Tank Build: 'Valhalla'

[DrGreenThumb650]

Greetings Barr Report,

I'm setting up a new tank right now and its really going to be the cat's meow so I had to create this build thread for it. I am going to be using this thread to document my tank's set up process from start to finish and to get some feedback from all the barr reporters.

Tank Specs:
The tank is about 38 gallons - it is a quasi-cube (20" x 20" x 24" frame).
-Black Silica
-Visio glass

View attachment 3744

-Filter: Fluval 206 canister filter (206 gph)
-I also got some CoralLife Pure-Flo Fine Filter Pad to add to the canister's filtration process because I've used the Pure-Flo in my previous tanks and have been nothing but satisfied with how crystal clear it keeps the water.

View attachment 3745

-Lighting: My light hasn't arrived yet but I got the Odyssea 18" 150 watt metal halide pendant extendable series. The bulb it comes with has a 15000k spectrum and I'maiming for one more between 5k and 10k so I'm in the process of getting a new bulb. Any recommendations?
-This should be an awesome light with the potential of giving me around 3.9 wpg of light!

-Heater: I am excited about this because I picked up the Hydor ETH 200 in-line filter. This is an external filter that hooks up to the filter output line so it will be nice to not have a hulking ugly heater in the tank.


CO2: This is the most exciting part. For this tank I dropped the extra dollars for an electronic pH monitor and CO2 Controller. I have an interestingly shaped (tall and narrow) 7lb CO2 tank on the way and I currently have the electronic pH monitor hooked up to my 8 gallon Fluval Ebi. I really can't wait to get this bad boy hooked up to Valhalla because its going to keep my tank at such balanced levels; my plants will excel in this tank. Here is a shot of the controller hooked up to my Fluval Ebi - patiently waiting for its ultimate duty in my new set up.

View attachment 3743

Tank Stand: Gotta talk about this because I built the tank stand with help from my friend at the LFS (lucky I got help because this poor college student has no power tools). It cost me a total of $40 from The Home Depot - 3 redwood 2x4s, a doug fir 4x4 and some 3" screws.
Heres the supplies and finished table (with some initial rock scape brain-storming)

View attachment 3741
View attachment 3742

Let me know what you think so far!
I'll post later about substrate and rock scaping!

 

[Gerryd]

Hi,

I think you are heading for issues using a 150 w mh on a 40 gal tank. I would rethink this decision for sure....I think it is WAY WAY overkill for your tank.

Sounds like a fun build. Glad to hear you are excited about your new project.

 

[jerrybforl]

I agree with Gerry. Lots of light for a tank that size. You can always raise it up more. I have a pH monitor, but I only use it to do just that check my pH. I don't use it in conjunction with my solenoid as CO2 doesn't need to run at night.

I used to go this route, but stopped a few years ago. You can simply plug your solenoid into a timer that turns on an hour or so before the lights turn on. This way CO2 is saturated in the water column and ready to be used by the plants.

Will you be fertilizing EI? Or something else? EI is the best way to go IMO.

Just keep asking questions. There a loads of people on here that can help you with one issue or another.

PS. Stand is nice, but you could've gotten away with less wood. That being said, it will not fail you lol...

 

[dutchy]

-This should be an awesome light with the potential of giving me around 3.9 wpg of light!

The algae will be very happy for sure

 

[Gerryd]

Just keep asking questions. There a loads of people on here that can help you with one issue or another

JJ,

As you encourage (correctly) to ask questions, make sure you answer some of them as well. It is time you took a more active role as mentor here..

 

[jerrybforl]

Well Gerry I have, and I have been answering questions. I also ask a lot of questions to further assist someone with their tank. I have no problem mentoring. I love this hobby...

 

[DrGreenThumb650]

Substrate and Rockscape

Hi all, thanks for the replies!
I agree that I am teetering into a dangerous area by having 150 watts available but as I will have the light hanging from the ceiling I will have it fairly high above the tank as to not have too much light (I don't mind the extra wattage so I can keep this light for future use and to light the tank's viewing area). In order to further control algae I am going to rely on maintaining copious and thriving plant life and healthy chemical process which will totally out compete any algae. I am confident in my abilities to keep my waters balanced

You could say I used too much wood in the table but the I was going for a blocky, strong look with the table which is why I went with the 4x4 doug fir legs. I also wanted to show off the redwood 2 x 4s I used. So the heavy use of wood - a strong look to match the strong look of 'valhalla' - was my stylistic decision. I'm going to varnish the table once i get my hands on some.

I was unfamiliar with EI fertilization but it looks like a pretty solid method - thanks for the tip. I will probably follow a similar schedule for the new tank's fertilization. I will also be adding some tabs to the substrate before filling her up.

