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Very cool! Thanks!

Thanks! Technically, yes I suppose it is possible for something like a dead fish maybe to block it. In my case it would probably have to be blocked for at least a couple of days before it filled enough water to overflow. I'm around enough that I'd catch the rising water. I could install a...

Thanks! 7 of the Threafins... a mix of male/female, and 4 of the Blue Rams. LOL, thanks :) Coming from the saltwater reef side... i can't help myself. haha Hmmm... will have to look for these micro-worms. I have frozen cubes I thaw in a bottle and squirt into the tank. There's always a big...

Some pics of the new additions... Threadfin Rainbows and Blue Ram Cichlids. :) Was originally worried about the Threadfins with feeding but they swim high and don't seem to have an issue. The Rams on the other hand... low swimmers and very chill personalities. May be a challenge.

Time for a long overdue overview of how I set up my Auto Water Change (AWC) and Auto Top-Off (ATO) systems! First, let's start off with the major components. Number one is the heart of my system, the GHL Profilux Controller, seen here on the right. In the case of the AWC, I created a Timer...

Thanks so much! I have cut back on the light period. And i forgot to mention above but I added a big Tunze powerhead I had laying around from my reefing days. It's dialed way back but I've got lots of plant movement now. Even noticed that all my cory cats and such all seem much more active and...

Just a couple pics from this week after some maintenance. I removed the moss from the arching branch. I felt it was throwing of the balance of the overall composition and blocking a lot of the better looking plants behind. It was nice to have while everything else was growing in, but don't feel...

Doing a little maintenance this morning. Loving how easy it is to work on the Oase Biomaster filters. That pre-filter is the shiz. :cool: Got a little battle I'm going through right now with Staghorn algae growing everywhere. Trying to get some more algae eaters but would rather find/fix...

2) Oh ok, cool. I got them from my LFS where they were submerged but who knows where they came from originally and I don't think my LFS had them very long. 3) Great, that is exactly what I have been doing. :) Thanks!

WOW, 30 days since my last update! It's been a busy month. Work, freelance, holiday shenanigans... So some things have been happing. For one... GROWTH! :D It's really starting to fill out. Yesterday I actually trimmed a few things. Something not so good that has happened since my last post...

I have one of these and my filter is still silent. The only noise it makes is when I move it, like sliding out this drawer they are sitting on. So i guess there is air somewhere?? But during normal operation both of mine are silent. Both purchased new several months ago.

It looks exactly the same as that last FTS, except for some blue green cyano in the moss. :rolleyes: My nitrates dropped to zero. I've gotten them up to 20-25 now. The cyano seems under control. I've been trying to suck out what I can with a turkey baster. And I was JUST wondering when I could...

I like it! Looks great.

That Buce bud is opening! And another Bow pic. :)

GROW, BABY! GROW! :D

Here's a new FTS after adding more plants... And my Buce Red has a new bud that looks like its about to open...

HA! Just yesterday I was joking with a friend about acclimating a Purple Tang to freshwater. Because that would be awesome. lol

Went to my LFS to pick up a few more plants but couldn't resist getting a few of these Albino Rainbows while I was there. :D

Thanks! Guess I'm just used to the prices of nice fish. On the saltwater side, a common yellow tang will sell for $30 but a decent sized Purple Tang will go for $100-150 usd. When I see small fw fish for a few bucks a piece that seems like the deal of the century. LOL :D

Thats the lid i had over my reef. But no, impossible. Between the wood and future plants growing out the top, not gonna happen.

My first RAINBOWS in da HOUSE!!!! :D I got 6 Boesemani's from ADG here in houston. And I already lost one! :(:(:( I had all 6 acclimating in a small bucket. I turned my back for 5 minutes. When I returned, one was on the floor, not moving, with my two cats standing over it. I put him back in...

USA and big city prices I guess. ;) And that's on sale for buying a bunch vs 1. Thanks, and I still need more stems on the right side. And probably more buca or something on the wood. Thanks, been having problems finding good Octos. Just bad timing. lol I don't know what the c02 rate is, still...

New photos since i added some more plants this week.

Swapped out one of my intakes for this... Cleared the water surface within 20-30 minutes! :eek:

I have two of the Oase 600 filters with one hooked up to a griggs style reactor. I still get some bubbles coming out of the lilly pipe but they dissipate right away and the water is crystal.

I'm working on it as fast as I can!!! :hilarious:

Thanks! It's another pretty decent sized batch. Being a newbie, I'm a little unsure of how much to buy and how far it will go once in the tank. So I'm just doing it in smaller batches I guess. lol :)

First fish went in friday... 8 Ember Tetras. :) Everybody is OK so far! This bunch of 8 was a test. I'll go back for another 16 probably if they are running the same deal of 8 for $26. I also have some more plants on the way this week. The current ones are mostly doing ok. A few things have...

First batch of plants and water is in! Both Oase Biomaster 600 filters are running, and they are completely silent. I can't tell the tank is even running. A little bit of a change for me after running a reef tank with a sump and skimmer. lol Ammonia is sitting steady at 0.5 Water has gotten a...

