GHOST TREES 1.0 "Day 55 Post Flood"

[dw1305]

Re: *Update Day 26 of Dry Start* ADA 120 Do!aqua Glass Casca

Hi all,
It will be interesting to see what happens.

This is a terrestrial moss that was growing in a potted plant I picked up from the local nursery think it is some sort of Irish moss.

This is Sagina apetala, despite it's look it is a flowering plant, and definitely terrestrial. It is a cosmopolitan weed of nursery container stock.

cheers Darrel

 

[WabiKasuH20Fall]

Re: *Update Day 26 of Dry Start* ADA 120 Do!aqua Glass Casca

Thanks for the ID on that moss creeper Darrel very appreciated as I was not positive on its identity all I knew was I liked it and envisioned it being used for this application so we will see how it does. Seems to have adapted well to the environment so far, as it is indeed flowering and spreading slowly and nicely.

 

[WabiKasuH20Fall]

*Hell or HigH2O Update* ADA 120 Do!aqua Glass Casca

6.18.12
Come Hell or high water...

We are still on schedule for a flood this Friday. Things are looking goooood in the tank 8) the mosses are all growing well and the HC that I just planted on the upper terrace has really taken well and is growing at a rapid pace emersed. Think I may go pick up two more pots of it and just plant about 2/3's of the remaining area with it since it seems to be doing so well up there emersed.

Going to pick up the Hydor 200w Inline this week and I have decided also to go with the Odyssea CFS700 w/ UV for my filtration option. Will be purchasing that too all in preparation for the flood; as they are kinda of essential for the job

Got word this morning my CPD's are in transit as well from LA this morning all 20+ of them, happy little campers. They have a quarantine and holding tank ready for them, my 25Gal. Long Plexi I cleaned out for them, so they have a pleasant arrival waiting for them. They'll stay their about a month until I cycle this tank and its ready for fishy inhabitants.

Overall I couldn't be happier with the way the DSM went and how things are looking for flood day. My Hawaiian plants on stand by in the bus tub on the fire escape are antsy and showing signs of stress waiting for their final destination to be ready for them. I feel bad for them as I monitor there health and know so far the stress they are showing is only on the immediate foliage and nothing more permanent. Hold on another four days and they'll be much happier on the steps of the water fall.

some close ups

mini fiss

ps. I have a Name for this tank finally also, it will be revealed on flood day. Stay Tuned.

 

[Ady34]

Re: *Update Day 26 of Dry Start* ADA 120 Do!aqua Glass Casca

Looking forward to the flood....and the naming ceremony......tip.....dont smash a bottle on the side

 

[WabiKasuH20Fall]

Re: *Update Day 26 of Dry Start* ADA 120 Do!aqua Glass Casca

2 days away from flood day

As expected the CPD's arrived this morning and are in the bags floating now in the quarantine tank. They look good I only had one causality out of 20 so that is pretty good I guess for those delicate little guys.

I was telling a friend, it's like I am on the last mile of a Marathon, so ready for water already I just want to drown the thing

 

[frothhelmet]

Re: *Update Day 26 of Dry Start* ADA 120 Do!aqua Glass Casca

This tank is so epic I can barely believe it. The variety of plants and the diversity of aquascaping is truly amazing. can't wait to see it flooded!

 

[WabiKasuH20Fall]

Re: *Update Day 26 of Dry Start* ADA 120 Do!aqua Glass Casca

Tomorrow is flood day, tonight I planted two more pots of HC up top with the others and also two more pots of Mini Marsilea along the right and left sides running foreground to background and also plopped some substrate and HC in one nice feature spot. If it takes it will be a nice little perch indeed. Stay tuned tomorrow evenings post should have some great updates.

 

[WabiKasuH20Fall]

GHOST TREES 1.0 "flooded"

6.22.12 / 6.23.12

"GHOST TREES 1.0"
Flooded n flowin

Ok so my computer wanted to act up tonight when it came time to update the journal so this one is going to be short and sweet. As they say a picture speaks a thousand words so a few pics should suffice for now. I will give a better update in the morning. Was a long day the flood and all so it consumed me for about 13 hours which included going to South San Francisco to Aqua Traders to pick up the CFS700 canister filter I went with and an hour at Lowes figuring out plumbing schematics. Finally all it flooded.

With out further a due I present to the World

GHOST TREES 1.0

Filling up

Filled

Time to fill the beast CFS700 and get things flowing

GHOST TREES in all its flowing glory...
8)

 

[mario]

Re: GHOST TREES 1.0 "flooded"

amazing. by far the most natural looking tank I've ever seen. thank you for sharing

 

[Alastair]

GHOST TREES 1.0 "flooded"

Looks fantastic, very very nice!!!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Iain Sutherland]

Re: GHOST TREES 1.0 "flooded"

looking great, the cascade will look awesome as it matures. Are you expecting much melt as the plants adapt to immersed life?

just need your mate with the dslr to make up a vid so we can see it 'in the flesh'

 

[WabiKasuH20Fall]

GHOST TREES 1.0 "flooded"

Video is in post production, coming soon along with some high res pics. Stay tuned.

