# 125g in the office



## gottobe (Jun 22, 2008)

hello everyone I am fairly new to the world of aquariums, i got my first tank in September of last year and started my first twenty gallon planted tank not to long ago. My dad had done saltwater aquariums when he was younger and just recently decided to take up his old hobby. so he asked me to help him design a 125g tank for his office. at first i was like "holy crap thats awesome i get to set up an amazing tank!" and then reality hit i didn't know that much about planted tanks. i mean sure i have my 20 gallon but it isn't really high tech. so i spent the past month learning everything i can about planted aquariums.

1x 125g all glass tank
1x 29g all glass tank (for water changes and quarantine)
2x eheim 2217 classic canister filters
2x 36" current USA sundial lights (4 10000k and 4 freshwater bulbs)
1x 18w coralife UV sterilizer
1x Milwaukee regulator 5lbs Co2 tank
1x diy co2 diffuser
150lbs charcoal soil master select
2x 250 watt heaters



















i went to home depot last night and bought i ton of plumbing supplies. (by the way self check out sucks when you have hundreds of small plumbing parts.)

so that's most of the gear. of course the lights are on the tank.










last night was just supposed to be a shopping trip but my dad and i got a little carried away and started to set up the plumbing for the two canisters.










the filter inputs are hanging from a self that we mounted on the top of the cabinet.










the two filter intake pipes connect into one piece of 1 1/4" PVC pipe using a tee coupler.










then it connects into one of the overflows on the bottom of the tank. we put a valve on the PVC pipe just in case something went terribly wrong.










Last night we decided that we didn't have nearly enough supplies so we made another trip back to the Home Depot here's what we got.










Last night's main task was two complete the filtration system. Which ment hooking up the outtakes for the two Ehiems, building a C02 reactor and hooking up the UV steralizer. Early that day my dad started to work on the auto water change system by setting up part of the drain line. I'm still not really sure how the water change sytem works but I will have him explain it later.










The plumbers also came and took a chunk out of the wall to run the pipes down to the drain lines. The're coming back today to put the pipes in.










Now onto the filter outtakes as I said earlier we decided to use the spraybars and save the bulkheads for the water change system. This turned out to be a little bit of a challenge because we didnt have enough of the smaller hose so we had to change to a larger size hose. The small green hose is for the outflow from the canisters.










One of the filters lines runs to the UV steralizer and the other runs to the CO2 reactor which we also built last night. (Still have to tap for the airhose.)










One of the really nice things about this set up is that we can disconect one filter (to clean it) and still leave the other one running. heres a pic of the back of the tank showing were the outtakes enter the tank.










OK we got alittle carried away last night and decided that we should also paint the tank.










It looks so awesome now that it is black. So that's all we got done.

Today the professionals finished making the required modifications to the building to support the tank. Unfortunately we have commercial building codes to comply with. These changes got a bit more complex than the orginal plan. Here's an overview.

Support for Auto Water Change System

The office that this tank sits in is just above a janitorial closet with water and a mop sink. So the plan was to take a simple flex water line up through the floor for a supply similar to a ice maker line. Turns out the County required a back flow device with an emergency dump to ensure the tank could not contaminate the potable water. Never mind my pleas that the water line would never be connected to the tank.

The plan for a drain line was to bring a 2" ABS line through the floor across the ceiling, down the wall and into the mop sink. Turns out the County required the line to be vented and because it will be open in the sink it needed to be vented all the way through the roof. Could not tie into an existing vent. Bummer.

Here are some of the pictures of the finished plumbing to support the tank.










The end result, this is the 4" drain which ties to the sink and the 3/4" cold water line that will feed the water change system. This is behind the right side of the tank.










Same as viewed from above.










Hole cut in ceiling above drop panels to allow for plumbing of water line and P-trap for new drain line.










View of the janitor closet with new supply and drain. You can see the line tap off supply to hot water heater, travels through the back flow device and up the wall. The black ABS is the drain line from the tank overflow.










This baby just looks expensive, doesn't it? This is the back flow device required the funnel looking device on the bottom is the dump. Each time there is a change in water pressure this dumps creating an air gap between the two springs. Similar to anti-siphon hole in the overflow.

So that's the plumbing, I'll provide a detailed description of the water change system once we get a little further.

With all the work and $$$ that are going into this tank we didn't want to risk a power outage shutting down our equipment with the potential loss of fish. This building is equipped with an uninterruptible power supply (UPS) and I wanted the Eheims and heaters to use this power source.

This was actually pretty easy, just needed my electrician to extend an outlet to behind the tank.










The new orange outlet is connected to the UPS. We'll install a power strip in the cabinet to serve the pumps and heaters. A second plug strip will use standard power to run balance of equipment.

What makes this power uniterrupitible? Here's a primer...

The building is an independent telephone company, that provides telephone, cable TV and Internet services. As such we have a pretty custom power system. The orange plug connects to...










