# Gilles' 125 gallon tank and 40 gallon sump



## Gilles

Well this is my first big post on APC. I've been working with aquariums for about 2 years now, mainly using them as "i have nothing to do, lets trim the aquarium" kind of thing. In other words, i did not take a lot of time to "work" on my aquarium.

*My (old) 50 gallon tank:*
I have been fascinated with the aquarium even since i first got my first, and when i moved to my appartment i decided to go from a 40L to a 180L aquarium. To convert these values to Gallons, you have to divide them by 3.8. So first i had a ~10 gallon and then i purchased a ~50 gallon.

Not long after i had this 50 gallon tank, i switched from the internal filter to a tetratec EX700 filter, and decided to inject CO2 using an Aquamedic 1000 reactor. Here are some pics of my first aquarium.

  










*My (old/current) 125 gallon tank:*
Almost 8 months ago, i switched to a 125 gallon tank and a 40 gallon sump. This has been nothing but a disaster to be honest. The overflow of my tank was wrongly build, and it had no second overflow. A snail got stuck in the overflow to my sump and the pump kept on pumping, well you get the idea.. I had a wet floor 3 times untill i finally got around and knew how to fix it.

The tank has 4x36w T8 lighting, with electronic ballasts, the return is done by a pond pump, and i have a UV filter attached. My electronics where not kept seperate from my water flow, so when the tank flooded i got a short circuit.

The hood of the tank was made from thesame material as my other furniture, meaning 18mm thick plywood. Off course, this was WAY to heavy, but then again, you never know you have to look out for something untill you bump your head.

I am injecting CO2 in such a manner that i have my PH steady at 6.8 with a KH of 5, giving me approx. 30ppm CO2. My lights are dimmed by an aquarium computer, which means i have a beautifull sunset and sunrise.

First i added CO2 directly using an air stone in my sump, but that caused me to use approx. 10kg of CO2/month which is (off course) not good for the environment. Right now i am using a reactor (Dennerle Cyclo Turbo XL) which is driven by a seperate pump in my sump.

I will spare you the other problems i had, but again, here are some pictures of the current tank.

*My (new/in progress) 125 gallon tank:*
Besides the seperation of the electronics from the water (100% seperated = no more short circuit) i had the idea to incorporate my return lines in my DIY background (made from isolation material, tile glue and epoxy coating) and off course there is a second overflow. There is also going to be a bottom heater and the other (good) parts of my current tank will move to the new tank.

The POND pump will be replaced by a pump which can be found in about every boiler in the world (yes, a boiler pump). These pumps are used a lot in the Netherlands, they have 3 different speed settings ranging from 30,45,60 watts and pumping out 900-1700 gallons per hour. Off course this is going to be less, since i am using a lot of PVC with bends and so on, but you'll get the idea.

The CO2 injection will be done (once again) by a Aquamedic 1000 reactor, which will be incorporated in my return lines. I will have 4 points from where my water will be returned, 3 below water and 1 spraybar which will keep the oily surface away. Besides that, it will also "move" all dead leaves to the overflow.

My lights are going to be upgraded. Instead of 4x36w T8 i am going to use 4x36w T8 and 2x54w T5. The reason i did not switch entirely to T5 is the initial price you have to pay. All in all i am going to end up with approx. 2.1w/gallon, maybe i'll add another two 54 T5's, meaning i'd go to 3w/gallon. All in all, it is way better then my current WPG which is 1.2w/gallon.

The stand will be made from metal piping, and is allready constructed, grounded and painted with hammerite black. Pictures describing the building progress will come very fast, since i am allready half way with the construction.


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## Gilles

*My (OLD) 120 gallon: construction*


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## Gilles

*My (OLD) 120 gallon: construction*


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## Gilles

*My (OLD) 120 gallon: construction*


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## Gilles

*My (OLD) 120 gallon: construction*


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## Gilles

*My (OLD) 120 gallon: construction*




































The last thing i did on my current tank was to fix the short circuit i had, by switching from 2 to 4 T8 lights. The plants responded very well to this, producing much bushier/compacter forms.

P.s. so far the (current) tank. Next pictures will be from the construction of my new tank, off course with pictures.


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## Gilles

Well i was hoping for some reactions but unfortunately no-one has replied. Maybe it is because i did not give you enough information on my new tank. Well i'll let the pictures do the talking and i'll comment some of the pictures.

Right here you are seeing a picture of my CO2 tubing. My CO2 Canister is 20 kilograms and because of the size of the thing, my girlfriend asked if i could put it outside. Therefore i needed a very long tube. Unfortunately, each time the PH computer activates (due to the long tubing) a major ammount of gass is added to my reactor, causing it to "over-bubble" which means gass escapes.




























Next step is off course the construction of my new tank. To be honest i am a very busy man (sometimes i just don't have the time to work on my tank because i need to work for my company, or i want to relax by playing a computer game)...










My background is also DIY, which means i had to glue in Styropane (tempex?) onto my aquarium wall. Because i hate the white background, i decided to paint them with schoolboard paint (the paint used in schools on the chalkboard). This paint is 100% non-toxic for fish which means i could easily use it.

After it had dried (took ages since i had to paint so many different sides) i glued it step by step into my aquarium, using water to apply pressure.


