[RestlessCrow]

YAY!!!! WHOO-HOO!!!!!! :::::: Doing the little happy crow dance::::::::::::::

The tank is upstairs and IN PLACE! In my infinite wisdom, I chose a day of freezing rain to carry a large glass box up a set of ice covered stairs.....

But we got it in without bustin' anything. Woo Hoo! eace:

I really, REALLY appreciate the comments and input from everyone who's been following this build..... Gipsy... intothenew.....bratyboy.... and everyone else.... I really appreciate the interest. My new predicament is that I decided to scrap the massive scale driftwood idea since the background is so coarse to begin with, and go with a more "wispy" type of upright driftwood....... And those suckers are expensive at LFS!!!!! Last thing I need to be worrying about right before Christmas.... but still.... I wanna at least have some plants and water in it for the NYE party.... and I can't get the substrate in until I figure out the wood thing..... I'll figure that out soon.... and of course.... keep you posted.

I know..... You wanna see pictures..... so without further adieu..... (And there's one special pic in there for intothenew)

DG Finishing up the paint on the folding doors hiding the washer/dryer.

The tank... IN PLACE..... (before I cleaned the dried diatoms off the glass.)

Photo 1 for Intothenew:

AND..... Photo 2 for Intothenew..... a bottle of glue for you!!!!

Final shot... lit up.... front glass cleaned... showing how all the colors come together.....

This following week should.... SHOULD see me aquiring the required wood... adding substrate and plants and firin' the sucker up! I'm going to inquire at the LFS if he will cut me a bit of a deal on the driftwood if I place a plant order with him and offer to give him some Endlers once mine start breeding. (I may try to talk him out of at least one or two more Endler Girls since the one I have is being harassed by the boy who's.... Ummmm... "Very amourous" to say the least.) Hopefully he'll work with me.... if not.... the project will just progress slower. Thanks for reading guys....

 

[intothenew]

Cheers.

 

[Bunnie1978]

Great work! Great repair job! Yeah! OK, I don't have alot of clippings I can send, but I have some Mayaca, Ludwigia Red, and Limnophila Hippuroides that are due for some trimming in the near future. I can't promise they would be hitch-hiker free though because I have algae and snails. I have adequate fish to keep it in check on both counts so it's not a nuisance to me.

 

[RestlessCrow]

Great work! Great repair job! Yeah! OK, I don't have alot of clippings I can send, but I have some Mayaca, Ludwigia Red, and Limnophila Hippuroides that are due for some trimming in the near future. I can't promise they would be hitch-hiker free though because I have algae and snails. I have adequate fish to keep it in check on both counts so it's not a nuisance to me.

Thanks Bunnie! I think I might go down to LFS and bite the bullet and hand him a shopping list of stuff I would like... I have to look up the Mayaca and Limnophila, but I DO know what the Ludwigia looks like I have some in my little "test tank" that is going bonkers. I'm going to trim that and use that to start off, but it is only three stems after all. I WAS going to take all the plants out of the little test tank for the big one, but I like it so much that I think I may move it upstairs to the bedroom and turn it into a shrimp tank. (If I can only figure out why I can't keep shrimp more than two weeks.) The Endler's liverbearers are getting BIG and the Kuhlies seem to be having a ball in there too.

I may take the crypt, the Lotus and the "unknown" sword out of the little tank but leave the rest alone...... I don't know what I'm going to do. Have to talk to the head Honcho at LFS and see if he'll work with me just a tad.... I was going to provide him with a shopping list and see what he can do for me. I'd rather work with him than Petco, because he's a true fish geek and he gets all excited over little things like Endler babies.... That.... and I'd also rather work with a local business any day of the week due to my "Political views" of Wall St. vs. Main St. (That's a subject for a whole new blog.... LOL I do enough of that on Facebook to drive my friends nuts.)

As always.... More to come.....

 

[giypsy]

Thumbs up to "Buy Local", 'Nuff said.

Why have we not crossed paths on FB? I am a member
of a couple of aqua-related groups there. Other than
an aqua-plant vendor, I have yet to find any serious hobbyists, unlike here.

Edit: I scraped my history/cookies/et all yesterday, so today when I logged
in, I could not even get to my own Journal the regular way. When I posted
this, I somehow never saw the unveiling. Very nice; I love the centering
of the tank under the peak, frames it & makes it's own little showcase.

P.S. Better take good care of Ms. Saint Of-Patience & Hair-brained-Schemes;
she is a keeper.

 

[RestlessCrow]

There will be photos this evening.... Having issues with the laptop and the plug that charges it. (Thank God I can solder too....)

The poor... poor little tank got gutted this morning..... the Crypt, Microsword, Lotus, and Unknown Sword got transplanted today. OMFG did that lotus root in!!!! It was only in there for two weeks!!!!!!