On the left you see a bank of rectifiers (white equipment) which take commercial power and convert it to 48 volts DC. This rectified 48 volts DC feeds a bank of batteries. On the right you see a bank of inverters (gray equipment) which takes the 48 VDC from the batteries and converts it back to AC to be delivered to the orange plug.










This is one of four stacks of batteries, each stack has 18 cells. This system is a bit different than a standard UPS because the power flows through the batteries 100% of the time instead of on failure. Very clean power is the result.










Finally the entire system is backed up with a propane powered generator that is wired to an automatic transfer switch. The generator is supplied by a 1000 gallon propane tank. So if the power fails the generator will kick in and likely run for 4 to 5 days, then if it were to run out of gas (shame on us) or fail we get about 2 days out of the batteries.

What's the point, I guess you shouldn't here us sobbing about a windstorm that caused a power outage.


----------



## Tex Gal (Nov 1, 2007)

Boy you make my 125g look penny anti with all your fancy auto-everything equipment. So are you gonna have expensive fish for that puppy since you're going to all that trouble? I love the turn off valves you have connecting everything. Also neat is the white vinyl grid you have so that you can connect to it. Nice ideas!


----------



## dkle (Jun 20, 2008)

Whoa, talkin' about high-tech. I don't understand half of what's going on; but it looks awesome! What is the plan as far as fish and plants go?

Just a word of precaution, the Milwaukee CO2 regulator sucks (at least the one that I bought for 80 bucks did). It was very hard to control the CO2 flow precisely. I think it has to do with the needle valve that they have.


----------



## oregon aqua (Jan 30, 2008)

*WOW!!!!*
Has to be the high tech of high tech tanks!

I love my Milwaukee regulator even after i broke the low side gauge(my fault).

it helps if you mostly adjust the main pressure to regulate flow and needle valve for the finer adjustments.. since i no longer have a low side gauge i have become a pro at working mine :roll: i havnt had to adjust mine in 4 months. since the tank change.

can't wait to see more!!!!!!!!!!!!!


----------



## kakkoii (Jan 18, 2008)

nice! please post more


----------



## jackh (Oct 9, 2007)

ya please keep us updated


----------



## travis (Oct 5, 2004)

Very nice hardware work! I'm excited to see how it looks when it's done.


----------



## SKSuser (Mar 20, 2006)

Hmmmmm.
The admins should keep track of this thread for the Crowdgather flagship tank as it'll be installed in an internet server type building similar to this. 

Looks nice. Keep us up to date on it.


----------



## redstrat (Apr 3, 2006)

It looks to me that your off to an awesome start, I can see the SW aquarium background influence in the setup, very nice! 

as far as being a planted aquarium I am a little concerned about your lighting, it seems to be a little on the dim side for this size tank especially if your going for a high tech planted setup usually requiring Co2 and greater than 2 watts per gallon. by my calculations you have 8-24w t5 bulbs planned and thats a total of 192watts over 125 gallons being roughly 1.5watts per gallon. Not to say you can't manage a great planted tank with this setup, I think you'll be more than satisfied with it as long as you choose the appropriate plants for your aquarium. This would fall closer to a medium-low light aquarium especially once you factor in the depth of this tank. 

If you choose the correct plants with this setup, you could potentially have one of the most stable aquariums probably ever posted on APC with the full battery backup/low lighting/powerfull filtration/auto waterchange I'm really excited to see where this tank goes from here, and admittedly a little jealous. 

What are your plans for plants and fish?

Awesome and organized start!!


----------



## AaronT (Apr 26, 2004)

This is proving to be one sweet setup so far.

One other suggestion is to find a way to add more flow to the tank. The two Eheim 2217 filters will provide plenty of filtration, but circulation is another matter. Once the plants fill in and become dense you may need to add a powerhead or two.


----------



## redstrat (Apr 3, 2006)

AaronT said:


> plenty of filtration, but circulation is another matter. Once the plants fill in and become dense you may need to add a powerhead or two.


Aaron, once again, I couldn't agree more. I've found that added circulation really helps prevent a lot a problems with algae and waste build up, granted in a lower light setup this may not be as much of an issue although it shouldn't hurt.


----------



## gottobe (Jun 22, 2008)

redstrat said:


> It looks to me that your off to an awesome start, I can see the SW aquarium background influence in the setup, very nice!
> 
> as far as being a planted aquarium I am a little concerned about your lighting, it seems to be a little on the dim side for this size tank especially if your going for a high tech planted setup usually requiring Co2 and greater than 2 watts per gallon. by my calculations you have 8-24w t5 bulbs planned and thats a total of 192watts over 125 gallons being roughly 1.5watts per gallon. Not to say you can't manage a great planted tank with this setup, I think you'll be more than satisfied with it as long as you choose the appropriate plants for your aquarium. This would fall closer to a medium-low light aquarium especially once you factor in the depth of this tank.
> 
> ...


the 36" sundials are actually have 4 39 watt bulbs so that puts me at around 312 watts which is roughly 2.5 WPG. im pretty sure that should give me enough light to grow just about anything.

also i have never actually done a saltwater tank before though my dad has a long time ago. (he kinda scared me away from ever trying saltwater).


