New 55 Gallon Log

[harmy4993]

very cool.

you using much from your 10 gallon to help speed up the cycle or just letting it do its own thing?

 

[SpeedEuphoria]

Yeah I'll post new pics tomorrow since I completely redid it. The Driftwood is just left of center now and the clay pots dont stand out as much now either.

I'm just using plants from my 10G and one male endler for now, dont plan to add any filter media or anything to seed it. Just going to slowly add fish and shrimp to it. Then when I get new fish I will take the endler/s out and put back into the 10G.

I just tested my tap water GH/KH today since I just got a test kit for it. Seems I have 12 deg KH and 24 deg GH, I knew it was hard water, lol.

Heres new pics, I put more plants in and redid it. have a piece of flat rock to add to cover one of the caves.

 

[harmy4993]

lol ok its tomorrow where are the new pics

lol i wonder what your 1 fish thinks about having a super big mansion all to itsself.

 

[SpeedEuphoria]

Those last 3 in the post above are the new layout. I just edited my post and added them. I took pics of each end so you can see the PVC tunnels that dead end into the glass on the sides. You can just see the inlet from the front. i have a small piece of flat rock I found that I'm soaking to cover the inlet to the tunnel on the left side.

I also grabbed a smaller diameter pvc tube today but havent added it yet either.

I need to get a better camera b/c this one sucks its old and has 3mega pixels and no zoom or focus, lol.

I swear every hobby you learn about other things besides the main hobby, like photography in this hobby.

Anyway so far I'm just waiting for the plants to get situated(crypts to melt/ect..). I hope to see if this lighting is "enough" to keep things alive.

I was reading up on LED lighting today, something I will look into. I had a new ballast to ODNO these bulbs but I took it back b/c I can get a similar one cheaper. I also want to wait and see how this works stock 1st.

I like this fixture because its 8.5" wide and most 2 bulb fixtures are only 4" wide. I'm using glass tops now and the hinge is black plastic/metal so a 4" wide fixture would put both bulbs basically right on top of this if I wanted the light centered. W/ this fixture its has "parabolic" reflectors that are painted white and spaces the bulbs to each side of that hinge. I know its not much but its deff better that a regular shoplight, at least 1 step up. I would say that a normal shoplight is ~1wpg or slightly less(w/ T8 bulbs), even less w/ T12's. I think I'm slightly above 1wpg with this light.

This is the "shoplight" I'm using now, it has a decent .95 ballast factor, electronic, instant start ballast.
American Fluorescent Lighting, Residential Lighting, Commercial Lighting, Decorative Lighting

This company makes some OK 4 bulb T8 ot T5 fixtures that would be OK for an aquarium but I checked the pricing and its not worth it
American Fluorescent Lighting, Residential Lighting, Commercial Lighting, Decorative Lighting

 

[harmy4993]

when you do get it stocked with fish im interested in how the fish use the pvp tunnels

 

[SpeedEuphoria]

Right now I'm looking to get some "Peacock Gudegon's" Tateurndina ocellicauda. Most people breed them using PCV tubes.
Peacock Gudgeon - Tateurndina ocellicauda (Page in Preparation)
How to keep and breed peacock gudgeons, Tateurndina ocellicauda, with pictures

I'm trying to get these instead of some cichlids


Then maybe some rainbows for the top

 

[Erok7620]

I gotta say good luck with this, I wish you the best but I have to chime in and say with personal experience that having a tank break in your house will be one of the worst days of your life. I dont want to freak you out or anything and maybe I shouldnt be saying this but I just dont know how long I would trust super glue or epoxy for that matter. 55 gallons of water creates a lot of pressure. I had a 28g crack and break and let me tell you clean up is nightmare on carpeted floors! I know you can pick up used but not broken 55's with stands for like 100-150 bucks or less and brand new at LFS's or pet(smart,co) for around $200-300. your tank may last for years glued.. im just saying i would concider replacing it for what it would cost. The tank is one of the smallest investments in fish keeping, I would make sure i trust it.

 

[new2betas]

It looks pretty, Matt. Keep us updated with pictures as it progresses!

 

[rkilling1]

When you ODNO your lights, they will run hotter and cause the bulb's life span to go down quite a bit. I had to change my 2 X ODNO bulbs every 3 months.

