40g ADA-ish journal - Journals

Gomer · 04-01-2005, 10:42 PM

it is late..I am tired and sweaty....but I thought I'd share. It sure is tough to both breakdown and startup a tank in the same day LOL

In the tradition of good journals, lets start from the beginning:

First comes the tank. This is a 3/8" Cast Cell Acrylic tank custom made. The stand too is custom made and is made of mahagony. Both were made by www.socalcreations.com The tank ran $260 and the stand (with nifty hinging and dual shelves) ran $480. Delivery was a tiny $30 right to my door.
alt image http://www.aquaticplantcentral.com/g...lCreations.jpg

First goes the Power Sand Special. It was quite odd when I poured it out. It looks black and dirty and looks to have a fair amount of peat in there.
alt image http://www.aquaticplantcentral.com/g...l_original.jpg

Next goes the Amazonia Aquasoil. I really like the color. You can crush it in your hand if you try, but I think it will be ok with normal use long term. Strangely there were bits of twigs and wood chips etc in the mix. Not sure if that is intentional or not.
alt image http://www.aquaticplantcentral.com/g...1/amazonia.jpg

Here is the layout I decided to use after some fiddling around. The wood is manzanita for the curious.
alt image http://www.aquaticplantcentral.com/g...s/4/1/wood.jpg

..and with plants. This is within hours of filling up the tank so it is a bit hazy. The water is a bit brown cause I forgot to clean out the filter after tearing down the previous tank (filter was on when removing lots of stuff and hence got mucked up). Overall, I am quite happy with it. I will move a couple things a little bit though. Give a couple months and it will take on a whole new shape! For those taking count, the plants are: HC, petite nana, marbled nana, blyxa japonica, weeping moss, narrow leaf fern, bobitus, rotala sp. vietnam. This tank is intended to be a low maint tank relative to my supercharged tanks I have done in the past.

040105
alt image http://www.aquaticplantcentral.com/g...040105day1.jpg

UPDATE 040705:
Water is a little brownish since I have yet to do a WC (tomorrow). I am noticing very good HC growth. I experienced some stunting/burned tips on the rotala. Not sure what is the cause of it, but it is recovering now. The rest of the plants ..well..they are slow growers, so it is hard to judge week to week LOL

UPDATE 060705:
I decided I wanted to keep this as a very low maint green tank and the rotala went against that, so I decided to re-structure things a little bit. This photo was taken about 1 week after making the change.

UPDATE 070805:
Tank is just about there. I'll be doing a photo shoot very shortly. Unfortunately, I lost a whole lot of fish (practically all of them) to a VERY resistant infection of sorts about a month ago. I'll have to find some more lemon tetras soon.

UPDATE 071405:
DONE! I am very happy with this tank and think it is probably my best creation so far.

MrHarris · 04-01-2005, 11:20 PM

looks great! keepin postin more pics

i wanna see what it looks like after everythings grown in.

Jdinh04 · 04-01-2005, 11:51 PM

Looks great so far, you've spent quite a lot of money on the tank and the stand. I would pay that much for such a thing and would rather build it my self.

dennis · 04-02-2005, 08:38 AM

I think that amount Gomer wants to spend is entirely his decission, and most certainly only his buisness. Do you judge Amanos or the Senski's tanks by how much the materials cost?

Tony, Totally awesome.. Thank you for sharing and definately keep us updated. As usual, your work is an inspiration for others. Guess I don't have to worry about AGA 2005

Jdinh04 · 04-02-2005, 08:45 AM

I never said he couldn't, I just specifically said that I wouldn't spend that much on a tank. Not saying that i'm cheap, its just saying in my honest opinion I don't think it's worth it. He may think its worth it, but thats him.

gnatster · 04-02-2005, 09:17 AM

Tony,

Thanks for sharing, the pictures look great, very nice setup you have there. I'm looking forward to see it progress.

<rant>
What people spend or do not spend on their setups is not subject of this tread. There are many alternatives in the hobby and because a person has choosen to spend more then you think is prudent should be of no concern to anyone. We all make choices based on our wants desires and ability. Please do not disparage others for taking a route you choose not to.
</rant>

**John P.** · 04-02-2005, 09:39 AM

Nice equipment, Tony. That thick acrylic should prevent the bowing problems I've experienced with my ClearForLife tank.

What are you using for CO2, filtration, etc?

Piscesgirl · 04-02-2005, 10:00 AM

Beautiful Gomer -- can't wait to see how it progresses! I like acrylic tanks myself.

SAWALLACE · 04-02-2005, 10:41 AM

Awesome Gomer! Did you find the manzanita branch locally? It looks amazing! I've been told it grows in SoCal, but I haven't found any yet.

ringram · 04-02-2005, 10:46 PM

Looks great! I can't wait to see it grow in. I like the look of the wood and I can't wait to see the carpet when its all grown in. Hopefully you don't have the problems that my carpet was having with algae(at least initially) -- my choice was glosso, but can't quite tell what yours is. You've given me an idea...The property that my parents own we often go camping at has lots of manzanita. Maybe I'll bring a saw next time I go and get one of the dead branches