----------



## susantroy1 (May 5, 2008)

I'm most impressed with the wire shelf rack mounted up under the base... brilliant!! Great start!!....now where did I put that extra wire shelf........

Troy


----------



## foofooree (Mar 11, 2007)

wow, smells like a reefers build to me. Sounds like you spent some time over at reef central to me . This looks great, and should provide to be an awesome tank. good luck! and keep us updated


----------



## gottobe (Jun 22, 2008)

wow I've been a little busy lately so i really haven't had that much time to work on the tank but i did get some stuff done.

first we found a 29 gallon tank on craigslist of 20 dollars this will be used as a water holding tank for the auto water change, so the water has time to heat up and the chlorine can be removed.









then we went and found some rocks we also went and found some wood. has anyone ever used alder in an aquarium before? here is a pic of a hardscape we kinda liked.


















i was also thinking that some additional flow would be helpful in this tank. i really dont want to put in any powerheads though. does anyone have any suggestions on which powerhead to use or is there a better way to increase my circulation.


----------



## gottobe (Jun 22, 2008)

Finally was able to get another good nights work on the tank. The good news is that the plumbing is complete. All the pipes and hoses required for the filtration and water change system are installed, glued and labeled. The photos that follow should give you a good idea of what is going on. Since you can't see where each pipe / hose begins or ends I've labeled the photos according to the legend below. Forgive me, it's long but there is a lot of stuff going on under this tank is a very confined amount of space. I am pretty pleased with the amount of storage that remains and the layout in general. Enjoy the photos.

*
Photo Legend*

a.) Fresh Water from Holding Tank
b.) Tank Water to Eheim 1 and 2
c.) Fresh water to Holding Tank
d.) Inflow for Eheim 1
e.) Inflow for Eheim 2
f.) Outflow from Eheim 1 to UV Sterilizer
g.) Outflow from Eheim 2 to C02 Reactor
h.) Overflow from Tank to Waste
i.) Fresh H2O from Building Supply
j.) UV Sterilizer to Side Spraybar in Tank
k.) CO2 Reactor to Rear Spraybar in Tank
l.) 29 Gallon Holding Tank
m.) UV Sterilizer
n.) CO2 Reactor​
*First of course I needed more materials. Someone should suggest that I save my $$'s for fish!*










*View under tank on the left side above water change holding tank.*










*View under tank on the right side above Eheim filters.*










*View from rear on the right side of tank showing filter lines.*










*View from front of left side showing water change holding tank, little giant pump, and utility hose (on a quick connect) for spring cleaning.*









*
View from front of right side showing Eheim filters and CO2 system.*










So that's it for now. I will move on to wiring, including low-voltage controls for the water change system. Be patient, I'm going on vacation next week.

P.S. No reef influence here. The reason we used a reef tank was to accommodate the automatic water change system. So "lazy" might be a better tag than "reefer".


----------



## cah925 (Jun 23, 2007)

looking good so far, can't wait to see this tank in action. btw, you might want to save some $$ for fish (lol)


----------



## Zapins (Jul 28, 2004)

Wow, this is a very interesting post. This is exactly the kind of thing that I want to do when I buy my own house 

I have to agree with redstrat I've got 260 watts of powercompact light over my 125 g tank and on many an occasion I've found that plants don't do as well as they should until they grow into the top 1/3rd of the tank where the light is strongest.

I think around 400 watts of power compact light would be the perfect wattage for growing all stems, glosso, HC, etc without worrying about lighting in a 125g.

6x65w bulbs, 4x96 or 8x55w power compact will get around the right mark, or 3x150w metal halides.

Ah, I see that you have 300+ watts nvm... lol


----------



## Logan's Daddy (May 3, 2008)

No new updates? I've been following this one and have to say I like it. You probably have more plumbing than necessary under there, but it all looks so cool :yawinkle:

I had a little trouble deciphering some of the last post, do you think you could draw up a diagram showing hoses, pipes, and valves? Even a cell phone photo of a hand drawn layout on a napkin would be fine, I'm just curious about your routing.

Keep it up, looking good so far!


----------



## JACK SOBRAL (Dec 7, 2007)

Oh my God 

In this assembly, where vai be the Notebook? 

Missing a crucial piece... The Ipood! Heheheh 

Now comes the more difficult, the layout.

very cool that aquarium! Good luck. 

Hug

JACK


----------



## gottobe (Jun 22, 2008)

Logan's Daddy said:


> No new updates? I've been following this one and have to say I like it. You probably have more plumbing than necessary under there, but it all looks so cool :yawinkle:
> 
> I had a little trouble deciphering some of the last post, do you think you could draw up a diagram showing hoses, pipes, and valves? Even a cell phone photo of a hand drawn layout on a napkin would be fine, I'm just curious about your routing.
> 
> Keep it up, looking good so far!


