Solar Powered Plant Tank Build

[jdhuyvetter]

At this time last year, I had two 300 gallon reef tanks plumbed together with a 100 gallon frag tank and a 150 gallon sump/refugium. I thought I was going to be moving early this year. So, I had the bright idea to break the system up last fall into two separate systems to make the move easier. Well, didn't go so well. I did not properly adjust my dosage and ended up killing most of my acros. Did not lose any other corals. So, instead of replacing what I lost, I decided to downsize to a single 300 gallon reef tank. Been slowly tearing down the system. Kept my favorites of what was left and moved them into the remaining 300. I am converting the tank into a discus tank with live plants. The primary light on the tank is solar tubes with LED supplements. To see the reef tank build and pics at it's prime, go to Reef Central and search the thread Gone Solar Too (there are several Gone Solar threads, so make sure you have "Too")

So, this build will occur over the next several months. I have 6 fish left in a 150 gallon terrarium set up that were kind enough to "volunteer" to cycle the tank once I get it converted. I will then by the baby discus and grow them out for a couple months in the 150 before I tear it down. Below are the pics as of today.

First pic is the tank showing the lighting and coralline algae growth I can't reach in the back. Pic was taken Friday night. Tank is now completely drained and sand is out.

Second pic is a close up of the back of the tank showing the coralline algae growth

Third pic is a sump I bought on Friday with a new Mag 3 pump. It is sitting on 20 gallons of vinegar. I will be hooking the sump up tonight with the Mag pump. I will then fill the tank with water and the vinegar and let it run for about a week. When I get back from MACNA, the coralline should come off very easy (I hope!). I will then drain it back down for a final cleaning before prepping for the plants.

I'll add more pics as each step is completed.

[jdhuyvetter]

Picked up some new scraper blades at MACNA. Slowly draining and cleaning it now. Coraline algae is coming off easier than I expected.

Tank when I got home from MACNA last night.


Draining and cleaning as I go.

[jdhuyvetter]

Cleaned


New background going in. Ceramic tile, aged wood look. Much more appropriate for a discus tank than coralline algae.

[Pardal]

Interesting, keep us posted

Julian

[alron2]

What did you use to attached the tile to the glass?
Thanks
Ron

[jdhuyvetter]

Silicone

[jdhuyvetter]

Plant terraces are in. The area to the front and sides will be open, no plants. About a half inch of sand only. Smaller terraces will be for foreground and mid-ground plants. The big terrace (Back half of the tank) will be a mix of driftwood with a couple larger plants (swords, val, wisteria, etc.) Should start putting in sand, gravel, laterite and peat this afternoon. Terraces are slate from Home Depot.

[jdhuyvetter]

Terraces are partially filled. Used 6 bags of Seachem Flourite, 7 bags of Caribsea Eco Complete Red and 2 bags of peat moss. They are all mixed together. As I plant the terraces, I will top off with Caribsea Peace River coarse sand. I moved the few remaining plants from the terrarium into the tank. They consist of Crypt. balansae, and unknown Crypt species (probably wendtii), two stems of Rotala indica, a small piece of Anubias nana and a few loose pieces of java fern. When I picked up the sand from the LFS, I also picked up 3 lotus bulbs. I have one very large dry piece of Cyprus root that needs to soak. It is screwed down to a large piece of slate on one end, but still floats on the other end. So, only adding a couple inches of water every 2-3 days. The balance of the wood in the picture consists of 3 pieces of plastic wood, two smaller pieces of cypress (one has the A. nana), two medium size pieced of cypress and 6 pieces of Mopani root. A couple days ago I move about half of the wood listed and my tiger pleco moved with it. He seems to like the bigger tank. So, tonight I moved the balance of the fish into the tank: 2 dwarf rainbows, 1 Golden Killie, 1 gold tetra and 1 orange stripe cory cat. Balance of the plants are ordered and should be here Thursday or Friday.

[jdhuyvetter]

Most of the plants are in. Current plant list is:

Anubias nana
Anubias barteri
Crypt. balansae
Crypt. wendtii
Hygro. difformis (wisteria)
Rotala indica
Rotala wallichii
Rotala macranda (narrow leaf variety)
Java Fern
Echino. tennellus (narrow leaf chain sword)
Echino. martii (ruffle sword)
Echino. rubin (red rubin sword)
Echino. angustifolia (Vesuvius sword)
Nymphaea zenkeri (red tiger lotus)
Nympaea sp. (red lotus)
Bolbitis heudelotii (African water fern)
Pogostemon helferi
Crimum calimistratum
Aponogetan crispus

Plants to add:
Jungle Val
Cabomba furcata

[jdhuyvetter]

Photos from 10 am this morning. Clear sky. Tank is still cloudy from the peat. Driftwood still floats, but water is a little higher. Tomorrow I will add some bricks on top of the wood and go ahead and top off the tank. In the meantime, there is an Aqueon recirc pump on the left end of the tank for circulation/aeration. Tank is currently heated to 78.




Current top view. I guess I should start cleaning up my mess.

[jdhuyvetter]

Several years ago after the tubes were installed, I framed in the top to hide the tubes. I covered the tank with cardboard while cutting the drywall. Took a pic to show the light spread from the tubes.



Pic of the tubes after they were installed, before being framed in. Lots and lots of free light! (Although, it wasn't free cutting holes in the roof to get it)

[Disgirl]

We have two solar tubes in our home, to bring in extra light to dim areas. I would not have thought to do it for fish tanks. But what a great idea, though expensive, you have had. Well done! Will you be putting discus in this tank?
Barb

[quattrok04]

Very nice build, can't wait to see discus swimming in there, good luck!

[jdhuyvetter]

We have two solar tubes in our home, to bring in extra light to dim areas. I would not have thought to do it for fish tanks. But what a great idea, though expensive, you have had. Well done! Will you be putting discus in this tank?
Barb

I was running nearly 2000 watts of light on the reef tank in the beginning. The tubes have paid for themselves in the energy savings. My power bill dropped almost 125/month in the summer and 100/month in the winter.

Discus have been ordered and will be here next week. They will be going in another tank for a couple months. That tank has been set up for a couple years now and I moved the few fish that were left into this tank last weekend. I will be cleaning it up a little this weekend, but leaving the sand and filtration in place. Basically doing a heavy maintenance. Discus will stay in that tank for 1-2 months while I slowly add the rest of the tetras and other fish to the 300. I will be feeding heavy and doing every other day water changes on the discus. Much easier to do with 60-70 gallons vs. 300 gallons. Once they have grown a bit and I am confident this tank is stable, I will move them and tear down the other tank.

All discus that have been ordered are wild types. F1 to F4. Discus that have been ordered are:

3, Tefe Green (adults should have full stripes, but variable amounts of spots)
3. Red Spotted Green (from Tefe origin)
3, Royal Blue (unkown origin)
3, Royal Blue (Rio Purus origin)
3, Alenquer
3, Ica Red/Heckel cross

I plan on adding some blue heckle as soon as I find a breeder or John (snookn21) gets some in later in the season. If I get from John, they will be the only wild discus in the tank.

[jdhuyvetter]

Murphy's Law just kicked in. Filled the tank all the way up and started running the temp sump. Overflow on the left side is leaking. I knew it had a very slow, very small leak at the bulkhead. Five gallon bucket solved that problem. Now the water is running along the bottom of the tank and down the inside of the stand to the floor. So, turned the pump off and draining about 2 inches out of the tank. Looks like next weekends project will be tearing out the plumbing to seal the bulkheads. I thought FW was supposed to be less trouble!