capped as usual. 

In terms of filtration I know some of the successful low tech setups were working on three times the turn over of the tank each hour. I use 6 times which is working fine for me. 

You would need to lower the lighting quite a bit. I'm using two tmc mini 400s over 100 litres. They are hung 40 cm above the tank and set to 35% each. 

If you go over to the barr report, Tom has supplied some good info on fert dosing for low tech tanks, but basically you would just need to reduce your dosing, and only add ferts once or every two weeks. 

Hope that helps mate, if you check some of big tom or Alastair's journals out, they have specs up for their tank and both have had great results. I've recently set up a low tech tank, and I was also a newbie to low tech. You could check my journal out (there should be a link below) maybe there's a few things in there that could answer your questions. 


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## discusdan (27 May 2014)

Cheers for the help Lee 
I'm off to do some more reading.

Going to be ordering some bulbs this week so need to make sure I've decided which way I'm going with the new tank..


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## Lee Sweeting (27 May 2014)

discusdan said:


> Cheers for the help Lee
> I'm off to do some more reading.
> 
> Going to be ordering some bulbs this week so need to make sure I've decided which way I'm going with the new tank..



No probs! Alastair is defiantly the man to talk to about low tech DIY lighting. I think he had a similar project on the go a little while ago. 


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## discusdan (4 Jun 2014)

Got my LED bulbs just in time for the big tear down this weekend.

Went for 3x3w in the end. IF its too intense I can remove some bulbs or raise the lights if needs be.





Went for cool white, you can see the difference to the warm white halogen bulbs.





All fitted and ready for installation.





Wish me luck!


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## ADA (4 Jun 2014)

Good luck, looking forward to this


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## kirk (4 Jun 2014)

I'm a big diyer.anyone who atempts a tank build and pulls it off that we'll should be proud. Nice journal I have enjoyed reading and look forward to seeing it all set up.


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## discusdan (4 Jun 2014)

cheers guys 

Its been a long wait but hopefully it will be worth while.

watch this space!


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## discusdan (8 Jun 2014)

Well Its been an eventful weekend and an experience!
Started 8am Saturday morning and didn't stop until 9pm and I still had more to do!

It all started by draining the tank and removing the plants and fish into temporary accommodation.









home for a little while.





Next was to tackle the filters, pumps, lights, co2........





Once that lot had been stripped down and cleaned it was time to take apart the cabinet.

One thing I've learnt is to give your self plenty of scope to get pipes, tubes, plugs, etc through the back of the cabinet so many holes were cut. I didn't do the neatest of jobs but I had limited tools at home and needed to get it done quickly.





Back fixed back onto the cabinet and the lighting arms fixed in place. You can see the groves in the arms to raise the lights up and down.





Next I cut two 22mm holes for the filter tubing.





And then set about fitting the light box.





And gave it a test run, working ok at the moment.......





Next I cut the tubing. IF you're struggling with bent tubing and you need it straighter just soak it for a few minutes in boiling water then insert something straight into the tubing and run it under the cold tap for a few minutes and it  will stay perfectly straight.





tubing and lily pipes installed.





filter installed and in the back ground you can see the knob that holds the lighting arm in place.





time to take a step back and have a quick bite.





Next was to install the heater and LED moonlighting.





The suckers on the LED's are knackered so I had to DIY a holder for them. again not the prettiest thing but you don't see them any way.





next was to add the soil substrate capped with floragrow, the wood and the stones.





Then the plants and finally stand back and watch it slowly fill up with water...........





The tank was nearly full when the first disaster happened. Because I had taken the wood out of the tank it had dried out to much and became buoyant.
It decided it didn't like its current position and floated to the top of the tank ripping out all of the plants along the way. This resulted in a cloudy, muddy mess of a tank.

It was getting late in the day so I decided it would be best to remove the wood and let the tank settle over night,

And thus concluded day one!


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## BigTom (8 Jun 2014)

Looking good Dan. Only one wet shouty moment on a setup day sounds like a win to me


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## Lindy (8 Jun 2014)

I hate floaty wood. I've still got stones on the bogwood in the shrimp tank.

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## discusdan (9 Jun 2014)

Cheers Tom  floaty wood is definitely a pain in the backside!

So Sunday began with a quick trip to the beach to borrow a couple of heavy stones, luckily the beach is only down the road.

So with the newly acquired stones cable tided to the wood I re-planted and started to fill the tank again.





I noticed the LED bulbs where getting a lot hotter than I had anticipated so while the tank was filling i drilled some ventilation holes in the light box.





I put an extra heater in the tank to get the water up to temperature then added the fish.





and the side view.





Also cut holes in the top of the light box for more air flow.





and finally after a full day and a half the tank was ready.





And one of the moon lighting LEDs





I really like the LED lighting the 9w cool white bulbs give a really crisp feel to the tank and the shimmer effect off the water looks amazing, Now for the bad part.

The LED's where just cheap ones off ebay, out of the six only two work properly.
even with all the vent holes 4 of them quickly over heat and turn off. I emailed the seller and hes going to send me some replacements but I dont hold out much hope for them either.

