journal Vlad's AR850 Community Planted Tank

[Vlad]

Hi All,

 

Been keeping RCSs and Caridina Typus for some time now in a modified Aqua One AR850 (in the form of lighting and filtration). The following are the details:

 

Tank: Aqua One AR850 with matching cabinet.

Filtration: Aqua One Nautilus 1100 with bio balls, Japanese filter mat, coarse sponge, fine sponge and wool pad.

Lights: 4x 9W/1000lm offroad LED floodlights (gutted the floodlights and installed into the light hood along with RGB LEDs and 3x 40mm Noctua fans for cooling). 2 of the RGB LEDs also act as moonlight.

CO2: ISTA compact dual gauge regulator with integrated solenoid, ISTA BC, ISTA S/S check valve, Dupla check valve, DIY external reactor, 1L ISTA cylinder and 1L Up Aqua cylinder.

Heating: DIY external inline heater compartment housing Eheim Jager 250W heater.

Timers: Two DIY timer boxes from Jiffy project boxes, each containing two 7-day programmable timers with battery backup (no loss of time and program during power outtages). One for CO2, one for Main lights, one for fans and RGB lights, and one for moon-light.

Substrate: Plain inert gravel (with years worth of fish poop for nutrients), originally capped with quartz sand but has mixed in since then.

Ferts: Was using Dino Dung but now Osmocote aquatic tabs. Also does Dino Pee and Spit, and Seachem Flourish.

Auto Doser: Two pee/stool sample bottles using inline taps to dose diluted Dino Pee and Spit.

Fauna: 100+ RCSs, 6 Caridina Typus, 30 Cardinal Tetras and 7 Lemon Tetras, and lots of Ramshorn and Pond snails.

Flora: Staurogyne Repens, AR Mini, Subwassertang, Limnophila Aromatica, Anubias Barteri, Java Fern Windelow, Regular Java Fern, Crypt Wendti, Hygrophila Polysperma, Hygrophila Corymbosa, Hydrila Verticillata, Ludwigia Glandulosa, Ludwigia Repens, Crypt Balansae and Native Vallisneria.

Hardscape: 2 pieces of driftwood, toppled over one another (where the Subwassertang sits on).

 

Photo of how it was at the beginning (with fluros gutted out and using 5050SMM module LEDs):

 

Fitted the 4x CREE offroad LEDs (notice the narrow beams):

 

The beams were too narrow, even though they claim to be flood lights so I removed the lens otherwise I would have needed another 4 for the back:

 

I then gutted each CREE LED and mounted to a flat aluminium bar with SMD 5050 RGB LEDs and some 7000K Eagle Eye LEDs:

 

The most recent photo:

 

A photo of the cabinet showing the filter, reactor, heater, timer boxes and CO2 gear:

 

One of the RCSs:

 

One of the Caridina Typus:

 

 

[fishmosy]

Great picture of the typus. Thanks for sharing.

[perplex]

nice job, the tank really looks good, the mix of plants i like :)

[Squiggle]

Very cool setup dude, love the LED retrofit, very nice work!

[Vlad]

Cheers guys. I am actually looking for an old light and filter compartment to redesign the lights, utilising the whole area. Also plan to put black background behind the tank which is hard as I only have 1.5cm of space against the wall.

[GotCrabs]

Now Vlad has jumped a board.

[Vlad]

I am a shrimp whisperer...

 

Took the following photos with one hand while the other was in the tank during this morning's feeding time. I know that my RCSs were tame and always descend on my hand(s) but the Caridina Typus were always shy and scamper away. This time however...

 

[GotCrabs]

Move over Cesar Millan, Vladguan is the "Whisperer" (said in a soft, gentle, some would say creepy voice).

[KillieOrCory]

Nice tank and mods. Love the shrimp photo's too!

[newbreed]

Love the shrimp whisperer pics! Amazing!

This tank has certainly thrived from your remits, it looks brilliant.

Looking forward to more updates! Cheers

[Vlad]

Bought a sheet of coreflute and a can of flat black spray paint from Bunnings for the background. Measured up and trimmed the coreflute and gave it three coats of paint and then spent an hour on Saturday trying to put it in position behind the tank. Finally managed an ad hoc, temporary fix. I then thought about pulling the tank out from the wall a little to have more access so on Sunday, sitting on the floor, feet against the skirting, I pulled each side out 10mm, enough to stick my hand behind the tank and redid the attachment. I have left the tank in that position to make it easier for future maintenance.

