# Angel Delight :)



## jojouk (22 Dec 2012)

Ok, so here goes...

This is how the tank stand started its life with me,






It didnt look quite strong enough...





So I added lots of support!





And gave it a bit of a paint





Finished article.





Cat litter substrate, capped by Argos play sand.









First bit of hardscape and a few plants put in, but no lighting 





Lights!









Second piece of hardscape in place





And some more plants.





And finally, how it looks today. Adding pressurised CO2 after crimbo  Just need everything to start growing!!! Dosing EI ferts and liquid CO2 at the moment.


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## jack-rythm (22 Dec 2012)

Lovely lay out !

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## Gary Nelson (22 Dec 2012)

A fantastic start, I really like how you have revived the unit too  what lights are you running?


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## nduli (22 Dec 2012)

Yep, really like this. Done well to add hard scape whilst tank and inhabitants are still in there, I always find it a mare. Did you take the wood out to do the moss attachment? Had mine out last night much to the better halves disappointment.....


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## foxfish (22 Dec 2012)

This might interest you Vallis and Easy Carbo | UK Aquatic Plant Society


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## jojouk (22 Dec 2012)

Gary Nelson said:


> A fantastic start, I really like how you have revived the unit too  what lights are you running?


 
Im running a twin t5 unit, 4 ft bulbs, 54w. I'm not so keen on the colour temp tbh, but they were cheap bulbs  the colour is a bitter murky as the wood is still tanning quite a bit. I normally use purigen, but I haven't got the nerve to put it back in after its re-charging with bleach!!! I worry too much....



nduli said:


> Yep, really like this. Done well to add haird scape whilst tank and inhabitants are still in there, I always find it a mare. Did you take the wood out to do the moss attachment? Had mine out last night much to the better halves disappointment.....


 
Yeah, I take it out to do the moss, did a few of the higher up ones while in situ, but easier to take it out  hate putting it back in tho!!!



foxfish said:


> This might interest you Vallis and Easy Carbo | UK Aquatic Plant Society


 
yep, thanks for the info, but I'm aware of this. I am getting some melt, but I have to dose liquid co2 until my pressurised setup is all good to go. I just snip off the bad bits  there is plenty in there to last! 

thanks for the lovely comments guys


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## Alastair (22 Dec 2012)

I really really like this tank. 
As for the bulbs have a look at these GE 6500k tubes. They give really nice colour and have good par readings too. 

F54WT5/865 1149MM 6500K 


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## Deano3 (22 Dec 2012)

wow looks great lovely cabinet was it origionally a aquarium stand ? hard scape looks great

Dean


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## Mark Evans (22 Dec 2012)

Nice layout mate.

However, I do feel that's an awful lot of light with no co2. Even with CO2, I'd cut back on the amount of light you've got there.

Would I be right in saying your seeing a bit of algae on that nice white sand?.....cut back that light!


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## jojouk (22 Dec 2012)

Mark Evans said:


> Nice layout mate.
> 
> However, I do feel that's an awful lot of light with no co2. Even with CO2, I'd cut back on the amount of light you've got there.
> 
> Would I be right in saying your seeing a bit of algae on that nice white sand?.....cut back that light!


 
I have a 5 hr photoperiod, can't really cut back more than that unless I change the unit, which I can't really do 

Using liquid co2, going pressurised in a couple of weeks?

the sand is brownish anyway, the patches of darker areas are where the cat litter has accumulated, no algae  have a teenie bit of hair algae, but that's on it's way out, leftovers from when I wasn't using he liquid co2 with a 3 hr photoperiod


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## jojouk (22 Dec 2012)

Deano3 said:


> wow looks great lovely cabinet was it origionally a aquarium stand ? hard scape looks great
> 
> Dean


 
yeah, it was an aquarium stand, don't know how it held the tank tho, it was fairly flimsy!


