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Here's my official list for my new setup. Any comments, questions, concerns? It will sort of be a poor man's version of an ADA setup.

Hardware
46 Gallon AGA bowfront - had already
Coralife 96x2 watt cf (10000k/9600k)- had already
Eheim 2213
Milwaukee 957 regulator
5lb aluminum co2 cylinder
Rhinox 5000 co2 diffusor
Cal-Aqua Lily pipes

Substrate
ADA powersand special
ADA aquasoil amazonia
Tourmaline BC
Peat moss

Hardscape
Moss rock

Flora
HC
Other grass plants (hairgrass,etc.)

Fauna
TBD, probably large school of small tetras, shrimp and of course otos.






My Scapes

Ahhh,

I can see the iwagumayuma already

All seems in place tetratech. Keep in mind that you will need only minimal amounts of the BC and power sand, in case you didn't know that already.

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

Thanks, should be fun using the ada and ada knock-off stuff. To be honest, my biggest concern is the lighting. I'm still not sure of how effective the cf bulbs will be going down about 20" to reach the HC

My Scapes

Thanks, should be fun using the ada and ada knock-off stuff. To be honest, my biggest concern is the lighting. I'm still not sure of how effective the cf bulbs will be going down about 20" to reach the HC

That's my concern too. I'm not sure how well that's going to work considering the depth of the tank. With 2 96W bulbs you should stand a fighting chance. The big HC tanks I've seen have been pretty much all lit by those big ADA HQI bulbs. Intense lighting seems to be a plus for getting HC to spread and keep low. There's one guy on APC who may have done alright with the PC bulbs, but I can't remember.

Other than that, what other advice can we give ya?

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Back in the saddle!

Yeah I noticed that too. Most have the MH/HQI lights plus the cf.

Other than that, what other advice can we give ya

I'll need all the help I can get?

My Scapes

To be honest with you, I don't quite understand why you invoke the ole 45 again.

K, I know that you don't like to spend big bucks on stuff (see the lack of premium membership here ), but given the overall investment I would say you should go for a rectangular tank. Remember all the issues you had/have lighting the big tank?

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

K, I know that you don't like to spend big bucks on stuff (see the lack of premium membership here ), but given the overall investment I would say you should go for a rectangular tank. Remember all the issues you had/have lighting the big tank?

That's a fair point, but sometimes it's more complicated than the actual price difference. For example I'm already a supporting member at APC, so here it would be harder to explain to wifey why I need two. Also the fact that she's allowing me to do another tank is partly due to using old equipment (tank and light).

Actually I don't believe I've ever had the 3 foot light (192watt) on the 46g, which is a 4.2wpg. Granted the tank has the bowfront, but without any tall stems the light won't be obstructed, granted the height issue remains compared to the tank you suggest.




My Scapes

O.K. moving forward. I did my 'dry run' and it's all systems go for the 46 Bow.

I tested out my super powerful eheim 2213 and with the Rhinox 5000 diffusor directly below my Cal-Aqua Lily Pipe I could clearly see little bubbles making it all the way to the other side of the tank.

I also received some plants which included submersed grown HC as well as some hairgrass and a few pieces of Echinodorus angustifolius as a freebee. I know this plant can be really invasive and it's a little big for what I want to do, but I might throw it in intially and see what I can do with it. Although pulling it up through the AS might bring up the PS.

BTW - I ordered alot of HC so I plan on planting some of it in the foreground of my 72g. I'd like to see the growth differences between EC and AS, assuming they both don't crap out on me due to my cf lights.

My Scapes

Did ADA allow cal-aqualabs to make those lily pipes? They look way too similar for that to be legit otherwise. Seems like a good deal for them, not as expensive as ADA.

Sounds good with the tank, looking forward to seeing your hardscape

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Back in the saddle!

Did ADA allow cal-aqualabs to make those lily pipes? They look way too similar for that to be legit otherwise. Seems like a good deal for them, not as expensive as ADA

I'm not sure, but they are different. The funnel shaped return pushes the water downward. It has the reverse shape of the ADA ones. The Cal Aqua one's are about half the price of the ones ADA sells, but now I saw Aquatic Magic has their own knock-offs which are about half the price of the Cal Aqua ones. Some have said the ADA ones are harder to break, but I'm not sure. So I guess if ADA is the Lexus and CAl Aqua is the Honda than Aquatic Magic is the Chevy.

My Scapes

Great!

I am looking forward to read this log!! And immediately I have a question as a newbie to higher tech planted tanks: what are Lily pipes?
I am setting up all the equipment to redo my tank and I am worried that I might forget something important...