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## Gilles

Next step was to model the background. I did not want any pipes to be visible when my tank is completed therefore i decided to integrate the pipes into my background. I also added a PVC pipe for my bottom heater, that way i don't see the cables from my bottom heater.























































After a while, i used quick drying concrete to firm the piping. The following pictures show the left return, the CO2 return and the right return. The spraybar is not glued into the background.


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## Gilles

Up next; model your background into something worth looking at and add "tile glue" (a few layers). As you can see, no more ugly pipes and nice rocky formation for algue to grow on and shrimps to walk on. It looked like this:




























First layer of Epoxy coating (to dark):



























Second layer of Epoxy coating (to red):



























Third layer of Epoxy coating made the entire background look better. Still not convinced. I added sand to the epoxy to remove the shiny glow and to create a more realistic look.


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## Gilles

I ended up with working on my tank stand. Nothing fancy just a metal stand with lots and lots of PVC tubing. All is explained when i connect the piping.


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## Diana K

I have been watching this thread. I am very interested in the background, and how you have plumbed all the intakes. What keeps snails and fish out of them?


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## BryceM

Very nice. It's fun to see someone put together a large system with careful planning. I'm interested to know if your T-5 lighting (or is it T-8?) uses reflectors. None are shown in the photos, and why you decided to go with a sump.

Very cool wall! Thanks for sharing.


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## JACK SOBRAL

Hello Gilles 
Our ... Impressive! :shock: 
I was surprised with the project filtering Sump, after reviewing ... I was sorry to have purchased a filter Canister! I love it step by step you made, very rare that attend the forum. 
Magnificent! My Congratulations!  


That hug 
JACK


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## Gilles

Thank you all for your nice comments! I'll try to answer some of the questions you have asked. First of all the question from Diana. The plumbing that is incorporated into the background are not used for intakes.

*My overflow box explained:*
The intake to my sump is done by using an overflow box. I have a combination of surface skimmer and bottom skimmer. As you can see by this picture.









The water flows over the comb, meaning i won't have that oily surface.









The water in my overflow box is lower (B) then in my aquarium, and this is CRUCIAL for the bottom intake to work. In my overflow box there are 2 pipes. One of them is the emergency (C) drain, attached to my sewer. This way, the tank can never overflow. The other one is the overflow to my sump. This is regulated using a ball-valve so it lets through just as much water as the amount of water that is pumped into my aquarium. This means that i have a 100% silenced overflow. On top of this are off course from those white filter watts (how do you call them in English) to filter out the biggest dirt.









Here you see the bottom skimmer. Off course this is not exactly as it will eventually look, but my drawing skills are not THAT good  Because the water level in my overflow box is lower then in my tank, the water "puts pressure" on the bottom skimmer and it pumps out (e.g. sucks) water into my overflow box. This also works in my current setup, so i am not worried it won't in my new 

*Returns*
So i have incorporated my returns (from the sump) in my background, allowing me to keep every aspect of PVC and electronics out of the water. There are 4 returns in total, which are numbered below.
A) return in front of the glass
B) return in front of the glass
C) return of co2 injected water
D) spraybar










I decided to "split" my returns into 1 and 2, to prevent dead water spots on the side of "2", and to decrease the chance of blue algue. Also this allows for more circulation which means off course more nutrients for the plants to pick up. Also the fish like this more.

One of the problems of incorporating the returns in the background of the aquarium, is off course the power outage. When the power goes "out", i would have a siphon, draining almost 2/3 of my aquarium. To circumvent this, i've put a non-return value of size 32mm (1 1/4") which will "stop" the water. Although this has a very high resistance before it "opens" (= less pump power) it is the most safe way to work.

*The planning*
@guaiac_boy: yes it has been a lot of carefull planing. As i might have said, it was the result of spending quite some money, and i came home twice with water on the floor (snail was caught in overflow). All these issues are addressed now, so if this doesn't work i'll stop with the aquarium hobby 

As for my lightning, at first i wanted to go with 4x36w and 2x54w. Meaning 6 fixtures with a total light capacity of 248w, meaning 2w/gallon if everything is on. But.. Yesterday i want to a fellow hobbyist from the Netherlands, and he convinced me to go to T5 all the way, so i might end up with 7(!!) 54w lamps, totaling 378w (3.02w/gallon) If that doesn't give me algae (ehh nice plants) then i don't know..

As for the hood (which i will explain in detail later) i am going for a so called "sandwich hood'. This hood originally came from "Willem v Wezel" as you might or might not know. He is famous for being excellent at dutch planted aquariums and some of his pictures have been posted a few times on this forum.

The hood itself will not be any higher then 2-3", this is possible since i have put my stabilizers relatively low in my tank. The inside of the hood will be 3mm plywood, on which the fixtures are mounted. The plywood is grounded white and then painted with outdoor quality white high gloss paint. Here in the Netherlands some of us has measured the intensity of the lights with and without reflectors, and the conclusion was that a white hood was much and much better then reflectors.

@jack; Although canister filters are also a very good choice, i must admit that i am one of the very few to use a sump for a planted tank. The reason for this is that i am not sure if i always keep a planted tank. I might move to Peru altums or maybe discus in the future, and then i would need as much filtration as i could possibly fit under my stand


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## capn_kirkl

Your journal is incredibly awesome... keepup the good work and I cant wait to see the finished product. What do you plan to use to enclose your stand with? Maybe I missed that somewhere in the thread... if so I am sorry.


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## BryceM

Gilles said:


> Here in the Netherlands some of us has measured the intensity of the lights with and without reflectors, and the conclusion was that a white hood was much and much better then reflectors.