Ok now onto some updates.

Substrate:
I toyed with trying Miracle Grow Organics as a base layer but decided I didn't want to take it on for this tank. I decided to choose fluval plant stratum as a base layer. My concerns are its tendency to lower pH because I want to take full advantage of my CO2 system but since I already have a tank using fluval stratum that stays at a steady pH of 7 with no CO2 I decided the fluval stratum would make a great new substrate for the new tank. I like the nutrient content of fluval stratum as plants I have grown in it do exceptionally well - the MAJOR downside is that it has terrible hold when trying to plant directly into it and is too light (and maybe non porous?) for plants to really dig into. Because of such problems I have encountered with the fluval stratum I decided to go with a layer of Active-Flora fluorite as the second layer for the tank. I have seen good results with fluorite in plant's ability to really get a crazy root structure growing within it. And then as a top layer, for a little cleaner aesthetics, I went with some fine black gravel - aslo from Active Flora.

[attachment=1260:name]

Rock Scape:
So I have a few goals I am trying to accomplish with the rock scape in Valhalla and its name coming out of Norse Mythology definitely plays into it. I always pictured the lands of Odin's hall, Valhalla, to be built on a rocky, craggy, gnarly grassland with a look of power and natural forces to it - so that is how I wanted this tank to look. I chose the tall 24" dimension because I want the tank to have a look of big sky. I am making the rock formation look like one big formation jutting out of a rolling grassland. I also am going to be keeping a school of Syndontis petricola in the tank and am therefore building a nice cave within the rock formation so they have a chill spot. They are definetly a favorite of mine.

My plan with the rock scape is too fill a lot of the cracks between rocks with HC and have a lawn of Eleocharis Belem surrounding the entire rock formation. I will also have a few Eriocaulon cinereum growing out of the larger gaps in the rock formation.

overall tank (slightly to the left)
[attachment=1264:name]

front (slightly right)
[attachment=1261:name]

from the right side
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from the top
[attachment=1263:name]

Once i get some nice HC filling in the cracks and some sweet Eriocaulon cinereum in the holes the rock formation will be looking unreal.

What are your thoughts on the rock scape?

 

[jerrybforl]

I like it a lot! It's not centered front/ back or side to side. You have it placed very nicely. I'm not sure how well you fish selection will work with plants. I've never kept them before, but I think they get big. Don't they?

What are you pH goals? The only time a pay attention to pH is when I'm adjusting my CO2. What will you use as a diffuser?

Be careful when planting as substrates can easily mix together. Learned this first hand..:gw

EI is very easy to use and cheap!

The stand looks great. I was just saying it's very sturdy is all.

 

[DrGreenThumb650]

Glad you like it, Jerry.

I got a glass diffuser and I will post a picture of it a little later along with a picture of my CO2 regulator. As far as my pH goals, I'm hoping to maintain the pH at around 6.5 - 6.8.
I am going to be meticulous as I can about planting! And the table is definitely very, very strong haha.

The Petricolas are dwarf cat fish and max out at around 4 inches IME. They can be somewhat active swimmers but they will like the cave I built them so much that I doubt they will come out much other than during feeding. They are awesome fish, you should give them a try!

 

[jerrybforl]

Will you be ROing or using tap water? I use tap water, and IME the water stabilizes. My pH will read 6.6 or so, and when I do a large water change, it doesn't go up very much...maybe 6.8.

I simply use my pH probe to measure the pH. I know if my pH is high I'm probably not putting in enough CO2. That being said, I know my CO2 is close to where I want it when the pH is lower. I also let the fish tell me if there is too much CO2. So I only use it when I'm tweaking my CO2.

I used to run it on the solenoid, but started to think that I was wasting CO2 at night. Plants will not consume it while it is dark. Light is the driving force. So I simply set it on a timer, and it turns on before lights come on.

I know you are excited about your new toys, but you don't really need it. Not for the purpose you intend to use it for anyway. It is a great tool to have though to measure pH instantly. I will run it on a tank for a few weeks until I get my CO2 where I want it.

I'm sure they are nice, but will they be compatible with your freshly scaped tank? I hope they don't tear it up. Anyway post some more pics of your progress, and I will try to help to the best of my abilities.

 

[DrGreenThumb650]

More updates

Just wanted to post some more pictures of what I got going for the new set up.

Here is the CO2 regulator and diffuser. I plan on running the CO2 during the night in my tank. Plants utilize CO2 during the light independent cycle of photosynthesis which occurs at night as well as during the day (although this is a subject still under debate in the world of plant biology). Whatever the case, I've had good experience with running it at night in the past.