Sorry for the lack of updates but I've been on vacation. Only thing going on is soaking wood. I don't have a diagram but see if this description of each plumbing curcuit helps.

1.) Filtration

The tank has two Eheim filters. Since I used a reef tank to accomidate the water change system I decided to use the extra overflow as a combined imput for both Eheims. So I took an 1.5 inch pipe to the overflow and put a tee on the other end that feeds each Eheim. I decided to use the stock spray bars on the Eheims for tank return. One is on the right side of the tank about 4" below the surface and the other is on the right side rear of the tank about 2" down.

2.) CO2

Home made CO2 reactor, basicly 15" long piece of 2" pvc filled with bio-balls. It is spliced into one of the tank return lines from an Eheim.

3.) UV Filtration

A 18 watt Coralife UV steralizer is spliced inline on the other tank return from an Eheim. A seven day timer will be used to turn this on and off as required.

4.) Tank input water change system

As controlled by a sprinkler controller and pump start relay a little giant pump will pump water from a 29 gallon tank below into the 125 gallon each morning. (plan to pump about 12-14 gallons) The second overflow is connected to the new building drain so 12-14 gallons will flow out of the tank just like a bathtub overflow.

5.) Fresh water from city water supply

As controlled by the same sprinkler controller a standard sprinkler control valve connected to city water will open and re-fill the 29 gallon tank replacing the water just pumped to the main tank.

That's all that going on under the tank. It looks like a lot more than that because I've got it all strapped together on the rack under the tank.

Hope that helped.


----------



## LordSul (Mar 17, 2006)

I bow in front of you guys, this is amazing work of DIY and engineering.
It took me nearly an hour to understand whats going on with all the connections and valves.
Great work, Im looking so forward to see the updates!


----------



## gottobe (Jun 22, 2008)

*First Fill!*

It has been awhile since I posted an update to our progress. The week before last I was finally able to take a first pass at the hardscape and fill the tank. Here is a look at the tank the morning after its first fill.










I know it has a lot of rocks, but I like rocks. I hope that the planting will tone that down as I have left plenty of area to plant around the rocks. Beside I needed most of them to weight down my wood which still has some buoyancy despite a month underwater.

So how did the construction phase work out?

I arguably make a better designer than a plumber. I had several leaks in my plumbing to address right off. My reactor leaked a bit where I tapped the CO2 line, I had an immense leak at the input to the UV sterilizer, and minor leaks elsewhere. After installing the O-rings on the sterilizer, oops, and tightening a few hose clams and fittings and we were leak free!

Some bugs to work out.

After the first night I came into the office to find both Ehiems had lost their prime. I observed the water level behind the overflow containing the input to both filters below the input opening. Ouch! The water level in the other overflow, part of the water change system was even lower. Double Ouch!

After refilling the tank and a little observation, I discovered that the riser tube provided with the tank was designed to telescope to different levels. Unfortunately the joint used to telescope was not exactly watertight allowing a slow leak to occur in my water change outflow. A quick fix of that leak and the tank is pretty solid.

This incident did point out one weakness in my design. Reef tanks are very susceptible to water level, if the water get below the overflow weir the overflow runs dry and your done. No wonder the reefers are obsessed with auto fill schemes. The good news is my auto water change system doubles as an auto fill system.

Auto water change system.

One part of the initial design that has proven to work quite well is the auto water change system. I got the system built with the sprinkler controller, float valves, pumps, pump start relays and water valves. It looks like this.










I am thrilled how this has worked out. At 8:15 am each morning the sprinkler controller activates circuit 1 for 5 minutes. This sends 24 volts DC through the lower limit float valve to the control side of a pump start relay which closes the load side 110 volts AC, starting up the Little Giant pump. The pump pushes 14 gallons up into the tank using the supply opening of the tank's built in overflow. Simultaneously 14 gallons flow out the tank from the opposite overflow to the drain line into the janitor sink one floor below. The sprinkler controller then activates circuit 2 for 5 minutes. This sends 24 volts DC through the upper limit float valve to a standard sprinkler valve. This causes water from the building supply to flow into the 29 gallon lower tank restoring the water level for this cycle to be repeated the next day. The system ensures a consistent water level and a 10% fresh water change each day. It works flawlessly! Yahoo!

Next steps and comments please!

I would like to begin to plant the tank this week. I have some ideas for plants but want to stop in to my local shop to see what they currently have in stock. Fortunately they are generally well stocked for planted tanks. Please feel free to make suggestions of your favorites or any plant recommendations or adjustment that you wish.

That's it for now.


----------



## jackh (Oct 9, 2007)

wow this thing is awesome. how many wpg are you runnin? i never saw any info on the light. do you know the plans for plants yet?


----------



## gottobe (Jun 22, 2008)

jackh said:


> wow this thing is awesome. how many wpg are you runnin? i never saw any info on the light. do you know the plans for plants yet?


The two 36" Current Sundial T-5's run 4 38w bulbs each on two seperate timers. That's 304 watts or a little over 2.4 wpg.


