DannyH
Member
Hi folks,
So having spent the best part of a year and a half contemplating this/ reading
endless journals I thought i’d start a journal for my first high tech planted tank
attempt ‘Lagoa Verde’. I’ll generally be testing the waters so to speak in terms of
the chosen plants, mostly easy with a few more ambitious species in-between, all
going well. I’ll eventually have some live stock in there but only once I gain
confidence with controlling the system.
The kit intended is as follows:
Tank: ADA 45P
CO2: Fire extinguisher. Inline Atomiser/ Diffuser,
Light: ADA Solar 1
Fertilisers: EI dosing
Filter: Eheim 2326
Heater: Integrated into Eheim filter
Substrate: TMC nutrasoil, black
Having been dabbling with a low tech setup for the past few months and having
learned some lessons on the ‘dry start’ method I’ve decided to do the same here.
I’m still waiting on delivery of a few bits of kit/ hardscape so the dry start is probably
still a week of. In the meantime I’ve been cracking on with a couple of other bits on
my list. Firstly was the stand.
Tank Stand
So, I’m generally unimpressed with the quality of tank stands available out there.
I’m not keen on the thought of the warping that goes on with chip/ mdf board once
melamine covers have been penetrated by water. I opted to knock together a
plywood box, its pretty rough around the edges as its made from a piece of wood
some contractors left about after a job. However I quite like the contrast it has with
the craftsmanship of the ADA tank. Its redeeming quality is its soft close hinges.
These should help not to startle any fauna and give the thing a more ‘quality’ feel.
I’ve also gone on to give the wood two coats of yacht varnish. Some process
images:
Lily pipes
The next bit I’ve been pretty excited about is the stainless steel lily pipes/ light
stand. The ADA stand was out of my price range, even before I stumped up for the
light unit itself! As you may note from the above diagram I’ve extended the stand
out at the rear by 5cm. This is so that I can drop the pipes through this and secure
them firmly inside the cabinet with no visible supports. The light stand will continue
to the base of the unit and will therefore also double up as a brace. I bough some
nice quality benders and ordered a sample of 12mm 316 grade stainless tubing.
The result was as follows:
And thats it. Following the successful prototype i’ll be making the actual Lillys/
stand this weekend. I can then setup the light and begin with the aquascaping!
My concerns at this time are regarding the light and filter being too powerful. I’ve
designed the unit to be able to be raised to 80cm ish above the surface and have
also reduced the outflow pipe diameter on the filter. I’ll be over-drilling the spraybar
in an attempt to reduce the velocity at which the water enters the tank.
I’ll be back with updates as and when I have them, any advice welcome,
Thanks,
Danny
So having spent the best part of a year and a half contemplating this/ reading
endless journals I thought i’d start a journal for my first high tech planted tank
attempt ‘Lagoa Verde’. I’ll generally be testing the waters so to speak in terms of
the chosen plants, mostly easy with a few more ambitious species in-between, all
going well. I’ll eventually have some live stock in there but only once I gain
confidence with controlling the system.
The kit intended is as follows:
Tank: ADA 45P
CO2: Fire extinguisher. Inline Atomiser/ Diffuser,
Light: ADA Solar 1
Fertilisers: EI dosing
Filter: Eheim 2326
Heater: Integrated into Eheim filter
Substrate: TMC nutrasoil, black
Having been dabbling with a low tech setup for the past few months and having
learned some lessons on the ‘dry start’ method I’ve decided to do the same here.
I’m still waiting on delivery of a few bits of kit/ hardscape so the dry start is probably
still a week of. In the meantime I’ve been cracking on with a couple of other bits on
my list. Firstly was the stand.
Tank Stand
So, I’m generally unimpressed with the quality of tank stands available out there.
I’m not keen on the thought of the warping that goes on with chip/ mdf board once
melamine covers have been penetrated by water. I opted to knock together a
plywood box, its pretty rough around the edges as its made from a piece of wood
some contractors left about after a job. However I quite like the contrast it has with
the craftsmanship of the ADA tank. Its redeeming quality is its soft close hinges.
These should help not to startle any fauna and give the thing a more ‘quality’ feel.
I’ve also gone on to give the wood two coats of yacht varnish. Some process
images:
Lily pipes
The next bit I’ve been pretty excited about is the stainless steel lily pipes/ light
stand. The ADA stand was out of my price range, even before I stumped up for the
light unit itself! As you may note from the above diagram I’ve extended the stand
out at the rear by 5cm. This is so that I can drop the pipes through this and secure
them firmly inside the cabinet with no visible supports. The light stand will continue
to the base of the unit and will therefore also double up as a brace. I bough some
nice quality benders and ordered a sample of 12mm 316 grade stainless tubing.
The result was as follows:
And thats it. Following the successful prototype i’ll be making the actual Lillys/
stand this weekend. I can then setup the light and begin with the aquascaping!
My concerns at this time are regarding the light and filter being too powerful. I’ve
designed the unit to be able to be raised to 80cm ish above the surface and have
also reduced the outflow pipe diameter on the filter. I’ll be over-drilling the spraybar
in an attempt to reduce the velocity at which the water enters the tank.
I’ll be back with updates as and when I have them, any advice welcome,
Thanks,
Danny
cabinet looks good. Do you intend to treat the end grain to stop water penetrating the laminates? 
Love the way you have followed the rock strata when setting out your rock work .Nice DW too 