The poor Endler's and Kuhlies were wondering WHAT the heck was going on. (LFS Gave in and sold me another female Endler.... The other girl needed a break from all the attention she was getting from the boy!)

When I broke down and went for broke at LFS and got a new heater and almost a hundred bucks worth of driftwood.... I placed a plant order. He said everything should be in this weekend. Picked up three glassfish and plopped them in..... and I executed a perfect example of ******* Moonlighting inside the hood too... Been a busy day for me! Photos to follow later this evening or maybe tomorrow morning. Depends on how ambitious I am.

 

[Zapins]

There will be photos this evening.... Having issues with the laptop and the plug that charges it. (Thank God I can solder too....)

Me too... I may not be on later tonight to enjoy your pics!

 

[Bunnie1978]

I'd really like to do a DIY LED light for my 75... maybe you can do the step by step?

 

[RestlessCrow]

Wow. That's all I can say.... What a journey.... and I know it's only just begun.....

Tank is up and running.... My plants arrived at the LFS this weekend and I had to go out snowplowing. The suspense was killing me. Spent Saturday night sliding down a driveway backwards, trying to aim for the center of two stone pillars... and my wheels were spinning FOREWARDS.

Sunday after I woke up.... First place I went after coffee was LFS to get my plants.

Here's the first pic.... adding the gravel around the outside to contain the topsoil substrate:

Added some gravel to the shelves just for kicks.... I can always brush it off if I don't like it....

Topsoil added. It was a challenge because it was semi-frozen...

MY ******* MOONLIGHTING! Works awesome by the way.....

Kuhlie seems to like it.....

Planted....with some new furniture that DG found on Craigslist:

Full tank view:

Left side... Rummies cruising about....

Center:

And right.... with the most awesome piece of driftwood I've ever seen. (Didn't mind spendin' the money on this piece....)

The hardest thing right now is not spending money on fish... I mean.... it IS only a few days from Christmas....

Plant list (off the top of my head):

• Crypt, can't remember variety
• Vals 'Corkscrew'
• Dwarf hairgrass
• Microsword
• One.... unknown, unnamed sword
• Rotala 'Indica"
• Rotala 'Magenta'
• Red Ludwigia
• Red Tiger Lotus
• Small bunch of Java Moss

Fish Stocking list. (as of 12/20/09):

• 3 glass fish
• 1 Clown Loach for snail control
• 2 Kuhlie Loaches, more to come as budget allows
• 6 Rummynose Tetras
• 6 Cardinal Tetras (More to come)
• 1 Clown Pleco
• 3 Endler's Liverbearers... 1 boy, 2 girls.

That's it for now.... center set of lights crapped out today.... have to remove hood to figure out why. I'm going to add some of those gas charged cylinders to help lift the hood. Takes a bit of co-ordination and strength to lift it.... even to feed the fish. Also going to cut a small access door into the hood and hinge it to make it easier to feed. (won't have to lift the whole hood to feed them then....)

:tea: I know it's only just begun..... but I'm happy for now.

 

[RestlessCrow]

I'd really like to do a DIY LED light for my 75... maybe you can do the step by step?

Bunnie.... I checked into doing an DIY LED setup.... and then I checked the price of blue rope lights..... That was enough to make up my mind.....

The rope lights come with little clips to hold them in place. I left them coiled and plugged them in to heat them up and make them more flexible, and then laid the hood upside down and ran the lights.... It really.... really was simple. I used a fifteen foot string of lights and they provide just enough light after the main lights go off. I'd like to see just a TAD more moonlight...... but for the price of them? Ya can't beat a string of blue rope lights... Ya never know. I may add a second string, but I don't see it happening right now.

 

[Bunnie1978]

That's an aweome idea!! I'm not sure it would work for my display tank because I don't actually have a hood though, just light fixture on legs. Maybe. I'm a genius, I can figure it out.

 

[Bunnie1978]

Read this in a book for my literature final... thought you would appreciate it:

"...the majority of humans were followers and yearned to be told what to do and believe rather than think for themselves. It is easy to follow and not feel the weight of personal responsibility." from Maximus in Catland by David Garrett Izzo

 

[RestlessCrow]

Read this in a book for my literature final... thought you would appreciate it:

"...the majority of humans were followers and yearned to be told what to do and believe rather than think for themselves. It is easy to follow and not feel the weight of personal responsibility." from Maximus in Catland by David Garrett Izzo

That quote is awesome! It captures the spirit of the quote I use....

 

[RestlessCrow]

That's an aweome idea!! I'm not sure it would work for my display tank because I don't actually have a hood though, just light fixture on legs. Maybe. I'm a genius, I can figure it out.

