ADA 60p Rimless build

[jo.jacques]

Hey everybody,

Just wanted to show you my newest build.

ADA 60p (17G), Rimless, "Iwagumi" style (i did not follow 100% the Iwagumi guidelines)
ADA Aquasoil - Amazonia
Finnex Ray 2 24"
Eheim 2217 (a little overkill for this tank) with lily pipes
Pressurized cO2 with 10 pounds tank (that will last LONG on a 17G, hehe!)
Hydor Inline heater - 200W (incoming)
On IKEA stand
Dosing PPS ferts (incoming)

The idea was to have a minimalist, yet classy and clean tank... Some sort of Iwagumi setup, but with a touch of personal ideas.


***SORRY FOR THE HUGE PICTURES!****

[jo.jacques]

Ordered the tank and substrate on AngelFins.ca, really great service and super fast shipping!


The tank fits perfect on the IKEA stand, couldnt be happier (expecially for the price vs the ADA stand which is 600$)



I also got all my glass piping (lily pipes, co2 diffuser, etc.). I opted for a generic brand, I wasn't feeling like spending 300$ for the ADA kit! :p

[jo.jacques]

I found a small but great piece of Driftwood at our friend's "La Niche", and had some Java Moss laying around from my old tank, so I decided to create a "tree like"

After looking like crazy for some HC Cuba (Hemianthus callitrichoides) and some Dwarf Hair grass, ended up ordering some from a guy on kijiji, but I got ripped off for the Hair grass. "La Niche" came to save the day by ordering some Dwarf hair grass for me at a great price!

Here what it looked like after planting my plants for the first time. (The DHG in the left corner was what the guy on kiji sent me. Believe it of not, there is 15$ "worth" of DHG in this picture. (ripped offff).




I opted for the DSM (Dry start method) for the tank, knowing the HC Cuba would just unroot and float if the roots were not established in the substrate a bit. I managed to control my patience for 5 weeks and let it dry start during that time. I sprayed twice a day, with a saran wrap on top of the tank to keep moisture (saran was off 2hours/day to let Co2 circulate).

[jo.jacques]

(Fast forward 5 weeks)

Finally installed all the piping (used clear piping instead of the green Eheim one) and got ready to fill the tank.

Annnnd this Tuesday I finally filled the tank and started the cO2 and filter. For now, I am blasting Co2 (8bps) to try to help immerged-submerged adaptation.





The Eheim 2217 is a little overkill and the flow was WAY too much at first, it even unrooted some HC .
I had to play the quick disconnect valves to adjust the flow to something reasonable.

So I am now 3 days with a filled tank, and looking carefully for any signs of algae. And I think I found a bit after only 24 hours


If you want to help me with that (appricated), you can always go see my other thread, where I ask about it:
http://ovas.ca/forum/index.php?topic=57844.0

[daworldisblack]

Great start! Looks like a Treat-Yoself kinda endeavour :p Should turn out great! my only suggestion is to perhaps reconsider the moss for the tree - xmas, weeping, flame, erect would look much better as a end-product I think.

Also general discussion: Thought about it once - will having too much co2 in the tank drop pH drastically and make water too acidic for plants? More co2 is better but any repercussions to look out for?

re: Algae, looks like thread algae or clado - scrape it with a toothbrush and tug it out (roll it around toothbrush like spaghetti around fork).   

[charlie]

Nice start & thanks for sharing.
Keep the updates coming.

[jo.jacques]

Thanks!

Sure I thought about Xmass moss, but none of the sellers and I spoke with had some at the time + the java moss was alredy a little established on the wood...

I will think about swapping it in the future.

For the cO2 question, I honestly don't know, I've been told to blast the co2 for a while, then slowly reduce to a regular dose. I will have to look out for that!

[fischkopp]

Nice start. Please keep us posted on the progress.

About the CO2, after a certain saturation is reached, adding more isn't going to help. It can indeed have adverse effects as a too high CO2 saturation will harm higher organisms.

What seems to be quite important with ADA soil is to keep up with water changes in the beginning. That means at least once a week more than 50%. I am learning this the hard way ...

[exv152]

Nice setup. You sure didn't spare any expense in your tank selection. Heavy water changes in the first week or two are recommended by ADA, and personally I've found if you don't the soil releases tons of organics and other stuff, and different forms of algae follow. Also, really good selection of LED. The Finnex ray2 has great PAR specs at that height.

BTW, I would consider slightly closing the double taps on the 2217, ironically someone else brought this topic up on a famous US planted tank site.

[jo.jacques]

Thanks fellas.

I did a 50% WC tonight and will do another on probably sunday.

Unfortunately, I had to spot treat with H2O2 to kill some small algea, but with the bubble it created, lots of the HC uprooted and went floating. ARGGGGG!!!


Exv, I did post about it on theplantedtank.com, and decided to close half of the valve to minimize flow....would it be there you saw the other thread?

[exv152]

Exv, I did post about it on theplantedtank.com, and decided to close half of the valve to minimize flow....would it be there you saw the other thread?

Yup. I was one of the replies. 

[Mike L]

 Wow that is a lot of filter for a 17gal tank.  Just make sure to reduce the output not the input. If you close the inputs you will introduce air bubbles to the system. Having said that what if you split the output and add a second pipe.

[charlie]

Wow that is a lot of filter for a 17gal tank.  Just make sure to reduce the output not the input. If you close the inputs you will introduce air bubbles to the system. Having said that what if you split the output and add a second pipe.

Great point Mike.
In regards to water changes the more the better at this stage, personally 3x a week of 50% > is the least I would do at this stage of the tank.
CO2, , as far as top limits to cause issues with bacteria at this early stage you would need to be saturating in excess of 200 ppm, it will not harm the plants.
If you experiencing HC up rooting due to the O2 bubbles from the spot treatment, that is a good indication your HC is not rooted & established, I thought the same thing when I viewed your picture, there is not a lot of indication that it`s carpeting after 5 weeks of dry start, looks like you just planted it in small clumps.
Regards

[jo.jacques]

Thanks everybody, and indeed Mike, good point!

I was having lots of bubbles coming out of the outflow, wasn't sure why. Now all is good!