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Hello folks!
This is my first journal on the forum though I've been active on TPT and some other venues online for a few years now. Having just found this place, it's the perfect time to post a journal on a tank I am just starting up!
I recently decided to consolidate 5 smaller tanks into one large tank. This gives me significantly more real estate to aquascape while simultaneously lowering my maintenance routine. I frankly much rather do one water change on a big tank then 5 much smaller water changes on different tanks, even if they are all in the same room.
When it came time to decide on which tank to use exactly, I was of two minds. On the one hand, a regular 75 gallon tank would likely do the trick, but the 'perfect' tank would be a 150cm tank as it would fit the available space. But a 150 cm tank would cost a lot more..... in the end The Wife gave a green light and I contacted "Aquarium and Terrarium Builder" of Yorktown Virginia, my only 'local' custom tank builder. The builder only works with acrylic, but for reasons that will be explained, that's not a bad thing.
Since this was a custom tank, I was not limited to standard dimensions and asked for a tank that would be 150cm x 50cm x 45cm. Or roughly 60 inches x 20 inches x 18 inches. Or roughly 90 gallons. Why these dimensions? Well the 150 for the length fit the available room. 20 inches wide because any wider and my short arms have trouble reaching the back wall, and 18 inches high in part for the same access issues and in part because I already had a tank 45 cm high and I knew the newts did fine in that depth of water.
The builder quoted me 1000 dollars for the tank and I would pick it up.
The first thing I needed to do after ordering the tank was build a stand so I would have somewhere to put the darn thing
At this point I don't remember what got me started on extruded aluminum, but I got a bug for making the stand out of the stuff. For those who are not aware, extruded aluminum is aluminum tubing with 't'-slots cut into it. It looks like this:
The advantage of this stuff is that you can use the t-slots to attach things, it's strong, it looks slick, and its waterproof. Even after building it, I still prefer a proper stand made of hardwood. BUT, an extruded aluminum stand is pretty easy to make better looking then a 2x4 stand. And significantly faster to build then a hardwood stand. So there is that.
Anyway, like all my bits of furniture, I make, the first step was making a 3d drawing in sketchup so I would know how to put the thing together. That looked like this:
The wood panels are meant to be doors in this picture.
I definitely did not invent this design as there are companies that offer to sell you precut and drilled extruded aluminum stands. The only reason I didn't go with them is expense. I wanted to try and save myself some money by buying the extruded aluminum and then cutting, tapping, and drilling it myself. I did this, and did save some money, just not as much as I was hoping. I thought I could do it all for around 300 dollars, but sadly the actual price of the stand all-in is closer to 700. That's still a lot cheaper then the 1500 to 2500 that various companies wanted, but not quite as good as I thought I was going to get for all the effort I put into tapping this darn critter.
Anyway, here are some pictures of the stand being built:
Not pictured here are the magnetic clasps the side panels are held onto. They are not pictured because I forgot to add them until after it was built. One of the downsides to extruded aluminum is that in order to access those t-slots where 'everything' is attached, is you need an exposed end. If you build the darn thing and forgot to add something in....like a magnetic clasp... then you get the joy of taking it apart before you can add it back on.
So that was fun. And because I forgot to add a few things I got the joy of taking it apart and putting it back together like 5 times...
Anyway, after a few weeks the builder contacted me letting me know the tank was ready!
There was much excitement.
There was also much driving. While this is my only 'local' builder, that didn't make him super close. It was 3.5 hours each way to get from my house in Maryland to the builder. That made for a long day of driving, but it was totally worth it.
One of the nice things about acrylic is that its significantly lighter then glass. This 5 foot long tank probably only weighs around 90 lbs. With a hand truck I was easily able to get the tank into my basement by myself. Here is how it looked when first arrived:
And here are what those magnetic clasps looked like on the stand:
And finally what the tank looked like unwrapped and in place:
The white board under the tank are two pieces of pvc trim-board. I wanted to use pvc because its completely waterproof. It's two pieces because I couldn't fit a 4x8 sheet in my car and home depot no longer cuts the stuff with their panel saw. I am still only mostly bitter on that discovery.
After that I started the process of taking down my multiple smaller tanks. In order to significantly shorten my cycle, I reused the substrate (all pool filter sand) and added it into the new tank. I also drilled 4 holes in the euro bracing so I could use 2 canister filters with lily pipes. Here is what that looked like:
Before I could slide the tank into place I needed to put on the background. I really like privacy window film for tank backgrounds. It's cheap, it looks good, it's easy to apply and to remove, and it's easy to get online. For this tank I decided on frosted white. This stuff goes on with just water and a squeegee. Here is how it looked:
After that I slid the tank into place, filled it and started working on the filters and plumbing. It's not very complicated but I wanted to make sure it would be in good shape for the foreseeable future. The canister filters are stainless steel filters with dc pumps. I love this type of filter because the steel filter itself is built like a tank, and the only part that can break is the pump which is entirely modular and easily replaced. DC pumps are ultra quiet, like you need to touch them to feel a vibration to even know they are on kind of quiet. I already owned both filters and they were in active use on the tanks I took down, so again, more reasons to believe the cycle would be quick.