Hmmmm. I suppose this _might_ be effective enough for T-8 or T-12 bulbs, but I would be VERY surprised if this holds true for T-5 bulbs. The currently available T-5 reflectors are just amazing. I would be very much interested to see the actual data.

Then again, a little less light might be a good thing when it comes to algae too......


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## hoppycalif

White paint, whether glossy or not, gives diffuse reflection, meaning that it reflects light in all directions. Polished metal gives specular reflection, meaning it reflects light at the same angle as the light hits the reflector. It isn't possible for a white painted parabolic reflector to give more light than a polished metal parabolic reflector. If the reflecting surface is just a flat plane above the bulbs, then a white painted one should give more light in the tank. I'm guessing this is the type of reflector that was found to give the most light in those tests.


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## Gilles

You are right Hoppy, it is a flat, white painted surface. It performs much better then reflectors and also has the advantage that you clean it very easily.


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## Riba

Gilles said:


> It performs much better then reflectors and also has the advantage that you clean it very easily.


Guess it rather depends on the design of the reflector... (as Hoppy states)


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## Gilles

Did some trimming on my current tank:

Before:









After:









The Eheim filters have been running for a week to replace my sump for a while.


















I was emptying my sump to move the new tank to the old spot:


















Electronic ballasts have arrived 









Next up, drilling of glass and adjusting sump a bit...


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## lildark185

You must have a lot of time on your hands!  Great tank and journal by the way.


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## DonaldmBoyer

I am envious! Excellent journal so far, Giles!!! Very in-depth and interesting to watch the whole process!! Looking forward to the next installment!


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## Kurt Reinhart

Wow, I'm impressed with the DIY. Very detailed and thought out. Useful design steps. Like Donald, I'm interested to see the next installment.


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## ohcrapitsanewt

I really like how this is coming along. I honestly would incorporate a water change system but that's just me. 

Aloha,
John


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## Sweetfish

Very nice DIY work I must say. Reminds me of a tank I once saw at a zoo.


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## Gilles

Well it is about time for an update. To be honest, the new tank is allready running since last friday, but i am still working on the canopy. Here are some pics since the last update:










Drilling glass didn't work out the way i expected it to be:










Lot's of piping:










The tank is on the stand for the first time:










You can allready see some of my plumbing lying at the bottom:










First light fixture installed, just to see the background:










Installing pump security. This way, the pump can't run dry. Someone from the netherlands made this for me. Basicly it is a relais attached to a floater which is located in the last section of my sump. If the water level drops, a contact is made and the power is cut from the 2 sockets you see there.



















Adding the sides:


















Added lights in the filter "chamber".



















(off)









(on)









Installing the old sump with new holes.


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## jaidexl

That's some very nice looking plumbing.


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## [email protected]

wow.keep more coming.nice wok


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## Gilles

Moving from old tank to new tank:



























^ NOT Me 

Plants:









Quick-view of the current plumbing, attached to the tank:









Voila:



























Had to make an adjustment to the CO2 reactor (p.s. tank didn't stop running. Due to the excessive ammount of plumbing, i was able to remove the reactor without spoiling water):


















Last picture (9-1-2008):


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## Iceterran

You have done some incredible plumbing work on the sump and returns, I only have two questions:
1) Is it a wet/dry sump or is it just wet
2) do you have a top to your sump to seal in c02?
3) does your tank have any type of lid to reduce c02 loss?
guess it was 3 questions =P


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## Gilles

Some answers to some questions made:

John said:
"I honestly would incorporate a water change system but that's just me."

Actually the requirements are allready there. As you can see, i have incorporated a floater in the last compartment of my sump, this is attached to electronics which will turn off my pump and heater in case there is a low water level. On the other hand i can also make it so that it will turn on a water flow to refill my tank. I am currently living at an apartment, so i don't have the means to drill holes in the wall. In the next house, there will also be a connection to the sewer.


IceTerran said:
"You have done some incredible plumbing work on the sump and returns, I only have some questions:"

1) Is it a wet/dry sump or is it just wet
It is a 100% wet sump. I will make some pictures of the sump plumbing so you can see how i made it all.

2) do you have a top to your sump to seal in c02?
No, first i injected the CO2 into my sump using an air stone, but it is mainly to keep the heat in the sump, and also to keep the water damp in the sump. It also helps to minimize the noise of the sump.

3) does your tank have any type of lid to reduce c02 loss?
You mean canopy? Yes there will be a canopy, but i am still making it. It will not be any higher then 2".


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## Gilles

*Long time no update (29th of Januari):*
Thanx to Easylife (liquid filter medium) i can adjust the flow of my water exactly.




































*Lightning:*




































*Canopy:*



























*Canopy on the frame:*









*Connecting the wires:*






















































*Clean up the wires:*


















*Result:*









This resulted in a lot of moisture, meaning my canopy became ruined.



















*WIth 1 TL:*









*Working on my own DIY aquarium computer (more to come)*


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## Gilles

Another big update.. Since the start of my tank i have 216w above it. Meaning ~0.5w/gallon. It is not yet being dimmed by a computer but that is in the works. I add PO4 and NO3 daily and Trace elements on a weekly basis.









































































*Some plants have a little bit difficultys:*




































*Rasbora galaxy's:* (i have 50 )































































*Overview*


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## Gilles

Problems with my sump.. It just doesn't work right. The **** doesn't stay in the sump but hits the fan (hehe) because it goes back into my tank.