I ended up flooding the tank just enough to cover the MC. So far so good, nothing floating! lol ;) And no... still nothing shipped from Buce and no response to my email conversation with them. What a crap vendor.

Starting to plant! Picked up some Monte Carlo locally (see why below the pics) so added some water to the tank and got to planting. It's a mix of tissue culture and submersed potted. The potted was actually easier to work with because there was a distinct root system. The tissue culture was much...

I think it looks great!

OK ALL.... TIME FOR PLANT SUGGESTIONS!!!! This is the point where I'm really a NOOB and haven't much of a clue. Need some serious guidance. One thing I know is that I'm going to go with Monte Carlo for some ground cover. Which is a higher light plant. So I'm assuming that since this is the...

Thanks, me too! haha :)

Well... i think my hardscape is basically done! Added a 6th bag of soil today. The sand went in last week, with a styrene plastic border wall. I used the same stuff to create some substrate supports within the soil as well, especially on the right side. The only thing I may add is some small...

Thanks for the replies. I'm curious though... The filter comes with the bottom two trays filled with their biological media. Isn't it down there so it can tumble around a bit in the more turbulent water? Wouldn't it make sense to keep biological media down there and then the foams and (and...

Suggestions for filling the trays? What are you guys using and in what order?

Thanks! :)

Beautiful little tank. :)

Thanks! And yes, right now it is a bit unnatural. The thought is to cover that area with some plants to help blend where the two pieces join so it looks more like one long branch. Thank you. :)

Moving along... all the rock is in. Soil too, but I think I still want it higher on the right? How close to the top do I need it to be if I want plants that grow out of the water? The front left is supposed to be sand. The plan is for the right to have a heavier amount of plants, and less...

Ugh, agreed.... I really don't want to go to Walmart. :arghh: :(

That all sounds good and great advice. But it's not my style. ha! :D I research and sketch beforehand and then attack with a solid plan, making minor changes as needed as I go. Maybe it's because my day job as a graphic designer requires me to literally spend days solving the same problem as...

Fantastic, thank you. :)

Very beginning stages of my hardscape. :) Pile of lava rock in the corner to reduce the amount of soil I'll need in that area. Three pieces of River Wood. And starting to add the Gray Mountain Stone. More stone and Ultum Soil is next.

Oh man, wouldn't you know it... the GHL Mitras are now on sale! Too bad I got mine months ago. lol Oh well, heads up for anyone on the fence! https://www.aquariumcomputer.com/products/ghl-illumination/mitras-lx-7000-series/

I had to look up "pouzolan" and then i had to translate from french to english. lol Looks to me like its a crushed lava rock of some sort? We have this I can go pick up today... https://www.homedepot.com/p/Vigoro-0-5-cu-ft-Decorative-Stone-Red-Lava-Rock-440897/100427379

I was thinking of crushing the lava rock. Would that work? I don't know of any stone more porous looking than lava, outside of a filter media.

Yep, i definitely may need more soil but will see how it goes. Planning on building up a hidden base of lava rock on the right where it's going to be really high to help stretch out the soil. And yes, the plan is hardscape first, then plant right before i'm ready to fill it.

I just dropped over $500 at ADG today on some gray mountain rock, river wood, and 3 bags of ultum soil, and I'm not even sure if I like what I got or how I'm going to make this turn out like what I have in my head. #AquariumProblems :facepalm: :hilarious:

Thanks! :) I've got a general idea for the scape, but livestock i've put on the back burner for now.

I have a vid up now that shows the GHL Flex Mounts... that's their hanging system. They're pretty nice. Good looking, sturdy and functional.

Just delivered.... 3/8" stainless steel u-bend tubes for the ATO and water change lines. :)

I just set them to around 7200k for now, at midday. Will see how it goes. And yes, those are the GHL Flex Mounts. Yes, I was going to go with the soft white background originally but then got worried I was going to see distracting shadows from those support bars for the lights, plus other stuff...

The tank is finally on the stand! :)

Yes, every 6 months or so seems to be a good timeframe for me. :) It costs more than your standard tubing but still pretty cheap. But i let that small ATO pump run for like 2 years straight... tubing was still in one piece! lol

Also, here is an unboxing and bit of rambling for the GHL Mitras LED....

Finishing up the water delivery system for auto water changes and auto top-off today. Here's the Masterflex pump that will be performing the AWC's. One head will be pumping water out while the other head is pumping water in simultaneously. I will probably run the two lines to opposite sides of...

Stand is leveled, lights are installed, and the tank is finally getting moved in this weekend! :) Also started getting electronics mounted inside the cabinet.

Both. ATO and AWC.

Going stainless. Cleaning 3 glass ones would be a pain. I'll leave the glass to the filter pipes. :)

Annnnd we're through. :) Thinking I'm going to run these into the stand and then figure out a more elegant solution to run the lines up the back of the tank and over the top. And I need to work on the opposite side... getting these hooked up the pump and water storage tanks.

Supplies are in for the Auto Water Change upgrade! 3/8" tubing and connectors to get it hooked up to an old Cole Parmer Masterflex pump with dual heads. And starting to route the tubing and ethernet cable for the controller's powerbar. You can see the tank behind the cat. lol Tubing will...

