landmines
06-16-2015, 09:33 PM
First heres a little background about me! Im 24 yo and Ive been keeping fish tanks for about 5 years now and first got introduced into the hobby by seeing some of Takashi Amano's aqua scapes, ever since then ive accumulated tanks and scaped many many different planted tanks. I know/think most discus keepers dont like planted tanks but I believe they are beautiful work of art and the challenge of keeping a planted tank has been a very fun experience. While keeping planted tanks, I also got into the hobby of shrimp keeping which in itself is a whole nother learning experience and challenge. Even though my passion has been in aquascaping/planted tanks/shrimp keeping, it has also been a dream of mine since I first started keeping fish tanks to have a discus display tank and finally after buying a house a few months ago Im able to set up my dream tank! Since I wanted to have a discus tank which reflected their natural habitat the most, I decided not to have plants in the tank. Now enough about me, heres the build/creation of the ADA 120P Discus Display Tank!
Started off my building a stand for the tank and decided to go to a ADA style stand. First time working with power tools but I think the stand turned out great!
http://i160.photobucket.com/albums/t167/lamiskool3/Aquariums/IMG_1637_zpsyvqodnjy.jpg (http://s160.photobucket.com/user/lamiskool3/media/Aquariums/IMG_1637_zpsyvqodnjy.jpg.html)
Next up was to stain it! Boy was this messy.
http://i160.photobucket.com/albums/t167/lamiskool3/Aquariums/IMG_1651_zps3dazihuc.jpg (http://s160.photobucket.com/user/lamiskool3/media/Aquariums/IMG_1651_zps3dazihuc.jpg.html)
Next I tested if it held the tank! Pic doesnt show that but I filled the tank and had it sitting in the garage for a few weeks to make sure/water test lol
http://i160.photobucket.com/albums/t167/lamiskool3/Aquariums/IMG_1652_zpsftbrn60i.jpg (http://s160.photobucket.com/user/lamiskool3/media/Aquariums/IMG_1652_zpsftbrn60i.jpg.html)
The nest step was actually a really great learning experience for me. Ive never had a tank with a sump and wanted to have a sump for this tank to make sure the tank had great filtration. I went with a CPR-CS102 overflow system and learning how to plumb it to the overflow was a challenge but I learned a LOT during this time such as how an overflow system even works, how a sump operates and to to use pvc lol
Forgot to take pics when I was actually building the overflow box but heres a pic of the finished project. (I should have spray painted the pvc...oh well lol)
http://i160.photobucket.com/albums/t167/lamiskool3/Aquariums/IMG_9097_zps1hbjqgms.jpg (http://s160.photobucket.com/user/lamiskool3/media/Aquariums/IMG_9097_zps1hbjqgms.jpg.html)
http://i160.photobucket.com/albums/t167/lamiskool3/Aquariums/IMG_9099_zpsajbfkt5s.jpg (http://s160.photobucket.com/user/lamiskool3/media/Aquariums/IMG_9099_zpsajbfkt5s.jpg.html)
http://i160.photobucket.com/albums/t167/lamiskool3/Aquariums/IMG_9100_zpsurit1are.jpg (http://s160.photobucket.com/user/lamiskool3/media/Aquariums/IMG_9100_zpsurit1are.jpg.html)
Heres a pic of the sump itself. Its a wet/dry system and I plan on adding some plants to the "third section" to help keep the water quality good.
http://i160.photobucket.com/albums/t167/lamiskool3/IMG_9095_zpsyfxl9rd4.jpg (http://s160.photobucket.com/user/lamiskool3/media/IMG_9095_zpsyfxl9rd4.jpg.html)
After testing the filter system some more in the garage, I finally felt comfortable moving the tank into the house and start the fun part! "Scapeing" the tank! Took a very long time to waterlog the drift wood/leech all the tannins out of em lol
http://i160.photobucket.com/albums/t167/lamiskool3/Aquariums/IMG_1670_zpsdwxcrs8j.jpg (http://s160.photobucket.com/user/lamiskool3/media/Aquariums/IMG_1670_zpsdwxcrs8j.jpg.html)
And last but not least the finished product with the addition of the discus!!!!