So I'm in need of some new bulbs, I'm thinking  6w would probably be more than enough light and would also cut down on the heat side of things.

Does any one know where to get hold of some decent GU10 bulbs that dont cost the earth?

thanks to every one for all the support over the last few months, this will be an ongoing adventure and I'll update this journal as and when I can with news and updates to the tank.

cheers.


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## Nathaniel Whiteside (9 Jun 2014)

Looking excellent all around dan. Well done with this. Completely built from scratch by yourself too. Wow.


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## discusdan (9 Jun 2014)

cheers Nath


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## Andy D (9 Jun 2014)

Looks superb!


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## tmiravent (9 Jun 2014)

Hi,
9W led bulb's can eat a lot!
I would dismantle the bulb and put some new termal paste.
I would bet in 3W and 4W led bulb's (6500ºK) with good lens on it.

I use 2 cheap bulb's like these: 
http://www.miniinthebox.com/pt/gu10...tual-220v_p831302.html?utm_campaign=cartcross
And they are very powerful and very decent depth penetration! [check CovaMoura] 
You can safely put your hand in any bulb at the end of day! (this is one of my criteria for choosing bulbs)

I also (very cheap 3W) have 2 like this:
http://www.miniinthebox.com/pt/gu10...-led-light-bulb-pontual-220-240v_p723099.html
But they don't have lens. Even without the difuser the light power is miserable! (I can measure in lux's if you want, sorry but no PAR meter!)

The colour led's can be inside water? did you try with the light fixture?

One more opinion, (sorry!) i used also the metallic fixtures for the bulbs but they were a little bit disturbing (for watching and photos).
Maybe more 5 -10 cm of black wood...
I have redone my light system a few times an still have some issues to deal! (but this is also the funny part of the hobby)

Thanks for sharing your project,
cheers
tiago


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## discusdan (10 Jun 2014)

cheers for the replies chaps.

I'm still undecided on which LED's to go for, I might just bite the bullet and get some quality ones but I'm not sure on the best place to buy them from is?
All the GU10 led's on ebay seem to be fake Chinese rubbish.


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## tmiravent (12 Jun 2014)

Hi,
your work is amazing! You're really talented for DIY.
Light can be tricky and take some time to understand your specific tank/system.
I believe most Led's are made in China or Asia. They should be equal quality for model/power.
The assembling quality control is a different game!
Your 9W Led should be equal to a good Brand. But the thermal paste and assembling quality/materials and cheaper and with less control.
Before take to the garbage can open the bulbs and glue them properly to a nice aluminum.
Now to steps down, tomorrow your tank will run!
cheers


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## sciencefiction (12 Jun 2014)

I came across GU10's in IKEA, maybe they are better.


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## discusdan (12 Jun 2014)

cheers for your comments 

i've been experimenting with fans 

i think its down to having so many high powered leds in such a small space, they are over heating

I'll report back with how it goes


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## ADA (12 Jun 2014)

Couple of laptop fans would do it, one either end, and reverse the polarity on one


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## discusdan (12 Jun 2014)

I had a couple of 140mm computer fans laying about so thought i'd give them a go.
2 was probably a bit over kill, 1 would have been enough I think but oh well more cooling the better 






Space inside the unit was to tight to fit the fans inside so I had to raise them above the box slightly.





The fans come on when the lights come on, seem to be working so far.





I'll have to wait and see how they go but so far so good, no led's have shut off yet. fingers crossed.


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## Edvet (12 Jun 2014)

Man you could have done with out the posts, just hover it in place


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## discusdan (12 Jun 2014)

haha I think I need the posts there to stop it taking off!


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## Maxlaf (15 Jun 2014)

Man, I wanted my canpy to look like yours... but it'S getting out of hand! Too awesome for me !


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## discusdan (16 Jun 2014)

Pulled the camera out tonight to take some photos of the fish.

While the cool white LED's make the tank look really crisp and bring out the greens in the plants it totally washes out the colour of the fish, I might try a couple of warm white LED's to see how it changes things.





















Oh and the fans seem to be doing a great job,not had an LED fail since installing them.


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## Vinkenoog1977 (16 Jun 2014)

Looking awesome Dan!


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## Edvet (16 Jun 2014)

I'd throw in some floaters i think


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## discusdan (16 Jun 2014)

cheers Vin 



Edvet said:


> I'd throw in some floaters i think



That''s a good idea didn't think of that.
I'm not to clued up on floating plants what would you suggest?

cheers.


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## tmiravent (16 Jun 2014)

very nice! 
cheers

Enviado do meu GT-P3110 através de Tapatalk


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## Edvet (17 Jun 2014)

I'd say some red rooted floaters Phyllantus fluitans


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## tim (17 Jun 2014)

Lovely scape dan, excellent diy thread got to be one of the best diy LEDs I've seen, good work mate.


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## discusdan (17 Jun 2014)

cheers guys 

I'll have a look into the floating plants advet.


