# High tech planted tank - 48g rimless starphire (ADA 90P clone)



## opt-e

In January or February of this year, 5 or 6 months ago, I made my re-entry into the world of aquaria after a 20 year hiatus.

Many of you are probably aware of my Mr. Aqua 12g long tank, which I started with. It was a low tech planted tank, a setup that was only meant to cost $200-300. Soon I upgraded to DIY CO2. Then a 8g Fluval Flora setup. Then a 26g rimless planted. The a full blown pressurized CO2 setup. $1300 I find myself once again upgrading.

I found the smaller 12g long too difficult to manage (high maintenance and constant algae issues). The 26g is great but I find the footprint too small for a dutch-ish planted setup with collectoritus.

So here I am now, with a brand new 48g starphire rimless tank (a copy of the ADA 90p): 90x45x45cm.










I have started building a DIY ADA style stand to go with it:










*Equipment*:

*Tank*: ADA style 48g starphire - 90x45x45cm
*Light*: 2x Beamworks 36" 6500k LEDs
*Filter*: Odyssea CR500 canister filter
*Substrate*: EcoComplete substrate
*CO2*: 10lb pressurized CO2 (Aquatek Premium regulator) 
*Heater*: 150w Ebo Jager

More to come.. I can't wait to flood this tank.. I will probably move most of my plants from the 26g into this one and repurpose the 26g as a simpler nature style scape with it.

And here is some of my inspiration:

Tranquility - A colourful island [200L] - Aquarium Plants
Mr. Aqua 48G Rimless...
Crystal River Shore - Aquarium Plants
UDGags-125g Aquarium - Aquarium Plants
unirdna's ADA 90P

And of course, Tom Barr's 120g masterpiece:

120 with lots of Harliquens - Aquarium Plants


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## battmanh

This is very exciting! I look forward to seeing updates for this tank. Any reason why you chose EcoComplete over other substrates such as ADA aquasoil?


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## opt-e

Thanks! I chose EcoComplete because I'm a cheapass.. Haha. I cannot justify the price of Aquasoil. I've been using EcoComplete with EI dosing for 4 months now and it's been working out great so far.

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## Reckon

Great choice on the tank. I knew you'd get there  I still feel there are some advantages of ADA over Ecocomplete that are worth biting the bullet over. Or you can do what some of us do and that is mix both to get the advantages of the different substrates.


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## opt-e

Picked some really beautiful pieces of manzanita this afternoon from a craigslist ad. $60 for two pieces. Help me decide on a hardscape!

#1









#2









#3









#4









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## Reckon

definitely #4


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## opt-e

Reckon said:


> Great choice on the tank. I knew you'd get there  I still feel there are some advantages of ADA over Ecocomplete that are worth biting the bullet over. Or you can do what some of us do and that is mix both to get the advantages of the different substrates.


Planted tanks are a dangerous thing.. luckily the boss forced me to shut down some tanks before I got this one!

I like the idea of mixing Aquasoil with EcoComplete.. perhaps I will do that.



> definitely #4


I was hoping you would say that  I definitely like this one the best as well..


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## Reckon

opt-e said:


> Planted tanks are a dangerous thing..


Lol. Read my signature. I feel your pain 

Ada to keep the acidity lower, high in nutrients, and for ease of planting (personal opinion on the latter). Eco for cost and for resorption (?) and storage of excess nutrients. Some people say they like the look of the mix too.


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## UnderseaGal

Tank looks promising already! I also like #4.

I have eco complete in one tank and ADA in another (both small, so not pricey!) and if I ever get another tank I would go for eco complete in a second (though I wish it came in a paler colour!). Now I'm a newbie and so keep that in mind but I find ADA difficult to deal with because it's so light.


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## nayr2

Anything but #4


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## Spit1A

I vote for #4 as well. 

Looking forward to seeing your progress!!


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## Dawna

#4 immediately gives me the idea of something along the looks of these:
http://imagizer.imageshack.us/a/img138/8340/u1iy.jpg

http://www.skroutzondeck.com/wp-con...scaping-design-for-small-tank-aquascaping.jpg

ORRRRRR you can make them stand on the flat end of the wood and make it look (sort of?) similar to this:
http://i1.ytimg.com/vi/xMRB1hV7AAs/maxresdefault.jpg


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## opt-e

Dawna, thanks for the inspirations! Do you have links to the ones you posted? The second one is very similar to Crystal River Shore which I adore: http://www.barrreport.com/showthread.php/14106-Crystal-River-Shore.