 

Anyhow, here is a photo before the background:

 

Now with the black background. The photo does not do it justice. It looks more dynamic in person and makes the plants stand out more and makes the water look clearer instead of like tannin:

Edited October 20, 2014 by Vlad

[blaneyoba]

Haha must try hand feeding myself ! ,tanks looking really nice mate :)

[newbreed]

It's amazing the effect a different coloured background can have on a tank! The plants do stand out heaps more.

[Vlad]

Yes. There was acutally no background before, just the off-white coloured wall.

[2OFUS]

Haha must try hand feeding myself !:)

WOWZA

[fishmosy]

I like both backgrounds. The dark background makes the tank look gloomier.

[B3nn0]

well planted looks great

[Squiggle]

Background look amazing dude, well done!

[OzShrimp]

definitely came a long way! Are you using the built in filter along with the canister? The built ins are easy to modify to save money and increase filtration performance,

[Vlad]

Cheers guys. OzShrimp, I am only using the Nautilus 1100. The trickle filter will cause degassing of the CO2. I was using the trickle filter before CO2 with Japanese Filter Mat, noodles and polishing pad. I also extended the spray bar to go all the way to the end of the second tray. I also stuck a piece of the JFM into the gurgler to completely remove the gurgling noise. The woolpad also reduced the spray noise so the trickle system was almost silent.

[Vlad]

Update:

Bought a 3 week old Aqua One Nautilus 1400 (with receipt, 1 day after putting up a WTB ad on Gumtree) for $100. I gave the seller some plants for exchange as well. My 1 year old Nautilus 1100 will be put up for sale soon.

 

Spent 3 hours on Monday morning swapping out the Nautilus 1100 for the Nautilus1400. Accidentally let out a lot of water (into

the left cabinet) from the top of the reactor as I forgot the outlet hose was still in the water. Just as well I had all electrical equipment in the right cabinet. Two holes were made at the base of the top filter compartment so the U-bend sits on the tank frame. This way, I can remove the entire top filter compartment and access the rear of the tank for cleaning/maintenance a lot easier.

 

The plan is to fit some Eagle Eye LEDs into the top filter compartment to better illuminate the rear of the tank (as the light hood is biased towards the front of the tank) which will hopefully stop the rear plants creeping forwards to get to the light. I plan to either install 6x 3W Eagle Eye LEDs or 2x 5W Eagle Eye LEDs all along the front edge. Will update with photos once that is done.

Anyhow, the extra flow is definitely noticeable with lots more O2 being generated and more swaying of the plants and debris flowing about. Interestingly, the 1400's motor has the same power rating as the 1100's motors, both at 22W. The 1400 has 1 more basket with a total of 4 sections instead of 3 (the bottom-most does not have a basket).

 

I also fished out 5 RCSs that were living amongst the densely packed bio balls at the bottom of the old canister. 3 very red ones and 2 not so red ones.

 

I also noticed that my large Crypt Wendtii at the right has produced a couple of offsprings via runners. Both Crypt Balansae have also produced offsprings via runners. Needless to say, the Native Vallisneria has been popping up all along the back of the tank.

 

Anyhow, got home yesterday afternoon to see the Subwassertang pearling like mad:

[perplex]

you notice much difference with the new pump?

[Vlad]

No difference in terms of noise and it is still only a 22W motor. Flow is definitely more noticable. With the 1100, the streams of oxygen from the plants hardly gets disturbed on their way up but with the 1400, they move sideways as well as up. Mind you, I am running my filter with a Fluval Edge pre-filter over the intake strainer and it is a fairly dense foam.

[jayc]

I like your DIY inline heater using the eheim jager.

 

Care to do us a step by step build guide?

[Vlad]

I like your DIY inline heater using the eheim jager.

 

Care to do us a step by step build guide?

JayC, are you the same JayC on AquariumLife? If so, there is a detailed build thread there (inline heater with Australian components). I have provided a detailed list of parts required. The hardest parts to get are the Heyco cord grips and the clear acrylic rods. The rest are readily available from Bunnings. Heyco cord grips can be bought from NPA (in Adelaide) which is the sole importer and distributor of Heyco products in Australia. Acrylic rods can be bought from plastics factories, however, they only sell them in 1800mm lengths.

 

Anyhow, I will try and put one up on here when I have time. There won't be photos though.