Dusting off Cobwebs on my 100cm

[grathod]

I've not had a tank now for over 5 yrs so thought I'd pull out my old one from the garage, clear the spiders and start afresh.

Since we moved I have not taken inventory of how much aquatic stuff I have collected and hoarded over the years. Will use what I have and sell of everything else as am doing this scape on a budget with a hope of making room for a motorbike in the garage instead at some point soon...

Specs

Tank:
Custom optiwhite 100cm x 40cm x 40cm

Cabinet:
ADA style made locally in UK

Light:
Using my metal halide Arcadia Series 3 with twin T5's for now

Filter + Heater:
Found a Tetratec EX1200 + an inline Hydor ETH 300W tucked away so out they come

Co2:
None, going for low tech and will ramp up to Co2 later if I feel I want to up a notch, got all the kit

Hardscape:
My prized Redmoor Root that I bought younces ago from TGM.
Not sure if I want to use rocks but if I do then it would be either Dragonstone or Lava Rock

Flora:
Mosses mainly, either flame+christmas or fissidens and some coral moss to start with, may introduce crypts, buce at a later date. Not using carpetting plants on this one

Fauna:
Silver Angels (Scalare) from Maidenhead Wigan. Pic to follows as they are what tempted me back into the hobby. Will build up to Altums at some point in life with a deeper tank...

 

[grathod]

Slight damage to the cabinet from moisture, sat in the garage over half a decade but still good to use.

Tank in temporary position with hardscape positioned as I want it (albeit needing a good brush off of the old mosses and soak)

Juvenille Angels in holding tank

 

[grathod]

Not decided on substrate yet, have some black quartz somewhere or JBL Sansibar Grey with an underlay of crushed lava rock to aid bacteria growth. I've used this before and found it beneficial as an additional form of natural filtration.

Will upload progress as I go along.

 

[Nubias]

Keen to see the progress

 

[tam]

Clearly your garage is a bit of a treasure trove!

 

[Marc Davis]

Who just has an awesome tank and stand like that chilling in the garage!!!

Will def be following!

 

[grathod]

Cheers guys, was heavily into the hobby years ago but 2 young kids came along, had to switch priorities as had 6 aquascaped tanks around the house at one point. Had to draw the line...lol!

Tam: you won't believe the trove I've amassed over the last decade. Found so much stuff when I moved things around to get to this tank at back... The missus has issued an ultimatum, clear it all out to the tip or sell it before getting a bike, lol! Yes Ma'am!!!

Guess garage sale is on...

 

[grathod]

I'm looking at the Arcadia T5 LED, Tropical and Freshwater tubes to replace the T5 fluorescents in my series 4 pendant as a retrofit. Arcadia claim they offer almost double the output of normal T5's...

I don't want to fork out a few hundred on new LEDS lights like Kessels etc. Idea is to go low/ medium tech on setup with no co2 but I don't want to use the halide in the pendant. Done that in the past and need loadsa co2 to keep the plants stable as a very intensive light when on.

Anyone have any thoughts or experience with The 2nd Gen T5 LEDs?

Also on the lookout for fissidens, flame and coral moss, anyone got any that is pathogen free?

 

[grathod]

Quick update, got the wood in and am pleased with the way it sits. Will be cleaning up the dead moss and getting it soaked. Debating whether to use plastic tetra filter set that came with the Tetratec EX1200 or swap to Lily pipes. ponder ponder!