Flipping the upside down on the flat ends did cross my mind and I really enjoy the look of the one you posted. I will give that a try and post some pics for feedback.


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## Ra's al Ghul

Any updates

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## opt-e

Ra's al Ghul said:


> Any updates
> 
> Sent from Petguide.com Free App


Soon..!

I just came back from vacation in Maui. The stand is ready, minus the doors. This afternoon I put the tank on the stand to see how it looks.. Will post a pic later but I think its pretty sharp looking.

I still need to find something to use as a mat under the aquarium. Then I need to figure out a game plan on how I'm going to go about shutting down my 26g and moving everything over. Will probably need to find a whole day free to do it all in one shot.


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## Ra's al Ghul

Cool 

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## opt-e

Here's a pic of the tank on the stand. I started construction of the stand before I had the tank and it's probably about 1cm wider than the tank but it doesn't really bother me. I also made a light hanger out of 1/2" steel conduit. Will post a pic of that later.










And what I'm thinking about using as an aquarium mat.. Thoughts?? LOL. Its about 8mm thick.


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## Ra's al Ghul

How about a yoga mat ? Nice setup

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## opt-e

Spent 5 hours today shutting down my 26g and setting up this tank...



















Don't mind the temporary rocks holding down the driftwood..

The fish seem to love thier new/bigger space. Can't wait for it to grow in!


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## opt-e

Night FTS


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## Reckon

Fantastic! Love the look. It's very bright!


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## opt-e

Reckon said:


> Fantastic! Love the look. It's very bright!


Thanks!

There's probably too much light right now as I have two Beamswork LEDs on it for better coverage. One I setup my light hanger I will be able to raise the lights to decrease the PAR a bit and also for better viewing from the top.


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## opt-e

Can anyone help me ID the following plants?

The brown crypt.. This thing didn't grow at all in my 26g.. Let's see if I have any better luck in this tank.










I love this sword. It came with my pygmy chain sword from Pat at Canadian Aquatics but I don't think its the same plant as it the leaves grow quite a bit fatter and longer.


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## AccidentalAquarist

There are a couple different varieties of pygmy sword and mine grow different lengths under different lighting, but I don't recognize that one... extra oddballs always add character.
Personally I don't think that manzanita looks right in that tank, I'd be more than happy to take it off your hands :bigsmile:

great looking tank, looking forward to seeing more pics


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## opt-e

AccidentalAquarist said:


> There are a couple different varieties of pygmy sword and mine grow different lengths under different lighting, but I don't recognize that one... extra oddballs always add character.
> Personally I don't think that manzanita looks right in that tank, I'd be more than happy to take it off your hands :bigsmile:
> 
> great looking tank, looking forward to seeing more pics


Thanks! I like your alias by the way. Good to know about the different varieties of chain sword, I guess that makes sense. I hate the manzanita as well and will happily let you have it for $120


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## Reckon

Pretty sure that brown crypt can be safely ID'ed as Wendtii Brown


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## opt-e

Reckon said:


> Pretty sure that brown crypt can be safely ID'ed as Wendtii Brown


Thanks Reckon.

I just read up on it a bit and everyone says that it grows very easily but mine doesn't seem to grow at all, or very slowly at least.. It does seem to stay very healthy though, apart from and initial melt when I first added it to my 26g.


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## Reckon

opt-e said:


> Thanks Reckon.
> 
> I just read up on it a bit and everyone says that it grows very easily but mine doesn't seem to grow at all, or very slowly at least.. It does seem to stay very healthy though, apart from and initial melt when I first added it to my 26g.


It's a root grower so it needs time to stretch its legs so to speak before growing. Afterwards, it will get to be decent sized at a nice moderate growth rate  
It's super hardy though. I had several and thought I had sold them all. I just found one last week at the back of the tank underneath a whole bunch of stem plants - super healthy at 6-7 leaves.


