|  |  | | 
February 18th, 2009
|
| | Fish Helper
| The new project has started...UPDATED 06/27...
Well after staring at an empty 125G tank for the last few months, I finally have a direction I want to take with this tank. I have been debating for some time now on SW or FW but have decided to go heavily planted FW with this one. I just started adding the gravel tonight but will post progress pictures as/when I make some haha. Filtration will come by way of 2 - XP3's and a 13.5G sump. The only reason I am using the sump is to get my thermometers out of the tank and try to keep it as clean as possible. All of my inhabitants from the 58G community will be moved to the 125G as well as a few new creatures. Stocking list is as follows...
8 - Harlequin Rasboras
3 - Clown Loaches
3 - Bala Sharks
3 - Kuhli Loaches
1 - Banded Leporinus
1 - BN Pleco
2 - CAE's
Future inhabitants...
3 (More) - Clown Loaches
6 - Coryadors (Assorted)
8 (More) - Harlequin Rasboras
As always, any suggestions are welcome and appreciated...
Last edited by MPrudent; June 27th, 2009 at 11:18 PM.
| 
| | |
February 18th, 2009
|
| | Fish Keeper
| Sounds like a fun group! | |
| | |
February 18th, 2009
|
| | Fish Bum
| best of luck should be great | |
| | |
February 18th, 2009
|
| | Moderator
| Hi MPrudent
Congrats on the 125!  Glad to hear you are going FW, not that SW wouldnt have been great either. I'd love to have the confidence to do SW but Im going with what I know lol... Your stock sounds great and cant wait for photos of the finished product! 
I noticed you have the one long 72" light strip instead of going with the two 36" light strips. Do you like that one better? Im in the process of buying all the equipment for a new 125 that Im getting on the 25th and since nothing comes with the tank I have to research all the extra's myself. Thought I would go with the two lights rather than the one long one. But do not know enough about the pro's and con's of either. What do you think?  | |
| | |
February 18th, 2009
|
| | Fish Keeper
| It sounds good to me, although I'd be sort of weary about the CAE's, how old are they? Are they still eating algae? The big school of clown loaches sounds really cool, though. | |
| | |
February 18th, 2009
|
| | Fish Helper
| Capekate: I hate the 72" light but it came with the tank when I bought it. It also will not do what I need it to do as far as wattage goes for my plants. Lighting will be accomplished by 2 36" Dual 2X96W power compacts. I'm sure I could find some sort of retro fit kit for the 72" light but i really dont like the look of it anyways haha.
Megusta: The CAE's are almost 2 years old and have never even come close to bothering my other fish. I will rehome them if they do but so far they have been really "nice" to everyone haha.
Last edited by MPrudent; February 18th, 2009 at 07:48 PM.
| |
| | |
February 18th, 2009
|
| | Fish Helper
| Ordered some Seachem Onyx Black Sand today and will be making "plant beds" in between the river rock. Hoping it will look as good as I think it will but we will have to see. | |
| | |
February 18th, 2009
|
| | Fish Keeper
| I love a heavily planted tank! What type of plants will you be putting in there? Are you using a different substrate such as Eco complete or going with normal gravel?
I cant wait for some more pics as you progress! Best O' luck!
-Nate- | |
| | |
February 19th, 2009
|
| | Fish Helper
| Nate: Since it is still Winter the plant selection around here is still very poor. I will be going with "staple" plants until it warms up a bit and my LFS has a better selection or I get antsy enough to have some shipped. Plants for now will be java moss, java fern, crypts, anubias, cabomba, anacharis, and whatever grasses I can find around here. I ordered some Seachem Onyx sand to make planting beds and plan on having the natural river rock look like pathways through the plants. | |
| | |
February 19th, 2009
|
| | Fish Addict
| Wow! Nice tank. I wish I had room for a 125. I can't wait to see it when you get it set up.
It is going to be beautiful.  | |
| | |
February 26th, 2009
|
| | Fish Helper
| UPDATE: Lighting kits from AH Supply are in! I will be building the canopy this weekend to house 4 - 96W Power Compact Fixtures as well as a dual fan kit to keep everything nice and cool under there. Also ordered a few new pieces of driftwood which are currently soaking as we speak. I hope the wood lightens up a lil bit...it was very dark when it arrived. | |
| | |
February 26th, 2009
|
| | Moderator
| Hi MPrudent
its so much fun putting a new tank together but a lot of work too. Your's sounds great and I love your stocking list. Im trying to put together a stocking list as well and I love the idea of the clown loaches and glad to hear they do ok with cories as well.