I also took this time and began to play with aquascapes. Because I had so much room, I really wanted to use some big pieces of hardscape to show off the length of the tank. That ended up taking the form of two large pieces of wood that would stretch the length. Initial scape looked like this:
However, after a day I decided I didn't like the right hand side because it just didn't photograph well So I switched it up and settled on this:
I like the look of the 'broken' log in no small part because it reminded me of several scenes I have seen when out walking in parks. All the rock work will allow lots of places to add epiphytes as well.
All the plants in the tank are all from the existing tanks I took down so, so far I haven't spent anything on this except for the tank itself and the stand (and the light... to be talked about later).
The plant list for this tank is currently: Cryptocoryne spiralis, eriocaulon vietnam, amazon sword compacta, Cryptocoryne parva, tiger lily, anubias nana petite, and some species of fern like moss, and some species of plant I was told was 'like buce' but not, and that I totally forgot the name of. But its variegated which is cool for a completely submersed plant. Still to add is Marsilea Angustifolia for a carpet, Helvola Pygmy water lilies, and mayaca fluviatilis. Those are all in my 30 gallon tank with all my newts. I will be taking that tank down shortly and adding the newts once I'm sure the cycle is done (this will be soon, as the cycle is likely already completed as of the writing of this post).
Regarding the background, I didn't choose it entirely because I like the color white for this tank. I chose it because I planned to add some LED mood lighting to the tank
For a couple of years now I have admired the LED backgrounds you can buy for tanks, but I've not wanted to spend the money they cost (typically a few hundred dollars for even a small tank). So I decided to make my own. With an LED strip light adhered to the back top of the stand I got some nice effects! You can kind of notice the blue in the full tank shots near the bottom back of the tank. It's a little more noticeable in person. Here is a picture with the other lights off in the room which really makes it clear what it's doing:
Meanwhile I also started working on the lights for this tank. Well more specifically the light hanging system which is just 1/2" conduit attached to the wall:
That ended up definitely being the easiest light stand I've made so far. As for what will be going there? Well I went ahead and ordered a Twinstar V 1200S which I'm pretty excited about! I've been a twinstar fanboy for years, so when I figured out that there are very very very few 150cm lights... I decided my best bet was just buying a twinstar and hanging it up a bit higher then normal. Sadly it's not here yet. Happily it 'should' arrive on Wednesday.
AND.. that brings me to current. This is a LONG first post because I decided to combine several previous journal posts elsewhere to get me to where I'm at right now. Next time I will post more about the newts and my thoughts on acrylic tanks. Hopefully those that actually read to this point have enjoyed it so far
This is my first journal on the forum though I've been active on TPT and some other venues online for a few years now. Having just found this place, it's the perfect time to post a journal on a tank I am just starting up!
I recently decided to consolidate 5 smaller tanks into one large tank. This gives me significantly more real estate to aquascape while simultaneously lowering my maintenance routine. I frankly much rather do one water change on a big tank then 5 much smaller water changes on different tanks, even if they are all in the same room.
When it came time to decide on which tank to use exactly, I was of two minds. On the one hand, a regular 75 gallon tank would likely do the trick, but the 'perfect' tank would be a 150cm tank as it would fit the available space. But a 150 cm tank would cost a lot more..... in the end The Wife gave a green light and I contacted "Aquarium and Terrarium Builder" of Yorktown Virginia, my only 'local' custom tank builder. The builder only works with acrylic, but for reasons that will be explained, that's not a bad thing.
Since this was a custom tank, I was not limited to standard dimensions and asked for a tank that would be 150cm x 50cm x 45cm. Or roughly 60 inches x 20 inches x 18 inches. Or roughly 90 gallons. Why these dimensions? Well the 150 for the length fit the available room. 20 inches wide because any wider and my short arms have trouble reaching the back wall, and 18 inches high in part for the same access issues and in part because I already had a tank 45 cm high and I knew the newts did fine in that depth of water.
The builder quoted me 1000 dollars for the tank and I would pick it up.
