# grogan's new project/tank



## grogan

Well I was at the store this morning a customer walked in with this interesting aquarium. Its an all acrylic with built in overflow system. I instantly though of a carpeted shrimp tank  I was toying around with the idea of it all afternoon and eventually just decided that it had to be mine. Its dimensions were just to cool and I have really been wanting my next tank to be a rimless. Im going to close off the overflow and return holes seeing a sumps are death to CO2. Im making another attempt at a dry start. This is going to take me upwards of two months to grown in a fill. I already need more baby tears..lots more.


----------



## Ladayen

It would really really suck if that were to get bumped....


----------



## grogan

lol its a temporary stand. but yes that would suck


----------



## giggitygiggity

My god Grogan you definitely have MTS lol


----------



## phlyergirl

Cool tank. Can't wait to see it grow in.


----------



## Kimberly

Very nice looking tank!

So i have to ask.. how many tanks does this make for you?


----------



## grogan

giggitygiggity said:


> My god Grogan you definitely have MTS lol


I know right! I should be finishing other project tanks before getting new ones..but its so hard! 

@Kimberly:
This makes 4, so its not to excessive


----------



## Kimberly

grogan said:


> This makes 4, so its not to excessive


Okay, haha i thought you had a lot more for some reason. I don't think a person should consider themselves to have MTS until they are in the double digits. But even then it can be debatable!


----------



## giggitygiggity

If I had more money, i'd have more tanks as well. But also living in an apartment already makes it hard on my 75 gallon because to be honest im not even sure if a tank that size is allowed in my complex lol


----------



## iheartfish:)

Lol  Haha giggity, better to ask forgiveness than permission at this point


----------



## snyderguy

Definitely will be following this thread. I ordered some Lilaeopsis mauritiana, so I'll be starting a thread soon about redoing the entire tank. :]


----------



## grogan

Well I am waiting for my next shipment of baby tears to get in on friday to continue planting. I have also been tinkering with the idea of hooking up the overflow box to a sump...or simply closing it off.


----------



## grogan

Update:
Well its officially out of control lol. Check out what came in the mail today










I now have 3 regulators 

Im still waiting on more baby tears and so far the dry start system is rocking. They are definitely growing.


----------



## Obsidian

:O( *tear*

Had to do it.


----------



## lohachata

that would make a nice little grow out tank for baby cories..just cover the overflow slots with fiberglass screen..


----------



## hXcChic22

Ever since seeing this technique of growing "carpet" style plants in AFI magazine, I've wanted to try it... 

Is that a thick sand or really small gravel?


----------



## arch aquatics

lohachata said:


> that would make a nice little grow out tank for baby cories..just cover the overflow slots with fiberglass screen..


+1 or plastic canvas


----------



## grogan

hXcChic22 said:


> Ever since seeing this technique of growing "carpet" style plants in AFI magazine, I've wanted to try it...
> 
> Is that a thick sand or really small gravel?


Its eco complete. I just drained it of all the liquid that comes with it. You want it dry when you start otherwise you could run into mold issues. I then mist is 3-4 times a day.


----------



## hXcChic22

grogan said:


> Its eco complete. I just drained it of all the liquid that comes with it. You want it dry when you start otherwise you could run into mold issues. I then mist is 3-4 times a day.


So to be clear, you drain the gravel water, put it into the tank, then add clean water to that (just enough to cover the substrate)? And keep it damp by misting?


----------



## grogan

Negative. You plant when its dry and then mist daily. The first few pics are wrong, I drained all that excess water and dried it out. I started it off wrong and then corrected it. The plants just need to be moist to not die.


----------



## hXcChic22

Gotcha. The pictures were what was confusing me


----------



## grogan

...yeah I was hoping nobody would notice  Well anyways I brought home some neat driftwood today and another mat of baby tears. Im about 1/3 done with planting and am already seeing new growth.


----------



## funlad3

This is going to look great when its done. Make more babies cry! 

Any fish planned for this tank, or just shrimp?


----------



## grogan

Hmmmm as of now Im leaning towards wild caught cardinals. We also have a choice pair of dwarf pike cichlids in the shop right now that would do nice. Im still 4-6 weeks away from filling with water. Plenty of time to cherry pick fish from the store


----------



## iheartfish:)

That looks amazing! I'm so jealous!!


----------



## grogan

Update:
Well my baby tears came in yesterday. I got enough to finish the carpet. Now I need to find a light fixture and a stand.


----------



## giggitygiggity

Do they already come trimmed and cut the right way?