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## Gilles

Sump modified so it holds the poop better:


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## felixm

From one linux hacker to another I can't wait to see the controller!


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## Afyounie

When you finish the controller, you gotta post the directions and the coding that you made for it. Great work.


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## BiscuitSlayer

Gilles -

I love your work! This thread has given me some FANTASTIC ideas. I am very much looking forward to your aquarium computer. I would love to build one of these depending on how yours comes out. What are your plans for what you want it to do?

I love the way you keep things tidy and clean looking. Very insporational! Thanks for sharing.


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## Dutch-AquaDesign

HeY Gilles,

Nice report!
(Dutchman are everywhere.......)


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## Gilles

It has been a long time (almost 2 months to be precise) and a lot has changed. Tomorrow, i will get the key to my new house so this is probably going to be the last update which i will post in another 2 months. I am planning to move on the first of august. That is also the time i will be starting to build my canopy, since that has been laying still ever since i knew i was going to move.

First some pics, since my tank has undergone some massive transforamtions:


















Preparation for light panel (before)










Electronic Ballasts removed










Preparing tools:



















New light panel with my own "light control unit"










All wires are nicely placed in a hidden compartment.



















Wich looks like this (you see the bottom heater cable running here)










And this is how it looks when it is all closed.










The computer which only used 15 watts of power










Preparation for connecting the computer to the HUB which in its turn controls the 1-wire network:










Re-attaching wires:




























****, wires to short....










Prevent wires from pulling to much on the ballast:










The bottom part of my electronics is (visually) finished:










Adding some juice to the network:










HUB:










Lights in action:










7 days of no light result in molten Tonina 










Which resulted in me, doing a massive trim, after receiving some plants from GreenChapter (singapore)










Which resulted in this:




























Maintenance by a student which i hired to do all the tiny stuff (like soldering 220 volts ikes!)



















Dirty windows:


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## sonaps

Great work Gilles! Your electronics look very clean and well organized. Good luck moving into your new home.


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## rjfurbank

Wow! Fantastic tank--that's an incredible amount of work. Thanks for sharing all of this.


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## felixm

Good luck on the move. I had to move a 30gal. about 2 years ago and didn't have half of the stuff you do.


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## MiamiAG

Gille,

Sorry for the late reply to this awesome post.

I often said that when freshwater aquarists do the same uber-DIY projects that saltwater aquarists do, our little hobby would have come of age and hit the big time. You've made me realize the planted aquarium hobby has come of age. Thanks, man.

You are now my DIY hero. Good luck and keep posting.


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## Jeff.:P:.

Wow, amazing build, you've basically built a "reef system" for plants. You should look into reef tanks I think you would fit right in.


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## jackh

dam son keep up the good work


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## Gilles

Well thank you guys for all the good words. Although i also have disasters in my tank.

It all started when i moved. The tank survived all without any scratches and so on, but it has been 3 weeks and i still haven't done my new plumbing due to a total lack of time. I filled the tank with 100% new water (and new gravel) and did NOT have any startup problems luckily.

My fish where in a bucket, and i thought they would survive, i had even put a heater and an airstone in it. But i've lost a lot of fish that week.

15 cory sterbai (14 survived)
15 Carnegiella Strigata Strigata (1 survived)
40 Paracheirodon axelrodi (2 survived)
20 Otocinclus Affinis (all survived)
30 Caridina japonica (all survived)
15 Xiphophorus helleri (all survived)

So i had a massive ammount of 135 fish in a bucket of 10 liters.. (again, i feel very ashamed).

The plants where in a styrofoam box used to transport fish in. I kept them moist, but someone added 1 liter of water, turning all my beatiful plants to jucky juicy stuff.

So.. now i am 2 weeks later. My new sump has arrived, my lightning is back on (50% of the lights = on). I've orderd for 100$ of new plants, some nice ones to! This week i have to plumb my sump, install the new Red Dragon pump (rated at 4500l/hour and only 45 watts!) and redo my return lines.

Oh yeah, the bottom heater has left the building. Soon i'll post some updates.


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## Luc

Hello Gilles, I've not yet posted any comment on your journal, but I'm about to copy most of it. Hope you don't come after me for buma-stemra payments...lol.
Dutch as well, but fortunate to live in Thailand with everything I'd need for fish at my doorstep.
Anyhow, hope you're going to update soon. Keep it up.


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## m-jackson

I just got back into the hobby after 13 years(got married, small house then, not sure how she would take all of it , etc. and one of the reasons is projects like this. They are soo fulfilling that one is almost sad when it is finished uh actually mine never get quite all the way done. I like to leave my computer cases loose you know just save time when and if I need to get inside yes yes that its. Again very very nice looking and I caan certainly feel for you with your move. I I had to move my aquarium 13 years ago from Joplin, Missourri to Florence, Alabama. about five hundred miles. That was another reason I was so slowly to return moving just under 2000 gallons worth with fish to my parents house there and then later moving most of the same with considable less fish to St louis, Missourri(about 350 miles)


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## intothenew

*To the drawing board Batman!*

After reading this through, I found that my mental schematics were terribly inadequate. Now, I have to set down my coffee, walk all the way upstairs to get pencil and paper, return and read this completely through again. O, the agony. :hail:


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## astronotus_2000

Pretty incredible setup.... You are probably driving your girlfriend crazy.