http://i160.photobucket.com/albums/t167/lamiskool3/Aquariums/IMG_9087_zpsp45rmxqt.jpg (http://s160.photobucket.com/user/lamiskool3/media/Aquariums/IMG_9087_zpsp45rmxqt.jpg.html)
If anyone is interested in seeing more about planted tanks, you guys can check out my planted tank journal here (http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/showthread.php?t=404649&highlight=)
Heres a picture of my garage/collection of planted tanks
http://i160.photobucket.com/albums/t167/lamiskool3/Aquariums/IMG_9038_zpsvt2yhhch.jpg (http://s160.photobucket.com/user/lamiskool3/media/Aquariums/IMG_9038_zpsvt2yhhch.jpg.html)
Started off my building a stand for the tank and decided to go to a ADA style stand. First time working with power tools but I think the stand turned out great!
http://i160.photobucket.com/albums/t167/lamiskool3/Aquariums/IMG_1637_zpsyvqodnjy.jpg (http://s160.photobucket.com/user/lamiskool3/media/Aquariums/IMG_1637_zpsyvqodnjy.jpg.html)
Next up was to stain it! Boy was this messy.
http://i160.photobucket.com/albums/t167/lamiskool3/Aquariums/IMG_1651_zps3dazihuc.jpg (http://s160.photobucket.com/user/lamiskool3/media/Aquariums/IMG_1651_zps3dazihuc.jpg.html)
Next I tested if it held the tank! Pic doesnt show that but I filled the tank and had it sitting in the garage for a few weeks to make sure/water test lol
http://i160.photobucket.com/albums/t167/lamiskool3/Aquariums/IMG_1652_zpsftbrn60i.jpg (http://s160.photobucket.com/user/lamiskool3/media/Aquariums/IMG_1652_zpsftbrn60i.jpg.html)
The nest step was actually a really great learning experience for me. Ive never had a tank with a sump and wanted to have a sump for this tank to make sure the tank had great filtration. I went with a CPR-CS102 overflow system and learning how to plumb it to the overflow was a challenge but I learned a LOT during this time such as how an overflow system even works, how a sump operates and to to use pvc lol
Forgot to take pics when I was actually building the overflow box but heres a pic of the finished project. (I should have spray painted the pvc...oh well lol)
http://i160.photobucket.com/albums/t167/lamiskool3/Aquariums/IMG_9097_zps1hbjqgms.jpg (http://s160.photobucket.com/user/lamiskool3/media/Aquariums/IMG_9097_zps1hbjqgms.jpg.html)
http://i160.photobucket.com/albums/t167/lamiskool3/Aquariums/IMG_9099_zpsajbfkt5s.jpg (http://s160.photobucket.com/user/lamiskool3/media/Aquariums/IMG_9099_zpsajbfkt5s.jpg.html)
http://i160.photobucket.com/albums/t167/lamiskool3/Aquariums/IMG_9100_zpsurit1are.jpg (http://s160.photobucket.com/user/lamiskool3/media/Aquariums/IMG_9100_zpsurit1are.jpg.html)
Heres a pic of the sump itself. Its a wet/dry system and I plan on adding some plants to the "third section" to help keep the water quality good.
http://i160.photobucket.com/albums/t167/lamiskool3/IMG_9095_zpsyfxl9rd4.jpg (http://s160.photobucket.com/user/lamiskool3/media/IMG_9095_zpsyfxl9rd4.jpg.html)
After testing the filter system some more in the garage, I finally felt comfortable moving the tank into the house and start the fun part! "Scapeing" the tank! Took a very long time to waterlog the drift wood/leech all the tannins out of em lol
http://i160.photobucket.com/albums/t167/lamiskool3/Aquariums/IMG_1670_zpsdwxcrs8j.jpg (http://s160.photobucket.com/user/lamiskool3/media/Aquariums/IMG_1670_zpsdwxcrs8j.jpg.html)
And last but not least the finished product with the addition of the discus!!!!
http://i160.photobucket.com/albums/t167/lamiskool3/Aquariums/IMG_9087_zpsp45rmxqt.jpg (http://s160.photobucket.com/user/lamiskool3/media/Aquariums/IMG_9087_zpsp45rmxqt.jpg.html)
If anyone is interested in seeing more about planted tanks, you guys can check out my planted tank journal here (http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/showthread.php?t=404649&highlight=)
Heres a picture of my garage/collection of planted tanks
http://i160.photobucket.com/albums/t167/lamiskool3/Aquariums/IMG_9038_zpsvt2yhhch.jpg (http://s160.photobucket.com/user/lamiskool3/media/Aquariums/IMG_9038_zpsvt2yhhch.jpg.html)