cldskt
Member
Good day UKAPS community.
Like many people, this is what I call a 'COVID hobby' of mine since I started back in early 2020 and I have been in love since. There are always more things to learn, and the more I read, the more interested I become.
The purpose of this thread is just for me to have a journal for the second tank that I put in more thoughts into, with more planning process than what I would usually do. Many years down the road I can learn from my mistakes and hopefully you guys which are far more experienced than me can impart some knowledge for me to learn too!
No actual build just yet, just set up the cabinet, drawer inside cabinet, pendant light stand (drilled to the back of the cabinet), and of course the tank itself. Everything is procured, except the live plants. You can skip the section below on the parts list if that is not your cup of tea.
Equipment List:
Substrates:
Misc.:
Now at the stage of routing existing cables neatly inside the cabinet. Will post pictures of cabinet when I am happy with how it looks.
Hardscape planning to come in the course of next week, hopefully! Very excited to try and come up with something in this 'blank canvas'.
Cheers.
Like many people, this is what I call a 'COVID hobby' of mine since I started back in early 2020 and I have been in love since. There are always more things to learn, and the more I read, the more interested I become.
The purpose of this thread is just for me to have a journal for the second tank that I put in more thoughts into, with more planning process than what I would usually do. Many years down the road I can learn from my mistakes and hopefully you guys which are far more experienced than me can impart some knowledge for me to learn too!
No actual build just yet, just set up the cabinet, drawer inside cabinet, pendant light stand (drilled to the back of the cabinet), and of course the tank itself. Everything is procured, except the live plants. You can skip the section below on the parts list if that is not your cup of tea.
Equipment List:
- ANS OptiClear Glass (essentially low iron glass) Tank, measuring 90 x 30 x 30cm - Wanted to do something with this dimension tank for 3 - 4 months now, so everything else is considered around this tank.
- Custom made cabinet locally (90 x 30 x 80cm) - Had contemplated whether to get 30cm width or 40cm (because of the light stand), but decided to go with the former to make it flush with the tank. Mimicking ADA style cabinet; with soft closing, solid wood, 45-degree mitered cut at the top of cabinet door.
- ANS 2L CO2 Tank and locally branded CO2 Regulator - CO2 tank is side-mounted, and the regulator is dual stage with solenoid.
- Qanvee 12/16mm CO2 Inline Diffuser - To be placed as near as the outlet output of the filter as possible.
- ANS Hydrobar M90 Hanging Bar - This light bar/kit/stand is similar to the ones from Evolution Aqua and/or iQuatics. Zero manual whatsoever in the packaging, but at least I learnt that cleaner drill holes can be made by gradually increasing the drill bit sizes.
- OASE Biomaster 250 - Had some issues with leaking from the top compartment. Though usually this is caused by the main gasket, my culprit was the hose adapter. You can refer to here for more details.
- SunSun Surface Skimmer - Pretty cheap surface skimmer that will be placed near outlet pipe of the filter. Been using this for another tank for a month and it has been working fine, but time will tell whether the item is durable.
- Chihiros WRGB2 Light (60cm) with corresponding Shades and Hanging Kits - Wanted to go the Pro version but I will be growing just carpeting plants, so this would suffice for now. Also made the conscious decision of going with the 60cm version and not the 90cm, simply because I prefer the look of shorter light for a pendant light.
- Plastic drawer measuring 34.5 x 25 x 54cm - Perfect drawer for bits and pieces inside the cabinet.
Substrates:
- ADA Power Sand Basic S (2L) with ADA Bacter 100, ADA Clear Super, ADA Tourmaline, ADA Penac P, ADA Penac W.
- ADA Amazonia V.2 (9L) - Went with the V.2 as it is easier to control over the V.1 at the start.
- Tropica Soil Powder (9L) - Wanted to have a 'powder' version of aquasoil on top of the normal aquasoil so that the carpeting plants will be able to root better. Went with Tropica as ADA only has its powder aquasoil as V.1 aquasoil. Also, the price for ADA one is practically double.
- ADA La Plata Sand (2kg) - Leftover from another tank build that will be used as a 'pathway'.
- Small rocks and pebbles - For hardscape detailing.
- Plastic egg crate - For elevation of hardscape.
Misc.:
- 31kg of "Manten Blue Stone" from an LFS nearby - Handpicked these over the course of a month, waiting for shipments to come in. Don't think that they are actually Manten Stones though, as they look more like Icelandic Lava Stone sold by Glass Aqua here.
- ADA Green Brighty Mineral and ADA Green Brighty Neutral K - Water from tap is generally higher in pH and KH, so opted for the 'Neutral' version.
- Small water pump for water change - Will be using the inlet pipe of OASE Biomaster 250 as the outlet pipe for this pump. This allows me to do water changes without lifting buckets.
- ADA Amazonia V.2 (9L) - Went with the V.2 as it is easier to control over the V.1 at the start.
- Motion sensor light bar (50cm) - Sufficient light to illuminate the inside of the cabinet at night.
- Magnet bar (30cm) - To hang aquascaping tools on the inner side of the cabinet door.
Now at the stage of routing existing cables neatly inside the cabinet. Will post pictures of cabinet when I am happy with how it looks.
Hardscape planning to come in the course of next week, hopefully! Very excited to try and come up with something in this 'blank canvas'.
Cheers.