Large Vivarium Construction

[frogparty]

you can't find fireballs?
I have a bunch, and my local nursery has more

[Energy]

Those are some great suggestions on the plants. I have looked every single one of those up. Dutchmans- pipe looks like it will get way to big but the lady slipper orchids are perfect. I would like to get the fireball brom but can't find a source. I would prefer to use our own sponsors- anyone have one?

I changed around the defrosting system and it works fine-but now it only uses 84 watts versus the old way that used 204 watts.

I have started to place some of the emergent plants which will also help establish the natural filtration system and maybe even assist a little with removing the tannins. Right now the water is so dark you can only see into it about an inch. I am running heavy carbon- like an ice cream pail full, and lot's of floss. I hope in a month or two it will clear up. If not then I don't know what I will do yet.

[armagedon48]

Originally Posted by frogparty

you can't find fireballs?
I have a bunch, and my local nursery has more

score! i'll get back to you about this sooner or later.

Originally Posted by Energy

I have started to place some of the emergent plants which will also help establish the natural filtration system and maybe even assist a little with removing the tannins. Right now the water is so dark you can only see into it about an inch. I am running heavy carbon- like an ice cream pail full, and lot's of floss. I hope in a month or two it will clear up. If not then I don't know what I will do yet.

as far as the dark tea colored water, large water changes are your best bet for now, however with all that coco bedding, it may take forever if the land mass keeps leaching tannins into your water feature. the carbon should do a lot, but it'll be interesting if it can keep up.

[Energy]

as far as the dark tea colored water, large water changes are your best bet for now, however with all that coco bedding, it may take forever if the land mass keeps leaching tannins into your water feature. the carbon should do a lot, but it'll be interesting if it can keep up.

yeah- tell me about it. I sure hope the carbon can keep up.

score! i'll get back to you about this sooner or later.

Do you know of a source?

[frogparty]

I have some I could sell... pm me

[Julio]

Originally Posted by Energy

Swamp tree with 2 coats on.

Question: Why use unsanded grout versus other concrete products. much of the grout out there contains anti-molding agents. I did use an unsanded grout for my first two coats and then switched to a concrete floor leveling compound for my third coat. This worked better in my opinion and dried within 10 minutes. I am still working on this so I don't know if it will be ok long-term.

Inst this the fmous blue spotted ray tank from RC?

[Energy]

Originally Posted by Julio

Inst this the fmous blue spotted ray tank from RC?

One and the same. Just starting out on a new adventure. So far I haven't missed saltwater at all. How are you familiar with it?- Are a salty by nature?

[armagedon48]

found a very good website for orchids. i just got done looking through all the miniatures that are for sale. i already have a list, but i figure i'll just order 4-5 of them when the time comes.

Andy's Orchids - Orchid Species - Orchid list of miniature orchid plants


my ecoweb sheet arrives on tuesday, and i'll have weds and thursday off. i have a bunch of photos already, but wont post them till its finished

[Julio]

Originally Posted by Energy

One and the same. Just starting out on a new adventure. So far I haven't missed saltwater at all. How are you familiar with it?- Are a salty by nature?

Yeah, there are quite a few reefers on this board.

[VivariumWorks]

As for the tannins, your best bet is to not bother with the carbon yet. The carbon is the only thing thats going to remove it but its going to become saturated too quickly. Your best bet is to run hose water through it for now and flush the system for a week or two. The leaching from the land section will fade and slow down eventually but theres no need to waste your carbon. I'm willing to bet it was saturated in the first 10 minutes honestly. Even with that large volume, its only going to be an effective scrubber if theres a managable low concentration.

What I do with my larger setups is allow it to become dark tea colored, and flush it all out. Then do it again about three times. I'm sure that can be a bit of water for you, but consider that the lower the dissolved salts, particulates, etc there are in the water, the less that will leach out from the ground area. When you flush it and refill it you make the water become an osmotic sink again for the leachate in the ground section. The only quick way I've found is to let it get nasty, then dump it all, rise, repeat. After the first two/three rinse cycles the primary leachate will have become dissolved and then I would put the carbon on it and run medium level water changes every few days until it becomes clear/the color you want. If its as dark as you say, waiting wont help, the carbon is probably useless now, and when you do perform water changes, unless its a large percentage, your just going to keep having this issue.

I say flush it out now. Fill it, and let it run for about a day. Flush it out again, and fill it. Then wait a day and see what the difference is. Keep going until you think your filtration can handle it. Don't bother at this point with the good RO/DI stuff. Its actually ideal to use in this situation as it will have a greater osmotic pull than tap water, but no need for the expense at this point.

Good luck with it! Were all waiting for the update pics!