Returning to the hobby, ADA style

[ellwa]

Hi Team,

Long time between posts for me.

Long story short, when I split with my ex she kept my aquarium.

Now 5 years later I have been going through my ADA Nature Aqruarium books, and thinking about upscaling from my Fluval Edge to an ADA Style tank, with 3-4 discus and some other schooling fish.

I was originally thinking of going for fully planted, but I think I will go with more of a scape of nice wood, and a few slow grown anubius etc, nothing too fancy, and leaving the scape to do the talking.

I guess in the last 5 years the hobby seems to have changed farily significantly, and noticing that, at least in sydney, the number of LFS's is nowhere near what it used to be, including my LFS in cremorne recently closing its doors.

I am thinking of a tank somewhere around 36"W x 16"D x 24"H, somewhere in the neighbourhood of 250L.

Ultimately I would like to go to a low maintenance style of setup, obviously discus cannot be neglected, but I dont want to be doing a 3 hour regiment every week, but I'd love to be able to do a water change in, say, 1 hour go to woah, which I think should be easily achivable with the right setup.

I'd love any input, especially regarding someone to do the scape for me!

[Merrilyn]

Welcome back to the forum Ellwa. I've gone down the ADA road too and I'm very happy with my choice. Why not give George at SLS a ring and have a chat to him. George supplies all the ADA gear and is great with advice. Not sure if they set up tanks for customers, but worth asking. Photos of your progress would be awesome.

[Ghoti]

Hi ellwa,

There certainly is some nice gear around, with ADA one of the best. My Angel tank is running ADA substrate with which I am very happy.

Cheers,
Scott

[ellwa]

Thanks for the tips.

I am in two minds regarding the tank, either go ADA, that only seems to come in the ADA silver metallic kind of finish for the cabinet, or the Cade, that comes in that beautiful Piano black finish.
not much difference in the price, but I do love the look of the Cade systems. any tips?

I got all of my other discus through George at SLS, and I think I will use his services again.

I am a huge fan of being able to turn to somebody for advice, and have always enjoyed talking with george over the years.

The thing that got me about the ADA(style) is the longevity of the scapes.

I struggled with my last tank build to get it to where I would have liked it, mostly because I didn't outlay the funds all in one go.

This time around I want to be ready to go from the outset, with everything in place, not adding equipment here there and everywhere.

In terms of the kind of look i have in mind, these are the kind of things that spring to mind.

http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5110/5682212889_b903a9ff39_b.jpg
http://galax.altervista.org/acquariologia/immagini/ADA_02.jpg

obviously, not necessarily something that will be easily replicated in a 5x18x18, but you get the point.

[Merrilyn]

I've gone super planted in my Cade 60 x 45 x 45, something like the Amano tank above, but it does need regular trimming, or it quickly becomes a jungle. It's too small for discus but I have wild beta macrostomas in there.

If you're looking for something with minimal maintenance, that top tank is drool worthy :)

[ILLUSN]

I'm with Merrilyn,

top tank is easy to clean (gravel vac to your hears content)
lower DOCs (dead plant matter from leaves just the woodto worry about)
Cheaper setup (no expensive substrate and fertilizers)
Less stress on your fish (no chemical swings from fertilisers, no ph swings from CO2, stable high temps that discus love but some plants find harder to tolerate.)

if you were to go a full planted ADA garden, spend the time and money, get your CO2 sorted, this is the bigest downfall of planted tanks.
get your plants well established then introduce your fish load slowly, George's igwami discus tanks is one of my all time favorites but you'll need to invest the time money and energy to get something like that setup and running well.

[ellwa]

I'm with Merrilyn,

top tank is easy to clean (gravel vac to your hears content)
lower DOCs (dead plant matter from leaves just the woodto worry about)
Cheaper setup (no expensive substrate and fertilizers)
Less stress on your fish (no chemical swings from fertilisers, no ph swings from CO2, stable high temps that discus love but some plants find harder to tolerate.)

if you were to go a full planted ADA garden, spend the time and money, get your CO2 sorted, this is the bigest downfall of planted tanks.
get your plants well established then introduce your fish load slowly, George's igwami discus tanks is one of my all time favorites but you'll need to invest the time money and energy to get something like that setup and running well.

Yea -- that is basically my thining.

I currently have a few small piece of DW with some Anubias on them in my Fluval Edge, and will transfer them over, but they go great guns without too much ferts/co2/light.

I think i would still go down the road of putting a decent substrate, for if in the future I decided to plant etc.

