150 with plant wall

[yikesjason]

I don't really know what to call this set up. I have a journal on Plantedtank.net, but it is down right now because it got hacked. But my wife rented some really nice camera lenses for the weekend to shoot a wedding so I took some good pictures but can't load them in my usual place. So enjoy.

http://img525.imageshack.us/img525/9555/img1540r.jpg

These are some brilliant turquoise I got from Hans back in Jan or Feb.
http://img40.imageshack.us/img40/8967/img1522x.jpg
http://img821.imageshack.us/img821/1668/img1526e.jpg

Here is one of my wild peruvian angels in with them.
http://img214.imageshack.us/img214/6123/img1528f.jpg

The discus like to hang out on the right side of the tank. This is the side I feed on and has the best hiding spot behind all that wood. It also has the open sandy area. The other side is a rocky hill with glosso. I forgot to take pictures of that side today.
http://img684.imageshack.us/img684/7468/img1551h.jpg

A lot of my focus has been on the planted drip wall on this tank. I fell like I already had a good handle on the tank and under water stuff. This drip wall has been a fun new adventure. It adds a lot to the overall set up and also adds some wrinkles to the normal workings of a planted tank. It causes a lot more evaporation and sucks up a lot of nutrients. I had to double the amount of ferts under ei dosing.
http://img651.imageshack.us/img651/5461/img1548c.jpg

http://img192.imageshack.us/img192/5784/img1567b.jpg

http://img697.imageshack.us/img697/1217/img1565w.jpg

I even have a friendly spider living next door to the tank. He seems to be helping keep the bugs under control. I was getting some little gnat like things flying around.
http://img820.imageshack.us/img820/6374/img1562l.jpg

It is a fun set up that I enjoy more than any other I have had in the past. Let me know what you all think.

[Love Discus]

That wall is really impressive. What size is the tank? Would it affect the wall negativly if you topped off the tank, or do you just like it like that, or both?

Edit: its 150 gallons, read the title Tom!

[yikesjason]

That wall is really impressive. What size is the tank? Would it affect the wall negativly if you topped off the tank, or do you just like it like that, or both?

Edit: its 150 gallons, read the title Tom!

Thanks Tom.

I am a bit worried about the full weight of 150 gallons on the second floor of a 40 year old house. I was also hoping to put the wall section inside the tank to better use, but I am having a hard time finding plants that do well in there because it is so much wetter than the upper section.

[Love Discus]

Thanks Tom.

I am a bit worried about the full weight of 150 gallons on the second floor of a 40 year old house. I was also hoping to put the wall section inside the tank to better use, but I am having a hard time finding plants that do well in there because it is so much wetter than the upper section.
Nahh don't worry about the weight on your floor.. no different that a big piano! That's easy for me to say since I don't pay your mortgage!:p;)

[Disgirl]

That is really spectacular Jason! Want to join my garden club???
Barb:D

[vera]

What a delight to the eye !!
thank u for sharing
TC

[cfi on the fly]

i thought it was just my computer not loggin into plantedtank.net. Glad to know its a site problem.

Good looking plant wall!!

[yikesjason]

plantedtank has been cleared by google and is back up and running now. It looks like things are find and they didn't get wiped out or anything.

[theblondskeleton]

Wow, this is looking great, Jason! Have you considered some sort of border for the drip wall? It would look great framed in some sort of dark hardwood (or just painted black to match your tank rims). If you picked up some pine, stained it a dark mahogany or walnut, then coated it with polyurethane, you could just hang it from the ceiling, floating just in front of the plant wall - give it a nice finished look :)

[yikesjason]

Wow, this is looking great, Jason! Have you considered some sort of border for the drip wall? It would look great framed in some sort of dark hardwood (or just painted black to match your tank rims). If you picked up some pine, stained it a dark mahogany or walnut, then coated it with polyurethane, you could just hang it from the ceiling, floating just in front of the plant wall - give it a nice finished look :)

That is a great idea, thanks. I have some trim in the garage that I can try.

[hydrophyte]

Hey that is looking awesome. It looks like almost all of your plants have taken hold and started to grow. I wondered about how that white polyester foam would look, but it has gotten covered so quickly with plants and it looks like algae too that it looks plenty natural.

I agree this would look especially awesome framed with some kind of dark, nicely-finished hardwood.

[saltydog]

Very nice. do you find that the angels and the discus get a long pretty well? I love the peruvians! Did you have one before the other?

[yikesjason]

Very nice. do you find that the angels and the discus get a long pretty well? I love the peruvians! Did you have one before the other?

The angels and discus get along about as well as the discus and the discus. I started with a pretty big school of angels and have trimmed them down over time before adding the discus. I don't know if growing up in a school helped their aggression or not. But the discus are so much bigger than the angels that they hold their own just fine.

[GrillMaster]

Thanks Tom.

I am a bit worried about the full weight of 150 gallons on the second floor of a 40 year old house.

