# 90 gallon tank journal, my first big tank



## T-Bone (Nov 23, 2005)

Ok I just bought the tank last night for $310 and came with a aheim 2324 pro
Its a little inadequate but I will suppliment it with something else. In the meantime I'm still getting things together. I built the DIY stand today, got it painted. I have to let it dry before I get any further.

Here is the tank It's reef ready, but they are sealed. I am not ready for salt anyway.










Heres my stand my fiance helped me build. Actually was exited to help. The boards on top will be doors. I still need to paint in the edges, and drill holes for equipment. But I think it will be a pretty good stand.










I also bought some "black beauty blasting grit". Thanks for the idea for that "dennis" :high5: was pretty cheap. 100 pounds for $40 with the eco complete I allready have, I should have more then enough. If not, its cheap enough to get more.


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## dennis (Mar 1, 2004)

100lbs for $40. THe Black Beauty shoul dby like $11-$12 for a hundred pound bag. Anyway, still pretty cheap compared to other choices.

Keep us updated!


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## T-Bone (Nov 23, 2005)

Heres an update Transfered plants and fish got my eheim running. I put my penguin HOB on there just because it's established media, I'll take it off in a week or so. I of course need more plants, but I don't get off of work before the fish store closes. I will get some more plants on my day off. For now it will have to do. It needs some tweaking and moving around, but I'm going to let it grow a bit. I went to the beach after work and grabbed some of the rocks you see. I think they need more height and larger levels. But I'm leaving it alone for now.

Heres the full veiw. I'll probably ditch the val's but till I find something suitable it will stay. Ignore the heater  it's not really there


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## jeff63851 (Feb 23, 2005)

Looks good! Is there only two angelfish in that aquarium?


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## T-Bone (Nov 23, 2005)

Well theres 2 angelfish. But there not the only 2 fish if thats what you are asking. The other fish are camera shy [smilie=l: 


Theres 9 rummy noses, 3 cories 5 congo's, 2 angelfish, 2 SAE's 5 otto's Just for some reason they just don't show up. My camera is 3 y/o and is basically a glorified webcam. 

Plants so far are 

Ludwigia inclinata var. verticillata ''Cuba''
Anubias barteri var. nana
Anubius frazeri
Hygrophylia polysperma
Hydrocotyle verticillata
Alternanthera reineckii ''roseafolia''
Cryptocoryne parva
Nymphaea lotus (zenkeri)
Vallisneria americana (gigantea)
Bacopa monnieri


probably too many species...... oh well ,shrug.


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## raven_wilde (Nov 16, 2005)

I'm not really fond of the white rocks on the black sand... maybe you should look for another colour if possible, some with some black in them, or maybe ones that are a little more grey. I also use black beauty sand in one of my tanks so I know how hard it can be to find good looking rocks, the best ones I've found so far are grey/black flecked with mica... but try to find something anyway, the white ones stand out too much. Just a thought, nice tank though, will this be a home for all your angelfish babies?


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## BryceM (Nov 6, 2005)

Cool. Keep posting pics. Yeah, how are the little angels BTW?


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## Cavan Allen (Jul 22, 2004)

I'm hardly an aquascaping master (especially owing to my last set of pics) but....

I agree that the rocks really don't work all that well. They clash with the black sand and could have more 'character'. It would be better if they were more uniform too. Finally, I think that even though the plants will cover them up as they grow, some are a tad large. At least you shouldn't have them that size all the way across the tank.

The large driftwood pice would look better a little less centrally located.


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## T-Bone (Nov 23, 2005)

Thanks for your advice and input. Regarding the rocks, even though they clash, I still like them. They could be a little less white, but I like their shape. I wanted them to be really big, since my tank is taller then it is wide. Everything will be better when its grown in. I will probably keep my eye out for wood and rocks when I'm out near the water, though. I was a tad impatient setting it up. It is a tad symetrical, I'll probably play with it a bit. 

