Hello,
thought it about time i started my new journal....title tbc.
After recently purchasing a 100cm x 50cm x 50cm Natural Aquario rimless, braceless optiwhite tank with light unit and stand from fellow member Radik via the forum sales section, i thought id share my experiences.
Many thanks to Radik, the sale included some lovely maui sand which will be a unique substrate choice for me.
The tank is really impressive, its been a long term plan to eventually get an optiwhite and this was an opportunity too good to miss. The stand too is very nice with shelving on runners for easy access to filters and equipment. There is also a very nice drawer in which you can place easily to hand any number of tools, and also tool holders and a small shelf on one of the doors.....all handy for us planted tank keepers. The pre cut power and filter hose access points give a quality finish and are additional features which make this stand very aquascaper user friendly. The 'Movel Elite' stand doesnt have pre cut filter hose slots on both ends which may be an issue for those who want options depending upon room positioning, but its worked out well for me 🙂.
The only issue with the stand was that it was a high gloss light oak finish which unfortunately doesnt fit with the decor in my living room so that had to be changed. Luckily i work in a car bodyshop so spray painting the already sealed and well finished stand offered no problems 🙂 Gloss black may not be exciting, but it works for me so thats what i did.
I decided not to paint the inner cabinet, a lot of extra material would be needed, and besides, the lighter colour makes it brighter in there 😛 I removed the NA logo during painting but left the steel detailing strip intact in fear of bending on removal or not being able to fit it back in after painting. Excuse the phone photos:
Basecoat added:
and finished:
And finally in position at home after moving the Studio tank which once sat here. There are some wall plugs in the wall behind the tank from the old lighting brackets...if i can find some wallpaper offcuts ill plug them to disguise, or maybe hide them completely with a large background sheet for the tank:
The above picture shows the 4x 9w led lighting which gives a nice glow, the light unit also has a 150w metal halide and 4x 36w pc bulbs, each lighting type on a different power source for seperate timing....plenty of options but a little scary tbh hence being hung at the top end. Radik told me that at this height both the halide and the flourescents each give a substrate par of 50, it wont be coming down in a hurry
This is a nice light unit, but in an ideal world id like a dimmable function for the fluorescents, then it would be perfect 😉 The new range is an improvement as it ditches the led in favour of two independant sets of 2x 36w flourescent lights which gives more versatility
Whilst collecting the tank from London, i thought it would be a great opportunity to visit the Freshwatershrimp Gallery...thanks Ed, really nice set up you have, and very good of you to accommodate me at short notice I couldnt resist adding to the hardscape collection while i was there and bought some driftwood pieces.
My initial thoughts for the tank were of a twin island theme seperated by a 'central' sand bed, inspired by a quality scape from Jason Baliban. I tried a layout with some of the rocks i had been given by Radik, but i wasnt sold on it so resurrected the seiryu stone from the garage and changed my plan.
Using such large rocks, i wanted to be safe and place a protective layer onto the base glass. I opted for a thin clear poly sheeting from a hardware store, a bit like acrylic. It was very thin and unobtrusive and is just what i wanted, you can see how thin it is here:
Anyway, the plan changed to a single island type layout, and i think the seiryu rocks work well with the unipac maui sand, and are a good contrast to the driftwood.
Overall im pretty happy with the look. There does seem to be a large face of rock to the right, compromised of one main rock, but it fits so well with supporting the wood pieces i didnt want to break it up. There is a deep ridge that runs across the rock about 2/3 of the way up, which can be used to add a plant line to so will hopefully break that up. The plan at the moment is to have a lot of the rocks covered in mosses also which will help soften and disguise it.
Thats where i stand to date, the 50cm depth of the tank is great for scaping, especially with large hardscape materials like these.
Im going to be using epiphyte plants, with the possible exception of some vallis nana and perhaps the aponogeton red from the current set up to be positioned in the centre rear. Mosses, bolbitis, ferns and anubias will make up the rest of the planting scheme.....just need to give it some more thought and get a plant list together 😀
Cheerio for now,
Ady.
thought it about time i started my new journal....title tbc.