Melt, well yes I anticipate a little however I am going to crank the Co2 hard for the next 10 day 24/7 to minimize the melt factor as much as possible.


From the mud grows a Lotus~
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk.

 

[WabiKasuH20Fall]

GHOST TREES 1.0

I just woke up and now I just sit and stare as I sip my espresso.

From the mud grows a Lotus~
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk.

 

[tim]

Re: GHOST TREES 1.0 "flooded"

now that is a view people would pay for in the morning stunning tank you have a good day

 

[Polyester]

Re: GHOST TREES 1.0 "flooded"

Very nice and interesting project!

 

[WabiKasuH20Fall]

Re: GHOST TREES 1.0 "flooded"

CO2 is cranking now 3-5 bps and will stay that way for the next 10 days 24/7 to counter balance the melt and assist in the plants transition from and emersed state to the submerged state.

Here is a link to the Video of it in the works!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ulqtUs3GT0&feature=youtu.be

Some high res shots for you all:

The back upper terrace;

Parting shot :

 

[Ady34]

Re: GHOST TREES 1.0 "flooded"

Wow, you should be very proud!
That looks like a slice of nature and once grown in it will be like having a mini riverbank in your home.
Im looking forward to following the progress now its flooded.
Cheerio,
Ady.

 

[WabiKasuH20Fall]

Re: GHOST TREES 1.0 "flooded"

Some new update shots. Things are looking good over all. I purchased a very cheap little 18 inch LED h2o proof light strip that I placed on the left front side as that is the darkest spot in my tank right now. Just a temp kinda of think until I can figure out the optimum light set up for my Ghost 8)

Saturday morning, the morning after the flood.

Sunday, day 2. I put in the LED strip up front. Not my ideal choice or long term route just to suffice for now.

A shot of the lower glass tier with my Hawaiian Bacopa species I collected over there this past April. Looking healthy and warming up to its new digs.

My lil Drosera Sundew carniverous plant, making its transition to the cascade 8)

In the back ground my Asparagus fern Kokodama, along with the Dwarf Palm on the top tier opposite it.

Some HC that floated away when I flooded the lower section.

A close up of one of my mosses getting settled in:

This was ID as a "Cane Orchid" no further ID specifics.

Since I have kept this a pretty detailed build thread all the way along I also wanted to share a few detail shots of the plumbing of the beast of a canister filter. The Odyssea CFS700, so it's outflow ID is a whopping 1"! The inflow lily pipes for the my DoAqua tank were 12mm or 1/5" so I was faced with trying to make a reducer of %50 flow diameter. I spent over an hour at Lowes toying with plumbing combinations until I came up with this 3 piece assembly in which I used the black plastic threaded 1" - 1/2" reduced from the Lawn sprinkler pipe fittings and components. It was a mind straining exercise I could only compare to childhood Lego experiences when I would completely deplete my collection of one specific peice and I would have to get creative to recreate that piece out of several other pieces. Aye yi yi

Really its not much but it was what I needed to achieve the proper reduction, I reinforced all the threading coupling with Thread Tape and joint the slip/slip pvc fittings with pvc primer and cement and also reinforced the large bore couplings with pipe clamps for added piece of mind.

Here area the pieces both individual and assembled:

In action:

No glue or Silicone used though as I could easily disassemble this whole thing piece by piece with a screw driver and strong grip for easy cleaning of the parts or splicing in modifications and additional pre and post filters and or reactors.

Well that's all the news that's fit to print right now.

 

[WabiKasuH20Fall]

Re: GHOST TREES 1.0 "flooded"

Had some good light through the bay window this evening took advantage of the light and took some shots.

the first signs of the algea phase is starting to be visible. I hope it wont be too bad. Five more days and I will be tossing in about a dozen Amanos and they will be put to work.

 

[WabiKasuH20Fall]

Re: GHOST TREES 1.0 "flooded"

Just a quick update, so its been flooded 10 days now and I am going through the endearing phase of initial algae bloom. The tank is definitely not photo worthy at its current condition. I have a nice light green slimy film on almost every inch of the tank now I am performing the daily 30-45% percent water changes and have cut back the light to nothing for the last two days but some indirect reflected light. Hoping to test my water tomorrow for ammonia and if its safe I plan to toss in a work crew of Amano's to keep the upper hand on the algae cycle. Oh its been so long since have had to deal with this whole algae and tank break in cycle. Ugh...

Let me now re iterate my mantra to myself "from the mud(or in this case algae) grows a Lotus(or Orchid) Right now hopefully it's as ugly as its going to get, I hope and in another five days to a week I should be out the the other end of this green machine of a diatom algae stage.