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Trigon 190 'Crypt Corner' (PFK featured)

Gary Nelson

Member
Joined
20 Jan 2011
Messages
1,292
Location
Leicestershire
Well, I thought I best start my journal that was first started 6 months ago now.... yes another corner tank I hear you say, but I believe I have conquered this one :thumbup: well I think I have anyway.

I originally had an 'aquaone' corner tank about 2 years ago, which to be honest I had always struggled with flow issues and plants never being that successful, although I could grow really good algae!
After about a year of this I decided to get a 'normal tank' and opted for a faithful Rio 180 in white, but sadly after buying it and setting it up, I decided it was just not for our room and it did not look right... one being right next to the fireplace, hard to describe but it just was not for me or right for the lounge - it just looked cramped and squashed in.
After much debate I decided to sell it and go back to another corner tank and went for the Trigon 190 in dark wood, but I’d already got ideas for flow and how I wanted it to look in our home.

I started to set this up at the end of December 2011 and I wanted a fairly low maintenance aquarium, something looking very green and natural and to be home to my Rainbow fish.
So here on the first picture is as it stands today, followed by the build and progress...

DSC_0141.jpg


DSC_0142.jpg


The build begins...end of December 2011
First job was to paint the back of the tank black and I used 'black board paint' this gives a very nice even finish. Then the wood was positioned into place... I wanted this to be coming forward towards the front glass and just out of the water.
P1000733.jpg


Eco Complete and rock going in...
I decided to bank the back right up and inserted some pieces of plastic cut from a few old DVD cases to help strengthen it and keep the gravel in place once banked up; I also used up some of the rock that did not have the best shapes or colours and placed these towards the back – this also helped to make the wood feel very solid and kept it in perfect position.
P1000736.jpg

P1000741.jpg


I tied some java moss onto a few places on the wood and began filling, as I wanted to get my inlet and outlet pipes all working. I opted to use the grey Ehiem kits (1&2) and I was going to attempt to add a skimmer on as well as I hate the surface scum on the water.
This meant straight away that the Trigon back lid had to be modified to the shape of the taps, so I made a template and then got to work with my Dremel. I wanted this to look almost as if it had been cut and fitted at the Jewel factory, so a nice neat and tight fit around the contours of the taps was VERY important to me, and me being a perfectionist it took me some 2 hours!
DSC_0322.jpg


Once I was happy with the lid, I began planting up. I opted for some lower maintenance plants and went for:
Java fern ‘needle’
Monoselium tenereum
Cryptocoryne wendtii 'green'
Cryptocoryne wendtii 'brown'
Echinodorus tenellus
Eleocharis parvula
Microsorum pteropus 'Windelov'
Staurogyne repens
Anubias bart v. nana
P1000743.jpg


My skimmer was an adapted V2 compact – again my Dremel was out as I had to adapt some sections of the Ehiem connectors so that the skimmer would sit at the correct height for the water. This was allot of trial and error but I got there in the end, the skimmer intake can be adjusted, so I opted for around 90% of the suction on the lower basket inlet and 10% on the surface skimmer… this keeps the water's top crystal clear!
The outlet is just one tapered Eheim nozzle, no power heads or extra pumps and I’ve found this to be perfect flow for the whole tank.
DSC_0323.jpg

DSC_0321.jpg

DSC_0324.jpg


As things were going great, I decided to treat the tank to a new regulator for the co2 – I opted to go for the ‘Easy Aqua Twin Gauge Regulator & Solenoid’ from Aqua Essentials, after watching Richards review… this ticked all the boxes for me and I have to say it’s a very well made and reliable bit of kit!
DSC_0260.jpg

DSC_0261.jpg


I am currently using the up atomizer for co2 distribution along with a G6, running at 2BPS – some of you may have read on my other posts issues with the G6, but after this was swapped out a while back I’m pleased to say it’s been fine.
I am EI dosing with dry salts direct into the water column and again, plants are responding great! So, so far so good….
DSC_0319.jpg

DSC_0320.jpg


More photos will follow and I will take some pics of the progress and capture some of the inhabitants as well.
DSC_0142.jpg
 
Re: Trigon 190 'Crypt Corner'

Healthy and nice looking tank! :thumbup:

Big thanks for showing us/me a good solution for storage of tools, the magnetic rack on the door :clap:
Definitely will buy a skimmer as soon as possible, seems to save a lot of work.
 
Re: Trigon 190 'Crypt Corner'

easerthegeezer said:
lovely looking tank, really like it!

Thanks Iain :thumbup:


Polyester said:
Healthy and nice looking tank! :thumbup:

Big thanks for showing us/me a good solution for storage of tools, the magnetic rack on the door :clap:
Definitely will buy a skimmer as soon as possible, seems to save a lot of work.

Yes the magnetic strip is a Wilkos special, £2.00 :thumbup:
 
Re: Trigon 190 'Crypt Corner'

Hi Gary,
that set up just looks awesome!
Ive been awaiting your journal for some time now, and although the white juwel iwagumi had me intrigued i am not dissappointed with the darkwood trigon :thumbup:
Everything looks perfectly suited and exceptionally healthy in there :clap:
Im loving the attention to detail in the hood notching and think the skimmer is a great and subtle addition.
Im really pleased this has come together for you mate as i know it must have been disheartening suffering the issues you did with the G6.
I think your probably right in going for the trigon, as i imagine the rio 180 would have fitted pretty tightly into that spot and looked a little out of place being tucked up against the fireplace....however id like a cheeky photo of it just to see it in all its white shiny glory :)
Great work, very neat and im really looking forward to following the progression and finding out more.
Cheeerio for now,
Ady.
 
