630ltr discus planted

[Wouter van Wielink]

My second discus planted. build it myself with wood and epoxy.

[hedut]

Nice tank but to bad that you have black background:(, they make you discus darker except you discus albino. If it's blue or light color :thumbsup::thumbsup:

hendri

[Chad Hughes]

Beautiful! Well done!

[rickztahone]

Nice tank but to bad that you have black background:(, they make you discus darker except you discus albino. If it's blue or light color :thumbsup::thumbsup:

hendri

i honestly do not think it detracts from his fish. usually with pigeon bloods and turks it will show more with the black background but these (cobalts i might assume?), it really looks great. great tank and great aquascape, i really like it. the background actually gives the tank a depth that i had not seen in any other tank, well done

[lpiasente]

noice:)

[calihawker]

Really nice! I like it!:)

[Scribbles]

Nice job! It looks great!

Chris

[Wouter van Wielink]

Thnx for the compliments.

I realy like the dark background. It is actually epoxy with gravel/sand mixture poor over it. it's the same gravel as the one on the bottom.

I'm waiting a few weeks and then add 4 red turks, same size as the 4 brilliant blue.


As for the species currently in the tank:

2 spotted leopard snakes (small)
2 red melon (small)
1 san merah (1 died)

4 brilliant blue large (not sure on species though???)




as for technique:

co2 reactor, externally diy
lights: 2x 150watts hqi giesemann megachrome tropic bulbs (5600K)
ferts: stock solution for no3 and po4,
micro: profito and a dry powder (no name)

[Eddie]

Awesome tank and beautiful fish! It looks wonderful! I can't wait to see the turks in there. Turks are my favorite type.

Take care and post updates,

Eddie

[Wouter van Wielink]

Thanx eddie!

the stand and canopy are not yet completed, still have to do some woodwork.
I'm making the stand out of solid oak and then finish it with a whitewash.

This is the stand without doors and finish

[Wahter]

My second discus planted. build it myself with wood and epoxy.

Is that a home theater speaker to the right of the first photo? :)

Do you find that the open top wet/ dry filter blows a lot of the CO2 out of the water?



Walter

[Wouter van Wielink]

Is that a home theater speaker to the right of the first photo? :)

Walter


I hope you are kiddin' :)

besides aquaria hifi is my second passion. 300b tube amp, state of the art turntable, usher speakers(modified)

[Wouter van Wielink]

Do you find that the open top wet/ dry filter blows a lot of the CO2 out of the water?

Walter

not sure about that, never tried the two together. tried to minimize the dropping of the water by closing the valves on the water inlet on the filter.

We will see, on my previous tank i bought a new 5kg co2 pressurized bottle, still running on that one so I'm not worried about the costs. Co2 in Holland is not that expansive..

[Wahter]

I hope you are kiddin' :)

besides aquaria hifi is my second passion. 300b tube amp, state of the art turntable, usher speakers(modified)

Probably not as nice as your equipment, but I still have (and use) some older (about 18 years old) Nakamichi equipment (CD changer, receiver, and cassette deck) with a Bang and Olufsen turntable (same age). I recently bought a pair of Definitive Technology BP10B speakers because one of my Kef C95 speakers died on me (after 18 years). Needless to say, the house that I am getting built, has wiring for home theater in the walls. :D:D:D


Walter

[dean9922]

Cool Tank!!!!!! I have also made these homemade tanks, currently have 2 going and all is well with them.....can you explain your filter system you have underneath the tank itself.....did you use bulkheads thru the plywood....looks interesting...also what type of substrate......
ps fish look good also

[thebigone]

Great looking tank you have. I really like those brilliant blues you have.

[Wouter van Wielink]

Cool Tank!!!!!! I have also made these homemade tanks, currently have 2 going and all is well with them.....can you explain your filter system you have underneath the tank itself.....did you use bulkheads thru the plywood....looks interesting...also what type of substrate......
ps fish look good also

I used bulkheads for the water falling from the tank to the filter and bulkheads for the feeding line from the pump.
Wanted the tank as close as possible to the wall, so i made a sort of chamber to the left and right of the tank and hid all the piping and cables there. (see pics, small is feedline from filter, large one is return to filter) In total i have 4 bulkheads, 2 on each side


As for substrate I used, what they call here in Holland, 'burnt' sand.
Its sand what they heated or burnt at a certain temperature, making it sterile and rond off the grain. It's a mixture of grains from 0,6 to 2mm. used about 50kg.
Under the substrate is moist turf (grounded) and some proflora from JBL.