----------



## gottobe (Jun 22, 2008)

*Planting Plan*

A visit to my favorite shops to review plant availability and I think I have settled on an initial planting plan. I have vision of what this may look like once mature provided the selected plants grow and I trim appropriately. Mostly likely the plants will grow, I'll trim and the planting will morph, but it's a place to start. Here's the what and where for this 125 gallon tank.











Echinodorus bleheri "Amazon Sword" (2)

Echinodorus sp. "Ozelot Sword" (3)

Anubias barteri (1)

Anubias congensis (1)

Hermianthus micranthemia "Baby Tears" (3)

Potamogeton perfoliatus (3)

Limnophila Aromatica (3)

Cryptocoryne lutea (1)

Cryptocoryne wendtii "Red" (1)

Ludwigia repens (2)

Ludwigia ovalis (2)

Hygrophila salicifolia "Long Form" (3)

Hydrocotyle Leucocephala (1)

Blyxa japonica (3)


----------



## jackh (Oct 9, 2007)

ludwigia repens rubin will get a lot more red than l. repens regular fyi, you might wanna try it instead if you want some more color. it grows like a weed in my tank and im runnin less light than you will be.


----------



## gottobe (Jun 22, 2008)

*Plants!*

It's Alive!


----------



## Tex Gal (Nov 1, 2007)

Looking good. You might want to get more cyrpts. They are not very fast and reproducing. It will take a while to fill in.

I really like Potamogeton perfoliatus. I haven't really seen this plant in person. On the web it really looks nice. Did you find it? Is it back there?


----------



## gottobe (Jun 22, 2008)

From what I have read Potamogeton perfoliatus is found in British Columbia but not the Pacific Nortwest. I probally would grow here so I better be careful where I throw the eventual clippings because it is supposed to be terribly invasive. Will do on the crypts.


----------



## gottobe (Jun 22, 2008)

*Snails! *

Four days after introducing plants and I have plucked 4 snails out of my brand new tank. I thought I did this right with a bit of bleach dip but must have either made solution too weak or didn't apply long enough. I have just started to cycle the tank with Seachem and there are no fish. Any suggestions? I have read a few posts that recommend just picking them out and hope for the best and some suggest potassium promagate, at least as a better dip. Can I just treat the whole tank now with potassium promagate while it cycles and be rid of the littl' buggers before fish?


----------



## BryceM (Nov 6, 2005)

I'd recommend getting some fish that will go on a search & destroy mission. Loaches are very intereting fish in their own right and several species will take care of the snails in no time. Dwarf puffers are another good choice, but they're perhaps less likely to be good citizens in a community tank.


----------



## gottobe (Jun 22, 2008)

*Snails *

Found 2 more today about half a centimeter and 4 microscopic sized. Here is a picture of one of them. What am I dealing with? Looks like the Pond snail (Physa sp.)?


----------



## AaronT (Apr 26, 2004)

Yup, those are pond snails. In moderation they aren't terribly destructive. Some loaches and dwarf puffers will keep the population in check. Pick them out in the morning before the lights come on. They like to climb up to the top then for some reason.


----------



## fshfanatic (Aug 7, 2008)

Impressive work! Well done and very well planed out! I can't wait to see it once it has had some time to grow in!


----------



## SKSuser (Mar 20, 2006)

*Re: Snails! *



gottobe said:


> I have read a few posts that recommend just picking them out and hope for the best and some suggest potassium promagate, at least as a better dip. Can I just treat the whole tank now with potassium promagate while it cycles


Nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!!!! (Sorry, today I've been thinking about the part in Star Wars where Vader throws Luke off the Cloud City mining operation, so that seems to be the exclamation for the day.....) 
Anyway, pot perm is never for in the tank. You'd never be able to get it all out so it could remain in the rocks, and it could also stain the silicone and any porous items in the tank. Its only for buckets and jugs. That said, a member on here, "Oregon Aqua," has an online store where you can get pot perm. Its kinda hard to find in my area due to the fact that it can be mixed with other household items to cause a flash fire. :mmph: Sounds kinda scarry, but in the absence of those select few items that only a government agency could be paranoid enough to worried about, its pretty safe except for the ability to stain your hands purple.


----------



## gottobe (Jun 22, 2008)

I was finally able to get a couple of pictures to share. Added a few more enhabitants as well. Current residents include

*Existing*

12 black neon tetras 
2 Striata Botia Loachs
9 Harlequin Rasboras
3 Schwartz coryadoras

*New*

3 Roseline Sharks (Crossocheilus denisoni)
10 Rummy Nose Tetra (Hemigrammus bleheri)
8 Black Phantom Tetra (Megalamphodus megalopterus)

Here is the photo update.





