However, as I am quite maintenance time poor, I think i will go for something on the low-tech side(except the light, I think i'll DIY a light fitting that does sunrise/sunset as well as moonlight that phases over 28 nights.
(i do rock&roll & theatre lighting for a living).

but then go for a beautiful hard scape that doesn't require CO2 and the full regiment of ferts.

I ran my last discus tank around 30-32deg. and the discus had a great time. I did find it a little difficult to find suitable tank mates at those kind of temps, though.

I'm pretty confident that I'm going to go with a Cade 900, and then I guess(going with what I know) Eheim canister and heater, and going without doing hugely planted, I don't need to worry about under-gravel heating cables, and I'll have some amazing water at WC time to feed my sustainable garden on my balcony.

[Jason]

However, as I am quite maintenance time poor, I think i will go for something on the low-tech side(except the light, I think i'll DIY a light fitting that does sunrise/sunset as well as moonlight that phases over 28 nights.
(i do rock&roll & theatre lighting for a living).

Please tell me you are going to document your build. I have seen store bought systems that do the "sunrise/sunset", but not the phases of the moon. I for one would be interested in following the construction and maybe trying to build on myself.

Jason

[ellwa]

Please tell me you are going to document your build. I have seen store bought systems that do the "sunrise/sunset", but not the phases of the moon. I for one would be interested in following the construction and maybe trying to build on myself.

Jason
of course I'll document, the best way for communities like ours to grow is by sharing information.

I used a moon tube setup in my previous discus tank, it was a system that I got via ebay, and did 28day moon phasing, and worked really well.

I would love to do something lighting wise that is an 'all-in-one' solution, I really like the look of the Maxspect lights, and I think to DIY a light that would be suitable would cost me close to the same as buying an off-the-shelf unit.

The best option I've come upon in my very limited research in the last few days has been this: http://www.aquastyleonline.com/categories/DIY-LED-Lighting/DIY-LED-Kits/
I'm very technical minded, so not too concerned about difficulties piecing it all together, but I'm not convinced it would be cheaper than just buying a unit ready made.

I'm sure that one of the lighting gurus in my car club could help doing the phasing of the moonlights though if it came to that..

I will certainly keep ya'll posted as I move forward.

At this point I am fairly confident I'm going to go with a Cade CB900, mostly based on price point.

The alternative to the CB900, is the HL800 marine tank. My thinking here is, running a sump with an over flow is going to maximise oxygenation of the water in the tank. its even easier for water changes, just remove water straight out of the sump, and it makes the whole look better, I think, because I dont have to have heater, airstone, blah blah blah in the tank, it can all live in the sump.

again, any advice would be greatly appreciated.

http://www.aquariumdesigngroup.com/data/photos/6_1aquarium_discus_fishtank.jpg

[ILLUSN]

Gorgeous photos!!!!

I'm in the middle of 3 led projects right now
A 600w marine build for an 8 footer
A 360w build for my 5x2.5x2.5 Altum tank
A 105w water cooled build for dads planted tank (just finished and re-setup)
all would be along the same lines as a maxspec type unit but I have chosen manual dimming and old school timers. These units have much higher output/W (newer led types and tighter optics)
shoot me a PM if you need a hand, I'll have write ups done soon just waiting for the plants in dads tank to finish settling into the EI routine.

[ellwa]

I wish i could take the credit, but for me its just inspiration.
I think the big difference to the image i have in my mind is that I will do small pieces of driftwood with Anubias grown on them around the base of the 'tree' instead of the stones.
and probably a darker substrate material.

[ivo]

Gorgeous photos!!!!

I'm in the middle of 3 led projects right now
A 600w marine build for an 8 footer
A 360w build for my 5x2.5x2.5 Altum tank
A 105w water cooled build for dads planted tank (just finished and re-setup)
all would be along the same lines as a maxspec type unit but I have chosen manual dimming and old school timers. These units have much higher output/W (newer led types and tighter optics)
shoot me a PM if you need a hand, I'll have write ups done soon just waiting for the plants in dads tank to finish settling into the EI routine.

Hi ILLUSN, what colour combo and optics would you used to provide full spectrum to grow plants?