[attachment=1265:name]
[attachment=1266:name]

Here's the nutrients regiment I have going so far. I may be lacking a couple micronutrients but I doubt I'm lacking much which the sub surface tabs I get or the fluval substrate won't supply. Incase you can't get the picture I'm planning on using Flourish Excel, Flourish Phosphorous, Kent Marine Iron and Manganese, Kent Marine Pro-Plant (Nitrogen and Micro Nutrients), and AquaVitro Envy which is basicly an amino acid and carbohydrate supplement for plants (This may have some overlap with the Flourish Excel so I'll need to do some more research into that... but this definitely supplies some things that excel does not).

[attachment=1267:name]

Here's a shot of the Hydor inline heater which I never had a chance to get up before. Anyone have any opinions on this thing?

[attachment=1268:name]

And just to cap off the night, here is a clean shot of the view from the right side of the tank. I have a beanbag chair right at the base of this side of the tank for viewing so this is an exciting angle and I must say I'm preetttty satisfied with how its looking.

[attachment=1269:name]

Keep the feedback coming!

 

[DrGreenThumb650]

Will you be ROing or using tap water? I use tap water, and IME the water stabilizes. My pH will read 6.6 or so, and when I do a large water change, it doesn't go up very much...maybe 6.8.

I simply use my pH probe to measure the pH. I know if my pH is high I'm probably not putting in enough CO2. That being said, I know my CO2 is close to where I want it when the pH is lower. I also let the fish tell me if there is too much CO2. So I only use it when I'm tweaking my CO2.

I used to run it on the solenoid, but started to think that I was wasting CO2 at night. Plants will not consume it while it is dark. Light is the driving force. So I simply set it on a timer, and it turns on before lights come on.

I know you are excited about your new toys, but you don't really need it. Not for the purpose you intend to use it for anyway. It is a great tool to have though to measure pH instantly. I will run it on a tank for a few weeks until I get my CO2 where I want it.

I'm sure they are nice, but will they be compatible with your freshly scaped tank? I hope they don't tear it up. Anyway post some more pics of your progress, and I will try to help to the best of my abilities.

OK, to answer the questions

I am going to be using RO. Do you know anything about the hardiness requirements of eleocharis belem?

I know I don't really NEED the CO2 set up but when it comes to how much I'm spending on this tank I have to ask myself do I even NEED a tank this nice in the first place. And I do . So I'm going to get my new toys (well I already got 'em) and enjoy playing with them! I'm sure if I start thinking the CO2 set up is overkill than I will just unplug it and handle it manually.

I think the petricolas will be fine; I've kept 2 in my planted 8 gallon for a year now and while they can be a little fiesty they are nothing healthy plants can't handle; what I have found is that a healthly plant will grow way faster than the amount of foliage a petricola cat will knock off. Additionally, as I stated above, the cave they will have will be an ideal habitat for them and they will steer clear of the plants simply because they will like the cave so much. I know they are not the 'norm' for a planted tank of this type but I'm not going for no awards here... just the tank of my dreams.

Thanks for the tips and concerns!

 

[Forumsnow]

Not trying to get in a argument of any sorts but from my first hand experience running co2 24/7 is not the way to go. I used to use the GLA atomic paintball reg without solenoid so I had no choice but to run co2 around the clock. I did have an air stone running at night but I do not feel that helped much. Since switching to a controllable reg I have seen growth I did not even know was possible before and the hair algae I battled for 6 months is completely gone. I feel I can run a whole lot more co2 when it is only on during the photo period and the fish probably appreciate not having it on to sleep.

Also with co2 you are looking for a full point drop when it is on. So say your ph starts at 7 your goal ph with the controller would be somewhere around 6. Of course you would want to go very lowly from 6.5 down observing the fish and only making changes every few days.

Just my opinion and the things I have seen first hand. It's your tank and are free to run it how you think is best. If you are new to this site try to listen to what all these guys have to say. It is truly amazing the knowledge they have.

Best of luck to you. I think the stone work looks amazing. Are you planning to dsm the hc? If you do feel free to ask me any questions. Also thank you for the kind words on my project.

 

[DrGreenThumb650]

Not trying to get in a argument of any sorts but from my first hand experience running co2 24/7 is not the way to go.

I'll give daytime only co2 a try Thanks for the advice. I'm glad you like the rock scape. I'm not familiar with DSM; how does it differ from HC? Does it have any advantages over HC?

Thanks!

 

[DrGreenThumb650]

oops. I guess I misunderstood. What is DSM?