After recently purchasing a 100cm x 50cm x 50cm Natural Aquario rimless, braceless optiwhite tank with light unit and stand from fellow member Radik via the forum sales section, i thought id share my experiences.
Many thanks to Radik, the sale included some lovely maui sand which will be a unique substrate choice for me.
The tank is really impressive, its been a long term plan to eventually get an optiwhite and this was an opportunity too good to miss. The stand too is very nice with shelving on runners for easy access to filters and equipment. There is also a very nice drawer in which you can place easily to hand any number of tools, and also tool holders and a small shelf on one of the doors.....all handy for us planted tank keepers. The pre cut power and filter hose access points give a quality finish and are additional features which make this stand very aquascaper user friendly. The 'Movel Elite' stand doesnt have pre cut filter hose slots on both ends which may be an issue for those who want options depending upon room positioning, but its worked out well for me 🙂.
The only issue with the stand was that it was a high gloss light oak finish which unfortunately doesnt fit with the decor in my living room so that had to be changed. Luckily i work in a car bodyshop so spray painting the already sealed and well finished stand offered no problems 🙂 Gloss black may not be exciting, but it works for me so thats what i did.
I decided not to paint the inner cabinet, a lot of extra material would be needed, and besides, the lighter colour makes it brighter in there 😛 I removed the NA logo during painting but left the steel detailing strip intact in fear of bending on removal or not being able to fit it back in after painting. Excuse the phone photos:
Basecoat added:
and finished:
And finally in position at home after moving the Studio tank which once sat here. There are some wall plugs in the wall behind the tank from the old lighting brackets...if i can find some wallpaper offcuts ill plug them to disguise, or maybe hide them completely with a large background sheet for the tank:
The above picture shows the 4x 9w led lighting which gives a nice glow, the light unit also has a 150w metal halide and 4x 36w pc bulbs, each lighting type on a different power source for seperate timing....plenty of options but a little scary tbh hence being hung at the top end. Radik told me that at this height both the halide and the flourescents each give a substrate par of 50, it wont be coming down in a hurry
This is a nice light unit, but in an ideal world id like a dimmable function for the fluorescents, then it would be perfect 😉 The new range is an improvement as it ditches the led in favour of two independant sets of 2x 36w flourescent lights which gives more versatility
Whilst collecting the tank from London, i thought it would be a great opportunity to visit the Freshwatershrimp Gallery...thanks Ed, really nice set up you have, and very good of you to accommodate me at short notice
I couldnt resist adding to the hardscape collection while i was there and bought some driftwood pieces.My initial thoughts for the tank were of a twin island theme seperated by a 'central' sand bed, inspired by a quality scape from Jason Baliban. I tried a layout with some of the rocks i had been given by Radik, but i wasnt sold on it so resurrected the seiryu stone from the garage and changed my plan.
Using such large rocks, i wanted to be safe and place a protective layer onto the base glass. I opted for a thin clear poly sheeting from a hardware store, a bit like acrylic. It was very thin and unobtrusive and is just what i wanted, you can see how thin it is here:
Anyway, the plan changed to a single island type layout, and i think the seiryu rocks work well with the unipac maui sand, and are a good contrast to the driftwood.
Overall im pretty happy with the look. There does seem to be a large face of rock to the right, compromised of one main rock, but it fits so well with supporting the wood pieces i didnt want to break it up. There is a deep ridge that runs across the rock about 2/3 of the way up, which can be used to add a plant line to so will hopefully break that up. The plan at the moment is to have a lot of the rocks covered in mosses also which will help soften and disguise it.
Thats where i stand to date, the 50cm depth of the tank is great for scaping, especially with large hardscape materials like these.
Im going to be using epiphyte plants, with the possible exception of some vallis nana and perhaps the aponogeton red from the current set up to be positioned in the centre rear. Mosses, bolbitis, ferns and anubias will make up the rest of the planting scheme.....just need to give it some more thought and get a plant list together 😀
Cheerio for now,
Ady.
That is one sweet cabinet, tank,.hardscape,etc etc. I don't know where to begin. Awesome Ady !!!! Needless to say that you've got me sitting in the front seat.This is going to be a heck of a ride!!! Buckled up & all set to go !!!
Humbling to hear that Ian, and reallly nice of you to say.....