Enough to cover the median. Not all that deep, but I got pinned in traffic and was just sitting there.

Hope everyone is enjoying their labor day weekend (in the USA). Had a heck of a week last week with the biggest bummer being getting caught in a flash flood with my brand new 6 week old car, stalling out and completely seizing the engine. :( But meanwhile, Slow Build must continue. This weekend...

I'm still working on my build so haven't actually used them yet, but to make it even easier I built this pull out platform.

Well this should make maintenance easier. :)

Extra brace added for the center light mount. And the heavy-duty sliders came in so I can start working on the pull-out shelf for the filters. :)

TWO Oase BioMaster 600 Thermo canister filters arrived this week. :) Last night I spent playing with about 30 (yes, thirty... give or take) leveling feet. They are all around the perimeter and on the cross braces. I worked on all the perimeter ones first, then flipped the tank up on one end...

@alto Yes, a buddy has one of the reef tanks and other than slight size difference our stands are identical. I do have a conversation with customer support re my concerns about the stand, along with my suggestions. Not from a standpoint of anything being "wrong" with it, just some odd decisions...

I don't know how much you could really do though as far as insulation. You can't have a sealed cabinet because that leads to humidity issues. I made that mistake once with a custom stand. Soundwise you can add some insulation panels but most pumps these days with the advent of DC has made things...

Stand construction is complete. I did hear back from Waterbox on the stand being "reef ready". It's not one of their reef stands because the tank itself is 1" smaller than their closest size reef tank. So apparently the stand was specifically designed like this, which doesn't make much sense to...

Awesome. Thank you, sir! :thumbup:

Thanks, I ended up ordering two 600 Thermos direct from Oase. :) Does anyone know how much one weighs when filled up and running? Guesstimate? Thinking of putting them on a platform with heavy duty drawer slides. Would make it a breeze to remove the prefilter.

More work completed on the stand last night. Only thing left is doors. There has been some concern about the black interior but the side walls are white. At this point, I'm not seeing much of an issue with it being too dark inside. Plus I'll be adding a light anyway. There are just two things...

Well, I just pulled the trigger on TWO Oase 600 Thermo canisters. The integrated heater, prefilter and ability to easily use glass pipes won out. Next I probably need to be looking at c02 and how best to hook that up. Seems like inline would be most efficient. GLA has regs with multiple...

I did! Looked at a few different options. But I think after having sumps in all my reef tanks over the years, I just wanted to try something different this time.

Started building the stand last night. Going to try to put a bit of a time-lapse vid together but for now, here's a few pics... Hardware... All the things... And the base. Tons of leveling feet. The exterior of the stand is white, but the interior is black now. I'll try to show it in the...

Homes are fully temp controlled. As long as the house has power, interior temp is a constant 72-ish give or take depending on time of day.

I need to make a decision on the filter. I'm down to two. Fluval FX6 and Oase Biomaster 600 Thermal One major concern is the power. The fluval is rated much higher, but how accurate are these number? I read somewhere that the Oase rating is much closer to reality. Maybe the two aren't that far...

First vid for the new build! Had a little help with this one. :happy:

LOL, thanks guys. :) IT'S HERE!!! :woot: I've got a vid I'm working on but here's a few pics after I dug into it to make sure it made the trip in one piece. One thing I've got to say... it's a lot bigger in person than on paper!!! :wideyed:

Any updates on this? I'm curious if the current models available direct from Oase are problem free now.

So TODAY IS FINALLY NEW TANK DAY! UPS Freight should be swinging by the house later this afternoon. :cool:

Ah-ha! Nice. I haven't been there in like 2 months. Will check it out. Thank you. :)

Thanks for George's vid. I missed that one! I'll look at them again. Good to know about their customer service, and I see they have a USA store. ADG has them in stock, not sure if any are running. They were running a lot of those polished stainless canister filters.

Great, I'll check out the GLA reg. I had looked at Oase early on but reviews seemed to be mixed... enough to make me hesitate on purchasing. I'll take a look again. And that discus tank looks amazing!

Hi all! After more than a decade and several successful builds in the Saltwater Reef hobby, I've decided to jump ship and try my hand at this planted tank thang. I need something new to learn but still need to have a tank in the house, so I figure let's try something a little different and go...

Could someone explain to this newbie, who is also trying to make the same decision as the OP, exactly what the issues are with the Fluvals and Lilly Pipes?

Thanks for the replies. I'd be using the freshwater version of the Mitras.

Thanks, nice music. Bow-chicka-bow-wow... hahaha I guess I was mostly wondering why I don't see them being used more often, if at all. Even on the big high tech builds. Must be the price point if I had to make a guess. Do you guys think one would be enough for a 4' tank?

Yes, it's a little bit of culture shock. LOL :D

Hi all, been lurking a bit and this is my first post. First question of many i'm sure. I'm coming from over a decade in the saltwater reef side of the hobby where i'm very familiar with both Ecotech Radions and GHL Mitras which are regarded as the top tier of lighting. I've done some searching...