# My 40 Gal. ADA style DIY-Journal



## treepimp (Apr 13, 2006)

Hello everyone,
It's finally winter! I'm finally off work for the season, and what better way to spend money that I don't have than to build myself a bigger and better aquarium. Currently I have a very old 29g that I've set up with pressurized CO2, lights, filter, ph controllers and of course many plants. So in order to save myself a little money, I decided to build a 29x18x18 tank and tank stand that could utilize the equipment that I already have. I've spent the past week working on the stand which I built out of solid and ash veneered ply. I know that the stand doesn't resemble an ADA stand, but I was trying to match it to some bookcases that are already in the room.

The case itself...I built the top and sides out of ash veneered plywood, with a solid wood face frame and solid moldings around the top and base. 

















The doors I built out of solid ash with raised panels. Everything is sanded and ready for stain.









Well after two coats of dye, two coats of stain and four coats of lacquer the cabinet is nearly finished.









Hung the doors and installed hardware.









I installed racks on the one door so I have somewhere to store stuff. Right now I just keep it on the floor next to my aquarium, So I over did it with the storage in this set up.









I also installed a shallow drawer on top to store my scissors, tweezers and other tools.









Cabinet complete...

The lighting I own right now is a coralife 65w dual and have spent countless hours trying to figure out how to hang this thing above my aquarium. There seems to be no kit for haning the deluxe models only the plus and pro. Well after a bunch of thought I started on my plan. I decided to do some bent wood lamination (for the first time) out of the ash I used for the stand. Thought I was up for the challenge after reading the how to's on it...but I was wrong. All in all, after a huge glue mess on me the floor and the wood, I mangage to come out of it with two pieces of wood that look pretty ok for my first time. I plan on staining and attaching these to the back of the stand and then hanging the light from them. My lights sitting above my existing aquarium right now so I didn't really want to go through with the rest of the light hanging process. (More info to come when I set up the new aquarium.)









Lucky for me and my wallet, I have a friend in the glass business who is
currently building my frameless tank. He had it together this past Friday, but I won't get it until Tuesday or Wed. Wanted to let it sit over the weekend to cure, and then water testing will be done on Monday. The best thing about this tank is that he only charged me cost for the glass! $30.00 out the door for $150.00 worth of glass. I'll put pics up next week when I get it.

I have 3 bags of aquasoil and 2 bags of sand on order. They should also be here this coming week. If all things go as planned I'll have the tank set up by the end of the week.


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## spcyamada (May 13, 2005)

What an awesome stand! Looks like you're going to have a topnotch setup there. Sometimes DIY just doesn't look as good as what the name brands sell us, but in this case when it's done right, it looks spectacular. I can't wait to see what your new custom tank looks like. I hope you post more pics of the entire process.


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## lildark185 (Jul 7, 2006)

Very very impressive! rayer: How much did the whole cabinet cost to make? The idea of having racks on the doors makes a lot of sense especially for dosing bottles of fertilizers. Just wondering, are the holes in the back of the stand large enough in diameter to fit an electrical plug through?


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## irish (Aug 12, 2006)

Very very nice! I have been drawing up some plans to build some new stands for my existing tanks. Yours, however, is inspirational. rayer: 

Irish


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## John N. (Dec 11, 2005)

Very very professional looking! Love the cabinet, and the pull out drawer. I wonder how the bent wood pieces are going to hold up as your lighting hanging device.

-John N.


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## shake (Feb 26, 2006)

This is one of the best cabinets I have seen. Great work treepimp. Can't wait for the tank.


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## epicfish (Sep 11, 2006)

Wow, that's an amazing stand you have there. =)

Other people have used painted bent electrical conduit to hang their Tek fixtures. Maybe you can paint the conduit the same color as your stand if the wood doesn't hold. =)....speaking of which, a brand new Tek fixture would look amazing over your rimless tank. =P


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## Jdinh04 (Oct 7, 2004)

Love the stand, PMed you more about it. Hopefully I can get my 50g tank off this stupid desk and onto a nice looking stand like yours.

Keep it up!


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## turbomkt (Mar 31, 2004)

epicfish said:


> speaking of which, a brand new Tek fixture would look amazing over your rimless tank. =P


Ignore Nick. You're a tree pimp, and he's a Tek pimp.