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## George Neubauer

wow...I am impressed. The backing is great, would love to try it but I can view both sides of my tank


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## jerrybforl

wow that is awesome. im amazed. have never seen anything like it. how did you learn all this???


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## marvik11

great work M8 keep it up
Regards
MaRvIk11


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## mulita

Gilles:
I just got thru the whole thread. Terrific thread!. Really amazed on the details, organization and electronics you incorporated into this project, there are a lot of excellent ideas in this post and very detailed instruction on how to make them.


I hope everything went OK in your home moving and please keep us post on updates for this project, I am really interested as some others here in the DIY computer you made. Let us know details on it how it work for you, and instructions in how to make it please .

Very impresive and amazing journal this will certainly help a lot of members here, a post to read twice as intothenew mentioned. Congratulations.


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## Gilles

Hi Guys, it has been a while since i've updated his thread.. Tomorrow i'll have to clean my filter and prune my tank. Check out my topic in Fotography (Limnophila Aquatica (Giant Ambulia)) to see a pic of my tank right now. A lot has happened.. Please stay tuned.. Happy new year to you all!


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## studdedsham

Wow! I've always wanted to make my own backdrop and in the process hide plumbing and wires. This has defiantly made me think about trying this once again. Thanks for the great step by step photos. I can't wait to see the next installment!


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## Luc

Hello Gilles, I've posted before, still by far the best thread I've come across for building up a tank like you do. You've given me a lot of ideas to work with and I'm in the middle of working them out.

What I'm really curious about is your sump and what diameter piping you are using.
My cabinet is not ideal for a large sump, so I had to be creative with space and ended up having 2 tanks in my sump, 1 for filtration, the other for equipment and pumps.
Anyhow, I'm trying to figure out the dividers in the sump. Got ideas but do you have more pictures or a drawing on your sump-compartments? 

Would be very grateful having a closer look at those.

Oh, by the way, in return, there's a lot of fish and plants that you might like from Thailand. Any help you need there, let me know. I'm close to Bangkok and there is really a lot of plants and fish here.

Regards,
Luc (another fellow Dutchman)


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## Gilles

Well lots and lots of thanks on that one Luc! I will post some pics later this week. My tonina's are dying (stupid plants) and i'll have to get my dosing pumps up and running (yes you don't even seen those!). I've made the terrible mistake to place some background plants in the middle and some middle plants in the back, so i have to do some redecorating soon.


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## Luc

Hallo Gilles,

My copy of your work so far: http://www.aquariacentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=177028&highlight=Tank+Journal
Will keep you posted...

Busy at work..look forward to your comments.

Regards,
Luc


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## Luc

"My tonina's are dying (stupid plants)"

Mmmh, just read another forum, guy had the same problem. He blames it on his water getting harder, and thinking to get an RO-unit.
How's the water for your tank? Tap-water going through a carbon-filter? Or RO-Unit.
My parents always had reasonable water in the east, not too hard, not too soft. But especially in the Netherlands, there's big differences between various provinces.


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## Luc

Gilles, no update for a long time? 
What's up?


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## Gilles

Hey guys, sorry for not posting an update.. My problem is algue, but that does not stop me from doing some stuff  Here is the promised update, hope you enjoy. Since my last pics, almost a year has passed. I've moved houses and my tank is finally looking like something. In my new house, i've redone most of the plumbing, but it still isn't the way i want it to be.

First things first, the journey to where i am today.

I'll show you the pics from 19th of june untill my move first. This is how the tank evolved.


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## Gilles

Then, i moved houses... Finally. I can finish my tank now!

Tank in new location;










To busy doing stuff in the house, no time for the tank.



















In case of emergency, use cheap CO2 diffusors


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## Gilles

Moving was the worst thing i could do.. In my old tank i had bottom heaters but when i moved i decided to remove those, since it was no benefit (so i thought). After all it saved 25w per hour, meaning 0.17 dollar per day. Call me cheap but every bit counts.

So i neglected my tank in the beginning, algue started to show but i didn't care. I thought that all would be well once i got my nutrition back on schedule.




























This is how the tank looked from a distance;










*And YES it is a cyano bacteria, but NO it is not your normal BGA.*

So here is my plumbing, redone (so i can access the UV lamp now)



















And my old BIO filter setup (don't worry, i changed that)


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## Gilles

Next i started furniture construction;


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## Gilles

Algue is still present, altough i had my dosing up to speed (using EI).














































So i decided to do a blackout, and here you see the final result of the furniture.


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## Gilles

Oke, last one;

Blackout worked (so i thought)






















































































































Then the algue returned....














































So i checked my dosing pumps..:mmph:realized that i was dosing both Nitrates, phosphates AND Tropica plant nutrition liquid + (mind the little +) which ALSO contains NPK. SO my tank was in excess of N and P which probably caused the algue to bloom up so fast again.



















So i made a few calls, someone came by who also made some calls and EasyLife (you might know them from EasyCarbo / EasyLife liquid filter medium / Profito plant nutrition) decided to help me out and send me an experimental medicine. After all, a blackout didn't help, Cyanocell didn't help, Aerocol didn't help...



















The last dosage was last friday, and this is the last pic i took from my tank;


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## Luc

Gilles, for me this is the mother of all tanks....holy moly...


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## Gilles

Thank you for the kind words. Although my fauna is no where near competition rate, my technical skills are quite up to speed.

