First Setup plan

[Redoog]

i think i thought of a great idea.

i was installed some pipe insulation, the black foam tubes.

Well it is the right size, its black, it floats, it is easily cutable bendable, etc.

With my background, having the two tree areas that stick out, all i should need to do it tuck it in above them, and it should stay put. still be easily removable. Shold even keep the fish out of there as well.

Figure i will trim an area near the surface overflow, tiny bit below water line, so i still get some surface cleaning.

And it should blend well, so you will not notice it unless you look for it.

 

[Redoog]

I think i will redoo my light system as well. The drywall edging is ok, but a little cumbersome, and it takes up too much room. And i used regular 12-3 wire, so it is stiff and it is hanging out right above the tank opening.

I will redo wiring with some smaller fexable extension cord wire, and put the outlet closer to the rear corner.

I think I am just going to stable the lights to the hood. That way i can put all the plugs back in the corner. It will also let me stretch the wire out so i dont have all the loops and stuff taking up space. I can also spread the lights out, and they will be more random.

 

[Redoog]

redoing the lights. Staples didnt work out. Couldnt get the wires where i wanted, and get the staple gun in there, on and on. So i trimmed the drywall edge on one side, and stapled it to the hood. Laid the lights along the side, and laced some string around them to hold them in place. Looks great with the china lights, the usa lights are a little bulky, but ok. I got everything a little closer to the top, and a lot neater.

 

[Redoog]

here is how i am doing it now. seems to be working ok, cant tell untill i put hood back on though.

 

[Redoog]

BTW those were some fish I saw in a Walmart the other day. ich was so thick you could see white spots in the water

 

[Griller]

Merry Xmas redoog and MFKers,

Those walmart fish are shocking!
Good idea with the background - so simple

 

[Redoog]

added a simple piece of pipe insulation along the top of the tank. I trimmed a little where it passes over the stumps. I also trimmed a spot so surface flow can get to the high overflow. Now i do not have to see all the stuff along the top. It also blocks most of the light from going out the back and onto the tv screen.

I redid the light layout as well. I had some lights to far to the rear, which also highlighted the top of the background and shown out the rear of the hood.

I didnt add any lights, still using 400 white and 100 blue, and I like it. I would not mind having a tad more white, but i would need to get more of the china lights, because they are more streamlined then the regular xams lights.

 

[Redoog]

btw the light you see along the back are reflections from dining room light and window.

 

[Griller]

Looks like it does the job. I can't see the plumbing in your photos.

 

[Redoog]

Fixen to make some changes. I have to finally replace my filter media, not bad its been running awhile, and walmart batting and felt are cheap enough.

I need to add a fex hose to break the hardline running all the way from the pump. I think this will kill all the noise and make this setup silent.

I think i will make some mods to the background as well. I think my rugf has some free access points behind the trees, AND I am unhappy with the left stump, it is TOO HIGH. So i will pull it, use some styro along the bottom rear. This should keep water from rugf from flowing back there, it will also raise up the entire background 1.2" or so, so i might be able to get rid of the black foam pipe insulation. I will lower the left stump 4" and the right stump 2.5" give or take. Make them look a little more equal.

I am adding my gate valves and reoing my spray bars a little. Found out i need to leave the end cpas removable. So i can pull them and let the big items like dead fish come out.

I am adding 2 air curtains at each end of the tank, for looks. I will also add a small powerhead i got in the bottom hole of the right tree where i changed my design. Hook a tube to it coming back to front to cause some curtain along the bottom towards the left tree with the bottom draw overflow.

And an update, and how i found some of this out.

My wife got me 10 marble hatchets and 5 albino corys and 5 more serpae tetras for xmas.

I hated the hatchets, they are truely surface dwellers, but my setup is kinda low, about belly level, so you could not see them. Even sitting down, they were so hard to see, maybe if they were a dark or brightly colored, but the silver just blended in with surface. Any way i lost them all anyhow, which is when i discivered I had no way to get them out so i could return them.

The albino corys, i thought would be great for my natural gravel. Not so great, there are a lot of light stones in it, so they blend in.

The serpae tetras have to be my new favs. I love neons, but couldnt get any good ones to live long. And they didnt school well in the big tank. The serpae are bigger so they look good in this smaller big tank, and they are together most of the time.

They do not like fedding from the surface, is my only issue. I bought some food that is supposed to sink slowly, it is too fast for tehm, so i worry about feeding,