Ummmm.... find a string of regular old Christmas lights and drill holes in your fixture and plug them in the holes? It would look funny though with all those wires on the outside of the fixture. Just throwin' it out there to maybe spark another idea...

 

[giypsy]

Ummmm.... find a string of regular old Christmas lights and drill holes in your fixture and plug them in the holes? It would look funny though with all those wires on the outside of the fixture. Just throwin' it out there to maybe spark another idea...

Not if an artfully arranged cornice molding could be fab'd.

I waited patently. All during finals week I occupied myself by moving
a blog & fighting with code for an old blog. I see it was worth the wait.
I am a fan of the minimalist look; however in this case I cannot wait to
see what the grow-out produces.

Here is my Christmas present to you, play around with this "geek toy"
and see how your dream fauna for that tank might work.
I'd be interested to know and so would the author of the toy.
www.aqadvisor.com

 

[RestlessCrow]

Not if an artfully arranged cornice molding could be fab'd.

I waited patently. All during finals week I occupied myself by moving
a blog & fighting with code for an old blog. I see it was worth the wait.
I am a fan of the minimalist look; however in this case I cannot wait to
see what the grow-out produces.

Here is my Christmas present to you, play around with this "geek toy"
and see how your dream fauna for that tank might work.
I'd be interested to know and so would the author of the toy.
www.aqadvisor.com

Hey Gipsy. Good luck with moving that blog. I recently had to search through Myspace to find one I wrote in 2007 that I felt needed to be brought back out and posted on facebook. I eventually found and posted my ten point treatise on "winter etiquette" or... "Driving in the snow" (From the snowplow driver's point of view.)

I too am a fan of the minimalist look, however in this tank..... I am looking for the overgrown jungle look. I'm trying to balance this two ways: Budget vs. appearance. I didn't buy EVERY plant that I put on the list for LFS to order for me, but I believe I got about 80% of the varieties he ordered for me. I also added a school of 6 cardinals, 1 clown loach for snail control, and 1 clown pleco.

I love the new toy. Thanks for the Christmas gift! You have me curious as to who the author is however. I found it interesting that it wouldn't work in firefox and I had to switch over to IE to get it to work. It's quite interesting the results.

Three warnings come up:

1: At least five Kuhlies are recommended in a group. I knew this already. I only have two at the moment. When I was in the LFS this weekend I was going to get some more, however they had a sticky note on the tank: RIP 25 Kuhlies, ph 7.8. (I guess LFS Owner was trying to teach the employees a lesson with the note.)

2:A Clown loach is not recommended for your tank. It may eventually outgrow. (WOW. in a 90 gal? that's what I chose based on the measurements they provide) BEFORE I purchased the Clown, I had a conversation with LFS Owner and we decided on a Clown for snail control. I expressed my concern about him getting too big, and asked if he would take him back when that happens. In his best creepy, latin name speaking, fish geek laugh, he simply said "I LOVE big clown loaches" (Honestly.... it really creeped me out!) It made me feel better about the purchase. I KNOW that without him I will have a serious snail problem as I transplanted out of my little tiny tank that was seriously overrun with pond snails.

3: At least 3 Clown loaches are reccomended in a group.

It is telling me that my filtration capacity is currently 147%, and my stocking level is 59%.

Interesting....

Still on the fish list wish is at least 15 or more... more cardinals. I'm waiting to see how the six I have are acclimating. They're eating very well so all seems good. I also want at least 6 more Rummies too. The color on these little buggers is awesome! When they first arrived home, they were stressed and had no red noses. (Totally understandable) The next morning they had colored up better than I could have imagined.... I love how tightly they school too.

LFS has some marbled hatchets.... I think My hood is sealed tighly enough to get away with them. They seem to school very tightly at the store and I could use someone zooming around the top.

I'm still considering adding some Java fern to the left side Driftwood piece.... that or allow it to get covered in moss. The RIGHT side piece of wood is so awesome looking that I don't really want anything growing on it to cover it up. I can't wait for the Rotala to start growing in.

I'm also starting to have an issue with this brown "goo" growing on stuff. It's growing on the glass, and on the background. I took a turkey baster and blasted it off the back last night and it looks much better. (and scraped the glass of course) I'm assuming it's diatoms? Input would be welcome.

There's also some small algae "tufts" growing on the crypt and on the microsword. I'm actually getting concerned about the little microsword because it is getting QUITE covered....

I should mention that I've got a DIY Co2 system up and running, and it goes into the intake of the Fluval 305. Initially I would get bursts of bubbles coming out the output, but it seems to all dissolve now. I had a brainchild last night. I've been using regular baking yeast, but I'm going to switch over to Champagne yeast for the next round. Here's why.