The first thing I needed to do after ordering the tank was build a stand so I would have somewhere to put the darn thing
At this point I don't remember what got me started on extruded aluminum, but I got a bug for making the stand out of the stuff. For those who are not aware, extruded aluminum is aluminum tubing with 't'-slots cut into it. It looks like this:
The advantage of this stuff is that you can use the t-slots to attach things, it's strong, it looks slick, and its waterproof. Even after building it, I still prefer a proper stand made of hardwood. BUT, an extruded aluminum stand is pretty easy to make better looking then a 2x4 stand. And significantly faster to build then a hardwood stand. So there is that.
Anyway, like all my bits of furniture, I make, the first step was making a 3d drawing in sketchup so I would know how to put the thing together. That looked like this:
The wood panels are meant to be doors in this picture.
I definitely did not invent this design as there are companies that offer to sell you precut and drilled extruded aluminum stands. The only reason I didn't go with them is expense. I wanted to try and save myself some money by buying the extruded aluminum and then cutting, tapping, and drilling it myself. I did this, and did save some money, just not as much as I was hoping. I thought I could do it all for around 300 dollars, but sadly the actual price of the stand all-in is closer to 700. That's still a lot cheaper then the 1500 to 2500 that various companies wanted, but not quite as good as I thought I was going to get for all the effort I put into tapping this darn critter.
Anyway, here are some pictures of the stand being built:
Not pictured here are the magnetic clasps the side panels are held onto. They are not pictured because I forgot to add them until after it was built. One of the downsides to extruded aluminum is that in order to access those t-slots where 'everything' is attached, is you need an exposed end. If you build the darn thing and forgot to add something in....like a magnetic clasp... then you get the joy of taking it apart before you can add it back on.
So that was fun. And because I forgot to add a few things I got the joy of taking it apart and putting it back together like 5 times...
Anyway, after a few weeks the builder contacted me letting me know the tank was ready!
There was much excitement.
There was also much driving. While this is my only 'local' builder, that didn't make him super close. It was 3.5 hours each way to get from my house in Maryland to the builder. That made for a long day of driving, but it was totally worth it.
One of the nice things about acrylic is that its significantly lighter then glass. This 5 foot long tank probably only weighs around 90 lbs. With a hand truck I was easily able to get the tank into my basement by myself. Here is how it looked when first arrived:
And here are what those magnetic clasps looked like on the stand:
And finally what the tank looked like unwrapped and in place:
The white board under the tank are two pieces of pvc trim-board. I wanted to use pvc because its completely waterproof. It's two pieces because I couldn't fit a 4x8 sheet in my car and home depot no longer cuts the stuff with their panel saw. I am still only mostly bitter on that discovery.
After that I started the process of taking down my multiple smaller tanks. In order to significantly shorten my cycle, I reused the substrate (all pool filter sand) and added it into the new tank. I also drilled 4 holes in the euro bracing so I could use 2 canister filters with lily pipes. Here is what that looked like:
Before I could slide the tank into place I needed to put on the background. I really like privacy window film for tank backgrounds. It's cheap, it looks good, it's easy to apply and to remove, and it's easy to get online. For this tank I decided on frosted white. This stuff goes on with just water and a squeegee. Here is how it looked:
After that I slid the tank into place, filled it and started working on the filters and plumbing. It's not very complicated but I wanted to make sure it would be in good shape for the foreseeable future. The canister filters are stainless steel filters with dc pumps. I love this type of filter because the steel filter itself is built like a tank, and the only part that can break is the pump which is entirely modular and easily replaced. DC pumps are ultra quiet, like you need to touch them to feel a vibration to even know they are on kind of quiet. I already owned both filters and they were in active use on the tanks I took down, so again, more reasons to believe the cycle would be quick.
I also took this time and began to play with aquascapes. Because I had so much room, I really wanted to use some big pieces of hardscape to show off the length of the tank. That ended up taking the form of two large pieces of wood that would stretch the length. Initial scape looked like this:
However, after a day I decided I didn't like the right hand side because it just didn't photograph well
So I switched it up and settled on this:
I like the look of the 'broken' log in no small part because it reminded me of several scenes I have seen when out walking in parks. All the rock work will allow lots of places to add epiphytes as well.
All the plants in the tank are all from the existing tanks I took down so, so far I haven't spent anything on this except for the tank itself and the stand (and the light... to be talked about later).
The plant list for this tank is currently: Cryptocoryne spiralis, eriocaulon vietnam, amazon sword compacta, Cryptocoryne parva, tiger lily, anubias nana petite, and some species of fern like moss, and some species of plant I was told was 'like buce' but not, and that I totally forgot the name of. But its variegated which is cool for a completely submersed plant. Still to add is Marsilea Angustifolia for a carpet, Helvola Pygmy water lilies, and mayaca fluviatilis. Those are all in my 30 gallon tank with all my newts. I will be taking that tank down shortly and adding the newts once I'm sure the cycle is done (this will be soon, as the cycle is likely already completed as of the writing of this post).