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## rkfiske (Sep 16, 2006)

wow that stand looks really nice! is the coralife that you're trying to put up one of those silver dual strip models? I've been trying to figure out a way to hang mine as well, i'm looking forward to seeing how you do it! I agree though, a Tek fixture would look very nice. I had a 6 bulb Tek over my 55 gallon reef, they look really nice!


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## treepimp (Apr 13, 2006)

I never really calculated what the stand cost. It was a little though because a lot of the wood stock came from previous projects. So I did a quick once over and figured out my costs.

Wood/sheet goods=$125.00
Hardware=$45.00
Coatings=$25.00

Totaling out at $195.00 

Lildark,
The holes in the back of the stand I was gonna use for my tubes, but decided to go the side of cabinet route. I still have to drill the holes for that and my electrical plugs.

The light fixture that I have now is a coralife dual(the silver one with black sides). I would love to buy a new fixture to hang on the new aquarium, but I have to make due with what I have now as far as that goes. I'm really not happy with how close together the lights are in the fixture, so when I do get the funds I'll probably retire the thing.


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## treepimp (Apr 13, 2006)

*lighting update*

Thanks for the comments everyone! It's nice to know that people like what I've done seeing that I've had no real woodworking training.

Today I decided to take my light off of my existing tank for a couple of hours to see if my hanging idea would really work. I know I've spent countless time on here to see if anyone else has hung a coralife like mine, but have not found anything about it. So for those of you with the same fixture maybe this will help.

First off, I pretty much dismantled the whole fixture. Removed the black plastic sides, the acrylic shield, bulbs, and reflectors. Once all was removed, the ballast part of the light was easily taken off by just rolling it out of the stainless steel channel where the light starts to angle down.









Finding the balancing point of the light was a little tough because most of the weight of the light was in the ballast which made the back quite heavy. So I just played around with it for a while, balancing it on my fingers to find the point of balance. It actually balances out about 3" from the back of the light so thats where I marked and drilled 1/8" holes through the stainless case. 









Once holes where drilled I fed 1/8" braided cable through the first hole and then folded it over to create an eye and put cable clamps on. I would have liked to use thinner cable, but I couldn't find any clamps that I trusted to hang over the water. 









Next, I fed the same cable through the other hole and clamped. You can see the cable on the inside face of the light, this will be covered up with the reflector once its reinstalled. There seems to be just enough space between the reflector and the stainless case to do this.









I put everything back together, hung the light and adjusted to give about 6" of space above my mock up aquarium. This took a little time to adjust because of the single cable. 









The laminated wood I used for the hangers holds up well. When I hung the light they only flexed about an 1/8". I put an eyebolt in each piece of wood to hang the light, and a connection between the light and hanger so I can remove the light if need be. I'm still gonna trim off the excess cable, but want to wait for the actual aquarium to arrive.


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## turbomkt (Mar 31, 2004)

Looking good. What people need to realize about those arms is that laminated wood like that (we're not talking just a face, but rather several strips of wood kind of like leaf springs in a car) can be quite strong as you've demonstrated. All we have to do is look at something like a skateboard which is relatively thin, with several bends that don't flex much.


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## mahamotorworks (Nov 7, 2006)

That is a really good set up. Cant wait to see the tank.

MAHA


MAHA


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## hoppycalif (Apr 7, 2005)

I suggest that to avoid tearing the sheet metal of the fixture with the cable, you substitute a pair of equal length cables for the single one running thru both holes. That way a thin steel washer can be used to spread out the load at each hole. You can use an eyebolt in each hole with a thin nut on the inside to hold it. If there is room for the cable thickness, there should be enough room for the thin nut and washer. It would also look better with the two cables hanging absolutely straight down, without the curve at the bottom.

That is a very nice stand you made, too! One of the best I have seen here. And the laminated wood pieces to hold the light is even better. Excellent design.


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## Jdinh04 (Oct 7, 2004)

Keep's getting better TP, I have a Coralife light fixture as well. They aren't that great, but I couldn't afford anything better.


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## treepimp (Apr 13, 2006)

thanks hoppy,
I've been thinking so long about this little project that eyebolts in the fixture didn't even cross my mind. I'm gonna try that out. The only thing about that is the extra clamps I'll have to put on the cable for another eye might detract a little, but I do think the trade off would be to have straight cables. Thanks again!