I seem to have the water balanced and CO2 levels pretty stable. All the plants are growing well with the possible exception of the Blyxa japonica which seems to have died back a bit. I saw a couple of posts that made it seem that it's not uncommon for this to occur, that the plants will get shorter, with the orginal leaves decomposing while plants roots establish. Once established I hope they will takes off. The only other plant I have some concerns about are my Ludwigia repens, they get kind of rooty and look a bit unkept. Someone suggested laying them over and burying them so they train across the back of the tank, that once a good root system is established in the substrait the won't root as bad in the water column. Any advice on these two plants?

Bottomline, pretty happy with the way things are growing.


----------



## fishyface (Feb 7, 2005)

looks very well planned and set up but i was wondering if you have any problem maintaining your co2 levels considering the overflow and sump? typically i would think this type of setup would off gas a whole lotta what your trying to maintain in the water column. what's your bubble count and co2 ppm at just out of curiosity as i was going to do a similar layout but since have reconsidered?


----------



## foofooree (Mar 11, 2007)

That is very impressive. How do you like those filters?


----------



## gottobe (Jun 22, 2008)

I'm not quite sure on my bubble count because I purchased a double drop checker and stopped paying attention. I tried to count this morning and I'd say it's running somewhere between 100-120 bpm. At night when the solenoid closes I still get bubbles but probably somewhere closer to 20 bpm. According to the drop checker the tank stays at 30ppm 24x7 so I’m pretty pleased with how it’s working. 

Your post mentioned overflow and sump. I do not run a sump in the traditional sense. The choice of a reef tank was to accommodate an automatic water change scheme. This tank is in my office so I did not want to deal with water changes. The right side overflow is used in tank circulation, it feeds the input to my two Eheim filters with the inflow returning from the two spray bars placed in the tank. The balance of the overflow is used to pump fresh water, approx 12 gallons, into the tank (left side) and allow old water to drain out (right side). The sump is actually used only as a holding tank for the water change to allow for chlorine to off gas and to heat to 78 degrees. Everything works off a sprinkler timer and it works great.


----------



## gottobe (Jun 22, 2008)

I love my filters. I can muck around in the tank and make a mess and the water will clear within about 10 minutes and be crystal clear in 30 minutes. I will say however that in my configuration with the overflows that I am really glad I have the water change system because is doubles as an automatic top off system. Canisters are vulnerable to losing their prime and with an overflow you are vulnerable to small changes in water level. If your level gets below the grate at the top of the overflow your pump will vacate all the water in the overflow until you lose your prime. Then you are basically out of luck until you fill the tank and re-prime the filter. So I love the filter but recommend some sort of auto fill in a reef tank configuration.


----------



## gottobe (Jun 22, 2008)

*Algae Problem Brewing*

I have had my 125 gallon tank planted for about 2 months and things were initially going pretty well. The plants were growing pretty good originally but seem to taper off after about a month. I placed some more plant tabs near the swords and I made some changes in the length of time that I was running my lights and now have better plant growth but also a fair amount of algae. I dose with Flourish twice a week in the recommended amounts, and with my double drop checker and pretty confident in my CO2 levels. I would like to figure out what to do because, I can clean off the algae on the glass but its different story on the plants. Can anyone make a recommendation that would help limit algae growth on my plants?

Here is a more detailed description. I have (2) 36" Current Sundial Lights (w/ 4 10,000K plus 4 fresh water bulbs). Each bulb is 39 watts so that's 312 watts or 2.5 watts per gallon. Originally, I ran the fresh water bulbs about 11 hours and kicked in the 10,000k bulbs for an 8 hour run. That resulted in a somewhat stunted plant growth. So I added 2 hours to the fresh water bulbs and now have a bit of an algae problem brewing. I also have an 18 watt Coralife UV Sterilizer inserted on one of the Eheim outflows, which I run for about 8 hours every few days.

Below are pictures of the algae growth I am experiencing.


----------



## supersmirky (Oct 22, 2008)

Absolutely amazing. I love the setup you have. I wish I could have one in my office!


----------



## travis (Oct 5, 2004)

Have you been testing ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, and phosphate levels? Your plant growth and algae problems most likely lie with macronutrients, namely nitrate and phosphate. Your lighting is excellent and, in combination with good CO2 supplementation, will drive plant growth (and thus uptake of both macro- and micronutrients) enough that nitrates and phosphates may be quickly stripped from the water column even with substrate fertilization. Low (or absent) levels of N and P can stunt plant growth and lead to algae outbreaks since algae does not need an abundance of nutrients to thrive.

Given that your tank is properly cycled and not overloaded with fish you shouldn't have testable levels of ammonia or nitrite but, if you do, that could also cause problems, so it's worth checking for all four (NH4, NO2, NO3, PO4) of these compounds.

Hope this helps and good luck.


----------



## gottobe (Jun 22, 2008)

travis said:


> Have you been testing ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, and phosphate levels? Your plant growth and algae problems most likely lie with macronutrients, namely nitrate and phosphate. Your lighting is excellent and, in combination with good CO2 supplementation, will drive plant growth (and thus uptake of both macro- and micronutrients) enough that nitrates and phosphates may be quickly stripped from the water column even with substrate fertilization. Low (or absent) levels of N and P can stunt plant growth and lead to algae outbreaks since algae does not need an abundance of nutrients to thrive.
> 
> Given that your tank is properly cycled and not overloaded with fish you shouldn't have testable levels of ammonia or nitrite but, if you do, that could also cause problems, so it's worth checking for all four (NH4, NO2, NO3, PO4) of these compounds.
> 
> Hope this helps and good luck.