I make homemade, organic Ginger Ale. My first batch I used bread Yeast and it came out fairly good. For the second batch, I used Champagne yeast. I make it in those Flip top Grolsch bottles. Well.... the last bottle I opened (with the Champagne yeast)..... heh... Hehhh... heh..... Let's just say that I spent a half hour cleaning kitchen cabinets, counters, and floors, because that sucker exploded EEEEVERYWHERE..... I felt like I won some sort of race or something!

Also.... I have to post more pictures of the "overall project" because I got a WILD hair up my butt yesterday, and swapped the furniture in the two rooms involved in this project, and decorated... set up lamps.... All that good stuff. Dear Marie came home.... walked in.... and LITERALLY..... for the FIRST time ever.... was ACTUALLY SPEECHLESS! The first thing she did was ask me if I have a fever. The second thing she said was "Who are you and what have you done with my boyfriend?" (Special thanks to buddy who gave me the first two plants for helping me move the heavy stuff up the stairs.)

Wow. That was a lot to type. I'll try to get some "whole project" photos up very soon.

 

[RestlessCrow]

OK! "WHOLE PROJECT" photos.....

Ok... if you've been following.... this is what I started with:

And here's what I ended up with:

And a few "detail" shots:

That's it for now..... watch for "grow in" updates.... and more questions about this brown "Schmutz" that's growing everywhere.

 

[Andy Ritter]

I too am a fan of the minimalist look, however in this tank..... I am looking for the overgrown jungle look. I'm trying to balance this two ways: Budget vs. appearance.

I can definitely understand the budget issues, but I would recommend planting heavily as soon as you can to help with algae issues.

A Clown loach is not recommended for your tank. It may eventually outgrow....I KNOW that without him I will have a serious snail problem as I transplanted out of my little tiny tank that was seriously overrun with pond snails.

At least 3 Clown loaches are reccomended in a group.

Clown loaches are cool and definitely will take care of your snails. They will grow big, but it will take a looooong time. I had three for several years, and they might have grown an inch in that time (it's been awhile, so my memory might not be serving me well, but I don't think that you need to worry). I would also suggest getting a couple more.

Still on the fish list wish is at least 15 or more... more cardinals. I'm waiting to see how the six I have are acclimating. They're eating very well so all seems good. I also want at least 6 more Rummies too.

Cardinals and Rummynose are some of my favorite fish. The more the better.

LFS has some marbled hatchets.... I think My hood is sealed tighly enough to get away with them.

I also really like Marbled Hatchetfish. Make sure there aren't any holes they could fit through, because inevitably they will manage to fall through one if it is there. I have them in my tank, and they definitely will jump (be careful to pay attention while feeding; I've had them get spooked by other fish coming up to get floating food and on the floor they went).

I'm also starting to have an issue with this brown "goo" growing on stuff....I'm assuming it's diatoms?

I'm not the best to offer advice for some of the various plagues that can occur, but if is definitely diatoms, I've heard that otocinclus cats will eat it.

I felt like I won some sort of race or something!

You did! You had said that you wanted to get this project done before Christmas, and you made it! You have earned the right to run out in the yard and spray champagne (or ginger ale) all over the place while screaming and hollering like you're Jimmie Johnson after winning four championships (or whatever other race driver you choose to imitate).

It looks great, too. You and your girl friend should be thrilled. Now you can relax and enjoy the Holidays.

Andy

 

[RestlessCrow]

You did! You had said that you wanted to get this project done before Christmas, and you made it! You have earned the right to run out in the yard and spray champagne (or ginger ale) all over the place while screaming and hollering like you're Jimmie Johnson after winning four championships (or whatever other race driver you choose to imitate).

It looks great, too. You and your girl friend should be thrilled. Now you can relax and enjoy the Holidays.

Andy

LOL Andy.... Thanks for the chuckle. I never thought about it this way... I'm waiting for a check in the mail today, (PLEASE let it come...) And I'll be able to finish Christmas Shopping, and I will consider looking for a few of those cats you just mentioned. (Mailman JUST came as I was typing this. Gotta run outside and see!)

But I should mention that I'm more of a John Force kinda guy. (although the guy IS just a little TOO intense) I remember when I used to drag race my bike I used to get the pre-race jitters SO bad I'd forget to turn the switch on and then wonder why my bike wouldn't start.... and then when I got up to the line..... Everything would go silent and I'd get tunnel vision picturing the quarter mile ahead of me.... (Getting goosebumps just thinking about it.) LOL Next project! Get and build another drag bike! (although I have a feeling Marie will NOT be thrilled about that one....) Anyway.... I digress.... I'm happy and now I've got the fish buying bug. Thanks again for the laugh.

 

[wearsbunnyslippers]

dood, the couch is facing the wrong way, get that tv outta there and turn the couch around