Just love plywood tanks!! 700ltrs you can lift yourself, more endurable(compared to glass) cheaper, better insulation, freedom of drilling in the tank wherever you want....:bandana:

[Wouter van Wielink]

Need some advice of You Guys.
Can lay my hands on some red and blue Turks. Its the same dealer as the Brilliant blues i have, same size also. Can I add another 4 whitout pushing my system the the max?? Want to grow some plants and have a nice planted again the way i used to.

I cange my water automatically with an overflow in the filter. I have a constant flow of fresh water so I cange almost 1500ltrs every week this way.

[Mr Wild]

Rule of thumb is 10gals or 40litres per discus, I think there is plenty of room! LOL

[Eddie]

Rule of thumb is 10gals or 40litres per discus, I think there is plenty of room! LOL

I agree, plus I stock a little more than 10 gallons per fish but I like to change alot of water everyday. :D

Add the turks and the tank will look phenomenal!

All the best,

Eddie

[Wouter van Wielink]

Oke added the other 4 turks. They troop around nicely :) All eating well after raising the temp a little.

[Wouter van Wielink]

more turks

[Scribbles]

Perfect! I like the turqs in there.

Chris

[Discus-Hans]

Hi Wouter,

nice tank, I only would put some more drift wood in, but........who am I.

From who did you get your Discus, you're in Almere I see.

Hans

[Wouter van Wielink]

Hi Wouter,

nice tank, I only would put some more drift wood in, but........who am I.

From who did you get your Discus, you're in Almere I see.

Hans

I totally agree on the driftwood, couln't find the right piece yet, still looking though.

I bought my discus at Aqua Ferrytale. (discus holland)

[Eddie]

Looks really good! Love the turk additions. I agree with Hans on the wood. Maybe some manzanita coming down from the corners.

All the best,

Eddie

[Dutch dude]

Wouter,....Aqauaria Veldhuis in Enschede does have a large amounth of several types of wood.

[Wouter van Wielink]

Yes i've been there, but is a 1,5hour drive from almere. My lfs has a lot of driftwood but still have to get me a nice piece.

[Wouter van Wielink]

The plants are filling in very nice. Growth is coming back slowly.
Also the fish are colouring up. Thought one had gillworms but he is breathing regular again. Have the meds here just in case..

first pic is for scale, was my birthday :)

[Wouter van Wielink]

some more

[discusluvr818]

Absolutely amazing. I am still in awe that you can make a tank out of plywood. Truly an incredible feat. Thanks for sharing.

[Wouter van Wielink]

foto update. added two pieces of driftwood on the right side..

[Disgirl]

That is simply beautiful! Wonderful work!
Barbara:)

[Eddie]

That is simply beautiful! Wonderful work!
Barbara:)

I second what Barbara says, looks gorgeous. Love the set-up and the fish are looking fantastic! Great work.

Take care,

Eddie

[erikc]

foto update. added two pieces of driftwood on the right side..

I am always amazed at how you Dutch do a planted tank ;) Thanks for sharing :D

[Mr Wild]

Wow you have a mixture od adults with babies and juvies, how does that work for you do the bigger ones pick on the small ones?

[Wouter van Wielink]

Wow you have a mixture od adults with babies and juvies, how does that work for you do the bigger ones pick on the small ones?

well actually pretty good. the juvies think they're bigger than they are lol.

small ones eat out of my hand and get a bit more food this way

[Wouter van Wielink]

Made a few mistakes, well mistakes.......

i put some turf i the substrate for the plants. plants were not doing very well, cause unknown. so i removed the plamts from the substrate, leaving some echino's.

but by pullinh out the plants the turf escaped from the substrate causing a drop in ph. my ph was at the lowest point 5.8

I wsnt happy with this substrate and decided to remove it all and replace it with something lighter..

removed all the plants and bougt 9 big echinodoruses...



pictures made with iphone

[Mr Wild]

Still looks amazing, you did really well contolling the PH drop and fixing the problem. The fish still look fantastic!

[Disgirl]

As beautiful as it was before I like it even better now! Your discus stand out better and their colors are so lovely. Good work!
Barbara :)

[Wouter van Wielink]

The tank is setteling down again. plants are all growing pretty good, all showing new leaves.
Also the fish are colouring up again.

I have the metal halides on for 6 hours during the day.
The T5 bulbs are on two hours before and after the MH (not during MH photoperiod) I'm trying to minimize the photoperoid to prevent an algea breakout during this fase.

PH is steady on 6.8/6.9 again.

Should I add liquid fertilizer to watercolumn? I have nutrition clay balls in the substrate near the echino's...