# Finally.. my 55g NPT build.



## Teeleton (Jun 8, 2006)

Well, I finally got enough free time together to get this project started in ernest. The original plan was to build a full stand and hood, but since that wasn't happening, I split the difference and just settled for the hood.

Here's the rough hood going through the bondo stage









I just used a piece of scrap plywood that was 3'x5' to make the entire hood. It would have taken a week solid to sand smooth, so I elected to fill the voids in the wood with bondo and sand it all out.

Here's a quick shot of the interior of the hood in the midst of construction. I skinned the inside of it with aluminum foil for cheap reflectivity. Used a cheap-o dual tube 4' T-12 enclosure, a digital timer, a photocell, and a strand of blue christmas lights I picked up for $2 on a clearance rack for moonlights. The cutout you see is for one of the canister filter (fluval 304) lines.










Finished hood on the tank


















Day lights on (used 2 phillips plant & aquarium bulbs)










Moonlights on










The camera makes the lights look brighter than they actually are.

Looking down into the completed hood with the canopy fully open (it lays completely back and out of the way). You can see the folding glass tops that I got to help keep the water out of the hood.










First plants....

























I just have a handful of neons and danios in the tank right now. Plant selection is some anachris, wisteria, cabomba, small vals, and a brazillian sword. The substrate is some sifted earthgro potting soil covered with the gravel from my previous plastic plant tank that I've kept submerged in several buckets since then. The canister has only sponges and charcoal in it, and the intake and return were split to opposite ends of the tank to facilitate flow across the tank. The timer triggers the daylight bulbs, and a photocell in the hood switches the moonlights. A small pump and airstone round out the hood. Everything in the hood is wired up to a single plug. It's been running about a day and a half now, and the water temp seems stable with the unvented hood. Its nice to finally have the 55 back up and running again. 

Thanks for all the inspiration that I got from this forum. I'm hopeful that this tank will grow in soon and I can post some better progress pics.

Teeleton


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## Angie (Dec 4, 2005)

Wow sure wish someone around here had the smarts to build such a nice hood. Good luck and keep us updated.


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## Kenneth (May 22, 2006)

Good job on the hood. I like the moon lights you added I'd like to try that on my sons 55. Keep us posted.


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## Olvar (Nov 21, 2006)

Even better than just regular christmas lights are the rope lights out now. At lowe's I picked up 18ft of blue and green rope lights for about $5. Once I get the hood built for my 180g one or the other will get mounted in the top to be moonlights.


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## Teeleton (Jun 8, 2006)

I saw the rope lights, and almost bought them, but 100 lights for $2 was just too good of a deal to pass up. Not only that, but I knew i could easily shorten the length with wire cutters and a wire nut. I ended up using about half of the strand.

Teeleotn


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## Teeleton (Jun 8, 2006)

Finally figured out how to take a decent pic with my digital camera. There really isn't a "manual" mode, so I had to settle for auto flash and then disabling the flash with my finger. Then I had to bring the brightness up with photoshop. So, here's a decent shot of the starting point. The water really isn't tea colored like it looks in the pic. It's crystal clear. I'll have to see if I can get better color quality with a daylight pic.










Teeleton


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## Teeleton (Jun 8, 2006)

So I've been battling the Ph of my tap water for the past week, and my plants have been suffering because of it. At first, I thought it was some something in my tank that was causing it (driftwood, soaked gravel, etc), but after testing my tap water, discovered that I was wasting my time with water changes. My tap water has a Ph of 8.0, and a KH of 300ppm. I tried several things to bring the Ph down to a more reasonable level, but I'd get it to drop 0.2 points, only to have it rebound the next day.

So with my plants continuing down their slow march toward death, and not being able to put a dent in the Ph, I decided to make a drastic move. Went to the grocery store and bought a 5gal bottle of drinking water. Brought it home and tested that. Parameters are almost exactly on the opoosite side of ideal that my tap water is. So I drain out about 75% of the tank, and start filling with RO water from the grocery store vending machine at $0.25/gal, and blending in my tap water as needed. When I was done, I was left with a Ph of 7.0, and a KH of about 80ppm. I may need to look into some other test kits, but so far ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, GH, KH, and Ph are all in the ideal range (according to my test kits).