Re: Trigon 190 'Crypt Corner'

What time are you coming around to do mine? Amazing, really nice looking tank and too good sorted. Where are your cabinet lights from and where did you find plug timers like that?
 
Re: Trigon 190 'Crypt Corner'

Ady34 said:
Hi Gary,
that set up just looks awesome!
Ive been awaiting your journal for some time now, and although the white juwel iwagumi had me intrigued i am not dissappointed with the darkwood trigon :thumbup:
Everything looks perfectly suited and exceptionally healthy in there :clap:
Im loving the attention to detail in the hood notching and think the skimmer is a great and subtle addition.
Im really pleased this has come together for you mate as i know it must have been disheartening suffering the issues you did with the G6.
I think your probably right in going for the trigon, as i imagine the rio 180 would have fitted pretty tightly into that spot and looked a little out of place being tucked up against the fireplace....however id like a cheeky photo of it just to see it in all its white shiny glory :)
Great work, very neat and im really looking forward to following the progression and finding out more.
Cheeerio for now,
Ady.

Cheers Ady, thanks for your great comments - yes my rio 180 was short lived, 10 days to be honest, the cabinet was hand built, which took me longer to build than setting this up.... here are a couple of pics for you....
P1000711.jpg

P1000710.jpg



adamhawk said:
What time are you coming around to do mine? Amazing, really nice looking tank and too good sorted. Where are your cabinet lights from and where did you find plug timers like that?

Thank you - the lights are from Wickes, I fitted a door sensor onto each door, so as soon as either of the doors opens the lights come on - great for when I'm doing maintanence :thumbup:
 
Re: Trigon 190 'Crypt Corner'

Cheers mate, yes I am.... To be honest it was the mrs that kept telling me to post some pics up on here (3 months ago) now. Glad I have done though as its nice to hear such positive comments. The pump dispenser on the prime bottle was from an old stress coat bottle I had some years ago and the thread fits perfect on the 500ml bottle! Easier to dose too, as you know you don't need much of this as it goes a long way.
 
Re: Trigon 190 'Crypt Corner'

mikeappleby said:
Why the switch in CO2 from the AM1000 to the Up Atomiser? I did the same... Just curious. And is it on the filter intake or outlet?

Yes well spotted, I changed back to my atomiser when I bought the G6, mainly because I opted to have one single outlet with a tapered nozzle for higher flow rate. As good as the AM1000 is, it did reduce flow somewhat. I decided to run my atomiser on the outlet as I found that when I ran it on the inlet it seemed to get dirty quicker and produce bigger bubbles! I thought this might lose the effect on co2 then.... Besides when the atomiser is nice and clean the bubbles are finer and you can't see them as much :thumbup:
 
Re: Trigon 190 'Crypt Corner'

also, can i ask why you went from the Eheim to the G6?


PS is that the 2073?
 
Re: Trigon 190 'Crypt Corner'

....and whats the black box with the blue front and red numbers, is it a ph/c02 controller?
 
Re: Trigon 190 'Crypt Corner'

Ady34 said:
....and whats the black box with the blue front and red numbers, is it a ph/c02 controller?

Yes it is a ph controller, although it controls nothing. I have it set just as a visual display and as a rough guide to ph readings only, just so I know all is well.... It's not connected to my co2 as I know that can cause havoc with incorrect co2 levels.

ianho said:
also, can i ask why you went from the Eheim to the G6?


PS is that the 2073?

Yes mate, it was a 2075.... It was a good filter and I had it about 18months, I did have a few taps go very stiff and one even snap on me... Not good! I opted for the G6 as I kept reading on George's posts how good it was.... It's his fault I'm £350 lighter! lol - no it is a really good filter and I find it much easier for maintenance, I just clean the mechanical filter once per week at water change time and I run 2 x 100ml bags of purigen in he chemical cartridge.
 
Re: Trigon 190 'Crypt Corner'

I meant to put in my post before, that seeing as I'm new to EI dosing is it ok adding the salts direct to water? I'm currently dosing:

Day 1
50% Water Change and:-
Add 7/16 tsp Potassium Nitrate (KNO3)
Add 5/32 tsp Monopotassium Phosphate (KH2PO4)
Add 1 1/8 tsp Magnesium Sulphate (MgSO4)

Day 2
Add 5/32 tsp TNC Trace

Day 3
Add 7/16 tsp Potassium Nitrate (KNO3)
Add 5/32 tsp Monopotassium Phosphate (KH2PO4)
Add 1 1/8 tsp Magnesium Sulphate (MgSO4)

Day 4
Add 5/32 tsp TNC Trace

Day 5
Add 7/16 tsp Potassium Nitrate (KNO3)
Add 5/32 tsp Monopotassium Phosphate (KH2PO4)
Add 1 1/8 tsp Magnesium Sulphate (MgSO4)

Day 6 Rest
Day 7 Rest
 
Re: Trigon 190 'Crypt Corner'

I was gonna ask you about that. Ive seen a video of Mark Evans dosing this way but have read somewhere that if you keep shrimp they may be affected by eating particles before they dissolve...but i cant remember where and it may be another myth! Other than this i dont think there is a problem, saves time and effort mixing up a solution.
 
Re: Trigon 190 'Crypt Corner'

Hi Ady, yes I think I saw that video somewhere too... I don't have any shrimp so might be ok... Maybe Mark will be along soon to confirm this :thumbup:

What ferts are you doing on yours at the mo? As it look good mate.
 
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