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## turbomkt (Mar 31, 2004)

Consider chains! Easy to make the same length and you don't need to worry about clamps.


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## treepimp (Apr 13, 2006)

I took hoppy's advice and used eyebolts and two separate cables. I decided to go with 1/16" cable as well. The only reason I didn't use smaller cable in the first place was because I didn't think the connections would hold, but I tested them with 50 pounds and found that they didn't even budge. I think the light only weighs only 10 pounds so I think I'll be fine. As far as chain goes I like the look of the cables better. IMO I think it gives a little more refined look.


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## Jdinh04 (Oct 7, 2004)

Looks good, keep it up! This is for a 29g correct?


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## xcooperx (Jun 24, 2006)

i think he want to put a 29"x18"x18" tank on the stand, similar to ADA 75-P 42gallons tank, same L and H of 29 but the width is more wider.


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## turbomkt (Mar 31, 2004)

The wire rope is definitely clean.


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## treepimp (Apr 13, 2006)

I currently have a 29 gal., but the setup I'm going for now is for a 40 gal. I would have bought the 75p, but don't have the cash flow for it.


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## Wood (Jul 27, 2006)

I must say that this is one of the best DIY projects I have seen. VERY impressive!

I really think it would look superb if you somehow managed to make a hood/cover for the coralife fixture. Basically a nice bent piece of aluminum that would sit on top, over the front, and along the sides. It will not only completely camouflage the coralife fixture, but I think that it would make it so that the eyebolts will be hidden underneath the hood/cover/shell. I have no clue about bending aluminum, but I am sure with a single piece, bent to proportion, shaped properly so that it could just slide on and be held in place on the back, and polished, it would look great.

kind of like a nascar car. The outside is merely a shell, just there for cosmetics.... The inside is where it all is...

Keep us posted cause I love this journal already, just read it and really looking forward to more posts and the progress....

here is a poor rendition of what I was talking about. You could even do the aluminum thing at the top where they hang from....


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## treepimp (Apr 13, 2006)

That's a good idea wood. The light was one of the first things I bought when I set up my planted tank, and I really don't like the way it looks. I wish now that I spent the extra cash to get a little nicer one. I think bending and welding aluminum though is a little out of my league. The light will definitly be the first thing I upgrade when I save a little more money.


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## treepimp (Apr 13, 2006)

Finally got my tank. It's no ADA tank, but will work for me. I tested it for leaks yesterday. So far so good. My soil came in this week and I also went and picked up 180 pounds of rock. Spent most of the day today breaking down my old tank. It took a lot longer than I thought it would. I spent most of yesterday breaking rocks with a sledgehammer and picking out ones I wanted for the tank. I set the tank up and scaped it as far as I could without plants. My plants should be in next week some time.


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## Blue_Dolphinvn (Nov 12, 2006)

Your work with rock is very effective....the left side look ok but the biggest rock on the right is not very natural....


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## Jdinh04 (Oct 7, 2004)

Looking good man, PMed you more about the stand.


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## eklikewhoa (Jul 24, 2006)

looking really good!!!!


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## Troy McClure (Aug 3, 2005)

Excellent job with the rocks! What kind of rock did you decide to get and where did you get it from?

How/why did you mix the AquaSoil with the sand? Would it have been better to get AquaSoil Powder?


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## Steven_Chong (Mar 17, 2005)

Warukunee-- I'd try to see if there's a way to get more height. Not saying to choose bigger rocks, but I'd try some out (seeing as you were breaking 'em down you must have some bigger ones), as well as try a bigger slope to see if you might be able to get more height. Then after you see it with more height, think about whether you like it with more or like this better.


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## treepimp (Apr 13, 2006)

Erik, I didn't mix anything together. I did order some nile sand, but thought with the amount of rock I have that I might not have enough planting area with a decorative sand area. I used powersand M on the bottom, aquasoil, and a thin layer of aquasoil powder on the top. 
The rocks I chose are somewhat local, Michigan pictured rock. They come from the lake Superior area. I just couldn't justify spending $7.00 a pound on rock when I could get it for 10 cents a pound. 
I will be adjusting my rock placement a little. After spending an entire day (on and off) adjusting and setting up just the rocks, I wanted to see what others thought. Thanks for the comments and suggestions everyone.