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## foxfish (23 Dec 2012)

Its not so much the photo period but the amount of light, try two bulbs for 6 hours.. prevention is better than cure!


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## jojouk (23 Dec 2012)

I only have two bulbs...it's a twin light unit? Have I confused someone?


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## sdlra (23 Dec 2012)

Love it......bet the Angels love it too


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## foxfish (23 Dec 2012)

jojouk said:


> Im running a twin t5 unit, 4 ft bulbs, 54w. I'm not so keen on the colour temp tbh, but they were cheap bulbs the colour is a bitter murky as the wood is still tanning quite a bit. I normally use purigen,


 OK I (we) must of miss read your post to say  " Im running a twin t5 unit, 4  bulbs "


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## jojouk (23 Dec 2012)

Ahhhh, I thought it was strange that 2 x 4ft bulbs would be very high light  Thanks for the input however!


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## Mark Evans (23 Dec 2012)

So how many bulbs have you got?.... 2 x or 4 x 54wt5?

If there's any way of running them independently, then do so.

 Remove reflectors, or do what I've done in the past, place masking tape over the clear plastic which protects the tubes from moisture.

Lighting, in any aquarium is key. Gain control over this, and you'll be the master of your own tank.


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## jojouk (23 Dec 2012)

Lol, 2x54w T5's  and no, no way of running them independently 

I think I have mastered the lighting, as I did have algae, now dosing liquid co2, and now no algae...


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## LancsRick (23 Dec 2012)

Lovely looking setup. I've got a question and a suggestion.

Question: I thought Angels were pretty much guaranteed to eat everything in sight in a planted tank? Have I been dismissing them all this time unnecessarily?

Suggestion: That stand looks infinitely better in white, but have you considered emphasising the details in the front? You could paint the indentations in pure black, which would set off the rest of the stand nicely and make it more than a functional block for the tank to sit on?


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## jojouk (23 Dec 2012)

Question answer - Nope, mine don't nibble  I have heard that some do, if they have a poor diet, and are lacking isomething nutrient, or are bored, but I have a large group, and they are fed well, so fora so good 

suggestion response - my other half suggested that too...but I am a little bit of a perfectionist, and any outcome painted by my own hands would feel amateur to me!!! If you catch my drift..


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## LancsRick (23 Dec 2012)

The way to do a neat job would be to paint the indents black, and then use sandpaper on a block to remove any black on the face, and then re coat the face. Personal choice though


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## Deano3 (24 Dec 2012)

yeah thats y asked it did look flimsy before looking great thought mate

Dean


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## vauxhallmark (25 Jan 2013)

LancsRick said:


> Lovely looking setup. I've got a question and a suggestion.
> 
> Question: I thought Angels were pretty much guaranteed to eat everything in sight in a planted tank? Have I been dismissing them all this time unnecessarily?



Do you mean you thought they ate plants? Angelfish are carnivores, they eat invertebrates and fish. So they're very plant safe. The rivers they come from generally don't contain plants, and they're not evolved to eat them. 

They will eat any animal that's small enough for them to do so though. Fully grown angel fish (sadly, a rare sight) can be 20cm long, and over 30cm from the top of the dorsal fin to the bottom of the anal fin. By this stage they're not safe with animals any smaller than about a fully grown cardinal tetra - and definitely not with small shrimps!!

Mark


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## jojouk (7 Mar 2013)

A long overdue update. Aweful photo, but have no real camera. Should also have moved the temperature probe out of the way first...oops!

How she looks today:

I have added pressurised CO2, via a FE, and using AI ferts. 6 hours photoperiod a day.






Although, im getting borred with the layout, so may completely re-scape tomorrow, or next week, or whenever...

Need to use all the existing stuff in the tank, any ideas how I can move it about?


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## jojouk (8 Mar 2013)

Just noticed my anubias is flowering


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## Lindy (9 Mar 2013)

You could pile all the wood in the middle and do an island layout.


