Gary Nelson
Member
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 
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...
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.
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.
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!
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
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.
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!
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….
More photos will follow and I will take some pics of the progress and capture some of the inhabitants as well.
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...
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.
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.
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!
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
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.
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!
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….
More photos will follow and I will take some pics of the progress and capture some of the inhabitants as well.