The baby angels are doing good. They are almost to sellable size. Sure are slow to grow, I hope I'm not stunting them. They are sure fun to watch. Especially when they 'play' in the current of the filter outake. I swear it's like watching kids line up for a water slide......do de do.....WHEEEEEEEEEEEeeeee!!!! :heh:


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## T-Bone (Nov 23, 2005)

Ok so I allready reedid my layout. I kept the rocks sorry, but I actually like them. I appreciate the imput though.

I was reading other posts abotu getting the hardscape right the first time. So before it grew in I fixed the flaws in it that I thought weren't right. I also sloped my sand more added a few benches, moved the wood a bit. Just mainly touch ups. I also added 1 more bunch of Hygrophila polysperma. Just to fill things in, I reallise it grows fast but I want to get things going faster and it was cheap. I also added 2 bunches of Hygrophila polysperma ''Ceylon'' I like the way it looks when it gets bushy and grows in.

heres the full veiw










left










middle










right


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## T-Bone (Nov 23, 2005)

A small update I replaced a few of the whiter rocks with some darker ones. Although there are a few lighter ones still. It's hard to find good rocks. I finally got the CO2 reactor to actually work (yeah it's ugly ) I just can't get the other reactor to work properly. So I have no choice but to go with this design and I can't figure out how to plce it out of the way. This was the least obvious, though it doesnt seem so. Since I had a hard time placing it I'm not taking it out, sorry. I lost my stupid booklet for my kh test kit so I'm not sure what my C02 actually is. But I had some pearling and my plants have exploded in growth so I must be doing something right. Ph is holding steady at around 6.2 - 6.4. I'm doing DIY CO2 I just can't afford a compressed canister ATM so I just used a higher yeast mix and am changing the mix more frequent.

I am trimming some of the plants every few days (well duh its polysperms) and the slow growers are doing nicely too. I still need a few more plants to fill in some gaps. But I went to the LFS and saw nothing that suited, so I just have to wait till they get something I want. Any suggestions? I'm thinking broad leaved but not more anubias.

Heres what I have so far, nothing spectacular. But Its some progress. I still don't think I have the CO2 right yet so growth is not great yet.










BTW I know I need more Hydrocotyle verticillata, but I can't seem to find it anymore  and I know the red plant isnt doing great. Not from anything I did, it was the fish pulling it up. Its starting to recover but I think I'll just get rid of it, but still debating.


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## T-Bone (Nov 23, 2005)

A new update. I got a new camera (was cheap, yet good). A lot more shows up now. Now that you can see more clearly. I did a small replanting, and moved a few things just slightly. I bought some echinodorus "aquartica" its to the right of the lotus and on the very right in front of a rock. I bought one more bunch of Hydrocotyle verticillata but there is a lot of new growth as well. I'm just impatient. I just think its a cool looking plant and when it finally grows in fully it will look pretty cool. Maybe I'm wrong?

What can I improve? new plants? Better placement, of plants. The new rocks dont make it any better? I need some help I just cant seem to get it right.


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## BryceM (Nov 6, 2005)

T-Bone,

I think you're on the right track. You seem to have fewer of the in-your-face light colored rocks. At least they're less visible. The best colors for hardscapes, IMO, are subtle dark tones found in nature that contrast with the foliage. It they have too much visual magnetism it distracts you from the plants, which should be center of attention.

Also, you tank needs a little grow-out time. Things always look better when it matures a bit.

For better photography I'd recommend some type of background, preferably flat black. Also, clean the glass before taking photos, don't use a flash, use a tripod or solid mount, turn all room lights off, and use the manual camera settings to bring out the best colors. It makes an enormous difference.


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## sherry (Sep 30, 2005)

The tank looks great...I can't wait to start a 90 of my own. 

quick paranoid question.. did you guys super reinforce that stand? I'm a big fan of things being overbuilt, especially when 900 lbs of water are involved


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## T-Bone (Nov 23, 2005)

Thanks for the coments 

Im not sure about "super" reinforced but I did go with 5/8 inch "MDF" wich is pretty thick. I could put blocks at either end of the 4' piece, and bounce up and down, and it barely moves. Mind you I'm only 155 lbs but still, without middle support thats pretty good. I was worried at first but if you look how the ones you can buy are constructed there isnt much difference. The LFS ones are prettier though. I did also put metal angle brackets at all the 90*'s just for my own peace of mind.

