FloridaBoy Posted October 12, 2015 Share Posted October 12, 2015 I'm calling this the Phoenix Tank because it is being reborn from an abandoned saltwater tank (that had been languishing empty in a garage for years) into a planted community freshwater tank. This thread will follow it's refurbishment and evolution into a (hopefully) thriving FW ecosystem. First, some background. I joined ARC a few years ago after 20 years of freshwater tanks I decided to try reefing. I had two reef tanks for a little over two years. I'll be honest, I LOVED my reef tanks. They were so beautiful, full of life, activity, and colorful vitality. However, I gradually came to the realization that I just hated doing the water changes, the unyielding nature of a reef tank, and the high prices of everything. So I (sadly) sold off my corals to fellow members and converted my 24 gallon tank back to a planted FW system. I've always wanted a bigger tank, and a fellow ARC member was giving away a tank that he had in storage for years. I snapped it up and was excited to have a new project. The other thing you need to know about me is that I am CHEAP!!!! I hate paying full price for anything and Love Love Love a bargain. (What can I say, I'm Scottish!) Long Story Short, I picked up this tank for a song, and this first post is how I restored it. I used only scrap lumber I had laying around (see previous comment re: cheap), elbow grease, and some paint. Following posts will follow the aquascaping and stocking. I hope you enjoy! Steve Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bpb Posted October 13, 2015 Share Posted October 13, 2015 Following. What direction you going with this? Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FloridaBoy Posted October 13, 2015 Author Share Posted October 13, 2015 Following. What direction you going with this? Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Still deciding on how I want to plant it. I really like the look of The Green Machine tanks, but their tanks are generally very shallow. Right now I'm thinking I'll put most of the stem's towards one side and have about 1/3 of the tank "open" space with carpet plants and sand for a swimming area. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LarryD Posted October 13, 2015 Share Posted October 13, 2015 Following. What direction you going with this? Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Still deciding on how I want to plant it. I really like the look of The Green Machine tanks, but their tanks are generally very shallow. Right now I'm thinking I'll put most of the stem's towards one side and have about 1/3 of the tank "open" space with carpet plants and sand for a swimming area. I find that these tanks tend to look better with plant heights sloping to one of the back corners or to a mor central location. As someone who had an Iwagumi if you want to do some of the smaller carpeting plants like dwarf baby tears or dwarf hair grass you are going to need a very fine substrate, this is because they propagate by very small runners that can't move through larger substrates this being said it only needs to be the top maybe inch or so because they do not seem to send roots very deep. I tried to plant dwarf hair grass in Eco complete only to have it fail however in my Iwagumi I used a black fluorite sand and had a full carpet in a month or so from only a couple packs of tissue cultures. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FloridaBoy Posted October 13, 2015 Author Share Posted October 13, 2015 Following. What direction you going with this? Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Still deciding on how I want to plant it. I really like the look of The Green Machine tanks, but their tanks are generally very shallow. Right now I'm thinking I'll put most of the stem's towards one side and have about 1/3 of the tank "open" space with carpet plants and sand for a swimming area. I find that these tanks tend to look better with plant heights sloping to one of the back corners or to a mor central location. As someone who had an Iwagumi if you want to do some of the smaller carpeting plants like dwarf baby tears or dwarf hair grass you are going to need a very fine substrate, this is because they propagate by very small runners that can't move through larger substrates this being said it only needs to be the top maybe inch or so because they do not seem to send roots very deep. I tried to plant dwarf hair grass in Eco complete only to have it fail however in my Iwagumi I used a black fluorite sand and had a full carpet in a month or so from only a couple packs of tissue cultures. Great observations - I'll definitely keep these in mind while planning out the new aquascape. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LarryD Posted October 13, 2015 Share Posted October 13, 2015 Following. What direction you going with this? Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Still deciding on how I want to plant it. I really like the look of The Green Machine tanks, but their tanks are generally very shallow. Right now I'm thinking I'll put most of the stem's towards one side and have about 1/3 of the tank "open" space with carpet plants and sand for a swimming area. I find that these tanks tend to look better with plant heights sloping to one of the back corners or to a mor central location. As someone who had an Iwagumi if you want to do some of the smaller carpeting plants like dwarf baby tears or dwarf hair grass you are going to need a very fine substrate, this is because they propagate by very small runners that can't move through larger substrates this being said it only needs to be the top maybe inch or so because they do not seem to send roots very deep. I tried to plant dwarf hair grass in Eco complete only to have it fail however in my Iwagumi I used a black fluorite sand and had a full carpet in a month or so from only a couple packs of tissue cultures. Great observations - I'll definitely keep these in mind while planning out the new aquascape. I think some of the larger carpeting plants you can get away with a larger substrate but the dwarf species I have experience you definitely can't, you will also want to pick up (if you don't already have a set) some curved scissors so that you can easily mow the lawn I used a set of straight scissors and it was a nightmare. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FloridaBoy Posted October 16, 2015 Author Share Posted October 16, 2015 Time for Phase 2 - Setup. I started the week by ordering a BML 4' light bar in the 6500K spectrum. I really liked the way this spectrum looked in my 24 gallon tank, so I chose the same one for the big tank. Next I started looking around for substrates for the tank. Then I cried when I calculated how much it would cost just for the eco-complete or similar. Remember, I'm CHEAP. So, now that I followed the rules setting up the first tank, it's time to break them all with the second! (Insert evil scientist cackle here). One bag of eco-complete / fluorite / etc runs about $35, and I'd need around 4-5 bags, so I decided I had to find an alternative with similar properties but cheaper. Found a couple of posts on the planted forums of people using Turface or oil-absorb type products ($7 bag) and thought I'd try that. Went to Whittlesey's landscape supply to pick some up along with some organic potting soil as a base. They were out of both Turface and OA, and I was lazy and didn't want to go all over shopping so I'm trying some alternatives to my alternatives I got a bag of potting soil, a bag of topsoil which they mine from a riverbed (I'm thinking it ought to work well for growing aquatic plants then), and some decomposed granite for a cap. Total price...... $12! If it doesn't work, I'm not out a lot of money to scoop it out and start over. Let the great experiment begin! I put down a layer of potting soil first. It is REALLY fluffy being mostly peat and coco hulls. I fully expect it to slowly decompose and pack down to nothing over a few months so I wasn't very worried that it made a thicker layer that I would have liked once the water hit it. Next I topped it with a layer of the river loam "topsoil". It has more clay in it that I was expecting, but that's ok - lots of Iron for the root feeders. Finally I capped with a thin layer of the decomp granite sand. Now I just have to do a few water changes and let everything settle while I wait on my light to come in. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Captexas Posted October 16, 2015 Share Posted October 16, 2015 Tagging along as I still need to get my big tank setup. On the substrate, or cap for the potting soil, did you consider the Black Diamond blasting media from Tractor Supply? In my search around the forums for planted tanks, seems many people have used it with success and it's inexpensive if you are in need of a black substrate. I've been considering using it, but haven't gotten that far as I still need to figure out how to get my tank in the house first! lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FloridaBoy Posted October 19, 2015 Author Share Posted October 19, 2015 I did consider it, and it is part of my backup plan if the decomposed granite doesn't work out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FloridaBoy Posted October 22, 2015 Author Share Posted October 22, 2015 I've had the tank filled with water and running a canister filter for the past week. Used some dirty filter floss from the 24 gallon to start the bio-filter going along with Fluval Cycle. The combo must be working well as I've had no ammonia/nitrate spikes and the starter fish are doing fine. So far I have introduced a dozen neon tetras, 4 mollies, and a blue gourami. Lighting came in yesterday, so I can begin planting this weekend! More posts and pics coming soon! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FloridaBoy Posted October 26, 2015 Author Share Posted October 26, 2015 It was a big weekend for this tank. I added 5 quarter sized "Koi" angelfish, and started planting. Of course this stirred up the silt quite a bit, so the pictures are a little cloudy, but it will settle down soon. Cleaned the canister filter, added some fertilizers and Excel, and mounted the new light. Guess I need to start looking for another CO2 tank soon! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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