Tank tests at

PH 6.8
NH3 0.0
NO2 0.0
NO3 0.0
KH 1.0


----------



## bsmith (Dec 13, 2006)

You need some NPK. Have you read about the Ei method? If not serch and it will solve your problems.

Also, you photoperiod (total) doesnt need do be more then 10 hours. This is why you have GSA on your plants.


----------



## gottobe (Jun 22, 2008)

*Updated Pics*

Thanks for all the great tips on the algae, I am acting on them and will report the results. Thought I better post a few pictures on how the tank is growing so here you go.


----------



## speakerguy (Sep 1, 2007)

I love the tank. What substrate are you using and do you like it?


----------



## chagovatoloco (Nov 17, 2007)

I find it best when I have an algae problem to cut the photo period down a bit. The longer the photo period the less room for error, and vise versa. Even at six hours a day you will see growth.


----------



## gottobe (Jun 22, 2008)

speakerguy said:


> I love the tank. What substrate are you using and do you like it?


The substrate is in the same vein as Turface and SoilMaster. This was a product called "Red" form Pro's Choice and is one of the clay based infield conditioner products that many have used for substrate. I picked it up at Wilco for $10 for a 50 lbs bag. Once I get my ferts dialed in it should work great as I still get pretty good growth just using Flourish.


----------



## gottobe (Jun 22, 2008)

*Update with Pictures*

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

It's been about a month and about time to provide an update. In the past month I have been struggling a bit with Green Spot Algae. After a bit if advice seeking on the Algae forum I've converted to the Estimative Index Fertilization Method and have been trimming out the affect foliage as the plant grow back. With the use of the double drop checker I believe I have the CO2 dialed. In order to maximize the impact of the fertilizers I have reduced the day my auto water change system operates to Mon, Wed, Fri. Finally, I have adjusted my photo period to about eight hours using four bulbs and two hours running the high output bulbs. Still have to tweak but the tank seems to be much closer to a workable balance now.

After watching my tank's residents these past few months it seemed my fish selection was missing something. After much soul searching I decided to commit to a small school of Koi Angel Fish. This was indeed a long term commitment, but after seeing them in the tank I think I made the right choice.

*You can see from this picture that the plants are indeed growing. The tank needed a bit of a haircut. These pictures are right after thetrim.*










*And From Above










Some of the new residents.










And the Roselines










The Pennywort just grows and grows.










The Koi Angels seem to work.









*


----------



## fish iz neat (Feb 24, 2008)

The tank looks great. I hate cleaning canisters so I think I would have used the overflows on a sump. Could you have a sump and still have the water change system with your setup? 

What tank manufacturer is that? I like the curved overflows.


----------



## gibmaker (Jan 3, 2007)

Zapins said:


> Wow, this is a very interesting post. This is exactly the kind of thing that I want to do when I buy my own house
> 
> I have to agree with redstrat I've got 260 watts of powercompact light over my 125 g tank and on many an occasion I've found that plants don't do as well as they should until they grow into the top 1/3rd of the tank where the light is strongest.
> 
> ...


Agreed, I have a 125 and started with 220 watts of cf and then jumped up to 440 watts cf, works great.


----------



## gottobe (Jun 22, 2008)

*A Little Advice Please*

So, I been using dry ferts for about three weeks and my plants seem to be slowly dying off. I have been struggling with a little algea but thought that adjusting light, CO2 and ferts would take care of the problem. Now however I seem to really retarded plant growth, it can really be seen in the Ludgwigia and the Hemiantbus. There is a lot of debris in the tank generally brown particles that get stired up and settle like dust on everything. Any suggestions?


----------



## fish iz neat (Feb 24, 2008)

> So, I been using dry ferts for about three weeks and my plants seem to be slowly dying off. I have been struggling with a little algea but thought that adjusting light, CO2 and ferts would take care of the problem. Now however I seem to really retarded plant growth, it can really be seen in the Ludgwigia and the Hemiantbus. There is a lot of debris in the tank generally brown particles that get stired up and settle like dust on everything. Any suggestions?


Are you using a PH controller?


----------



## chagovatoloco (Nov 17, 2007)

How do you measure your co2? The brown stuff is probably diatoms, what spectrum are your lights?


----------



## Tex Gal (Nov 1, 2007)

I don't think it's the dry ferts. I use them and my plants grow like crazy. Perhaps you have not increased your ferts to keep up with the increased plant mass of your tank? They are missing something if they are dying. Sounds like a nutrient issue to me.


----------



## gottobe (Jun 22, 2008)

chagovatoloco said:


> How do you measure your co2? The brown stuff is probably diatoms, what spectrum are your lights?