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## AccidentalAquarist

That sword might be E. uruguayensis


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## opt-e

AccidentalAquarist said:


> That sword might be E. uruguayensis


Looks like you could be right!


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## AccidentalAquarist

opt-e said:


> Looks like you could be right!


shhhh don't say things like that. I have a reputation to uphold


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## opt-e

One week in.. had some trouble with string algae which seems to be going away now with increased CO2 (currently at around 4bps fed from an atomic diffuser into the filter inlet pipe).
Decreased the lightperiod from 8 hours to 6 which resulted in a diatom bloom. Went back to 8 hours and seems to have helped with the diatoms. Plant growth is pretty good, apart from a bit of melt on my crypts. Everything else seems to be settling in nicely. Soon I'll do a big hack and propogation of some plants. Still waiting for the driftwood to sink by itself.. those rocks weights are eyesores!


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## opt-e

More angles..


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## Reckon

Really like the shot from the side - 1st pic. Tank looks really big. Very lush too. I'll be it's the first thing a visitor's eye catches when he/she walks into the room.

Early algae bloom is super common even with using cycled substrate, filter, and old plants. Stirring up all the muck moving stuff starts a cycle. It's going to be at least 6 weeks total for everything to settle from when you started that tank.


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## opt-e

Thanks Reckon. Makes sense about the cycles occurring. Never thought about it like that but it makes complete sense. Guess I just gotta wait it out. 

After the wood is waterlogged i can remove the rocks and free up some more space for new plants! Any suggestions? I know I was some A. Reneckii mini!


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## opt-e

Two weeks in. Driftwood is almost waterlogged.. Probably needs another week.

I rigged a temporary hanging system for my lights using two pieces of wood and string. Raised the lights about 4 or 5" off the top rim. Seems to work OK. Will probably pick up some metal stock for a more permanent solution.

Did a bit of scaping as well and moved a few plants around.


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## Tazzy_toon

Looks great!


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## opt-e

Driftwood finally waterlogged and stone weights removed..










Now to deal with the algae ;( BBA, staghorn, fuzz..


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## Ra's al Ghul

Add these fish, Otto cat,Pit bull pleco,Silver flying fox, golden algae eater, 30 Amano shrimp. Don't feed them too much. All algae will be gone


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## AccidentalAquarist

I don't think you'll have to worry about the algae for long, you've some relatively fast growing plants in there.
The white "fuzz" will go away on it's on too. Don't know what causes it but it happens quite often on freshly submerged wood.


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## opt-e

Yeah not too worried about the white fuzz. Ales thanks for the recommendations. Sorry I never got back to you about the silver flying fox.. Not really sure about having a huge 5" fish in this tank! I do have 3 otos in the tank and a lone Cory. Where can one find pit bull plecos and golden algae eaters?


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## Tazzy_toon

Bristlenose pleco's will eat BBA, my SAE's do a great job of it though. i have 2 juvies in my 20g.


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## Ra's al Ghul

I got my Pit bulls from Rogers aquatics, never seen them again :-( Golden algae eaters are easy to find, All the sponsors should carry them. Nerite snails are also good, but they leave eggs every where :-(


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## opt-e

Are there some good BNPs that don't get too big and eat BBA?


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## Ra's al Ghul

Amano or Flying fox, golden algae eater are the best for Bba. But the flying fox, algae eater grow quite big. Bristle nose grow a good 4 inches for sure. They will also help you up root your plant's


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## opt-e

Amano shrimp it is!


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## Ra's al Ghul

Good choice, I would also add more Otto cats. What other fish do you have ?


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## opt-e

I have a couple German blue rams and about 15 tetras and a single pencilfish which I would like to get more of.

I would also like to add a few rainbowfish.

How many otos would you recommend?


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## Ra's al Ghul

I would say at least ten, and probably 20 to 30 Amano shrimp.


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## April

Sae not
Flying
Fox. 



Sent by tapatalk in north Burnaby


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## Ra's al Ghul

Yes Sae not flying fox, google so you can see the difference.


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## Reckon

Do not buy the regular flying fox. They don't eat algae and they're sorta mean.

Edit:
Silver flying foxes - crossocheilus reticulatus is the way to go
Regular flying fox - Epalzeorhynchos kalopterus has lots of personality (kinda mean) but does not eat algae.