Regarding the background, I didn't choose it entirely because I like the color white for this tank. I chose it because I planned to add some LED mood lighting to the tank
For a couple of years now I have admired the LED backgrounds you can buy for tanks, but I've not wanted to spend the money they cost (typically a few hundred dollars for even a small tank). So I decided to make my own. With an LED strip light adhered to the back top of the stand I got some nice effects! You can kind of notice the blue in the full tank shots near the bottom back of the tank. It's a little more noticeable in person. Here is a picture with the other lights off in the room which really makes it clear what it's doing:
Meanwhile I also started working on the lights for this tank. Well more specifically the light hanging system which is just 1/2" conduit attached to the wall:
That ended up definitely being the easiest light stand I've made so far. As for what will be going there? Well I went ahead and ordered a Twinstar V 1200S which I'm pretty excited about! I've been a twinstar fanboy for years, so when I figured out that there are very very very few 150cm lights... I decided my best bet was just buying a twinstar and hanging it up a bit higher then normal. Sadly it's not here yet. Happily it 'should' arrive on Wednesday.
AND.. that brings me to current. This is a LONG first post because I decided to combine several previous journal posts elsewhere to get me to where I'm at right now. Next time I will post more about the newts and my thoughts on acrylic tanks. Hopefully those that actually read to this point have enjoyed it so far
22 replies
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1471 views
20 gallon breeder seems to have algae issues whenever I go above 10 watts of light in the tank. Co2 Injected.
I'm currently on a 10 hour photoperiod.
I was wondering If I would get better results in color plant robustness if I just did a short but intense burst of light for shorter instead of slow but longer?
Tank is mostly just buces + some eriocaulons. I've noticed better buce color in higher light, which is why I'm asking.
So.
6 Hours (30 Watts) Vs 10 Hours (10 Watts).
My best guess for par values would be 100-150 par (30 watts) 30-50 par (10 watts).
I'm currently on a 10 hour photoperiod.
I was wondering If I would get better results in color plant robustness if I just did a short but intense burst of light for shorter instead of slow but longer?
Tank is mostly just buces + some eriocaulons. I've noticed better buce color in higher light, which is why I'm asking.
So.
6 Hours (30 Watts) Vs 10 Hours (10 Watts).
My best guess for par values would be 100-150 par (30 watts) 30-50 par (10 watts).
2 replies
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55 views
TLDR: Wood buy from Belinda again
I was on the hunt for a very large piece of driftwood for my 120p. I knew I wanted something that would have branches that stuck out of the water. Everything local to me, including Aquarium Co-Op, was on the smaller side (the piece in my 75p was about the biggest they had). I didn't want to combine pieces and was really looking for a singular piece of large driftwood. I had seen some local posts on marketplace with larger pieces, but nothing really caught my attention.
@JayP had made a post about Belinda's Driftwood on Facebook and I started casually browsing her posts until I saw a piece that really spoke to me.
Belinda responded to my DMs surprisingly quick, including some back and forth to figure out if it would fit in the tank. She estimated shipping would be $100 and asked if she should remove the longer branches to save on shipping, estimating it would save roughly $30, which I declined. I started messaging her on a Wednesday morning and had tracking Friday afternoon. All in, $160 for the wood + $113* for shipping = $273. For comparison, I spent $40 on the wood for my 75p, which is a fraction of the size. While $113 for shipping seems high, it seemed reasonable to me given the size (oversized shipping) and recent USPS temporary increases due to oil prices. Not to mention, Belinda didn't charge anything for packaging, which there was no shortage of. USPS took about 2 weeks to get the wood to me, but thanks to the packaging, it arrived undamaged!
*This was shipped with retail pricing and Belinda is now using PirateShip (based on FB posts), so I'd expect shipping costs to be lower given the commercial pricing via PirateShip.
Without further ado, this thread is worthless without pics
Here's the initial screenshot she sent me since I had messaged before the piece was posted. She essentially does a photo dump of pieces that she's posting soon and I messaged her that I was interested in one.
As delivered by USPS. This thing was packaged like a tank!
Humans for scale
Unwrapping the packaging
Each individual branch was padded with support and had cardboard on it. The carboard in the top right corner of this picture was shockingly thick.
45 minutes later, I had it free
In the tank (It's almost a perfect fit as is!)
Soaking (now).
I was on the hunt for a very large piece of driftwood for my 120p. I knew I wanted something that would have branches that stuck out of the water. Everything local to me, including Aquarium Co-Op, was on the smaller side (the piece in my 75p was about the biggest they had). I didn't want to combine pieces and was really looking for a singular piece of large driftwood. I had seen some local posts on marketplace with larger pieces, but nothing really caught my attention.