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## foxfish (9 Mar 2013)

Looks great, why not just let the plants grow for a bit longer...


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## jojouk (21 Mar 2013)

Latest update. Not much has changed really. I just like seeing how much the plants have grown Need to use a better camera however.


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## jojouk (21 Mar 2013)

Not by much it seems...


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## KeyboardWarrior (23 Mar 2013)

Wow that tanks great angel fish are my favourite fish I'd love to have a big tank full of them down the line keep up the good work


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## jojouk (14 Apr 2013)

Latest FTS  Still having CO2 issues...hence the ugly powerhead in the middle of the tank!


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## jojouk (24 May 2013)

Everything has exploded.

Excuse the mess, I have been spending all my time at the moment on the DIY reactors...


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## jojouk (30 May 2013)

And the latest, still awaiting the delivery of some bits for my reactors 





Happy with the right side at the moment, not so happy with the left. Any suggestions?


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## jojouk (8 Jun 2013)

Left hand needs work still.

Planted some crypts balansae on the right corner to crow in and add some height to the back.

Waiting for the blyxia to take hold in the foreground, and a bit of hair grass on the front left.

I'm thinking I'm going to remove the big chunk of wood on the left to free up some space on the substrate to plant something in the midground, then trim back the vallis gigantica that is taking over! 

STILL waiting for some parts to arrive for my co2 reactors. Hopefully they will be here for Tuesday


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## oldbloke (9 Jun 2013)

Looks great and you've made a great job of that cabinet.


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## Brian Murphy (9 Jun 2013)

Looks great .... hard to get the Co2 distribution spot on in a bigger tank, I'm still messing around with different ideas


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## jojouk (9 Jun 2013)

Thanks for the nice comments 

I'm hoping that the 2 reactors will solve my co2 problems. When I can actually finish them that is! Called the company yesterday, they promised to be posted out tomorrow. Ordered them on 23rd may!


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## jojouk (9 Jun 2013)

The only good thing about the overgrown left hand side is that it creates a nice sheltered and secluded spot for my pair of angels, and I have a nice cave from the wood for my apistos, but it looks messy to me.


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## jojouk (11 Jun 2013)

Latest picture, plus a couple of the inhabitants  Finally got a new camera, so quality is a bit better  Moved stuff around on the left. Trimmed back the Vallis, and was it long!! Some pieces were over 1 meter lond, and over an inch in width. Moved the piece of wood, and turned it onto its side, and planted a few stems behind it, so when they grow, should soften the area.















The Ricca is taking off finally 



Helloooo!


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## jojouk (21 Jul 2013)

Latest FTS.

Been running on liquid CO2 for a while, as I ran out of gas and dont get paid until Tuesday  a bit of my foreground has suffered, but overall growth has been good still. Had a major trim last weekend, and this is the end result:



Ricca is doing well 



A bit of ricca attached to my manzy, likes the position, and has grown upwards and out of the water. The leaves in its emersed form are a lot flatter and 'leaf' like


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## Team Steve (21 Jul 2013)

Loving the layout, think I will do something similar the next scape I do 

what camera are you using for the pics?


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## jojouk (21 Jul 2013)

Thanks 

Using the trusty iPhone for most of the photos, not great I know


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## jojouk (14 Aug 2013)

Latest FTS.
Running on liquid carbon at the mo, until I can get my gas filled up, hopefully Friday


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## Pinkmummy79 (15 Aug 2013)

Did you manage to complete your reactors jojo? I finally have my second JBLe1501 now so will be trying to find time soon to put my two togetger hopefully


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## jojouk (15 Aug 2013)

Pinkmummy79 said:


> Did you manage to complete your reactors jojo? I finally have my second JBLe1501 now so will be trying to find time soon to put my two togetger hopefully
> 
> 
> Sent from my LT30p using Tapatalk 4



No I haven't yet. I have all the bits here, I just need to get my gas refilled, borrow a drill bit that is big enough for the bulkheads, and get my finger out and do it!