Your driftwood wood may always stay dark like that in the water. I have wood that looks like yours and it is dark. But thats ok.. Its still very nice and I love the pieces you have. I cant wait to see its final set up.. its going to look gorgeous with the plants!  | |
| | |
February 26th, 2009
|
| | Moderator
| Love the drift wood. That's a huge tank. Have fun with it. | |
| | |
February 26th, 2009
|
| | Fish Master
| that driftwood is great and that sounds like an interesting stocking list | |
| | |
February 26th, 2009
|
| | Fish Addict
| I love the driftwood as well. Which to me makes it look natural. The natural look is my favorite. Can't wait to see the end result. It is going to be awesome. I love big tanks going to get me one some day. | |
| | |
February 26th, 2009
|
| | Fish Mentor
| Love the driftwood and your stocking list! It's gonna be amazing! Looking forward to seeing pics later! | |
| | |
February 26th, 2009
|
| | Fish Keeper
| Wow, I can't wait until its all set up, it'll be amazing! | |
| | |
March 15th, 2009
|
| | Fish Helper
| Ok so the last few weekends have been very busy and i haven't been able to build the canopy. I finally got a free weekend and was able to put the canopy together. The finish trim and staining still need to be done but the canopy is built and the lights are in. I under-estimated the brightness of the power compacts from AHS Supply. I highly recommend their kits. Easy to install, wire, and light output is crazy. Here are some photos of the build...
Last edited by MPrudent; March 15th, 2009 at 11:44 PM.
| |
| | |
March 15th, 2009
|
| | Fish Helper
| And doing what I do best...staring at/into the tank... | |
| | |
March 16th, 2009
|
| | Fish Lore Newbie
| wow, its starting to look really good and i also love the idea of having driftwood | |
| | |
March 23rd, 2009
|
| | Fish Helper
| Well I have the tank cycled, most of the plants are in (not in the right spots yet), and I have started to move some of the fish over. I added the plants to start getting them to fill out and I will complete the final placement next weekend. I have moved my school of balas over as well as my cardinal school of 25. Sorry for the bad photo but the tank water is still a little cloudy. | |
| | |
March 23rd, 2009
|
| | Fish Keeper
| Looking great! Which light kit did you get from AHS Supply? Is the canopy thier kit as well or one you made? If you dont mind me asking how much do you have into the hood/lighting?? I need some info for upgrading a 55. Thanks!
PS It seemed like your cycle was instant!@ | |
| | |
March 23rd, 2009
|
| | Fish Bum
| Dude, I am amazed by the DIY Skills you have. I look forward to seeing your progress. | |
| | |
March 23rd, 2009
|
| | Fish Helper
| My cycle didn't take too long since I stuffed my other community tank filter with 2 huge bonded filter pads for about the last month or so and then put those directly into one of the baskets in the xp3. I also used the old pantyhose method and got it to cycle it pretty quickly.
As far as the lighting goes. I spent about $385 on the 4 x 96W bright light kit (including 4 bulbs @ $28 each). For a 55G you could get away with just buying the 1X96 or 2X96W kit which would be more than enough light. The 2X96W kit with bulbs would be about $185, so not too bad.
The canopy was a DIY project from scratch. Went to Lowes, bought some lumber, and poof I had a canopy. It took me and a buddy about 6 hours to construct with simple hand tools. We did cheat and rent a compound miter saw haha. | |
| | |
March 23rd, 2009
|
| | Fish Keeper
| thanks for the info and again...nicely done. I cant wait to see it a few months from now when things really start growing out. Are you using Co2? | |
| | |
March 23rd, 2009
|
| | Fish Helper
| No CO2 right now... I have started dosing with Flouish, LeafZone, and Flourish Iron. I think with this setup I will be growing most of my plants out in smaller tanks with CO2. I currently have a 58G tank setup with CO2 just for growing my plants. I am going to try it this way since maintaining a fast growing 125G planted tank will be a ton of work just to keep it from becoming overgrown. We will see how this goes and I may change my plan if it doesnt work out that way. I do have plans for a store bought/DIY CO2 setup but still need to plan it all out and start collecting the supplies. I am going to try to find my foreground plants tonight and get those planted in the 125G. I will post photos once all those are in. | |
| | |
March 23rd, 2009
|
| | Fish Addict
| Yeah I understand on the time thing.  There just not enough time in the day sometimes to get everything done. Well, it sure looks like everything is coming along nicely. I will be looking for the end result I'm getting the big tank fever....  | |
| | |
April 1st, 2009
|
| | Fish Helper
| Ok well I have bad news and good news to report. Yesterday I got home from work and had a horrible algae bloom which resulted in green water that was so cloudy I couldn't see the back of the tank. I also had a crazy nitrate spike so I added more stem plants to try to combat that. A buddy of mine and I went on a search for a Diatom filter which we quickly found out needs to be ordered online because nobody in Saint Louis carries one. I decided just to buy 2 Marineland Magnum HOT's and installed the micron filter in both and just set them on the front of the tank. I was amazed when I got home today! The water is by no means crystal clear but it's crazy how well those filters work. All levels are back to normal... am - 0 ni - 0 and nitrate - 10. I have attached a few before and after photos. Also, notice the growth of some of these plants in just 8 days from the photo posted on 03/23/2009. | |
| | |
April 1st, 2009
|
| | Moderator
| Looking great! 
Can you tell me more about the Marineland Magnum HOT's with the Micron Filter. I have been using Diatom filters for years and LOVE THEM!
Last edited by aquarist48; April 1st, 2009 at 05:54 AM.
| |
| | |
April 1st, 2009
|
| | Fish Addict
| Wow!!! It really looks great! | |
| | | | |
Similar Aquarium Fish Forum Threads 