@JayP had made a post about Belinda's Driftwood on Facebook and I started casually browsing her posts until I saw a piece that really spoke to me.
Belinda responded to my DMs surprisingly quick, including some back and forth to figure out if it would fit in the tank. She estimated shipping would be $100 and asked if she should remove the longer branches to save on shipping, estimating it would save roughly $30, which I declined. I started messaging her on a Wednesday morning and had tracking Friday afternoon. All in, $160 for the wood + $113* for shipping = $273. For comparison, I spent $40 on the wood for my 75p, which is a fraction of the size. While $113 for shipping seems high, it seemed reasonable to me given the size (oversized shipping) and recent USPS temporary increases due to oil prices. Not to mention, Belinda didn't charge anything for packaging, which there was no shortage of. USPS took about 2 weeks to get the wood to me, but thanks to the packaging, it arrived undamaged!
*This was shipped with retail pricing and Belinda is now using PirateShip (based on FB posts), so I'd expect shipping costs to be lower given the commercial pricing via PirateShip.
Without further ado, this thread is worthless without pics
Here's the initial screenshot she sent me since I had messaged before the piece was posted. She essentially does a photo dump of pieces that she's posting soon and I messaged her that I was interested in one.
As delivered by USPS. This thing was packaged like a tank!
Humans for scale
Unwrapping the packaging
Each individual branch was padded with support and had cardboard on it. The carboard in the top right corner of this picture was shockingly thick.
45 minutes later, I had it free
In the tank (It's almost a perfect fit as is!)
Soaking (now).
3 replies
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70 views
The Biomaster Thermo 600 on my farm tank had been screaming at me lately that it was time for some TLC. It was doing the typical air sucking, hard to prime, small leaks, etc. all the indications it needed to be fully torn down and have all the gaskets/o-rings lubricated. This is the nice thing about having extra complete filters so I can have a pump head, heater, priming assembly, and inlet/outlet connection unit all cleaned, lubed and ready to go on an active filter. This is especially true for the Inlet/Outlet Connection Unit which seems to be the most common cause of leaks and air intrusion. For this reason, I also keep a couple new spares on hand because I've had a couple break in different ways. Today, while tearing the old one down to lube not only the two visible o-rings, but also the 3 buried within, I broke one of the retaining tabs that hold the inner portion in tightly against those buried o-rings. When I grabbed a new one that I'd just recently purchased, I noticed the visible o-rings were now orange instead of the normal black. They also look a little beefier. I wonder if this is Oase addressing the known common issues with this assembly and making some quiet updates and improvements.
Oh, and the farm tank filter is running great again...so far.
Oh, and the farm tank filter is running great again...so far.
10 replies
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435 views
Journal 350 liter planted tank
Hello everybody im new here and wanted to introduce my tank,
The tank is a 350 liter Juwel rio (120x50x60)
Pretty high tank but wanted to have 50 cm wide
Lights: 3 daytime onex (1x plant 2x colour)
Good for 180 par at the bottom, 1.5 hour build up/5 hours full and 1.5 hour build off
Co2 by Inline with a co2art series pro dual stage regulator dropping 1.4 in ph
Filtration: 2 external filters (1x crystal profi 900, 1x tetra ex 1500 on a spraybar) and a eheim skim 350
Substrate: mastersoil black powder with masterline root tabs
Fertilizer: apt e
Fish: cherry barbels, siamese algae eaters, kuhli, ottociclus and some bloody mary shrimps
Plants: rotala macandra, anubias tinto, reineckii mini, reineckki rosenarvig, rotala blood red, ludwigia repens super red, bacopa carolinia, lobelia cardinalis, crypto flamingo, crypto rosen maiden, staurogene repens, spiralus tiger, ludwigia inclinata meta, samolus parvifloris red.
Might have forgotten something
Currently battling algae and unhappy plants due to nutrient inbalances and a no3 tester that was not correct.
Under a pic of the current state and the state it was a little better in balance (not as it should tho)
The tank is a 350 liter Juwel rio (120x50x60)
Pretty high tank but wanted to have 50 cm wide
Lights: 3 daytime onex (1x plant 2x colour)
Good for 180 par at the bottom, 1.5 hour build up/5 hours full and 1.5 hour build off
Co2 by Inline with a co2art series pro dual stage regulator dropping 1.4 in ph
Filtration: 2 external filters (1x crystal profi 900, 1x tetra ex 1500 on a spraybar) and a eheim skim 350
Substrate: mastersoil black powder with masterline root tabs
Fertilizer: apt e
Fish: cherry barbels, siamese algae eaters, kuhli, ottociclus and some bloody mary shrimps
Plants: rotala macandra, anubias tinto, reineckii mini, reineckki rosenarvig, rotala blood red, ludwigia repens super red, bacopa carolinia, lobelia cardinalis, crypto flamingo, crypto rosen maiden, staurogene repens, spiralus tiger, ludwigia inclinata meta, samolus parvifloris red.