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## goalcreas (Nov 20, 2006)

Sorry if I missed this earlier in the thread and this is a repeat question, but who made the tank if it is not ADA, and how much was it.

BTW great job so far, so many new ideas, I love how you hung the light, I have a Tek light I am getting ready to hang over a 75 gallon tank. I am no wood worker, more of a Metal guy, so I am sure to do something with electrical conduit instead of wood, but love the look.


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## treepimp (Apr 13, 2006)

A friend of mine put the tank together. He works in the glass business so I got the tank for the wholesale cost of the glass. I paid $30.00 for it, but he said the retail cost of the glass was around $150.00. 

Speaking of the tank my friend put it together a little differently than other tanks using only silicone to bond and seal. He used a UV curing glue which was designed specifically to bond glass to glass. The bond is actually so strong that the glass will break before the bond does. Then he used silicone to seal the tank. I've never really heard of this being done before, but it works!


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## goalcreas (Nov 20, 2006)

Now I don't know if that is the way ADA does theirs, but I was just discussing that with a friend the other day and I bet him that they used some sort of epoxy or the like to actually secure the glass together and then silicone seal it.
That sounds exactly like what your friend did, so I am willing to bet that that is how ADA and anybody for that matter doing all glass rimless tanks are doing it.

thanks for the insight and info


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## treepimp (Apr 13, 2006)

That very well may be. That may explain the cost of the ADA tanks. The UV glue cost $50.00 for 2 ounces.


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## shake (Feb 26, 2006)

I have heard of this glue. A friend of mine is a glazier and he uses a similar product. I'm not sure if it will work for aquariums though. Silicone has flexibility, where this glue doesn't. If there is too much pressure on the glass, the glass might crack at the joints.

I wouldn't think ADA would use this glue. If you look at ADA tanks from the top, you can see a thin layer of silicone between the 2 layers of glass. With the glue treepimp was describing, the glass is bonded glass to glass. It virtually then becomes one piece of glass. No gap between the 2 glass pieces.


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## goalcreas (Nov 20, 2006)

To me, that would not be sufficient to hold back the large volume of water in the tank, especially on the larger tanks. I would think you would have to bond the glass another way, now if you glaze it and the two pc become one, then that might not be structurally sound, but I do think that there would have to be some kind of bond at the joints along with the silicone. Maybe an epoxy, think Super Super Super Super glue.


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## bioch (Apr 8, 2006)

treepimp said:


> That's a good idea wood. The light was one of the first things I bought when I set up my planted tank, and I really don't like the way it looks. I wish now that I spent the extra cash to get a little nicer one. I think bending and welding aluminum though is a little out of my league. The light will definitly be the first thing I upgrade when I save a little more money.


Those tek lightings are really sexy.


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## goalcreas (Nov 20, 2006)

I just got a 4 foot 4 lamp Tek Light, man do I love this thing.
they do make a 3 foot and a 2 foot eBay: TEK LIGHT T5 HO 2ft / 4 LAMP FLUORESCENT AQUARIUM (item 7763541732 end time Jan-26-07 09:21:54 PST)
I am not sure which you would want, 3 foot would hang over a bit, two foot wouln't get all the way, but I think it would work.

Either way I have found a seller on Ebay that was absolutly the cheapest that I found any where. I have found the light for a few bucks less then he sold for, but add shipping and it was about $16 higher.
Anyway I paid $220 with Free shipping , Of course those were the 4 foot 4 lamp fixtures and the shorter ones should be cheaper. and the lamps you have to purchase seperatly, but there are some on Ebay that sell them with choice of 3500k or 6500k bulbs included, more for hydroponics then plant tanks (the bulbs) but the 6500 might work.

Sunlight supply also makes two other models, the Sun Blaze and the New Wave. I think the Sun Blaze is the one that looks nicer of the two and it is a little cheaper then the Tek but might only come in 4 foot the New Wave does come in 2 foot, here is one with bulbs in it for $139 shipped.
eBay: NEW WAVE T5 24 FULL SPECTRUM LIGHT W/BULBS FREE SHIP (item 200070432832 end time Jan-28-07 14:53:10 PST)

anyway, check out Seller deepwater extreme and or oceans notions


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## Jdinh04 (Oct 7, 2004)

Any updates on this?