Ah, Dry start method. I think I will mostly just plant using DSM, and fill up the tank a couple days later when I'm satisfied with all my planting. What are your opinions on DSM and why it is better than just going for submersed grow?

 

[Forumsnow]

DSM is where you plant the plants dry and continue to grow them emersed until it is how you want them to be. This works exceptionaly good with hc as it has very small roots at first and tends to float when planted in water. The month or two of dry growth allows the HC to grow roots down into the substrate so you do not have to keep replanting it. This method also has the advantage of far faster growth. On my 12 long i started with mayybe a pot's worth or 2"x2" section of it and in around a month I have almost a full carpet. By growing it emmersed you also do not have to worry about co2 as the atmosphere is much more co2 saturated than our tanks will ever be.
The only trouble with dsm is most people do not listen to the dry part of it. Many put way to much water in and this leads to brown dying plants or mold and fungus. This is the reason 99% of the time when i see some one is having trouble. All i do is water once a week to just moisten the soil, you do not want to see water coming above the substrate at all! I have saran wrap to keep some of the humidity in bu leave both corners open. You also can blast the lights during this dry start. the plants have plenty of co2 so i am running my lights 11 hours a day sitting on top of the rim. A 12long is only 9" high i believe. This would lead to major algae issues if it was filled, but instead i get great growth.

Not sure how helpful this will be, just trying to give my first hand experience with it. I have never really written this long of an answer before lol but i am trying to be more active on this forum. I have really learned alot in the past year here and am trying to give back

You can also just google dsm and barrreport, you will get tons and tons and tons of info on it. Written much more logically than i probably have done.

best of luck

 

[Gerryd]

DSM is where you plant the plants dry and continue to grow them emersed until it is how you want them to be. This works exceptionaly good with hc as it has very small roots at first and tends to float when planted in water. The month or two of dry growth allows the HC to grow roots down into the substrate so you do not have to keep replanting it. This method also has the advantage of far faster growth. On my 12 long i started with mayybe a pot's worth or 2"x2" section of it and in around a month I have almost a full carpet. By growing it emmersed you also do not have to worry about co2 as the atmosphere is much more co2 saturated than our tanks will ever be.
The only trouble with dsm is most people do not listen to the dry part of it. Many put way to much water in and this leads to brown dying plants or mold and fungus. This is the reason 99% of the time when i see some one is having trouble. All i do is water once a week to just moisten the soil, you do not want to see water coming above the substrate at all! I have saran wrap to keep some of the humidity in bu leave both corners open. You also can blast the lights during this dry start. the plants have plenty of co2 so i am running my lights 11 hours a day sitting on top of the rim. A 12long is only 9" high i believe. This would lead to major algae issues if it was filled, but instead i get great growth.

Not sure how helpful this will be, just trying to give my first hand experience with it. I have never really written this long of an answer before lol but i am trying to be more active on this forum. I have really learned alot in the past year here and am trying to give back

You can also just google dsm and barrreport, you will get tons and tons and tons of info on it. Written much more logically than i probably have done.

best of luck

Hi,

You did a fine job. Just shorten some of your paragraphs

Appreciate your wanting to be more involved in the forum and to pay it forward....

 

[DrGreenThumb650]

I agree that DSM is the ideal way to start a planted tank with HC but I simply don't have the patience (and I know that winter break is approaching so I want this done even more) to dry start the tank for a couple months. I will however make all my plantings dry and perhaps leave them dry for about a week. So I guess I'll be doing a mini dry start

About CO2: I decided what I'll do regarding keeping the CO2 off at night and still be able to play with my new toys. I am going to hook the CO2 and lights up to a timer so they come on and off in conjunction. When the lights go off there will be no CO2 (though the pH monitor will still be on) and when the lights go on, the CO2 will go on and off based on the tank's pH. Pretty excited about this plan.

I ordered a new bulb for my light today; I'll be replacing the 15k bulb that comes standard with the light. The new MH HQI bulb is 5500k, a much more desirable spectrum for a planted tank. So I'll hopefully get all my parts in and have this tank planted within the next few days.

I'm so stoked to get this thing going!

 

[Forumsnow]

Hi,

You did a fine job. Just shorten some of your paragraphs

Appreciate your wanting to be more involved in the forum and to pay it forward....

Thanks Gerry, sometimes I ramble a little. I am a equipment operator so I don't do much writing besides time sheets and my signature. I promise I will try to work on it lol.

 

[Gerryd]

Thanks Gerry, sometimes I ramble a little. I am a equipment operator so I don't do much writing besides time sheets and my signature. I promise I will try to work on it lol.

Just easier to read is all when shorter and spaced out a bit. No need for concern re: rambling. Lord knows I do more than my share