When I bought my glosso it came as a bunch and it was really annoying to take apart and plant. Thats the only reason why I havnt planted the other 3 I have. 1 bunch took me like an hour!


----------



## grogan

giggitygiggity said:


> Do they already come trimmed and cut the right way?
> 
> When I bought my glosso it came as a bunch and it was really annoying to take apart and plant. Thats the only reason why I havnt planted the other 3 I have. 1 bunch took me like an hour!


Nah I am lucky enough to get them in mats. When ordering carpet plants try your hardest to get them in mats. Messing with that potted junk is a PAIN! I know your pain thats why i went with the mats. They separate very easy. The only draw back is the $$$


----------



## grogan

Update:
Well I finally set this thing setup proper. I tore down my 14g and replaced it with this. All of the fish in the 14 are in a bucket until this tank is ready. 

I ordered a custom 2 bulb t5 fixture from Catalina for it. It has massive reflectors and is extremely effective. For a stand I simply bought another 10 gallon Manhattan stand from petco and placed them together. The stand works great and Im happy with the look. I also put together a shelf and and hung the light from it 24" off the substrate. Give it another month or so and it will be ready for water.










The 14 gallon lol

























Plumbing I still need to hook up


----------



## OhYesItsMe

How do you siphon the gravel?


----------



## grogan

Simple...I dont gravel siphon. All of my tanks are so heavily planted that there is no way to do it. Nasty gravel is plant goodness.


----------



## blindkiller85

grogan said:


> Simple...I dont gravel siphon. All of my tanks are so heavily planted that there is no way to do it. Nasty gravel is plant goodness.


lol. This is true about plant goodness, but if you wanted to I'm sure you could lightly press and or hover the gravel vac above it just to lift up some excess every now and then. But like you said it is good for the plants so....not really needed.


----------



## snyderguy

How do you keep all that nasty stuff ending up mixed with in with your plants? I often get that and have to clean it off their leaves biweekly.


----------



## grogan

lots of flow usually helps with keeping dead spaces for debrees to collect. Also I do siphon inches away from the substrate. This usually keeps my tanks nice and tidy. Besides excess fish waste = high nitrates = happy plants. Hell, I actually add nitrates to my tanks.


----------



## Mr. fish

Lets see an updated pic on this Grogan.. you always leaving us hanging on the final cuts bro! lol


----------



## grogan

This tank is a failure. To much moisture and nit enough ventilation resulted in mold. I have scrapped the project untill I get my shipment of ada substrate and then I will make another attempt. I am also in the process of buding my sump for this tank. its a work in progress


----------



## Terry6000

bummer. that sucks


----------



## grogan

Update:
Well I couldn't give up on such an awesome tank. Today I took it into the shop and tore it down and started over from scratch. I replaced the eco complete with a more complex substrate system. For a base layer I used natural glacial silt from the Matanuska River. Last weekend a buddy and I went out there to collect the stuff for our aquariums. Its chalk full of minerals and plant goodness. 









































Well anyways I had a tote of this stuff in the bed of my truck and figured I would give it a shot. I used the silt as a base and capped it with black Fluorite sand. Looks amazing and set up very easy. I also assembled most of the parts and plumbing for the sump. All I have left is to take my 14 gallon sump into the shop and figure out how I am going to baffle it and what to fill it with for media. In the mean time I will be ordering some hc (baby tears) tomorrow and attempt the dry start again.


----------



## Fuzz

I don't know how often you're home, or if you have someone home at all times, but you could try leaving it open and mist it more frequently...or use a piece of plexiglass instead of that saran wrap. drill a few holes here and there for excess humidity to escape. I dunno...I didn't have any luck trying to grow plants emersed, so I don't think I could really help. ha


----------



## grogan

well originally I used eco complete. Eco is not a dry substrate and I did not dry it out before starting the dry start. Stupid error on my part but this time everything is dry.


----------



## grogan

Update:
Well my 3"x5" hc mats arrived yesterday and I took them home. I ended up finding these awesome rocks on a drive to Valdez and decided to use them instead of the driftwood. The rocks have quartz runners all over them. These have always been my favorite rocks. 

















































The waterfall that I pulled the rocks out of:


----------



## ZebraDanio12

Beautiful waterfall. Tank is looking pretty cool! Nice work.


----------



## grogan

Thanks. Hopefully I can pull this off this time. Im still trying to hash out building the sump though.


----------



## grogan

Update:
Well dry start number 2 failed. Tonight I tested my plumbing for the sump. Everything works but still needs some tinkering. Tomorrow I will drain it and work with the intake setup.


----------



## Fuzz

what happened that made your tank fail this time?


----------