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## Niku

i had a lot of SAE's once... then they matured... then they got fat... then all they did was sit on things all day... had to get rid of them since they wouldnt eat the algae any more. buddy has silver fly fox's says they are the bees knees of BBA control dont know if the silver makes a difference


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## Ra's al Ghul

Yup, Sae and Golden algae great until they get big.


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## Ra's al Ghul

There good when there small


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## Lshade

Niku said:


> i had a lot of SAE's once... then they matured... then they got fat... then all they did was sit on things all day... had to get rid of them since they wouldnt eat the algae any more. buddy has silver fly fox's says they are the bees knees of BBA control dont know if the silver makes a difference


Yes those are my SFFs, they are indeed the bees knees, three completely rid my entire 50 gal of BBA in like 2 weeks. Would highly recommend.


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## opt-e

I think I should rename this thread to Algae Eater Suggestions . Thanks for all the tips guys.


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## opt-e

Three weeks in.

Trimmed and propgated my rotalas and moved some stuff around. Algae seems to be becoming less of an issue as the tank settles in. I now have green fungus/algae growing on the driftwood along with the disgusting white fungus.




























I have to say I'm quite happy with the way this tank is coming along, apart from the algae, considering I didn't even know planted tanks existed 7 or 8 months ago.

I've definitely learned a lot and I know there is still much to learn.


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## opt-e

Can anyone help me ID this plant? It was sold to me as amania sp bonsai but it sure as heck doesn't look like it to me.


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## Reckon

Looks like Aquaflora's "Ammania Bonsai" to me


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## opt-e

Just did a major maintenance. Big 60-70% water change, removed the driftwood which was covered in all sorts of algae and scrubbed it thoroughly in the backyard.


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## opt-e

Four weeks in.

Finally posting pics with a real camera.. it's ridiculous how much easier it is to take pics and upload from my tablet.


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## opt-e

And.. a video (recorded last night)!


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## Reckon

Looks great! Everything is growing out nicely.


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## opt-e

Reckon said:


> Looks great! Everything is growing out nicely.


Including the BBA on my s. repens 

After this weekend's heavy maintenance I've never seen the plants pearling so much. I plan to get some amano shrimp to (hopefully) eat the BBA.


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## opt-e

5 weeks in.


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## opt-e

My favorite German Blue Ram decided to go for a swim on the dry side.. ;( RIP. I may have scared him as I was doing some maintenance this morning and didn't notice him flop out..


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## Tazzy_toon

OH NO! That totally sucks! And here i tried to take mine back today and gave up after ripping apart my tank. ( I love the ones from Charles btw, this other one is from my lfs and is just to cranky and won't get along with the others)


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## opt-e

Yeah this one was from Charles. Had him for probably 4 or 5 months now. I still have one left. Debating whether I should just get another one or try some apistos..


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## opt-e

Got back last night from a 5 day road trip to Calgary and greeted with a bit of a hair algae mess.



















Luckily it cleaned up pretty easy but my wood stumps are algae magnets and block light to some of my plants. For now I'm going to remove them from my tank.

Here's how its looking after a bit of a rescape. Right nows it's it just looks like a mess of plants unfortunately.


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## opt-e

End of week 7.

Still battling BBA on my s. repens and chain sword. Started to tear up the carpet, remove the infected leaves and replant. Everything else is doing OK.

Added 10 amano shrimp from Canadian Aquatics. They always seem to be hiding ;(










1.5 hours later, a broken neck, and replanted carpet:


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## opt-e

After a trim.


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## opt-e




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## opt-e

Lost interest for a bit and my tank went a little wild and overgrown. Today I ripped out most of the plants, and did a big cleanup and rescape.


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## Reckon

Nothing like a good trim and rescape to get the enthusiasm back again.
Try to keep it uncluttered, easy to maintain, and aesthetically pleasing and you won't lose interest in the tank


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## opt-e

1 week after the redo.


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## gouedi

awesome bulid, can you tell me where i can buy that tank. and i would like to make a stand. can you tell me the dimension of the stand.


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## rwong2k10

love this thread. wonder if theres any updates a few years later

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