Jim

OK guys, I know a lot of you know my pride and joy, the Mystic Swamp:



Well, I had a bit of a disaster last week, I overscrewed my CO2 regulator and ruined it. FYI, RedSea and most other regulators turn on & off BACKWARDS from most standard stuff. Don't learn tis the hard way like I did. So before I went and bought another one I talked to my bro-in-law who does a lot of welding to see what he knew about regulators. He told me not to screw around with paintball canisters, they've been using CO2 tanks for years where he works and to go to the nearest welding supply shop and see if they could hook me up.
Well, I was definitly curious, so the next day I called my boss and found out who our welding supplier was; turns out they're just a few blocks from my house. So I grabbbed my busted RedSea regulator and payed this place a visit. I have to say, I definitly made this guy's day, because to his knowledge I'm the first person to visit his shop for a fishtank...lol. Anyway, it took a couple days to get it right, but he found what I needed.
It's a GenTec CGA320 CO2 Flow Gauge Regulator attached to a 20 lb tank. The thing is HUGE... it looks like a scuba tank on steroids. But it's very nice, much more precise than the RedSea. It's hosed to a needle valve for even more flow control, then a gang valve to split it betweem my 2 tanks, then to seperate bubble counters and finally into the intakes. One cool thing is I found a really old-school gang valve (it's actually a 5-way even though I'm currently only using 2) that's more like needle valves than the newer ones, and is much more precise. Very nice.
Oh, and if I did the math right, it may be more than a year before I have to refill it! hehehe
So anyway, enough babbling, here's a pic. Obvously it's the big ugly grey thing between the tanks. I'll find or make something it hide it eventually



Oh, and I almost forgot... I rebuilt my 48 gallon Column tank about 3 weeks ago. (It's the one on the left) It's still really new and not totally cycled or grown in, so I wasn't going to post any pictures yet. But what the heck, you guys get a sneak preview. FYI, if it looks like I have a slope almost 15" tall that is holding it's shape, it's because I have a slope almost 15" tall holding it's shape!! If everything works out all the crypts along the front will root it in solid! Also, if it looks like my swamp is a bit empty, it's because I trimmed back some plants and transplanted others to the column tank. No biggie, they'll grow back soon enough.

Narcicius

beautiful tanks, you should came to my house and design one.

Jim

thanks, but you don't need me, it's not that hard to do.

Narcicius

It's more of the fact that I can't find any good driftwood. I had an amazing piece in my mom's old 20g but I can't find it anywhere.

Gamer

*drools* That's a very nice set-up. Even though you can see the big tank between the two aquariums, although it'll definately look much better when you find a way to block it I'm sure.

I'd love to have something like that set-up between two 55 gallons but the next 55 I get will have to sit across the room from the one I currently have instead if right next to it..

Thanks for the heads up, I had my eye on RedSea's with a paintball cannister or cylinder for awhile now but now I guess I'm leaning toward AquariumPlants best regulator with a 20 lb tank and the internal reactor would be driven by the powerhead. That's probably the best that I can do right now for CO2.

Jim

I'm going to hide in it someday soon, just don't know in what yet.

1 thing about the regulators... the GenTec regulator was about $125.00, which was actually less than the RedSea (around $175.00). But the tank I bought was another $125.00, so with tax and the CO2 fill it was around $300.00. Now I know that's not cheap, but it's definitly worth it in my opinion to have a real heavy duty regulator. Plus this is a 20 lb tank, and if i did the math right, it could go over a year between refills!

Oh, and I don't use a powerhead, I run my CO2 straight to my Magnum 350 Canaster intake.

Jim

there's a place based about an hour or 2 from here called "Catch The Drift". I've never actually been there, but all 4 of the pieces you see in these tanks had their labels when I bought them. I don't know if they have a website or anything (yet), but they definitly have a line on some of the nastiest, wierdest, most twisted wooden beauties I've ever seen. I'll see what i can find out.

Mr. Greg

Wow, that will be quite the sight with those two tanks next to each other.
I have to say I love the way you lay them out. Great designs!

Any ideas what you will stock the rebuilt column tank with yet?

Jim

Ahhhh, someone had hit the $65,000.00 question! hehehe. I've been running it thru my head over and over... I want something peaceful but intelligent, a good breeder and parent, but something that'll also leave the plants alone. Definitly it has to be able to handle the Amazon environment (low pH soft water), and most important, I'm in florida and unless I buy a water chiller (not happening), I need a fish that can handle an average summer tank temp of 85-90 degreees.
Take all of these into consideration and you're left with pretty much only one species:

Discus!

Peterpiper

You can get CO2 mixes to so if your going to go with the welding grade CO2 get the 99.9% pure.
If you want you can get the G size bottle think its around 25-30kg (50-65lb) but that would last around 5-6 years.. lol

Jim

Hmmmm, I didn't know there were purities, but when I got it, the guy at the store said it was pure CO2, and I'm not getting weird side effects, so I'm assuming it's the 99.9%. As for a bigger bottle, it's tempting, but this one is huge enough...lol

Mr. Greg

Discus I think would be a great choice for that tank. Beautiful fish.
I had a friend who tried to breed them, but had some bad luck. I always wanted to try it, but I guess that disuaded me. You'll have to let me know how yours go, so maybe I can get the drive to try myself haha.

Jim

If I can get the column tank to run as cleanly as the bowfront then I think they'd do good. But Discus are tricky, so I want to wait until this tank is really set, cycled, and aged.