Might have forgotten something
Currently battling algae and unhappy plants due to nutrient inbalances and a no3 tester that was not correct.
Under a pic of the current state and the state it was a little better in balance (not as it should tho)
52 replies
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3333 views
I've just spotted these latest Hygger luminaire lights.
All the bumf seems to claim that they only have RGB LEDs (all 5054 type). Very reasonable prices. Is this a complete bargain for a genuine RGB light ? Or is there a catch ?? THis is way off my areas of expertise.
www.hygger-online.com
All the bumf seems to claim that they only have RGB LEDs (all 5054 type). Very reasonable prices. Is this a complete bargain for a genuine RGB light ? Or is there a catch ?? THis is way off my areas of expertise.
hygger Aquarium Bluetooth LED Light - hygger
hygger Bluetooth LED light is simple and intuitively controlled by APP, its CRI is up to 95, and 300+ colors to choose from for 12"-55" freshwater tanks.
4 replies
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100 views
Hello folks,
I have a Twinstar 1200S V (the new model that has app support). I love the look of the light itself and it makes my tank look great, but either the app is fundamentally flawed or I'm missing something obvious. I have a smart plug on this light so I can turn it off and on with a voice command. The light clearly has a saved state as when it gets powered on it turns on with the right spectrum and the intensity. BUT, it also only turns on for 6 hours before turning off. Every. Single. Time.
My set photoperiod is 8 hours, so the light turns off 2 hours short of the correct time every day.
I can make a work around by turning the light off and back on again at the smart plug, (gaining an additional 6 hour window of 'on' time when I only need 2 hours before the smart switch unplugs the light again). BUT, I would much rather have the light allow for it to be on for as long as I want and turn off when I want.
I contacted twinstar support via email more then a month ago and got absolutely no response. So pretty much the worse product support something can have.
The obvious issue is the inbuilt timer in the app is defaulting to 6 hours. I have tried changing this timer to be longer (set it for 23 hours). I also have tried having the timer just set to 'off'. Neither does anything.
Does anyone else have this light? Does anyone else have any suggestions?
I have a Twinstar 1200S V (the new model that has app support). I love the look of the light itself and it makes my tank look great, but either the app is fundamentally flawed or I'm missing something obvious. I have a smart plug on this light so I can turn it off and on with a voice command. The light clearly has a saved state as when it gets powered on it turns on with the right spectrum and the intensity. BUT, it also only turns on for 6 hours before turning off. Every. Single. Time.
My set photoperiod is 8 hours, so the light turns off 2 hours short of the correct time every day.
I can make a work around by turning the light off and back on again at the smart plug, (gaining an additional 6 hour window of 'on' time when I only need 2 hours before the smart switch unplugs the light again). BUT, I would much rather have the light allow for it to be on for as long as I want and turn off when I want.
I contacted twinstar support via email more then a month ago and got absolutely no response. So pretty much the worse product support something can have.
The obvious issue is the inbuilt timer in the app is defaulting to 6 hours. I have tried changing this timer to be longer (set it for 23 hours). I also have tried having the timer just set to 'off'. Neither does anything.
Does anyone else have this light? Does anyone else have any suggestions?
5 replies
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160 views
Journal High-Tech 90P Build
Hi guys!
I'm new here, but not entirely new to planted tanks though I've been out of the hobby for the better part of the last decade between kids and moving a couple of times - but finally in a spot where I can do something again. I'm mostly going to be making things up as I go along, but plan on a lot of automation (I want to integrate everything into home assistant) and a lot of DIY as I love the challenge of building things out myself.
The starting point:
I picked up a 90P rimless, low-iron tank on a great deal.
I have a rough idea in my head for a stand to be built from plywood - just have a couple other house projects to finish off before starting that built.
Wife says I can only have one aquarium, so for this tank, I want to go all out with a sump to allow for auto top off, and auto water changes, auto fertilizer dosing etc. etc. I have half a plan in my mind.
I've also started on the light fixture which I've modeled up in CAD, and plan on making out of an 8020 extrusion, and some 3D printed bits.
I'm using bridgelux gen 3 thrive CW (3000k) and WW (5000k) LED strips which have super high CRI at 98+ along with some specific XPE2 wavelengths that I'll solder onto some starboards. Far Red (730nm), Red (654nm), Cyan (495nm), Blue (455nm), Visible UV (415nm). Each segment of the white channels will be on its own driver so I can adjust left to right brightness in thirds, and each colour channel on its own driver so I can vary each channel on a time-based approach.