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## parotet (17 Jun 2014)

Awesome!


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## Ryan Thang To (17 Jun 2014)

Very nice. Good pictures?


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## Nutty (17 Jun 2014)

looks great! those pics are awesome!


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## X3NiTH (17 Jun 2014)

Great stuff!

With regards to the floating plants, Red Root doesn't like high surface flow and is easily blown about the place and submerged, this is because as the rooted stems lengthen for new growth the old leaves become submerged and make very good underwater sails, however If you constrain a bunch of it you get compact growth and it forms a dense raft with emergent growth, given enough light (windowsill) the roots will go bright red, under lower light they fade to pink/white and the surface leaves will also be more green than olive/red.


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## discusdan (17 Jun 2014)

cheers for the detailed reply.

I've got a fair bit of surface agitation from the lily pipes so not sure how well floating plants will do but i'm willing to give them a try.


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## The_Iceman (18 Jun 2014)

Stunning photos!

I really like your Setup! 

Regards,
Chris


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## Greenfinger2 (18 Jun 2014)

Hi Discusdan, Great thread , Fab build , Nice Scape  Lovely photos


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## discusdan (18 Jun 2014)

cheers guys.

going shopping at the weekend for more bits...........


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## discusdan (13 Jul 2014)

So its been a good few weeks since an update,

I tried some floating plants, think it was Phyllantus Fluitans but because im using lily pipes there is a lot of surface agitation which caused the plants to to move around a lot.
Most of them have died off or been pulled apart by the fish.

so the next little project was to make a plant caddy.

started out with a plastic box from washing detergent which I cut to shape.






then used a soldering iron to cut holes for the suction cups and water flow.





and lined it with a bit of greenhouse shading,





Then planted it up with a peace lily and fixed it in place in the tank.





It looks great at the moment I just hope it doesn't die off from being submerged.

Apart from that nothing much else has changed, I added a couple of Echinodorus radicans and disconnected  3 of the bulbs as I think the lighting was to intense.

After adding the floating plants I was away for a week and came home to a build up of brown dust algae, luckily most of this was on the front glass and just wiped away.

thats about all for now.


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## discusdan (14 Jul 2014)

Had a bit of a surprise when I got in from work today.

At first I thought I'd had an out break of snails or some other nasties that had sneaked in on the new plants but after watching the tank for a while its was clear it was something else.

This is what i discovered on one of the new radicans leaves and they where being furiously guarded by two of my angel fish.





and a bit closer.





So i'm assuming these are angel eggs?

Its amazing to see the two fish protect them, they chase off any thing that comes close and every once in a while they will "fan" the eggs with their fins, not sure why they do this?

Question is what should I do about it, if any thing at all? I was thinking of just leaving it well alone and letting nature take its course?

and a quick pic of one of the angels.


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## Wallace (14 Jul 2014)

Awesome! I had a breeding pair of Angels a couple of years ago and they beat the crap out of anything that came near the eggs. As far as I understand it, they fan the eggs to stop mould growing on them. I had eggs about 10 times I think, but they only hatched twice and then they were eaten. BY THE PARENTS!!!

Silly question I know, but are you sure they are mama and papa Angels and not both mama? Only reason I ask is because mama will lay the eggs ( on leaves, glass, rocks, basically and flat surface ) and then papa will come along and fertilise them. What colour are the eggs? They look yellow? Mine were always really white except the ones that didn't get fertilised, they went yellow and mouldy and eventually got eaten. 

Fingers crossed you've got mama and papa and yours hatch, I'd they do good luck in raising the fry. Mine always got eaten. 


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## discusdan (14 Jul 2014)

I suspect nothing will come of this other than fish food.

I have no idea what sex any of the angels are, I didnt even think they were old enough to start spawning 

Nearly all of the eggs are yellow apart from a few which are white.

Guessing i'll just have to wait and see.


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## discusdan (23 Jun 2015)

Cant believe its been nearly a year since I last updated!

Well as of 6 months ago this is what the tank looked like...



 



 


And as of today this is what it looks like...



 



 

Wanting to add a few more crypts if any body has some????

and another school of fish possibly some Odessa Barbs.


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## Andy D (23 Jun 2015)

Looking good! 

Time flies eh!


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## Christos Ioannou (24 Jun 2015)

I was drooling over your setup, great read. 
I am surprised that you did not DIY the plants and the fish as well...
Great, very informative journal!


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## bloskas (26 Sep 2015)

great looking tank! beautiful colours!


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## tmiravent (26 Sep 2015)

amazing! 
you have a beautiful piece in your house!
cheers


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## osullivanmichael2 (27 Sep 2015)

What an enjoyable thread !  Just read from start to finish and really enjoyed it.  Would love to try it sometime but not sure if I could


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## discusdan (5 Mar 2016)

I'ts been a while again. I was getting bored of the way the old lights looked so i made some new ones.

The tank needs a tear down and re-plant really but I might be moving soon so it can wait.


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## mlgt (5 Mar 2016)

Thanks for sharing this. It must look better in the flesh!


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