I have a double drop checker and match the color of the control solution to the reference solution. I run (4) Current T5 38w 10K's from 8am to 3pm and (4) Current T5 Pink for about 2 hours in the middle of that period.


----------



## gottobe (Jun 22, 2008)

Here are some pictures of the brown "dust" that seems to have appeared in my tank with the introduction of the dry ferts. It shoudl be noted that I am doint 10% water changes daily not 50% weekly. (Tank is in a office and 50%'s are difficult) Someone suggested I back off to half the recommended ferts?? Anyway here are the pics.


----------



## chuck griffin (Sep 21, 2006)

my favorite tank well planed


----------



## David Hui (Dec 10, 2004)

Does the brown algae come off the leaves easily? Do you have any on the glass?


----------



## chagovatoloco (Nov 17, 2007)

Ok, I will tell you what I was told when I was a beginner (just guessing) and was trying to sort my first tank out. Do not complicate the lights and do not go to long. Start out with 6 hours with just all of the lights on. That will give you more room for error and to help things get stabilized. Why do you have the pink bulbs? What made you make that decision? I use only 6500K and some times a 1000K. What solution is in the drop checker, is it 4dkh? I love the ei and am glad to see that you are using it. Most tanks have this algae upon start up and it is normal, the brown algae will go away. If you want to rid you self of it sooner put in a dozen or so otto cats in. Most of you plants seem to be low light so you could cut back to 2-3 wpg. Less light = less algae and problems. When the tank gets better established and is algae free try a little more light and maybe go back to the noon burst. When you have algae add more co2, your fish will tell you when they have had enough. Slowly start to turn your co2 up a little at a time, say one small nudge per day. If the fish are fine go a little more, when they show signs of stress back it off to what is was the day before and that is your co2 setting. I use drop checkers only for a base line and then go from there. Algae is not as hard as some make it, a little more nitrates and a little more co2 should make it back off if all else is well. And how do you diffuse your co2? I hope this helps, take you time and it will get better just stick with it.


----------



## jefe (Jan 23, 2008)

Bytheway, you have a very nice set up there, but I see that your UV sterilizer is connected to one of your Eheim filter lines. I don't know the gallon per hour output of that filter, but I do know from personal experience when I hooked up a pump to my sterilizer that produced too much output, the green water came back pretty sudden. I then connected a ball valve inline to the sterilizer, reducing the flow to around 250 GPH or less, and the green water immediately cleared and consequently the algae as well........hope that helps........


----------



## gottobe (Jun 22, 2008)

*Update for 125g in the office*

The tank seems to be settling in to its own these days. We've worked through a few issues such as GSA and Brown Diatoms, and most recently a bit of Black Staghorn algae. I've lost some of my high light plants falling victim to the shade of the Pennywort. But after adjustments in my photo period, jiggering my CO2 timer, balancing my fertilizer dosing and the addition of 12 Otto's things are looking up.

Recently, I added a Hydor Koralia 1200 Gph power head to the tank. As the plants grew my water flow decreased and I was having problems with dead spots. Plant debris was collecting in areas and I was continuing to get occasional blooms of Brown Diatoms. Wow! What a difference a decent flow makes, less algae issues, happier plants, and a nice clean bright appearance. I wish I'd added one months ago.

So here are a couple of recent photos. Really happy with the tank these days hope that continues&#8230;


----------



## pminister (Jan 15, 2009)

tank looks tooooooooo goood. wish ya the best. can't wait for new looks to the tank for the future.


----------



## dawntwister (Sep 29, 2007)

When are you going to add fish?


----------



## Imiis (Feb 1, 2009)

This is very sexy aquarium and I love it ^^


----------



## gottobe (Jun 22, 2008)

dawntwister said:


> When are you going to add fish?


There are many fish in the tank.

Rasbora's
Black Neons
Black Phantoms
Koi Angels
Ottos
Corys
Rummy Nose
Rose Lines

Its a happy group.


----------



## gottobe (Jun 22, 2008)

*Added Web Cam*

Its been quite awhile since I've posted an update on the tank. Been battling Black Hair Algae and the algae has been winning. Tried boosting CO2, harvesting infected plants and a Azoo product called Brush Algae Remover. At times it seems like I'm making headway but I can't seem to completely solve the problem.

On a happy note I have created a 24/7 tank cam from an old Sony laptop that the screen went out on, a Logitech USB webcam, and Ustream. Here's a link, take a look.

http://www.ustream.tv/channel/planted-tank-cam


----------



## Vadimshevchuk (Jul 5, 2009)

Nice tank. I was wondering what your dad is thinking about the tank since he was into saltwater tanks. Sorry for your troubles with algae as i am having trouble also.

BTW what kind of paint did u use to paint the back of the tank?


----------



## jocky (Jun 24, 2008)

very lovely. Where were you when I needed something for my science project. LOL That is Super high tech.

I too have a problem with the brown "dust"


----------