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## treepimp (Apr 13, 2006)

*updates*

Well, I've finally had time to update my journal. My tank has been up and running for about three weeks now. My plants all came in great condition from aquaspot, even with 20 degree weather that week. I spent almost 6 hours just planting everything that day, and so far have not lost anything yet. I wanted to keep the setup this time very clean and neat, so I used few varieties of plants (My other tank was a mess of different plants and ended up looking a crazy half of the time). Now that it has had a little time to grow in though, I think I may need more midground and less background. I was hoping that the E. tenellus would get a little taller and more bushy, but so far its maxed out at about 2.5". I can't believe how fast the E. vivipara has filled in the background I've been hacking it back and combing it to get out the plantlets on a regular basis. So I'm thinking about pulling some of it and adding a nice midground plant. Any suggestions?

Day 1
Plants
Eleocharis vivipara
Echinodorus tenellus
Hemianthus callitrichoides 'Cuba'
Glossostigma elatinoides
Riccia


Week 2
I missed taking a pic of week one...oh well.
I've already had to trim the eleocharis. Most of the emerged leaves on the H.C. have melted away and new submerged leaves have taken their place. Riccia has more than tripled in size. If you look at the first pic and the second pic it's the same stuff floating on top, I guess it likes the conditions. I added 7 Rasbora heteromorpha's.


Week 3 
I added a few more Rasboras and 11 Amano shrimp
H.C. seems to be filling in pretty good. I had to relocate most of the riccia because it was blocking light. A lot of the Echinodorus has turned a nice red as well. I think I also need a midground plant in the back center to transition to the E. vivipara. Suggestions again?
Starting to get a little green spot and dust algae on the glass and rocks, so I'm upping my phosphate.



A pic I took of one of my amanos.


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## Afroturf (Apr 15, 2004)

Great tank love the colour of the rocks, in terms of the midground plant you were thinking about how about blyxa japonica or crypt lucens, i think these would fit in really well in this tank.

Is the riccia going to stay floating as i think it looks a little distracting and spoils the scape.


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## Afroturf (Apr 15, 2004)

Great tank love the colour of the rocks, in terms of the midground plant you were thinking about how about blyxa japonica or crypt lucens, i think these would fit in really well in this tank.

Is the riccia going to stay floating as i think it looks a little distracting and spoils the scape.


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## treepimp (Apr 13, 2006)

I was gonna tie the riccia down but ran out of space so I'm just letting it float for a while, but will take it out soon.


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## ir0n_ma1den (Apr 27, 2007)

your stand is SEXY! You could sell those for probably $400. I would totally buy one. I also how your lighting is hung, VERY CREATIVE. 
by the way... nice tank!


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## Aquaspot (Jan 19, 2006)

I actually missed this post! What a TERRIFIC project this is - from the DIY job (I love it) to the aquascaping.

The Eleocharis vivipara (tall hairgrass) may actually be too messy for your tank (a lot of work is needed in regular trimming to keep it neat). Echinodorus angustifolia or Vallisneria nana would have been neater.

Take a picture of the whole setup if you have time! I really like how the whole project was put together in such a short amount of time. 


Regards,
Ben


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## treepimp (Apr 13, 2006)

*update*

Sorry I haven't updated in a while. I've started back to work and am working around 80 hours a week. I will be posting some updated pics within the next few days. Thanks for the comments everyone.


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## harsh (Jan 22, 2006)

Yeah man...excellent everything. The cabinet is sooo sexy, great finish.


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## treepimp (Apr 13, 2006)

*updated pic*

I had a few minutes to take a picture, but not to really trim the grass. The tank has gone through a couple of changes since the last posted pictures, mainly I removed the glosso. I took it out just to make upkeep a little easier, the stuff was growing like mad which is a good thing I guess. The grass does manage to grow up and over the top of my tank within a week, so I've tried to keep up with major trimmings. I planted extra HC where the glosso was and it is filling in nicely. Never had any real algae problems with this tank...got a spot or two of BBA, some clado which I still pick out every now and then and thats about it.


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