As for the cracking, IMO I wouldn't risk having that big crack in the support. That's just me. You can order a new top molding and be done with it.

 

[SpeedEuphoria]

When you ODNO your lights, they will run hotter and cause the bulb's life span to go down quite a bit. I had to change my 2 X ODNO bulbs every 3 months.

As for the cracking, IMO I wouldn't risk having that big crack in the support. That's just me. You can order a new top molding and be done with it.

Did the bulbs die after 3 months? or they degraded? What size and brand of bulb?

For now I plan to use the built in ballast(its really built in) to 2x the rear bulb then use the new 4 bulb ballast to 3x or 4x the front light. The new ballast will be mounted on top of the light fixture. I figure this would be roughly 63(3x)-69(4x) watts on the front and ~54-60watts on the back because the ballast factor is better. So that would get me to ~2wpg. If bulbs go quick then I'll get a box for cheap like $2 each shipped.


I found this interesting as most of what I've read about ODNO seems to assume that you waste energy. He tested an old T12 bulb that he had running ODNOx4 for 18months also. I actually have the same ballast this guy used. So it looks like it puts 70watts out max to one bulb.
ODNO measurements: power consumption vs light output(LONG) - The Planted Tank Forum


Trust me I'm watching this brace. Actually 2 nights ago it creaked and I looked and did not notice anything. Then last night I toped it off to just under the brace and it went "pop" and separated a little bit(superglue) as the epoxy held. I quickly drained it and re did the repair. This time I actually let it sit to cure 12+ hrs before I only waited like 3 hours then filled. I added the epoxy on the top also.

So if it happens again them I'm I'm going to get a new top trim. I know for a fact its fine for a period of time w/o the center brace as I filled it in the driveway like that and it never leaked, but it bowed out a a solid 1"+.

Put it this way it gives me something to do, I need a challange, lol. Actually I saw another thread where someone removed the center brace to improve lighting getting through. They used 2 steel wires/cables and cut the plastic brace out. Oh here post #23
http://www.aquaticplantcentral.com/...75-gallon-diy-projects-lots-3.html#post406370

 

[rkilling1]

The bulbs did not die, only turned a little black on the ends. The bulbs had to be changed based on plant/algae growth. I ran this setup for over a year and every 3 - 4 months I observed the same slow down in plant growth with an increase in algae growth. Once the bulbs were replaced, everything went back to normal.

That article does not say anything about spectrum shifting. Just because the bulb is putting out light doesn't mean it's of any use to the plants. Again, this is based on my experience. I was running (4) 2 X ODNO on my 75 gallon tank. One was a shoplight and the other was a dual AGA light. I was using phillips 4100K bulbs from home depot.

My concern with the crack is that you may not be home the next time it creaks and then breaks allowing all that hard work and water to land on the floor.

Removing the brace and replacing it with another type of brace is not the same as having it just give out.

Just giving my opinion. You have a tank that has cracked repeatedly when you put water in it. I would just order a whole new top frame and not worry about it. My brother just redid his 125 gallon tank top molding and, if I recall correctly, it didn't cost very much for the molding. Pryed off the old stuff and siliconed the new one on and now he is worry free.

Futher more, filling a tank without a brace and watching it expand, is not the same as having the center brace fail when it's completly full. It's the sudden shock that would occur when it failed that would be cause for concern.

 

[SpeedEuphoria]

I agree with everything your saying. I know about the shifting and will be on the look out. I only found one source for the top trim which is the exact same as the bottom trim according to them. I'm a DIY type person and cheap for the most part(also I guess you could say that I'm hard headed since I'm mechanically inclined). I also know from experience that there is more then one way to skin a cat, lol. I'm hoping for the best but planning for the worst.

I also have a high ammonia reading right now and notices there are small blue balls in this Schults substrate, I caught one and pinched it before and it had something like a gel come out of it. I'm thinking it could be some sort of fert? Not sure I know it says "fish safe" on the package. Verry odd and since I have 1 1" male Endler in there and did a 50% WC today I'm not sure why my ammonia is really high. Higher then it ever was in my 10 w/ 3 good sized fancy Goldfish. My ammonia test has been funky for me most of the time though so I'm not positive its true. The fish is the most active one I have and he is still very active swimming up and down the glass all day just like he was in my 10G(he would do laps around the heater suction cups for 10 mins at a time, then find a new spot, lol)

 

[harmy4993]

hows the tank going? find the source of the high ammonia yet or was it the test kit?

