# My new step up



## Aceman21 (Nov 4, 2015)

Hello everyone, I would just like to share my new setup with everyone. I started with a 120x50x50 rimless low iron tank I bought a few months ago from aqua inspiration.

Instead of buying a new stand I decided to build my own. I was chose to go with a ADA style stand. So off to the lumber yard I went. Here's how it turned out
































So now I needed plants, I came across a RAOK on the forum my @slipfinger. To my surprise I won. 18 amazing plants, I couldn't believe it. But I wasn't quite ready yet, I had no substrate yet. I messaged Slipfinger, told him my situation and he is a great guy. He told me no problem when I'm ready that he will have lots still.

About a month later I finally got my tropica substrate, 4 bags.






I messaged Slipfinger, and 2 days later my package arrived






man what a package. Now it was time to drop the soil in and plant












finally time to add water







as you can see it's still full of air bubbles lol.

I would just like to thank everybody who has helped me along the way and putting up with all my questions hahaha I'm sure there will be more to come as things start growing.

I will update in the weeks to come


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## littletnklvr (Nov 1, 2010)

Love the tank, nice clean look overall.


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## Aceman21 (Nov 4, 2015)

littletnklvr said:


> Love the tank, nice clean look overall.


Thank you


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## slipfinger (May 11, 2016)

Lets see some updates Jay...


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## Aceman21 (Nov 4, 2015)

So far everything seems to be going alright, I have a few plants melting back quite a bit but I'm sure they will bounce back. I might have to drain the tank again and shim my stand, I noticed it's leaning to the front a bit but I've been pretty busy to take a real good look. I'm hoping that after xmas I can get my new light and then the plants will really start taking off.


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## slipfinger (May 11, 2016)

Looks good. Ya a new light with better colour rendition will make all the difference. 

How are you finding the lily pipes, good flow? I was considering a set at each end of the tank. 

How often are you doing water changes? Does the Tropica Soil release ammonia at all?


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## Aceman21 (Nov 4, 2015)

slipfinger said:


> Looks good. Ya a new light with better colour rendition will make all the difference.
> 
> How are you finding the lily pipes, good flow? I was considering a set at each end of the tank.
> 
> How often are you doing water changes? Does the Tropica Soil release ammonia at all?


I like the lily pipes so far, my only complaint is that I wish the return pipe sat a little deeper in the water. When it comes to flow it's hard to tell since I have the inline heater and co2 reactor. I'll probably get another filter down the road to help out with flow since it is a 4' tank.

I've done about 3 water changes since last Friday and so far the ammonia is good, but I also already had cycled media for the filter so that's helped me out a lot.

This week I have to replant some of the plants as the stems have melted away, but the top portions are doing well.


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## solarz (Aug 31, 2010)

Awesome! I have the same tank, it's amazing. Can't wait to see what you do with yours!


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## Aceman21 (Nov 4, 2015)

So on a sad note, I might be taking the tank down. Since I only rent they top floor of a house I’m starting to worry about what might happen. It wouldn’t be fair to the people that live downstairs to have nearly 80g of water come raining down on them. What I might do is get some smaller tanks and spread out my plants. I’m not sure what I’ll do with my tank and stand since I don’t want to sell it since we’d like to move in the coming months. What do you guys think ?


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## littletnklvr (Nov 1, 2010)

I think everyone thinks what if! If it's a quality built tank and there's been no problem after filling it should be just fine, I have worried about every tank I've ever had and will for every tank I ever will have in the future but it's up to you and whether or not you can live with the "what if"!


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## Aceman21 (Nov 4, 2015)

littletnklvr said:


> I think everyone thinks what if! If it's a quality built tank and there's been no problem after filling it should be just fine, I have worried about every tank I've ever had and will for every tank I ever will have in the future but it's up to you and whether or not you can live with the "what if"!


I know that's true, but we have a daughter that likes to run around and you can see the water ripple even more. I mostly worry about the people downstairs since all the water will destroy their stuff and not mine. If I owned the house or has the basement as well I wouldn't be as worried.


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## slipfinger (May 11, 2016)

You just spent all that time setting it up!

If you are losing sleep over it than you have to do what you have to do. 

