Guppiesgonewild

Yes it worked out much better than I had hoped for. I made sure the epoxy was up to temp. I usually run the heat at 68 or so in the house but ran it at 72 for a few days in advance. The intention of making sure the epoxy was warm enough was to make sure that it would flow. I did two layers of water based poly on the bare plywood first. I think this advice came with the epoxy instructions or it may have been a forum. The intention of the poly is to seal the wood in advance. I covered some cardboard with masking tape and hot glued it to the back of the stand to act as a dam or form if you will. If I had to do it all over I would have added about a half inch to the depth of the stand front to back. The epoxy seems to climb when it hits vertical surfaces. Nothing major and on the sides I really like it because you end up with an 1/8inch or so filled. On the back however I did not have the margin and had to do a little hand planning and sanding. I used a heat gun to ensure any bubbles made it to the surface. I will warn you the cure time on the epoxy is very long. If I remember right it was 3 days before your finger nail would not leave a mark. And something like 7 days for full cure. I included a few pictures. They are not the best but you can see the gloss finish.

On my stand I used some epoxy designed for the top of bars. I put the stand in the house where it would be permanently located and check for level. Over 4ft I was out about a 32nd. I poured about an 1/8 of an inch of the epoxy and it is now perfectly level.

I have a 100 gallon set up. 75 gallon display tank and a 25ish gallon sump. I use two 200w heaters in the sump hooked up to a controller. The controller has several set points and an alarm function for over or under temp. So far it has worked out really well. Below is a screen shot of the controller I use.

Thanks. I actually trimmed mine. Removed 3 pads from each to do the same and get more light to other plants. That was about a week ago. They grew back in in about a week. So I trimmed again today. I think its a heck of a way to Remove nitrates.

Folks just wanted to say thanks for all the advice and feedback. I am happy to say the algae issue has been resolved. I have bumped up my CO2 a bit and am dosing with liquid carbon. The plants have really taken off as a result.

Thank you.

The filter on the right is a 1 micron filter followed by a carbon filter. I had intended on plumbing it in a way where it was inline with the return pump with a bypass. The idea being I would not use it all the time only to polish the water or remove medication. In practicality I don't really use it.

Awesome. I am a little east of there in Bozeman.

Hello. I thought I would take some time this morning to introduce myself. I am recently getting back into the hobby. 10ish years ago I had two fish tanks. One with Oscar's and angels and the other was a comunity tank. I started building a new setup back in July or so of 2021. With work and other responsibilities I did not get water into the tank until just after Thanksgiving. I am located in Montana. So if there are any others in Montana that would be really cool. The tank is a 75 gallon that I drilled for an overflow. The stand and canopy I built out of 3/4 cabinet grade plywood. In the bottom of the stand I have a 20 or 29 gallon sump. I can't remember and need to measure. I included a picture and it may be hard to tell but after setting the stand in the house I poured some of the counter top epoxy in the surface where the tank goes. I built a bulkhead on the back edge and the epoxy is between 1/8 and 1/4 inch. The intention of this was to insure it was perfectly level and provided even support to the tank. I have a CO2 system and the lighting is provided by a harbor freight led shop light (will upgrade I'm waiting on the aquarium coop lights) Currently in the tank I have a variety of tetras, Cory cats, shrimp, guppies, Mollies Danios, otos, and a pleco. It a different story but I also have two small tanks that are full if fry at the moment. Some upcoming projects I plan on possibly doing to the setup included; -Adding an automatic water change -new lights for the display tank -building a bigger sump. This would either be from acrylic or a off the shelf glass tank. -adding a dosing pump -a whole different project would be to build a guppy breeding setup. Anyways I have included some pictures. If anyone has any question or comments don't be shy.

I seem to remember in one of the aquarium coop videos on you tube them hinting at them testing one. I am more than willing to wait if this is true.

Awesome. Thanks for the information. For me I think an app based option would be ideal.

I have been using one of the magnetic type scrapers where you don't get wet. The in tank part is almost like the hook part of velcro. I find if I do it regularly it works well. If I wait to long and the algae builds up to much it is not as effective. I have a glass tank BTW.

Thanks for the advice. I'll remove a few and see how they respond.

Morning folks. I hope the start of the weekend is treating you well. I am curious if anyone has any experience with dosing pumps. In particular any suggestions for brands. I am exploring the idea of dosing easy green and potentially a liquid carbon. Thanks.

Thanks for the feedback. It's coming along.