 

[bs6749]

Just wanted to point out that if it were me I'd order the top brace from an LFS. Also, I wouldn't keep any shrimp other than maybe bamboo shrimp in a tank with fish. Any fish that has a mouth large enough to eat shrimp eventually will. I don't keep anything other than ramshorn snails in my RCS tank.

 

[SpeedEuphoria]

The test kit tests good on all other sources(tap and my 10G) so that means that yes there is lots of ammonia in the 55G. No the source is the question.

I have dosed the tank with Prime when I set it up, then again days later when I took the 1st reading. So I'm assuming that it is not the harmfull ammonia(cant remember if its NH3 or NH4?) that the test kit is picking up on.

I still have the 1 male endler in ther and he is swimming around and acting normal just like he was in the 10G.

I ordered lots of new plants, mostly tall or large plants that should be here 2day air mail from Cali on Wednesday. So I plan to do a large WC then like 75% and add the new plants and fill back up and retest. I hope it all goes well.

The only logical thing to me for the ammonia is small blue ball/pills that were in the Schultz Aquatic soil. I'm thinking these are some kind of regular fert, since some normal(miracle grow like) ferts have Urea or similar which I believe contains ammonia. I havent looked much into it, and figured that it may "seed"(ammonia source) my cycle a little. I also added a new AC20 filter on my 10G so after a couple days I moved the old "Tetra" filter media over and its now in the 55G to seed also.

My test deff is a dark green for ammonia, while tap and my 10G are yellow.

I'm watching the tank for cracks, I have faith that it will be OK. I'm also holding out b/c I know last year around this time Petco had a $1 per gallon tank sale for up to 55G, so if they do this year a new 55G for $55 is the same price as buying 2 trim pieces +shipping+the hassle.

I'm keeping the RCS in my 10G with Endler's mainly for now, as the Endlers seem to leave the RCS alone. I just want to seed the 55G with some when I get this ammonia figured out. Then hopefully they will build a population and the few that do get picked off wont matter, or even if they all get eaten.

 

[bs6749]

The Shultz soil is the source of the ammonia. I'd consider removing it as I think you will have ammonia present for quite some time...even longer than a conventional cycle. NH3 is ammonia, NH4+ is ammonium. The plants should help to lower the level of ammonia but I wouldn't be surprised if you had a .50 reading for half a year. I think the soil is designed to slowly release nutrients into the water.

 

[SpeedEuphoria]

The Shultz soil is the source of the ammonia. I'd consider removing it as I think you will have ammonia present for quite some time...even longer than a conventional cycle. NH3 is ammonia, NH4+ is ammonium. The plants should help to lower the level of ammonia but I wouldn't be surprised if you had a .50 reading for half a year. I think the soil is designed to slowly release nutrients into the water.

Well that is the only logical explination I could come up with. Also after seeing the small blue balls(like pills) and i squished one in water and it released something cloudy like a fert of some kind.

I could not get the MSDS for this substrate so I emailed them about getting it. i know the packaging states "fish safe".

Do you have any links that talk about this? I searched around and did not see anything about this or others with issues.

 

[SpeedEuphoria]

Also does anyone have info about using a split lighting/photo period?

I've seen a couple people using it and they say it works good. I also see others that say its not a good idea.

I'm going to start trying it with a 2 hr "seista" in the middle and 9-10hrs of lights on.

 

[bs6749]

I was just saying that I think the balls are meant to be slow time released capsules and that you may have ammonia present half a year from now if the soil contains enough of them. To see if it is the balls, take a small sample of water in two separate test tubes. In one of them crush up several of the balls and run the ammonia test. In the other just test the water. This should tell you if it's the balls or not.

Also, how many watts are you running on that tank and what type of bulbs are they? I think that many hours with the lights on is just asking for algae. I ran 130W PC lights on my 55 for 7 hours a day and I had algae within 3 weeks. Had to kill the lights completely for 2 and it all went away.

 

[Purrbox]

Personally the seista only seems to do a good job of extending the viewing time in the morning and evening. I've heard no conclusive evidence that it helps deter algae. Letting the aquarium mature and finding it's balance are the keys to controling algae.