Back to the tank. I just don't get a sence of depth when I look at it. I know in my head that it's 90g but i look at it and think; is that really 90g's? I see other people's tanks, that are smaller that have a sence that they are bigger then mine. How do I go about acheiving depth?


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## BryceM (Nov 6, 2005)

Depth is mostly an illusion. There are a few techniques that people use to trick the eye. One is to leave an open path somewhere from the front of the tank to the back. It usually loooks best if the 'pathway' is angled from from right to left (or visa-versa) as it goes front-back instead of a straight corridor.

Another technique is to use small leaf plants like hemianthus micranthemoides and the like. The small leaf size exagerates the perceived size of the tank, although in a 90g you shouldn't need to rely on this.

Probably the best way to do it is to create a strong foreground and midground. In your tank, you've got a good beginning to this, but a larger foreground area would help. Also, are those anubias in the back, just left of center? They often make for a good midground grouping.

Don't fret too much. Your photos show a good progression over time. I think you'll be happier once things grow in a bit too. In a few months it'll look better than it does now.


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## T-Bone (Nov 23, 2005)

The anubias just left are on top of rocks. The ones in the back are on a rock that is black so its hard to tell. I kind of put them there because I know anubias doesn't need to be rooted in substrate. I was limited on what I could put there. Any ideas of alternatives? 

Also there is a smll anubias on the DW just right of the middle. As well as some more Verticilata, It got late and I just put it there.


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## heidisue (May 3, 2006)

I was thinking the same thing about your tank - that it needed some depth - and the path idea is good. I did that for my small tank, making a path leading up to a little "beach" in the front, and was surprised by how much it changed the perspective. To me, the plants are also very similar height in your tank and as they grow more it will get more interesting. The darker rocks help so much. Maybe after some things grow you can narrow down your species? It seems a little cluttered. But I might just be jealous that you can grow all those varied plants because right now the only thing that's really rocking in my tank is hygro corymbosa!

Thanks for posting all the pics - it's great to see the tanks change.


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## T-Bone (Nov 23, 2005)

It is a bit cluttered. I'll probably ditch the polysperm ceylon. It looked good before, now its just a clump of twisted stems. The crypt in front of the DW I'm not so sure about. But its doing so well. I don't really want to throw it away. I may plant it in my breeder tank. The ludwigia veticilatta has some algae on it and stopped growing. It might not make it. I'll definatly think about a pathk, but for now I don't want to re-arrange. I'll wait till work gets a little slower.


For some reason now I'm having a heck of a time with cloudy water. I've done all the tests on my water. Everything should be fine. I dont think it's greenwater as I'm sure its a white tinge. But that makes no sense either as I haven't done anything besides move things a bit. It's been a few days of cloudy water.

Theres been no ammonia spikes. I don't have a nitrate tester but I dose lean with KN03. I also put iron and traces in. 

On the other hand I have been trying to get the CO2 right but am having troubles. I just can't seem to get it right. I'm getting really frustrated with the reactor. The budget is just not there for a compressed tank. Yes I bought a 90 without compressed. It's almost reqired, but I just cant do it. 

A lso my KH is out of whack It used to be 8 drops of solution before the color change. It is now 3, so I've been slowly adding some sodium bicarbonate. To up it.


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## dstephens (Nov 30, 2005)

Did you find the Hydrocotyle verticilla you were looking for? At aquabid, check with "lowcoaster". he has a number of listing s for sale/bid and if you don't see what you want just email him and chances are he will have it or it is pending arrival. He orders for Singapore as part of his routine and he often gets in some very rare, difficult to find plants. I have a 90 planted as well. It makes a great planted tank. Nice start. Darrell


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## T-Bone (Nov 23, 2005)

Its been a while since an update. I had a greenwater outbreak. I got over it but there was a few plants that didnt make it. I lost most of my hydrocotyl verticilatta. But I think it's making a comeback, though it's a little scarce for now.

I'm happier with the new layout. It still needs work though.


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