mv1175

Guaiac boy,

Nice tank man. I'm planning to set up a 180 in about a month. I have a couple questions for you. How much did you pay for the driftwood? I was wondering if it makes sense to buy online vs lfs? Did they just pick out the pieces for you? Also why is necessary to have a bypass on the UV sterilizer?

Thanks,

Matt

BryceM

I think the driftwood was about $70 (their large package). You can see how much of it came in the box. I ended up using about 1/2 of what came. There were many nice pieces to choose from. I'd recommend manzanita.com without hesitation. The only issue is that you might need to call more than once to actually get it shipped - they're pretty busy.

I put a bypass on the UV unit for two reasons. First, I wasn't sure it was something that I'd use very much. Routing water around it when not in use cuts down (a bit) on overall resistance. Second, it allows the unit to be removed for maintainence without shutting off the closed-loop and CO2 reactor. The UV needs a new lamp, wiper gasket, wiper blade, and quartz tube from time to time. I currently run it for a few hours after big substrate disturbances and whenever I introduce new fish.

mv1175

guaiac_boy,

Thanks for the info. I've looked at manzanita.com and see a wide selection of different types of wood. Which one did you get? the red brances? or the sandblasted? sorry man i'm a newbie at this stuff. The price seems so much cheeper than lfs. How did attach the wood together?screws? silicone?
You don't run the UV sterlizer to reduce algae constantly? Thanks for explaining why you bypass of the UV sterlizer. Man, the plumbing on this thing is gonna take a lil more planning than I orginally thought.

Thanks,

Matt

BryceM

I just called them over the phone and asked for an aquarium package. It isn't exactly listed on their website. He hand-picks the stuff and looks for the branched, interesting pieces. You won't be disapointed by the quantity they'll ship.

As for positioning, I used some rather large rocks for hardscape and just sort of wedged the wood in between. It isn't perfectly stable and moves around a little. I actually like this since the scenery changes a bit over time. You'll need to soak it for at least a month to allow it to become waterlogged. Other people don't really like the movement and use stainless-steel screws to attach the pieces together. I've never tried the silicone thing, but it would probably work too.

Regarding the plumbing.... if I did this again I'd probably use flexible tubing. The newer connectors make this pretty easy. I dunno - I like how mine turned out, but the setup took an enormous amount of time. It isn't very easy to modify or clean the circuit either.

BryceM

A random update: Over the past 2 or 3 months I've been increasingly bothered by surface scum in this tank. I've tried removing it manually a few times, with no long-term success. I've implicated it (in my mind) with poor surface gas exchange, reduced light transmission, and anything else that seem amiss in the tank.

The available options seemed to include scum eating fish (mollies - yuck), an airstone (which kicks up bubbles all over my MH light covers), or a surface skimmer. I settled on Eheim's skimmer and voila! Once it finally arrived and was hooked up, the surface was sparkling clear within 12 hours. It takes a little fiddling to get it running correctly and it does plug easily with stray debris, but so far I'm pretty happy with it. A minute or two of attention per day keeps it running fine.

I also just received three new ADA 150W HQI 8,000K bulbs. It'll be fun to see how they look. My current bulbs are quite yellow and don't bring out the reds & oranges very well. Maybe I'll take some before & after shots with identical camera settings so you can all see the difference. I'll wait for 40 or 50 hours of burn time on the new bulbs to get a true comparison. I'm going to be majorly bummed if this melts my crypts..... fingers crossed.

redstrat

That sounds like a great idea to take the before and after shots for your new lights, I for one would love to see it. I'm glad your surface skimmer works for you too, I have one on my tank and I'm really happy with it, I barely have to mess with it, the occasional adjustment (5seconds of my time) and i clean off the debris at WC time, mine is really easy to remove and replace. I can have the whole thing cleaned and replaced in a minute or two, no big deal when I'm waiting for the tank to refill anyway. Good luck with the crypts I'm sure they'll be fine, I doubt you'd get a whole meltdown if anythign maybe just a leaf or two. I guess anything is possible

apistaeasy

Bryce, do you get a any noise with your surface skimmer? How unsightly is it in the tank? It's prolly easy to hide in your 180, how easy do you think it would be to hide in a smaller tank? I'm debating purchasing a skimmer, and want your thoughts.

DelawareJim

The Eheim skimmer/surface extractor doesn't look much different than a fatter shortened intake tube. It has a floating rocker inlet for the surface and a screened intake at the bottom in case the surface intake gets clogged or the level drops to where it no long skims.

I've had one for about 20 years and it's one of the best investments I made. No noise, easy to clean. The rubber fittings have started to crack after all this time, but Eheim has an on-line parts center, so I should be good to go.

Amazon, of all places, has it for $30. The curved tube at the top of the picture should be swung around to the left to see how it works in the tank. The 3 suction cups stick to the back glass, 2 in, 1 out.

http://www.amazon.com/Eheim-EHEIM-Su.../dp/B0002AQY76

Cheers.
Jim

BryceM

Yep, I agree with what DelawareJim said. It is a bit finicky when plant debris gets stuck in the intakes. It needs a 10 second cleanout every day. The water surface is perfectly clean now though - a huge improvement in the overall visual quality of the tank. It's also completely silent if adjusted properly.

Kelley

Your tank has inspired me to try Crinum calamistratum for myself. I just received my plant from aquarium plants.com as part of a group order through my fish club and am quite pleased with the quality that I received. I can't wait for it to take over my little 29 tank!