So I guess if ADA is the Lexus and CAl Aqua is the Honda than Aquatic Magic is the Chevy

Better than the Fiat Panda if anyone here knows this car.

Here is one in all of it's beauty.

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

Oh,

And another proof on tetratech's advancement in the hobby, from a few posts back:

"... included ... HC ... pulling it up through the AS might bring up the PS."

And

"... ordered ... HC ... growth differences between EC and AS ... due to my cf lights."

LOL, very beginner unfriendly, LOL.

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

"... included ... HC ... pulling it up through the AS might bring up the PS."

And

"... ordered ... HC ... growth differences between EC and AS ... due to my cf lights."

LOL, very beginner unfriendly, LOL.

Spoken like a true APCer
Well 99% of the time I'm conversing here with "The Group" and I sometimes forget their are newcomers that are predominately beginners in the planted hobby.

So what's the signficance of that particular Fiat other than it's place in the car quality order?

My Scapes

So what's the signficance of that particular Fiat other than it's place in the car quality order?

I guess none really

Maybe with the exception that when I was young, maybe about 300 years ago (), I happened to be on the search for a new (used) car. The stud boy that I was it had to be fast, but cheap at the same time as I could not afford an expensive one. Fiat at that time came out with a Panda Turbo, a rocket having a weight of maybe 300 pounds (well, maybe a little more ). Unfortunately, not only the speed of the car was driven by the turbo, so was its speed of decay, aka rust and such .

As such, I settled for a Golf GTI, white, with white leather seats and spoilers all over, a super Clarion Stereo system (with tape deck), in short, a chick magnet

Well, back to the tank setup --> sounds good to me



Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

Well first, to answer Catdancer's question, these are lily pipes:

http://www.adgshop.com/Lily_Pipes_s/48.htm

They're the inflow and outflow pipes that can be used with cannister filters. The particular ones I linked to are very expensive but well made and IMO very aesthetically pleasing, which is why people buy them. They're not necessary by any means, but if you have the money, go for it.

Personally, I'm ALWAYS tempted to buy them - and then I think of what a PITA it will be to clean them, because being crystal clear, any algae/ gunk build-up is bound to be more noticeable before it would be with the green eheim pipes, for example.

But man are they purrrdy


tetra, do you have an idea of how your rockwork is going to look? That's going to make or break this thing as much as the HC is...

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Back in the saddle!

Tetra , as much as I've been following your logs for some time now you lost me with the some of those abreviations.
Anyway if you could elabortate it would be appreciated .
Looking forward to seeing the setup it sounds fantastic
Garry

Nowher,
Thanks for the link info for Catdancer. Anyway, yes hardly necessary and most for asetitic reasons, although there is some basis for the shape of the outflow and it's ability to whirl away surface scum.

Also since this tank will not have a background it seemed to make since to go with something clear. The eheim puk green tubes just wouldn't cut it. If it had a black background then I could have swapped out the tubes for black ones and they would have been invisible as is the stealth heater I have on my 72g.

As such, I settled for a Golf GTI, white, with white leather seats and spoilers all over, a super Clarion Stereo system (with tape deck), in short, a chick magnet

Nice car and extras. I remember that well.

Countryfish

HC (Hemianthus callitrichoides) ... pulling it up through the AS (Aquasoil) might bring up the PS (Powersand)."

And

"... ordered ... HC... growth differences between EC(Eco Complete) and AS... due to my cf (Compact Fluorescent) lights."

LOL(laugh out loud), very beginner unfriendly, LOL.



My Scapes

NowherMan,

thanks for the info! I guess i will do without these eye pleasers for the time being. My aquascaping skills will provide more of an eyesore than unsightly filter pipes (for now only, I hope to improve). Though I have to admit that the bright grey filter pipe of my smaller canister filter presents a challenge even to my sense of aesthetics ... only a bright orange would be worse than this color in a freshwater tank

Well I havent' deciding yet the final rock positioning but my tank is running and I planted HC, Dwarf Hairgrass, and some Echinodorus angustifolius. I've also thrown in one big group of Rotala R. just to keep the mass up. No pictures yet, until I decide rock positioning. Now I'm just observing and deciding the layout. I'll probably get some more moss rock since I'm not entirely happy with the groupings I've worked with so far. I started up the tank with half tap and half water from my 72g as well an entire tray of efhisubstrate from the 72g. I'm running the usual filter media plus Purigen as a waste absorber. I'm running lights no more than six hours from the getgo with a three hour burst. I'll gradually increase this if all goes well. I plan on changing 50% of the water each day for the first week as the leaching from the AS continues. I'll keep you posted of any new developments.

My Scapes