These will be run from a custom PCB board with Meanwell N-LDD drivers, and will run ESPHome on an ESP32 so it can link up with my Home Assistant installation.
That's it for now, this will probably be a very slow build so be warned if you follow along!
I'm new here, but not entirely new to planted tanks though I've been out of the hobby for the better part of the last decade between kids and moving a couple of times - but finally in a spot where I can do something again. I'm mostly going to be making things up as I go along, but plan on a lot of automation (I want to integrate everything into home assistant) and a lot of DIY as I love the challenge of building things out myself.
The starting point:
I picked up a 90P rimless, low-iron tank on a great deal.
I have a rough idea in my head for a stand to be built from plywood - just have a couple other house projects to finish off before starting that built.
Wife says I can only have one aquarium, so for this tank, I want to go all out with a sump to allow for auto top off, and auto water changes, auto fertilizer dosing etc. etc. I have half a plan in my mind.
I've also started on the light fixture which I've modeled up in CAD, and plan on making out of an 8020 extrusion, and some 3D printed bits.
I'm using bridgelux gen 3 thrive CW (3000k) and WW (5000k) LED strips which have super high CRI at 98+ along with some specific XPE2 wavelengths that I'll solder onto some starboards. Far Red (730nm), Red (654nm), Cyan (495nm), Blue (455nm), Visible UV (415nm). Each segment of the white channels will be on its own driver so I can adjust left to right brightness in thirds, and each colour channel on its own driver so I can vary each channel on a time-based approach.
These will be run from a custom PCB board with Meanwell N-LDD drivers, and will run ESPHome on an ESP32 so it can link up with my Home Assistant installation.
That's it for now, this will probably be a very slow build so be warned if you follow along!
17 replies
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514 views
Journal 22 gallon long bookshelf
Time to start a new thread.
I’ll fill in some details later, but I’m working on the hardscape now. Any and all criticism is appreciated. The vision is nothing more, and nothing less, than something appealing to the eye.
90cm x 30cm x 30cm Lifegard Aquatics ultra clear bookshelf tank. Buce and anubias on the hardscape, stems towards the back and center, mid to front carpet with some changes in shade and texture down to a flat grade on the right side of the tank.
Lily pipe inlet and skimmer will be in the back left corner with the outflow in the front left to hopefully achieve circular flow. I’ll be running an in-line diffuser. Light will be the P600 Pro that I regrettably did not upside to 900. Oh well. I’ll mount it high and hopefully it’ll have enough spread.
I have some dragon stone and red lava rock rubble I’ll use at the base to blend into the substrate, as well as some stratum I may or may not cap with.
I’ll fill in some details later, but I’m working on the hardscape now. Any and all criticism is appreciated. The vision is nothing more, and nothing less, than something appealing to the eye.
90cm x 30cm x 30cm Lifegard Aquatics ultra clear bookshelf tank. Buce and anubias on the hardscape, stems towards the back and center, mid to front carpet with some changes in shade and texture down to a flat grade on the right side of the tank.
Lily pipe inlet and skimmer will be in the back left corner with the outflow in the front left to hopefully achieve circular flow. I’ll be running an in-line diffuser. Light will be the P600 Pro that I regrettably did not upside to 900. Oh well. I’ll mount it high and hopefully it’ll have enough spread.
I have some dragon stone and red lava rock rubble I’ll use at the base to blend into the substrate, as well as some stratum I may or may not cap with.
222 replies
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24030 views
Help Massive Plant Melt
So I've been trying to recover this farm tank after having been neglected for a couple months after my injury. I had lost some plants which I could understand for obvious reasons. However it seems as though since I've resumed maintenance Its had a major negative impact on the tank. Since resuming water changes & Co2 injection I've had a major issue with plant melt: hygophila araguaia which had been decent has been completely wiped out, buces are shedding leaves at an alarming rate, lagenandra meeboldii green which was easily the largest plant in the tank is a shaddow of its former self and continues to decline, I attributed this melt as likely being a combination of factors:
A.) Aquarium had stopped being dosed with fertilizers and plants had become weak
B.) Co2 bottle had run dry and now suddenly Co2 injection had resumed.
C.) Lack of water changes caused the plants to use up or at least deplete available minerals which were not being replaced with each water change.
My theory was these factors combined with resuming maintenance, co2 injection, etc were drastic enough to cause a significant change in water parameters from what the plants had adapated to.
I had ordered some new plants to replace some that were lost, mostly tissue culture which is what I've had pretty great success with. However now many of these new plants are pretty much also instantly melting. Pogostemon helferi specifically, but also some some swords (echinodorus red diamond) being the hardest hit, but ozelot also struggling.
