FishTankBoy

The initial startup costs are high depending on the size of tank, but it does get cheaper from there. For a 75 gallon tank, it worked out to $1000 for start up and then maybe $400 - $600 each year after that.

Lobsterboy the original poster got out of the hobby so don't look for a response from him.

They also post the seminar videos on youtube, but the audio quality sucks.

But you need to pay someone to take care of it for you. Can you imagine how long it would take to wipe the glass down each week?

Jay that was Takashi Amanos personal tank. Take a look at his new Sumada projects on youtube.

Mine is a 2000 gallon reef that I could snorkel in everyday.

Hey welcome to AA. -ham-

You can try Dave at ConceptAquatics.com for the glass.

Why not pick up an auto top off?

I know what you mean about alien abduction. I had my nano cube in my office on the 2nd floor facing a dark alley. The entrance to the alley was there too so everyone saw the blue/purple light shimmering effect.

In Calgary you can buy a refurbished steel cylinder from the Recharge Center for about 150 - 200 (depending on size). Refilling normally costs about $30. You can also call up coca-cola, and they do a pickup/exchange service.

What type of light did you go with? MH or LED?

For the BBA, you can always spot dose excel/metricde to eliminate it. They like to grow in high flow areas.

How about trying a brute container? You can use wheels with it. You can also drill it and put a ball valve on it to control when you want to drain it.

You can buy bulkheads at Pisces (plus a huge range of pvc adapters) or at Concepts Aquatics. You can pretty much get every pvc item at Western Pump. They also carry the proper swing arm check valves. Don't use the ones at Lowes/Home Depot as they have a metal spring in them.

Fantastic. Now grow some weeds.

That is a good size protein skimmer for a 75g. You will be very happy with it.

Looks good Justin. How are you going to seal the top of the sump up? Please don't say duck tape. :P

Whoops just read that you did a soap test. You still have a leak somewhere. Try running vegetable oil in the bubble counter, it gives you a better picture of how many bubbles per second.

As for the light, why not go with LED technology? Or you can retro-fit your existing HOT5 with new bulbs.

A 10 lbs co2 lasts my 90 gallon for over a year. I am running an electronic solenoid with a Milwaukee PH controller though. Do you have a solenoid on your setup?

When you installed the regulator to the aluminum tank, did you use a permaseal or a new nylon washer? Also use teflon tape when attaching the regulator components together?

Tell us about your full setup. What items are inline after the needle valve (e.g., Needle Valve --> Bubble counter --> check valve --> Reactor). Or, you can spray some soapy water all along the line to see where the leak is coming from.

I would suggest that you just keep the 5lbs bottle as it should last you at least 8 to 14 months. If you run the electric solenoid on a timer, have it turn on 2 hours before lights on and 1 hour before lights off.

Yes it is a Tek 4 bulb hot5. I am running pressurized and spot treating excel (1 litre bottom 3/4 out now). Have a 1 gallon jug of metricide that should last for about 2 years at 3 times overdose on a daily basis. lol

I had great success with mineralized top soil walstad style for 8 months. If you go with rosette plants (swords, crypts, lotus, aponogetons), you will prosper. The problem came when the bottoms of my stem plants got so laggy and shed all its leaves. When you uproot the plant which you are never suppose to do, the soil gets released into the water column and toxifies the water. This leads to fish death and water changes.

In order to have no water changes, you need a very small bioload. Definetely a lot of plant load on the surface to hide the surface scum. If you plan on having a mechanical filter, you sure need to keep up with maintenance on that, otherwise go with a power head. You also need a proper balance of lighting to match the type of plants you have, or algae will take over.

In the end, I don't recommend it as I had short lived experience with it (i'm used to having an aquascape thrive for 2 - 3 years before I tear it down completely and rebuild). I would prefer a ADA Aquasoil or Fluval substrate instead. These substrates are essentially the same thing (high nutrient) but dont' break down as quickly.

I am still battling with BBA, but after 2 weeks of Excel dosing at 3x the normal daily amount, it's starting to go away.

I really suck at taking pictures.

Outstanding. What type of moss and hair grass is that?

Truly outstanding.

I apologise for taking it off track.

Glass tops are nice because it gives you flexibilty. Like you said the light source is easy. With a secure glass top you have a multitude of lighting choices., , , and none of your investments end up getting "bumped" in to the tank.

Thanks for the info. I never thought of your comment as rude whatsoever and was never offended. I am pretty sure that you will find a difference if you take the same PAR test under 12" of water. But since I have never tested this myself, I cannot attest to its accuracy or not. Only from what I have read on other forums.

I just bought the last pot of HC at Petland at 130th. lol, sorry if you were going there.

Oh? How come? I"ve seen many par readings on other forums and people typically don't have glass tops due to how much par gets blocked out.