Very nice looking set up! :thumbsup:

It looks like your only using a lil more than half of the 150G capacity so I wouldn't worry to much about the weight. :)

[Moriarty]

Wow, that is simply stunning.

Your discus are beautiful, and your photographs are amazing.

I have never been able to capture a good photo of my fish. I admire your ability to do that so much.

Thanks for sharing.

Mark

[yikesjason]

Wow, that is simply stunning.

Your discus are beautiful, and your photographs are amazing.

I have never been able to capture a good photo of my fish. I admire your ability to do that so much.

Thanks for sharing.

Mark

Thanks. I think it has a lot more to do with the camera equipment than the photographer.

[yikesjason]

Nahh don't worry about the weight on your floor.. no different that a big piano! That's easy for me to say since I don't pay your mortgage!:p;)

Actually, full, it would weigh about as much as 3 upright pianos on about the same floor space. It is just one of those things where I would prefer to be safe and not sorry. From the reading I did, many people said it would be ok, but information written by engineers with the numbers and knowledge to back it up had me convinced that it might not be a good idea to have over 3/4 of a ton up there. As it is, I am pushing 1/2 ton already. Add other furniture in the room, and a full family around the table and it starts getting a little scary to think about.

[kaceyo]

Looks great. I like the idea of a wall of plants that can be removed and replaced. I take it the plants are rooted into the foam?

[yikesjason]

The back drop is made with bulk pond filter material. The water trickles down through there. To mount the plants, I remove all of the dirt from the roots, cut a slit in the filter media, and insert the plant roots. I have been pleased to fine that almost all of the plants I have tried have grown well.

[kaceyo]

Very cool. Thanks!

[yikesjason]

I was just sitting here watching the BYU football game and saw some dancing going on it the tank. I see my first discus spawn in there.

[Eddie]

I was just sitting here watching the BYU football game and saw some dancing going on it the tank. I see my first discus spawn in there.


Nice, really like those blues and the the whole set-up is wicked. ;)

Eddie

[yikesjason]

I went to take pics of the eggs just a couple of hours after I saw them spawning and the eggs were gone already. I wonder if that has been happening in there for a while now.

[Eddie]

I went to take pics of the eggs just a couple of hours after I saw them spawning and the eggs were gone already. I wonder if that has been happening in there for a while now.


Its possible, they are still young and trying to learn what to do with it! :D

[yikesjason]

And the fact that it is a community tank with a lot of other fish doesn't help I am sure. I would like to raise a couple of batches of fry, but it is not my goal. It is just part of the adventure.

[Discus-n00b]

Great looking tank. I've seen it over at theplantedtank. Love the brilliants, definently a favorite. I love that one that looks more solid, like a cobalt.

[yikesjason]

Great looking tank. I've seen it over at theplantedtank. Love the brilliants, definently a favorite. I love that one that looks more solid, like a cobalt.

Thanks. The more solid one is my favorite as well. It has always been the biggest one, but some of the others have started to close the gap recently.

[yikesjason]

Here is a photo detail of how the plants are planted into the wall.

I have found that this plant works well, even in the very wet section, so I recently got some more.
http://img18.imageshack.us/img18/7057/img6694f.jpg

I divide up the plants and remove all of the dirt and rinse them in a bucket of water.
http://img155.imageshack.us/img155/5914/img6697k.jpg

I cut a slit into the background, which is bulk pond filter media.
http://img178.imageshack.us/img178/3983/img6699g.jpg

Then push the roots, or even the stem from a cutting into the slot.
http://img413.imageshack.us/img413/3980/img6701m.jpg

Then away it grows.

[yikesjason]

Just a simple update. Not much new. The discus keep getting bigger. The backdrop has filled in quite a bit and I had to start pruning it some. My glosso is not doing so well in the tank, but it is holding in there.

http://img824.imageshack.us/img824/1582/img1349b.jpg

[jball1125]

Man Jason that is beautiful!! Whats the name of the little purple plant? Where do they pull their nutrients from if they are just in styro????

[yikesjason]

Man Jason that is beautiful!! Whats the name of the little purple plant? Where do they pull their nutrients from if they are just in styro????

I assume you are talking about the poke a dot plant that I have the pictures of the planting process with. I don't remember the scientific name, but it is pretty common and also comes with white poke a dots.

The plants get their nutrients from the tank water that drips down through the backdrop material. It is a hydroponic type of setup. I had to double the fertilizers that I was dosing the tank with because the wall plants were using up all that I was putting in there before.

[jball1125]

Ok I get it..... Would those plants do good with the roots submerged in water and the leaves outside?

[yikesjason]

Most of them would, but not all. Most plants generally can't keep their roots under water. Most plant's roots need to be able to dry out a bit and breath. But a lot of the ones I use can have submerged roots. It makes overwatering less of a danger.

[discus_novice]

so decent.but one question.why don't you give full water in your tank?

[yikesjason]

so decent.but one question.why don't you give full water in your tank?

Mostly weight concerns.