[ILLUSN]

Hi Ivo to be honest plants really don't mind my experiments with full spectrum vs 6500k actually showed that plain 6500k whites are fine so long as the intensity is high enough. 30-40 par at the substrate will grow anything. To make the fish look their best mixing red green/turquoise and blue works well but to balance the colour which can look a little unnatural mixing in warm and neutral whites does the trick. The build I'm using is 1 cool white (6500k) 1 warm white (3000k), 2 neutral whites (5000k) to 1 cluster of a single red turquoise and blue.
I use 40 degree optics on the whites and 60 on the colours to better tune the mix.

[ellwa]

So a bit of an update.

At this point in time I am pretty well set on the Cade HL600 Marine Cube.
http://www.aquascapedesign.com.au/product_images/p/743/hl600__47963_zoom.PNG
obviously I'll be running it in freshwater mode, not marine.
The reason I am going to go with the marine set, however, is related to keeping the look neat and tidy.
Running a sump allows me to turn over more water, with a far greater surface area on my media that if I put an equivalent sized cannister for a 220L setup.
I am going to build a fly-screen style hood, something low profile, that will allow good light penetration, and prevent my feline friend from penetrating the tank. I need to find where to get gloss black extruded angle, hopefully a builder mate can help me with that.
heater will go in the sump, and that will be about as high-tech as I plan on getting.
For lighting I think i'm going to go with a Maxspect Razor LED fitting.
I've looked extensively at the DIY options avaliable, and I think that I would end up spending more than if I just go and buy a 60cm/2' razor, plus they have onboard simmer setup etc.
I used blue moonlights on my previous tank, so I'm hoping(i will go and check one out to confirm)that I can use the onboard blue to achieve the style that I am going for.

I started collecting my hardscape materials over the last few days. picked up some great pieces of grey/slate coloured rock from a beach in the Royal National Park on a drive with the wife a few days ago.

I am hoping to collect all my wood in the way, too.

Regarding collecting wood, is there anything that I need to be aware of, things not to collect etc?

Obviously this will all need to be soaked, dechlorinated etc, before it sees the inside of any tank, something that I plan on doing in a large tub in the garage, over the course of a few weeks so I don't experience tannins staining the water.

As for substrate, I'm not sure on this yet but I'm thinking, now that I'm looking at a cube, over a more traditional shape, that I'll do the DW coming from the rear corner, maybe with the substrate pushed up a bit into the corner, probably either ADA Nile sand or Branco sand, with the DW reaching all the way to the top of the water, and plenty of room up front for a little family of probably blue turqs.
http://www.magicworldsy.com/sw-marine/discus/WILD%20DISCUS-l.jpg

Pretty exciting times!

[Nathan]

Is there an online retailer that sells ada substrate?

[Nathan]

thats a stunning design (the ADA tank with driftwood and sand substrate), id like to go down that road but am a little concerned i may have to battle algae due to no plants to uptake nutrients etc.

comments?

[ellwa]

thats a stunning design (the ADA tank with driftwood and sand substrate), id like to go down that road but am a little concerned i may have to battle algae due to no plants to uptake nutrients etc.

comments?
to your earlier question, subscape aquarium in melbourne stock ADA substrate, not sure if you get get it online through them, but i'm sure they'll help you out over the phone.
failing that, aquariumproductswholesale.com sell it online.

I plan on putting some plants in the sump to deal with uptake of nitrates. refugium style.

[axl]

Hey Nathan,
if your chasing some ADA Substrate i will have some available in early april as Im pulling down my planted discus tank and going with sand as the base. I purchased all my ADA online and my tank is 6x2x2. Would sell it all to you for $100 and i would deliver to coburg for you as i would be coming down the week before easter. I originally used 6 bags in my tank and tank is only 1 year old so if your interested let me know and we can work something out.


Cheers Axl

[Mavzta]

This was the pic I was using as my inspiration. But I think I gonna go with mangrove root and some rocks. Also I am getting the Maxspect razor myself. Hopefully next week!

[Nathan]

Any updates?

[ellwa]

Any updates?

other than that the savings account is slowly clicking along, no updates.

This wont be happening before early next year.

[Jason]

Yeah, I am amazed how long it takes to get things going and how slowly things come together. It has been months since I started planning things out, and I am still not ready to order the tanks.

Jason

[ellwa]

Yeah, I am amazed how long it takes to get things going and how slowly things come together. It has been months since I started planning things out, and I am still not ready to order the tanks.

Jason

Yea, i wasn't quite expecting what the price tag was going to look like.
but at the same time, the wife and I are off to europe for 5 weeks at the end of May, and Thailand for a week in December.

So its going to be a while, but I figure its great time to think about exactly what I want to achieve. =)