Icydeath's Multi-Tank Build

[icydeath]

Progress so far:

Stocking list for the 55 & 40 are done.

55: 4 Festivum, 8 Corydoras Trilineatus, 12 Amano Shrimp
40: 3 Senegal Bichir
20: TBD; some suggestions would be great​

Lighting is pretty much done. But I may change bulb choices.

55: 4 foot four bulb T8 fixture from Lowes; bulbs will be two floramax and two daylight
40: 3 foot two bulb T8 fixture from Lowes; bulbs will be two daylight or one daylight and one actinic
20: 2 foot dual T5 Coralife fixture; bulbs will be coralife's plant bulbs​

Filtration is done.

55: C-360
40: 2 Emperor 400
20: Penguin 100B​

Heating will be decided later.

I plan to eventually get a CO2 system for the 55 and 20. I won't plant the 40 however. I think I will use osmocote, florapride, and seachem root tabs and flourish.

Feedback?

 

[icydeath]

I will get some pictures later today of the 40 and 20 filled with water. The styrofoam is really doing a good job getting it flush.

I will be picking up some ammonia tonight if possible and pick up some heaters tomorrow if possible. If not, I will do it sometime this week.

What heaters would you guys use to heat a 40B, 55, and 20L? The temperature of my room stays at around 73 and I have two layers of styrofoam underneath and the reflectors are facing the substrate to help keep some heat in.

 

[icydeath]

Bought an Aqueon Preset 100W Heater for the 20 and my 40 has the Aqueon Pro 150W Heater.

Over the weekend I bought some driftwood, 4 pieces of mopani for 65 bucks.

 

[icydeath]

Does the piece on the right look better in this position or the previous one?

 

[icydeath]

EDIT: sorry for double post.

 

[shellyx]

Following along!

55 gallon elephant nose tank.
16 gallon vampire shrimp, green lace shrimp and snails.

 

[shellyx]

Does the piece on the right look better in this position or the previous one?

I think it looks better in this one.

55 gallon elephant nose tank.
16 gallon vampire shrimp, green lace shrimp and snails.

 

[icydeath]

Yesterday I went to buy the heaters and started looking at the light spectrum graph for the coralife 6700k bulb and the actinic bulb. I noticed that the peaks for blue are incredibly close if not exactly the same. Where do you guys stand on whether or not actinics can support (to any level) photosynthesis? I've heard they can't at ion it.

Also, I am using my used Emp 400's and the last time I used them I messed up and put slightly uncured silicon and ammonia with surfactant in during the cycle. I forgot to rinse one of them off and don't want to do a 100% water change because CA is in a drought. Can I use carbon to remove surfactants?

In summary: Can actinics support photosynthesis to any degree?
Can carbons remove surfactant?

 

[icydeath]

I think it looks better in this one.

55 gallon elephant nose tank.
16 gallon vampire shrimp, green lace shrimp and snails.

Thanks! I like that one more too. What are your feelings on malaysian vs mopani driftwood?

 

[shellyx]

Thanks! I like that one more too. What are your feelings on malaysian vs mopani driftwood?

I prefer the look of the Malaysian

55 gallon elephant nose tank.
30 gallon vampire shrimp, green lace shrimp and snails.

 

[icydeath]

I will consider some for my 40 haha

Anyways, can carbon remove surfactants and are actinic lights usable for plants?

 

[shellyx]

I'm not sure about the carbon doing that? Hopefully somebody that knows will help you
What are you putting into your 40? Sorry if I've missed it!

55 gallon elephant nose tank.
30 gallon vampire shrimp, green lace shrimp and snails.

 

[icydeath]

Don't worry about it!

I plan on putting 3 senegal bichir in there. Perhaps an rescued firemouth, but that is iffy. Think I should get it? haha

 

[shellyx]

Don't worry about it!

I plan on putting 3 senegal bichir in there. Perhaps an rescued firemouth, but that is iffy. Think I should get it? haha

Sound's good! I was looking at a firemouth the other day and boy do they look beautiful! The color of them is amazing. I'm not too sure how it would work out for you, so I'll leave that one up to you Lol

55 gallon elephant nose tank.
30 gallon vampire shrimp, green lace shrimp and snails.

 

[icydeath]

I seeded the 40 and 20 with some media from my 5 gallon and added like 7-8 ppm of ammonia to both tanks to ensure they would have enough ammonia for a while because I will be gone for spring break.

I might get that firemouth, but I will definitely do more research in terms of compatibility.

Anyone else?

 

[icydeath]

Alrighty! Finally back from Orlando. Had a great time.

Anyways, I came back and checked my ammonia and something odd I noticed was that my 40 B ammonia level was around 6-7 ppm (original dosing was 8ppm) but wasn't showing anything.

The 20 L has me pretty confused because the ammonia level is the same as when I dosed but is showing like 3-5 ppm of nitrate.

 

[alucy0210]

I'm going to do that! Thanks

 

[Wy Renegade]

I was really hoping to see that you had plumbed all the tanks together into a single system, but that doesn't appear to be the case? How about a photo of all the tanks on their stands?

 

[Finntastic]

If you fill the 20 gallon with nano fish and shrimp it would look really nice.

 

[icydeath]

That is a great idea Finntastic.. My favorite LFS actually has some of the dwarf cories and I know a user who breeds endlers. I think I will do that thanks.

Wy Renegade, I will take a pic once I get this room cleaned I actually do plan on getting them plumbed together using two overflows and two powerheads to keep everything plumbed together. I still need to check on whether the fish I plan to keep have different water needs.

alucy0210, glad this thread could help. I assume you mean the overdosing of ammonia to keep everything cycled? If you have any questions you can ask on my thread (i don't mind; might get it some more traffic haha) and I would be happy to help. However, feel free to start your own thread or PM me (or many of the other members on the sight). Glad to have a new user.