Nutrient dosing targets:
30mL dose provides
Macros
NO3 via KNO3 - 20ppm
P via KH2PO4 - 1.5ppm
K via KNO3+KH2PO4+K2SO4 - 20 ppm
Micros
Fe via CSM+B - 0.5ppm
Ferts are dosed 10mL at at the time 3x/ week on alternating days.
I use RO water and APT Sky+ to remineralize using the calculator on 2 Hr Aquarist website, and according to the calculator my dosages should put me around 7GH and 1.9KH.
I was going to check water hardness last night but my solution is expired so I need to pick up some more today just for verification purposes. While the tank SHOULD be somewhere in the neighborhood provided by the APT SKY+ when I tested KH (not expired) it tested at 4dKH
. Lights are on for 7 hours per day, Co2 Injection begins 1.5 hours before lights on and shuts off 1 hour before lights off. pH is 7.4 and pH drop is approximately 1.2 using an apera pH meter (Tank has no inhabitants other than plants). Drop checker Green. TDS 225. I will add that the tank does start seeing some pretty decent ambient light from the room for several hours before lights on, so I'm not sure if this makes a difference. I'm skeptical because everything had been doing fine until the maintenance fell off during my injury, and the decline really accelerated once the water changes/ Co2 injection resumed. Its not everything in the tank, there are plants that bouncing back, the echinodorus Aflame, blyxa japonica, and crypt lucens all seem to be either doing fine or recovering with new growth. I'm at a complete loss, and by no means an expert, I would love any input, ideas, insights that you all could offer. TIA.
A.) Aquarium had stopped being dosed with fertilizers and plants had become weak
B.) Co2 bottle had run dry and now suddenly Co2 injection had resumed.
C.) Lack of water changes caused the plants to use up or at least deplete available minerals which were not being replaced with each water change.
My theory was these factors combined with resuming maintenance, co2 injection, etc were drastic enough to cause a significant change in water parameters from what the plants had adapated to.
I had ordered some new plants to replace some that were lost, mostly tissue culture which is what I've had pretty great success with. However now many of these new plants are pretty much also instantly melting. Pogostemon helferi specifically, but also some some swords (echinodorus red diamond) being the hardest hit, but ozelot also struggling.
Nutrient dosing targets:
30mL dose provides
Macros
NO3 via KNO3 - 20ppm
P via KH2PO4 - 1.5ppm
K via KNO3+KH2PO4+K2SO4 - 20 ppm
Micros
Fe via CSM+B - 0.5ppm
Ferts are dosed 10mL at at the time 3x/ week on alternating days.
I use RO water and APT Sky+ to remineralize using the calculator on 2 Hr Aquarist website, and according to the calculator my dosages should put me around 7GH and 1.9KH.
I was going to check water hardness last night but my solution is expired so I need to pick up some more today just for verification purposes. While the tank SHOULD be somewhere in the neighborhood provided by the APT SKY+ when I tested KH (not expired) it tested at 4dKH
. Lights are on for 7 hours per day, Co2 Injection begins 1.5 hours before lights on and shuts off 1 hour before lights off. pH is 7.4 and pH drop is approximately 1.2 using an apera pH meter (Tank has no inhabitants other than plants). Drop checker Green. TDS 225. I will add that the tank does start seeing some pretty decent ambient light from the room for several hours before lights on, so I'm not sure if this makes a difference. I'm skeptical because everything had been doing fine until the maintenance fell off during my injury, and the decline really accelerated once the water changes/ Co2 injection resumed. Its not everything in the tank, there are plants that bouncing back, the echinodorus Aflame, blyxa japonica, and crypt lucens all seem to be either doing fine or recovering with new growth. I'm at a complete loss, and by no means an expert, I would love any input, ideas, insights that you all could offer. TIA.
5 replies
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181 views
I'm thinking about setting up a carnivorous plant terrarium. I'm looking for a place to go like Scape Crunch to ask a few questions. My experience with aquarium forums has me leery of where I go for info. FaceBook is a 
storm. Reddit is slightly better. There are a couple forums, but I don't want to end up in a Planted Tank type situation where the wrong question gets me banned. Any suggestions?
FWIW: I've grown carnivorous plants in the past and had good luck with them. However, from what I can find, doing a terrarium might have a few different rules than just a fun pot garden outside.
storm. Reddit is slightly better. There are a couple forums, but I don't want to end up in a Planted Tank type situation where the wrong question gets me banned. Any suggestions?FWIW: I've grown carnivorous plants in the past and had good luck with them. However, from what I can find, doing a terrarium might have a few different rules than just a fun pot garden outside.
9 replies
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127 views