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Project 178

The tank looks wonderful Jason, lovely work.

It's great to see other enthusiasts getting involved, thats what it's all about for me, plenty of plant love!
 
I love this scape, Jason. :thumbup: Beautiful! I would like to see the plant list, if it is possible.
 
Lovely scape Jason, fantastic size tank as well, stunning in reality I'm sure. Great way to share the hobby among friends.
 
Am I the first one who says what a lovely tank ?. :D :D

small comment why have you divided your tank exactly in 2 half's ?
 
Great to see a true master at work, what with that AGA award on the wall 8) This gives me great inspiration for the next scape that I had in mind. Only now do I realise that I need waaaaaaay bigger rocks that what I originally planned!
 
I chose this type of light rail since I can adjust the lights front to back as well:

resized1803.jpg


I'd consider the U shape over the tank and attached at the sides, but opted for the rear mounting.
The U shape makes for better photography I think in the background if you take the traditional front shot.

I had some of the HQI's, but found them too intense and spotty in the light distribution. I tried a few different brands and configurations. I just use the PC's and T5's these days. The light will be good for your layout and the center needs no light so the scape works around the issue.

This aquarium was redone pretty much on similar lines as yours:

Resized350galafter.jpg


Plain dolomite sand. I had the same type of rocks in this tank as you do, but chose to remove them.
I have long wanted to add stingrays to a planted tank, this tank has 2 of them.
I use 2 Aquapro Coralife lights, sort of wish I'd chosen 8x 54W 4ft hoods instead these days, then run 1/2 of the lights on those to get the nice wide spread and nice color. I still use 3 of the 4 HQI's, but needed to raise the light up 18".........

It's a very easy nice looking tank that complements the fish. Something I think many plant folks initially had as a goal, before getting bitten by the plant bug. I like the slope in the tank and obviously, the plant slelections :thumbup:

Regards,
Tom Barr
 
Just a thought:
If you ever redo the tank, you might remove the rocks more and leave open dark "shadowy caves" leading back into the wood beneath the ferns on top, it gives a nice effect and fish really take to it, plus, you can actually still see them, also enhances water flow and makes the CO2 come up through the plants from below.

I wrestled with the stones I have, and I have plenty.....about whether to add them back in the dark spots, but you know? I asked and got more input and we all agreed to not use them. It feels a bit naked, but I can see every fish and the flow is excellent.

Nice tank.

What type of fish do you plan on?
Silver fish do not go too well with white sand BTW.

Cards, etc and discus even, look pretty good.
Depends if you want a smaller look or a larger look for the fish.
I often go big in the more cryptic fish, sort of the monster coming out from the lair, then have a batch of neat schooling fish. Cards and discus actually look pretty good against the plant selection and the color of the sediment.

Brass tetras, the real ones that only get about 1" are intense and interesting to watch, tough as nails too, neat schooling fish. I have a pleco fetish and catfish in general, so I have lots of them in all my home aquariums. They go well with the schooling fish. A good interesting fish selection for the plant or biotope themes:
Congo tetras/Syno cats. There's a number of very nice African species.
The Dwarf loach and some nice Rasboras also make an excellent choice.
Pack of Roselines also. Cherry shrimp would also be a good idea, breed like flies.

You can handle some rougher fish also since the plants are all pretty tough and the there's no foreground species or wimpy stems that get uprooted often etc.

You can also add as much current as you want.
I added 2x MP40 EcoTech wave drivers on the 350 above. I have 1 on my 180 Gallon.
Love those things, but they are not cheap. Fish love them, get lots of low pressure wave like current throughout the tank, and most of these plants all come from rivers, and the fact of the matter, the picture listed at the start is a fast flowing river, why not add that same current?

Fish get more exercise, eat better, more O2, more ripples, cleaner etc.
Check on RC forums for a good deal for an slightly used Ecotech MP20- MP40.


Regards,
Tom Barr
 
It really was a lot of fun to get together with everyone, and it was especially nice to have members from other clubs come up....its always nice to connect with those guys.

Tonser - I have always done it that way also.... To be fair, i did spend a lot of time setting the hardscape up before i had visitors. It really isnt that fun watching somebody move a rock back and forth for 5 hours! HAHA

viktorlantos - am glad you appreciated the pics on the wall. its really hard to believe i did all those layouts in such a short amount of time. I slowed down over the last two years, but this layout really has me excited again!

Maurtis - I hope you arent an architect!! :)> I can see what you are saying, though. after the plants grow in the mass of each side should be quite different.

flygja - ispiration is the most important thing in my life, so when i inspire others, it really is the ultimate compliment. And yes, rocks always seem to shrink when you add plants and water ;)

Tom - I always choose to mount the lights from the side to prevent the mounts showing from the back. Its sort of a moot point in this tank (it has a background), but if i ever choose to go with the "white" background in the photo shoot, they would be in the way there too. I think T5's are super, and probly grow plants better then HQI's but you cant argue with the shimmer effect of the HQI. Good point on the intensity, i hope these work out, i only have about 4 more inches left on the top for raising them :crazy: ....so i hope it works out. thanks for the great advice on the current, that is certainly something i am considering, as ferns do love some current:) Thanks for your comments :D

jB
 
Jason Baliban said:
Tom - I always choose to mount the lights from the side to prevent the mounts showing from the back. Its sort of a moot point in this tank (it has a background), but if i ever choose to go with the "white" background in the photo shoot, they would be in the way there too. I think T5's are super, and probly grow plants better then HQI's but you cant argue with the shimmer effect of the HQI. Good point on the intensity, i hope these work out, i only have about 4 more inches left on the top for raising them :crazy: ....so i hope it works out. thanks for the great advice on the current, that is certainly something i am considering, as ferns do love some current:) Thanks for your comments :D

jB

Yea, I wrestled with some of those same issues, but heck, the damn bars only cost what? 1-2$ each and a little labor and I can swap them.

So I suppose it's not a big deal. I guess the double bend and off set on the side corner would be another option, but it requires a good bend and thicker pole, and I cannot move the pesky light front to back. Works well on smaller tanks, but not the 4-6ft long tanks.

Yes, I really love that shimmer color effect of the HQI, feels 10X more natural, which is an aesthetic I greatly prefer.
I can use them for the home tanks if I chose with the hoods I have, but they suck a lot of energy and heat, and power.........7 x 150W adds up for me.

I'd look into those EcoTech's, they really can make the look and the fish happier, and are really nice and adjustable, with minimal impact in the look and placement.

Damn, I wish you lived here, I could have given you all that rock I did not use, and all the cory pandas(about 25 that have bred 3x now) and a couple of basketball heads of Java fern.
Lemon tetras will be a nice fish for the tank. They do not jump much either.

Looking great. Like the white sand, slope and large rock use.

Regards,
Tom barr
 
I installed some lights under the tank.
ds1_6138.jpg


Pro III
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I wanted to use a pH controller as a monitor. I removed the controlling portion...
ds1_6127.jpg


6.9 before the lights/CO2 comes on.
ds1_6145.jpg


And for the slickness, i added a bubble counter from GLA.
ds1_5962.jpg


jB
 
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