All my tanks are in the basement. My wife will not allow them on the main floor because she is worried about a flood. Probably best anyways as I overflowed the laundry tube last week. Didn't notice the little sponge from my skimmer had clogged the drain when I was busy working on the tanks. No damage as the drain in the floor is right there. Shit can happen.


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## Aceman21 (Nov 4, 2015)

slipfinger said:


> You just spent all that time setting it up!
> 
> If you are losing sleep over it than you have to do what you have to do.
> 
> All my tanks are in the basement. My wife will not allow them on the main floor because she is worried about a flood. Probably best anyways as I overflowed the laundry tube last week. Didn't notice the little sponge from my skimmer had clogged the drain when I was busy working on the tanks. No damage as the drain in the floor is right there. Shit can happen.


Ya I know it really sucks. I'm torn between what to do. On the one hand I know it's a solid build and won't come crashing down, but on the other hand since I have people that live downstairs it wouldn't be fair to them to have all their stuff ruined because of a what if.

If it does come down I'll probably by 2 smaller tanks and then set them up around the house and store my big tank for when we move into a better place.


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## solarz (Aug 31, 2010)

Aceman21 said:


> Ya I know it really sucks. I'm torn between what to do. On the one hand I know it's a solid build and won't come crashing down, but on the other hand since I have people that live downstairs it wouldn't be fair to them to have all their stuff ruined because of a what if.
> 
> If it does come down I'll probably by 2 smaller tanks and then set them up around the house and store my big tank for when we move into a better place.


What exactly are you worried about? Tank failure or it will break the floor because of its weight?

For the former, while there are no guarantees, I've used mine for 5 years, both FW and SW, with no issues. However, consider that even a 10-gallon tank will cause quite a mess if it dumps all its water on the floor.

For the latter, this tank is not that big. It's 120cm x 50cm x 50cm, so 300L of water, which weighs 300kg. Add in tank, stand, and substrate weight, it's probably less than 400kg. To put that in perspective, that's the weight of a piano, or about 5-6 guys. When's the last time you had a few friends over and worried about the floor caving in because you all stood in one spot?


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## Aceman21 (Nov 4, 2015)

solarz said:


> What exactly are you worried about? Tank failure or it will break the floor because of its weight?
> 
> For the former, while there are no guarantees, I've used mine for 5 years, both FW and SW, with no issues. However, consider that even a 10-gallon tank will cause quite a mess if it dumps all its water on the floor.
> 
> For the latter, this tank is not that big. It's 120cm x 50cm x 50cm, so 300L of water, which weighs 300kg. Add in tank, stand, and substrate weight, it's probably less than 400kg. To put that in perspective, that's the weight of a piano, or about 5-6 guys. When's the last time you had a few friends over and worried about the floor caving in because you all stood in one spot?


More or so worried about the kids running by it and then a failure of some sorts. Say you lived an a basement and 300l of water started raining down on you lol


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## Aceman21 (Nov 4, 2015)

Ok so here's a little update. Almost 4 weeks now and here's where I'm at.






I'm starting to see a little GSA and some diatom. I'm really hating my co2 reactor right now too. It sounds like boiling water with all the air trapped in there. Also I think I need to either add a pump to help with flow or maybe another filter.


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## Aceman21 (Nov 4, 2015)

I’m thinking I need a Wavemaker to help with the flow in the tank. What size jebao do you think would work best ??


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## tom g (Jul 8, 2009)

*tank*

so u didn't take down the tank ... looks good ...


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## Aceman21 (Nov 4, 2015)

tom g said:


> so u didn't take down the tank ... looks good ...


No, I can't make up my mind lol. After I take the xmas tree down I'm going to move the tank to the other side of the room and seee how I feel with it there


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## tom g (Jul 8, 2009)

*tank*

lol don't take the tank down , drain it ,move it level it so u are 100 percent happy with it ...don't take it down for the love of the children .lol


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## Aceman21 (Nov 4, 2015)

tom g said:


> lol don't take the tank down , drain it ,move it level it so u are 100 percent happy with it ...don't take it down for the love of the children .lol


Hahaha right ? I really don't want too, but I still have to think about the people who live downstairs lol


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