Maybe i haven'd told you guys, but my lights are all (100%) controlled by my custom computer. Hardware for my computer are the blue leds you see. All there is left to do is to replace my GHL Profilux computer with the PH metering made by me and the socket switching functions which i still have to write. I also need to write a website which can controll the lightning, but the pic you see (as my avatar) is 100% realtime (5 min. delay) on how my lights are.


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## Luc

I would be very interested to know how you've hooked up your computer to this. Recall some other posts as well asking. 
I know you're working in Linux, 1 wire system, but enlighten me (us) if you don't mind sharing the crown-jewels...lol


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## Gilles

No worries, i will. First i have to get the electronics student to hurry up and finish the soldering  The aquarium project will be finished in about 8 months... so be (very) patient... First things first, battle my algue and get the tank up and running


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## sonaps

Thanks for the update Gilles. I’ve been following this thread for a long time and I’m glad to see new pictures. Your completed stand looks nice. The setup as a whole is amazing! I’m happy to wait patiently to find out more about how your computer is running the tank. 

Sorry to hear about the algae problem. It doesn’t look like it’s out of control though. Good luck in finishing it off!


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## Jackalope

I've just joined recently, and I am absolutely amazed with what you've done. As a former glazier, I built many aquariums for people in the glass shop, but nothing of this magnitude. What can a person say, other than Beautiful!! Kudos to you Gilles, you have done a great job!

I'm with Luc, I'd like to see some plans and explanation of your sump/filter setup. I can see pretty much how it's built, but something explaining it section by section would be very helpful, and measurements would help also. 

Oh, and it's great to see that Debian swirl up there on that monitor ...... Debian forever!


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## NowMed

I see now.. so thats what a low tech tank looks like


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## clearleaf

This is awesome, since getting into planted tanks I've always dreamed of connecting lights to a dimming ballast and then to my PC, but simply lack the programming and electronics skill to pull it off - but hopefully someday - so this is quit the inspiration. I'm sure the algae problems will be no trouble now that you've got the fert situation squared away. (Do the fert switches send data, as well? btw?)

However. Please secure that CO2 tank if you haven't already. Torpedoes don't belong next to such a beautiful box of water!


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## eco-mod

Nothing short of stunning! I hope someday I can build something to even 75% of this caliber! Good luck with the algae, and hope to get some positive updates soon!


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## Gilles

Blyxa is about as dead as it can be, but the rest seems to have survived.

*Lobelia Cardinalis*










*Hemianthus C*










*Eustralis stellata*










*Blyxa * (at least the roots still stand)










*Limnophila sessiliflora*










*Palustris cuba (front), Bacopa (back)*










As you can see, 9 days of BGA blackout kills BGA, but i fear it might come back.. Keep you guys posted.

NO3 / PO4 is not measured, should be at 0ppm / 0ppm and KH is about 6. PH is about 8.2 now so all in all the wrong values for healthy plant growth. Tomorrow i'll lower the CO2 with 0.7 down to PH 7.5, lower the KH to about 4 or 5 and redose the NO3 and PO4 to be at 15ppm and 1.5ppm


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## Bettatail

Nice tank, a lot of time, money, and brain power invest to build something as model for the rest to follow.

To cure BGA, make sure the dosing of fert is steady, reduce your light and start with mass amount of Hornwort, or milfoil(or any plant can increase in mass amount in short period of time). After a couple weeks healthy growth of hornwort/or milfoil, your tank will be free of BGA, and you can throw buckets of hornwort or milfoil away -- It is the plant outgrow algae method and I did use it to eliminate BGA since I don't use chemicals to treat algae.


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## criminalhate

Gilles said:


> Drilling glass didn't work out the way i expected it to be


A little late for it but a tip for the next time you drill glass. Add a piece of wood or scrap glass clamped up against the piece your drilling, it will keep the bit from "breaking" the very last part of the glass causing the cracks. The pressure of the clamped piece keeps the pressure of the bit from changing as the glass weakens.


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## Gilles

Update;

It has been 1.5 weeks since i replanted my tank. I had a lot of trouble with dirt floating in the tank but i forgot (e.g. intentionally) to add filter cloth to my sump. Just to see what it did. So now i added the cloth and it is entirely clean. I also ordered a couple of bags of Seachem's Purigen, since it is known to clean water very very good. I have absolutely NO experience with Seachem's products, since they are very very hard to come by here in the Netherlands.

Well.. I measured the parameters today. I am free of the algue, but a new infestation is coming. I measured 5ppm NO3 and >2ppm PO4 which is obviously way to much. The funny/wierd thing is though, that i don't get BGA in return, i get thread/hair algue (e.g. the kind of algue you'd expect when you overdose on nitrates).

Anyway; i am not going to tell you what (in my opinion) is to be improved on this scape, i would love to hear your storys on that. And yes, i know.. My windows are very dirty.

And even though i think this scape can be a lot better, i still wanted to show it to you since i honestly think that you should also show your "lesser" scapes.




























These plants are doing a little bit bad right now, but i still would like to show it.





































Any criticism is welcome.. i can take it


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## supersmirky

Gilles, it's great to see someone who had a tank looking so awesome before has the same problems every once in a while like some of us! 

Seriously though, the scape is not that bad. It will look much better once it grows in more and we will be better able to see how it will really look.

The tank just has a wild look vs a planned out looking scape.


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## zdam20

Awesome tank journal! Thanks for posting.


