SUBORPHAN

well finally after months and months of preparation and investment i am ready to set my first ever tank in ADA style. to start with the hardware ingredients....

Float glass tank 90x45x45cm.
cabinet-DIY clone of ADA cabinet.
Giesemann Infinity lights 150wMH + 2x24w T5
Eheim Pro2 2026 external canister filter
ADA in & outflow lilly pipes.
Jaeger 150w heater
AquaMedic co2 injection with solenoid (ADA cabochon ruby, glass counter, and pollen glass beetle 30)
ADA old black wood
PowerSand 3x2l bags
AquaSoil Ammazonia 2x9l bags
Tourmaline BC
Clear Super
Bacter100

tank


power sand


added clear super


added bacter100


added tourmaline BC


AquaSoil on top


nicely sloped


old black wood positioning

SUBORPHAN

next comes planting. it is an ongoing process and more plants will be added as i go along.

filled the tank a bit with water...


planting process








a shot of lilly pipes...



and the ADA difuser...



a shot from the top...


the plants i have used so far are:

Glosso
cardamine lyrata
hydrocotyle vulgaris
golden creeping jenny
micranthemum umbrosum
hemianthus calitrichoides
and christmass moss (which i have left on the surface floating till i get the ferns and anubias from Richard)

oh yeah.. i have been adding green bacter (1 drop for every 10l of water every day) and Phyton Git (1 drop for every 5l of water once a week) as recomended by Mr Amano. in a couple more days will start adding BrightyK. using this little treat for it:


put a bag of TourmalineF inside the fliter canister as well. the filter is superquiet and there is a good flow everywhere in the tank (in every corner).

the pearling as you can see in the pics is caused by the substrate. for some reason every time i inserted the plants in with the pincettes a load of bubbles exploded out of the substrate.

some pictures of the inside of the cabinet:
pump..


tools and co2 canister and solenoid....

SUBORPHAN

here is a picture of the Cabochon Ruby and the Drop Check:



after receiving some advice regarding the planting of glosso i decided to empty the tank and replanted the glosso in single stems.


the hydrocotyles have already released two new leaves so i thought better not to disturb them...


received 5 species today from AquaEssentials...

1 x anubias congensis
7x microsorium pteropus
1x tropica bacopa australis
1x tropica hemianthus micranthemoides
1x tropica ceratopteris thalictroides

planted the tropica ones around the tank back and midground



and tied the java fern and anubia on the wood. i am happy with the ferns..


not sure about the anubia....


some pictures of the final result..

SUBORPHAN

by the way the lighting is running for a total of 7hours on timers programmed as follows:

2x24w T5 for 2hours
1x150w MH for 4 hours
both above for the last hour.

CO2 is on 2 bps. plants are pearling like mad. i have not done any tests for Ph, KH, GH etc so i think i might do some tomorrow.

the first three days the tank only had GreenBacter(every day) and on the fourth i started adding BrightyK. this regime of dosing will continue for the next three weeks after which i will start adding Step1.

Ajax

Nice looking tank bro! Is working with the ADA products great or what? I am addicted to that stuff

As for testing I have done a bit on my new set-up as well just to see. Ph & Gh were about where they were in the old set-up (Ph 6.6, Gh 7) & the Kh was 0 (was 5dH). Nitrites were 0 (I used a seasoned filter & a few cups of the old substrate), Nitrates 0.5, phosphates near 0. So it appears that the only factor I can see the AS lowering is the Kh.

xcooperx

nice start, I love how the bubble diffuse on your Beetle difuser not like my Air Stone Rhinox 2000

Troy McClure

Huh? Did you mean to say "I love how the bubbles diffuse on your beetle diffuser not unlike my rhinox 2000" ? It took me a few times re-reading that sentence to get it. If so that's good to hear because I'm getting some of the nano diffusers for Christmas and I really want to get a Rhinox 2000 for my 50gal.

goalcreas

Snowhillbilly I have heard that shipping from Aquaforest is like 1/2 price compared to shipping from ADG

for the 90p ADG was over $100 to ship
Aquaforest was only $48

worth looking into if you want ADA stuff.

snowhillbilly

I wish I could get that stuff up here without paying an outrageous shipping cost. Looks like your setup should treat you well. Thumbs up for a job well done.

Skyfish

I love it so far, great job.