When I get back home tonight, I'll have to re-asses the tank and re-test to see if somehow it has managed to rebound or not. Hopefully I will have some happier plants to boot.

In other news, my sole surviving zebra danio seems to be the hardiest fish I have ever seen. The only one able to survive in this water this long, and then survive a full point swing in Ph within about 4 hours. I think I'm gonna name him trooper.

Teeleton


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## Teeleton (Jun 8, 2006)

Man, what a difference 24 hours makes. All of the plants are shooting roots from just above the gravel line toward the gravel. The vals I had given up for dead put up a shoot about an inch and a half out of the gravel. I'm seeing some roots appear in the soil through the bottom glass. I guess my gamble paid off. Trooper is still alive and kicking as well. Oh, and I had my previous #'s off a bit. Ph is 7, GH is 80ppm, KH is 120ppm.

Teeleton


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## Satirica (Feb 13, 2005)

Congratulations! I'm not sure many people would have done what you did. It clearly worked for you.

After they get settled in your plants may adapt to your tap water. They might have just needed that boost to become established.


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## Teeleton (Jun 8, 2006)

Saw my first snail in the tank today. I figure new invertebrates in the tank is another good sign of health. More root growth today, and a few more of the vals have put shoots up from the gravel. They look like corkscrew vals from the shape of the leaves. I picked them up as an assortment, so no telling.

It's fun watching the tank come together. Especially after its somewhat rocky start.

Teeleton


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## Teeleton (Jun 8, 2006)

One month update. Got some anubias from a friend who tore down his last freshwater tank to go all salt. Got some swordtails and danios in the tank now (about 6 each). Spotted a swordtail fry once, but I think he became food for someone. Tank is coming along great. The only plant that doesn't seem to be doing well is the cherry hedge right at the very front and center. Not dying, but not exactly growing either. I cut several of the wisteria back the other day and replanted them, and the anachris has to be trimmed every few days it seems. Cabomba is growing slowly but surely. I've trimmed and replanted it several times. The small corkscrew vals are finally starting to throw up new leaves. The largest one in the middle (which you can't really see in this photo) has about 7-8 so far. Got a little bit of algae growing on the glass, but it's not terrible. I put my airstone back in tonight, as a few of the swordtails seemed to be taking air at the surface.










Teeleton


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## fish_lover0591 (Jan 11, 2007)

take out that cherry hedge its non- aquatic other than that your tank looks great and i think i will try this out with my 55 gallon. Btw did you put anything on the stand ? i have a metal stand but its not level i was thinking of putting a sheet of styrofoam on it before putting the tank on it.

There are many ornamental terrestrial or marginal tropical plants sold as aquatic plants. These plants may look good and can do fine completely submerged for awhile, but these plants will eventually drown and should not be used. It is very important to select true aquatic species to prevent unnecessary disappointment and loss. Non-aquatic plants you may find in pet stores, but should avoid, include: Aglaonema, Cherry Hedge, Draceana (Princess Pine), Green Hedge, Mondo Grass, and "palms."


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## Teeleton (Jun 8, 2006)

Update time! I took your advice and jerked the cherry hedge out. I now have several small crypts in its place. I've also added a small school of 8 rasboras to the mix, and have had 4 swordtail fry make it to adolescence. There's a few smaller fry in the tank from a later spawn, but they're still in their 'im hiding, please don't eat me' phase.










Teeleton


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## cs_gardener (Apr 28, 2006)

Wow, you've got a lovely jungle in there now! Plenty of places for your fry to hide.


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## TeutonJon78 (Nov 10, 2004)

Well, you have no problem growing the water sprite (or is that wisteria...or are they the same?). Definitely a good place to raise baby fish.


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