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## Luc

Goeiesmorregens Gilles,

I noticed that you changed quite a lot in your plumbing. 
One in particular is that you're using an internal pump again, not the CV-circulation pump.
Any reason or is that to be read icw your comment that you would change your Bio-Filter setup some time to come?

Just wondering....I'm quite happy with 2 pumps that I have in the sump right now but might in a later stage change that to external and get more filtration.


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## Gilles

@Luc; yes i bought myself a new sump a year ago. Although i am very happy with it, i am thinking on starting a new tank, but this is still in the planning.

I measured my water the other day and got the following results:
KH: 4
PH: 6.8
Temp: 28 degrees Celcius (approx. 82.4 Fahrenheit)
NO3: 5
PO4: 2>

So i decided to add some nitrates, to balance the tank. Especially the macrandra is showing the added nitrates. Below you a few photos.

5 days before monday:









Monday (2 days after nitrate addition)































































As you can see i still have some algue, but time is on my side 

The high temperature is caused by my lightning. I have no heater in my tank. To lower the temperature, i added 2 computer fans which blow over my water. The temperature has since dropped to 25 degrees which equals 77 fahrenheit. Which is a much better temperature for the Rotala Macrandra.


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## Luc

Hair-algea it seems, they are not the worst to get.
You could take out the plants, dip them in an algea-killing solution and then rinse before putting them back.
If it really gets over the top with my plants, then I simply take them out, put the leaves (not the roots) in the solution and leave them there for a good 30-60 minutes.
At the same time, I take out all the substrate, rinse/wash it, and fill up the tank again.
Once back in the tank, I put in Fertilizer-capsules and within a week, plants are back up to speed.

I've found that the best way of cleaning up, getting rid of dead leaves and roots, as well as stimulating growth of new leaves.


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## Luc

Tank looks great btw, as usual, but forgot to mention it.


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## Gilles

Patience is a virtue  The new leaves which show up are algue free, i'll post an update after i get some new plants tomorrow.

p.s. it seems that my avatar is not updating as it should; here is the latest data


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## BenBOMB

I just went through the whole log and it's an amazing tank that has came a long greatly.

If I had the money I would most certainly do iths.


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## Luc

Gilles, how is your shrimp-farm coming along?


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## Gilles

Pretty good, but i am moving the entire thing up to my attic. I was one of the people who bought at PlanetInverts and basically got screwed for 350$. They promised me they will pay it back before the 1st of june. Lets wait for that ;0


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## pminister

All I can say is WOW ! This is some next level, different dimension setup. Fun to go through the step by step as well. I guess patience does pay itself off, for those who wait.

Tank looks killer ! Keep it up. Can't wait for more updates.


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## Gilles

Something tells me my tank is not doing well 

So i did a water change of 40%, dimmed my lights to 40% (instead of the maximum level of 80%) and cleaned my filter.


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## BenBOMB

Looks like your having a hairalgae problem like me ha 

Not to fun.


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## Luc

Gilles, said it before:
1. Get an algea-killing solution, put it in a bucket with water.
2. Take out the plants, cut them back as much as possible and then soak them in the solution for 30 minutes. (I only soak the algea-covered part, not the roots.
3. Take out and wash the gravel.
4. Wash the plants in clean water after you've taken them out of the algea-killer solution.
5. Put everything back into your tank.
6. Let it grow out again with minimum light required for your plants and be easy on the CO2 and ferts...

It's a days work, but worked for me in the past....

Good luck with getting it under control. Looking forward to your next post.

Cheers,
Luc
Thailand.


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## wearsbunnyslippers

sorry gilles...

flourish excel worked for me...

i cant believe how many set backs you are having with this tank! i feel your pain 

good luck, see you on aquaplant exchange...


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## Gilles

Guys i want to "master" the art of aquascaping, that also means finding the balance in my tank. Therefore i also post the "lesser" days of my tank since i feel this is also part of the process in learning. I do not want to use chemical sollutions although i AM going to use H2O2 just to make sure it is not "roetalg" (dutch term) which is actually a bacteria. Soon some updates 

@wearsbunnyslippers: I love your avatar! You should have Bunny "plakkies"


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## Luc

Hello Gilles, 
How's progress on the battle?
I understand your non-use of chemicals, it's a last resort to me as well, and long time since without any trouble. 
What I certainly would do is cut back on the light. Clean out the algea manual, then replant and start with a 1 W/G.
Will be curious to see updates, good luck with it.

Cheers,
Luc


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## Gilles

Well luc, i think i am almost finished with this algue battle;

When i came back from vacation;



















Trimming started, but look at my roots!

















[/QUOTE]

After trimming:




























Few days later:


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## Luc

Hello Gilles,

Looks amazing again, the way it's supposed to be.
Enjoyed a holiday and getting a nice tank after you get back...wow.

Roots sure look perfect. That's one healthy bunch you show there.
So that means that your project comes to an end and you can finally give us some clues on the electronics/hardware if I'm not mistaken?...

Never mind those Dutch, no matter where they are, they keep pushing...lol


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## Gilles

Well, i think i have explained everything on the pages before this, haven't i? Can you post specific questions?

And luc.. A new tank is underway 
This aquarium will be built with plywood and epoxy. The dimensions will be 180cm width x 70cm depth x 60cm height. Total gallons: +/- 180  or.. 700 liters. I have all the stuff in house  I allready started, but it will be a long process (i do it in my spare time which i don't have so much).


