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Jim's TMC Signature

Jim..

Member
Joined
2 Oct 2016
Messages
83
Location
Colchester, Essex
Hi Guys and Gals

Would love to share my progress with you. This is my first planted tank so I'm sure there will be loads of mistakes and stupid questions. It will be slow going, but stick with me..

Aquarium: TMC Signature

-size : 600mm x 450mm x 300mm
-volume: 80 liters ish

Stand: TMC Signature, gloss white.

-size : 600mm x 450mm x 750mm

Lighting:

- Kessil A160WE Tuna Sun plus mounting arm

Filtration:
- Eheim Classic 600 2217

Heating:
- Fluval E100
- Additional 100w heater for heating new water, Aquavital.

Cooling:
- Hopefully not needed

Substrate, sand, hardscape :
- ADA Aqua Soil Amazonia
- ADA La Plata Sand
- ADA Power Sand Special S
- Dragon Stone
- Stick

Flora:
- Eleocharis Parvula
- Pogostemon Helferi
- Alternathera Reineckii Mini
- Limnophila Hippuridoides
- Hygrophila Siamensis 53B, found on AquaEssentails
- Heteranthera zosterifolia
- Vesicularia ferriei 'Weeping'

Fishes:
- Harlequin rasbora
- Ember tetra

Ferts:
- EI macro / micro fertiliser from Co2 Art

CO2:
- Starter kit from Co2 Art and 2kg fire extinguisher

Have some pictures, but my laptop, were they are stored has forced an update. Gotta love Windows 10..hmmm.

Thanks for reading.

Jim

Edit - Adding stuff when I get it.
 
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The space
- my home office/man cave. My old filing cabinet has been relegated to the cupboard under the stairs to make room. Back wall could use a coat of paint..

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Wasn't expecting a delivery until Sunday but was pleasantly surprised to get a text message to say that my order was due on Saturday. The excitement started to build..

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hmmm. Not quite what I expected.

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Fingers crossed for Sunday, hopefully I'll have more to show :lol:
 
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Ok, Part 2.

Woke Sunday morning full of excitement, looking forward to a day building cabinets and tinkering with my new project. A cup of tea is in order whilst I wait for the text message with my delivery slot. The wait is short, beep beep, I rush to the phone like a kid on Christmas morning and check the delivery time... 15.00-16.00! :lol:

Feeling a little deflated but with time to kill I set off to the local DIY shop for supplies.

Non slip mat and frosted backing. Stop me if the pictures get too exciting! :stop::lol:

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..and finally it arrives, that's more like it :)

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A few curse words, some spilt glue and a short time later I give to you.. Position 1.

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Position 2.

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Added the frosted backing and non slip matt.

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Really impressed with the build quality of the tank and cabinet, nice work TMC :thumbup:

Ok, now for lights. T8, T5, LED, Metal Halide, Pendant, OTL, phew the list goes on.. I may be sometime, stay tuned.
 
Yes, I think so.

My whole plan revolved around the 1st position as it gives a better viewing angle and easier access for maintenance. Unfortunately I didn't like it :thumbdown:

Moved to 2nd position and voila. The pics don't really show but it fits much better within the room.
 
Time for a update..

To be honest I was getting a bit bored looking at an empty class box, albeit a very nice class box! So, with a few days off work, a credit card and the internet, some progress has been made :)

It all started on the drive home from work when I decided to pop into a well known fish shop in Raleigh, Essex. The plan was a bit of window shopping but after spotting some Dragon Stone at less than £3 a Kilo, I couldn't help myself. I'll spare you the pictures :stop:

That was it, the fire was lit. The following day I went to my lfs, after an hour talking shop I decide to spend £40 of my hard earned on.. a stick!

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hmmm, ok. If your like me, that wasn't satisfying either :lol: Time to practice an aquascape..

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Enough you say, we need dirt! I'll let the following pictures speak for themselves..

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and finally.. Still needs some tweaking, but i'll leave it few days.

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Stay tuned for the next update. It wont be long, I received two deliveries whilst writing this :)

As always, thanks for reading :thumbup:
 
Small update for the weekend..

Removed the branch climbing over the tank, was concerned it may drip water directly onto the mains outlet below :eek: Added some smaller rocks to break up the "shoreline" and some more soil to bed the larger stone. Rigged up one of my old marine lights to see what it looked like.. too blue! :cool:

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Found an old holiday pic that has inspired the shoreline

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Finish the canister pipework, fitted a plug-bar and timers

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and my son insisted on a picture of the new tweezers, his new favourite tool :lol:

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Last on the list of equipment is the lighting and a heater. Need to wait until the next pay cheque, forgot how expensive this hobby can get :rolleyes:
 
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This reminds me of when i assembled my own TMC tank last year.
I also had to keep waiting for the next paychek as it really adds up to get a decent system.
I was unlucky though as i ordered a TMC tank like yours and was delivered the taller version with the black silicone.
Couldn't afford to take another day off work for replacement so ended keeping the larger one.
Your's is shaping up to be a good project, seems you got things well planned and the TMC's are good tanks, keep it up.
The fun is in the journey.

I really like the way you are scaping it and can see potential in the design, will come back for updates.


P.S where did you get your frosted background
 
Thanks for the comment AquamaniacUk :thumbup:

Sorry you didn't get the tank you wanted but I'm sure you made the best of it. Do you have a journal?

I love the design stage, probably more than when it's running :)

The background was from B&Q, only £6.. http://www.diy.com/departments/d-c-fix-frosted-static-cling-window-film-l15m-w45cm/200336_BQ.prd

This reminds me of when i assembled my own TMC tank last year.
I also had to keep waiting for the next paychek as it really adds up to get a decent system.
I was unlucky though as i ordered a TMC tank like yours and was delivered the taller version with the black silicone.
Couldn't afford to take another day off work for replacement so ended keeping the larger one.
Your's is shaping up to be a good project, seems you got things well planned and the TMC's are good tanks, keep it up.
The fun is in the journey.

I really like the way you are scaping it and can see potential in the design, will come back for updates.


P.S where did you get your frosted background
 
Thanks for the comment AquamaniacUk :thumbup:

Sorry you didn't get the tank you wanted but I'm sure you made the best of it. Do you have a journal?

I love the design stage, probably more than when it's running :)

The background was from B&Q, only £6.. http://www.diy.com/departments/d-c-fix-frosted-static-cling-window-film-l15m-w45cm/200336_BQ.prd

Thank you. I will definitely pop up in B&Q for one of these.
I didn't do a journal for my TMC last year, i do have videos on youtube though.


This is a video of it being planted, there's a few more videos of the setup process and following in there if you want to check.
I am planning to do another scape on this tank soon which i will do a journal.
 
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