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## Pinkmummy79 (15 Aug 2013)

Similar at my house now I have my 2nd new filter I need to strip down the tank to remove the existing fluval which came with the tank ad it's drilled:-S fair bit of work to do and will need a whole day without any assistance from my 5 yr old this is just to get the matching filters and spray bars in nevermind the cO2 being sorted, dreading doing the temp stripdown. Will be changing the substrate too for moler clay

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## Timms2011 (15 Aug 2013)

Great journal and lovely looking set up!


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## jojouk (15 Aug 2013)

Thanks everyone  any ideas what I could do to tidy up the left hand side? Looks messy to me


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## tomh (16 Aug 2013)

Just stumbled across this journal and its making me think of ways in which I can get a 5 or 6 foot tank in my house without the wife noticing......... I am very jealous, you have a great selection of plants all of which look to be doing very well, I personally dont think you need to do anything to the left hand side.

I have a question, you started off with play sand on cat litter substrate, but now it looks like you have something else mixed in or is that the substrate coming to the top? also is the play sand ok for plants or do you need to add in lots of root tabs?

great job


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## jojouk (16 Aug 2013)

Thanks for your nice comments  it was certainly a challenge getting my other half to agree to a larger tank, but worth it in the end! I'm now trying to sneak in smaller additional shrimp tanks, with varying levels of success!

The plants are most certainly growing well. Rarely have to remove any because they are unhealthy, a few browning leaves occasionally, easily removed. 

Regarding he substrate, it's still cat litter capped with play sand. Works very well for me, but yes the cat litter is coming up over the sand, where I keep uprooting and moving about plants. Not so much of a problem, looks quite nice in places. I should have used more sand to make the cap deeper, but I can add that at any point in the future without too much disturbance. Plants root in it very well, no problems there!


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## jojouk (22 Aug 2013)

I have a dilemma.
I may be moving house, and the house that I might be moving into doesn't have concrete floors. I will be on the first floor, but I would be able to put the tank somewhere on the ground floor, but then I wouldn't see it! Even the ground floor isn't concrete, it's joists, and I don't know if then it would be secure.

So, do I 'gulp' sell it and get a smaller one, or I could store it in a garage, or I could fill it and keep it in the garage (possible breeding project) or just put it in the house on the ground floor and make regular visits.


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## Andy Thurston (22 Aug 2013)

My mate had a 4x2x2 with a sump on the 1st floor. If you place it across the joists rather than inline with them it will be ok


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## sa80mark (22 Aug 2013)

Agreed with big clown, place it across the joists you will have no problems just think of it like a bath you can fill one of them to the brim and it wont go through the floor


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## Andy Thurston (22 Aug 2013)

If you look under a bath there usually on 4 feet too


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## tomh (22 Aug 2013)

Yep I agree with Big clown and sa80mark, just like a bath, but I suppose it also depends on how big the room is and where you put it, its likely that you are going to put it against a wall where the joists are strongest just make sure its across them as stated above.


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## jojouk (22 Aug 2013)

Thanks everyone


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## jojouk (12 Sep 2013)

Yep confirmed. Moving house. NOT looking forward to moving the tank.

So it's all going to be torn down  and then re-planted. 

Does give me the opportunity to put more substrate in, as its a bit shallow.

Any ideas for a new layout? Will be selling some of the plants too, the vallis on the left is most definitely going!

This the the most recent picture:


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## jojouk (1 Oct 2013)

So, alas, Angel Delight has come to an end. Tank has been sold (for a nice profit he heh after all my hard work) and I'm picking up a new one tomorrow fingers crossed. A rio 240, but smaller, less of a pain to reach the substrate, and my filters will actually fit in the cupboards, maybe even the CO2 as well. Onwards an upwards. It was emotional.

Journal is now closed


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