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## Luc

hello Gilles, 

You did on the technical side, but not the linux / light-computer.
And don't forget your shrimp-farm update...heheee

But serious, the light-computer is what I'm most interested in. 
Nice tank dimensions for the plywood. That will be interesting. Look forward to your posts on that.

Been too busy as well. Nothing much happened in the last couple of months. Waiting a couple more weeks and then hope to be able to pickup again.

Next holiday, make a trip to Thailand. I'll show you around the interesting 'tank-spots'...lol


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## Gilles

Great! Collect some interesting plants for me there! I am still searching for the Rotala Macrandra 'Pink'.


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## Luc

I'll do a search and get you some info on that.
Can't be too much trouble finding it.
Cheers.
Luc


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## Fevz

As all have said before. You are truly a master of everything about the aquarium technology! Where did you get all of this knowledge?


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## northtexasfossilguy

The thought occurred to me that maybe the algae problems you are having are due to the spectrum of light you are using or the high amount that the plants can't keep up with? Or chemistry...

I was thinking in your sump if you are still having the problem of the waste coming back into your aquarium you ought to get some porous sponges in one of the chambers and just rinse them out every time you change the water. It would allow you to culture bacteria and capture waste at the same time.

All that aside, million dollar setup man, looking forward to seeing you win an award one of these days.


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## Gilles

@Fevz; trial and error (err.. flooded home due to snail stuck in return pipe).

@NorthTexasFossilGuy: I no longer have any particles in my tank. I'll have to make some updates soon. Now it is a matter of fine tuning the setup (i have an ORP/Redox of 163mv which needs to be arround 300mv in order to have clean water).

I am preparing my tank for some new plants which i will receive from Bubbles aquarium next week.. Tomorrow another trim and new pics!


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## Gilles

Bah! The algae is back with a vengeance. I really have no hope left to kill this algae. My water conditions are a lot better then before;
PH: 6.2
KH: 2.5
GH: 3
NO3: 10-15
PO4: 0.5

Anybody has an idea on what the best strategy is? My guess is to up the PO4 to about 1-1.5 but i am not sure... Here are some pics:

Rotala walichi:










Ludwigia Glandulosa:





































Eustralis stellata:


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## Dielectric

if you figure it out, please let me know! my main problems is diatoms. im going to try and use a phosphate remover to remove silicates and see if that helps


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## Gilles

Hey there, i did a double dosing of EasyNeo (google it) and upped my phosphate from 0.5 to 1.0 to match a NO3 of 10. Few days later it is all gone


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## Gilles

Work in progress, still not happy with the results although my plants seem to look healthy 



















A few hours later:


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## Gilles

A few days later, look at the limno gigantea


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## Gilles

Did a waterchange yesterday to slowly get my KH to be 3 and also lowering my PH at thesame time to be 6.2 (giving me between ~29 and ~82 ppm co2 which should be good). Right now my KH is approx. 4.5 i think.

Only problem i am facing right now is that my blyxa japonica (you don't see it due to the bad lightning) isn't growing tall and my limno isn't growing wider; although i am giving 210ml/week of trace which should be 50mls/week according to the 'default' specs on the bottle.


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## CrimsonTsavo

This is a really neat tank. can't help you with the algae problems; just wanted to compliment your hard/intricate work.


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## gonathan85

I just read through this whole journal.

Amazing.

Submit some photos and journalism to a popular science magazine!


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## Gilles

Thankx all! Have to trim tonight. The plants are already reaching the surface....


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## berniekooi

Very impressive setup.


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## Luc

Hello Gilles, how are you doing in cold Netherlands?
Was reading a bit on your thread, trying to catch out details that I missed before.
Came accross your question for the Rotala Macrandra Pink and did a quick search. Have you ever tried this company: http://www.borneofish.co.id
Seem to have a good selection. I don't order anything online, and got more into growing plants, then exchanging sprouts with my local shops to get better / other plants.
Slowly getting to finish my 99G tank. Still many things to do, but as with you, very little time. Thailand is nice except for the 6 day working weeks I have here. Sigh.

Another one, your computer controlling the tank...heheee that one again. Any chance you want to share some on that? You're using linux, but what are you using it for? Only light? Or also measuring and dosing CO2 and ferts with it?

Would love to get something like that installed as well, still got time to sort that out. Hope you can give some directions on it.

Have a nice weekend and enjoy the holidays...

Luc


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## Luc

Hello Gilles,

I finally got my epoxy done. It's hard as glass and not tacky or anything anymore.
Now, after filling up with water, it slowly turns white....sigh.
Emptying the tank, and the epoxy turns clear again.
Just wondering, what type of epoxy did you use?
Do you have specificatons on type and hardener used?

Epoxy I'm using is PC600 with 0.5% hardener and 0.03% Cobalt.
It has short drying time, takes about 15 minutes after adding the hardener to becoming gel and not able to use any more.

Hope you can enlighten me on the epoxy you used....

Thanks and late but still, best wishes for 2010...

Kind regards,
Luc


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## Tex Gal

Have you upped your ferts as your plant mass has increased? If growth slows that's usually the first place to start looking.


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## Gilles

Long time no updates, had terrible algue bloom... Pondering if i will switch to WC soil...


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## Gilles

New video


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## Tex Gal

Beautiful. Is that Ambulia in the back of the L. "Pantanal'? That's a lot of fish in there. Any problems with that?


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