You never forget your first....

[Matteus]

Great pix and thanks for sharing Matt! In fact I tried similar with a plastic planter just like that on my flowerhorn tank but being mechanically inept couldn't really get the input/output balanced and it was liable to overflow so gave up on it.

Was just about to ask where input was coming from but then just saw your post above. Is there any danger of it overflowing if say power goes out, or if a drain gets blocked by a leaf or something?

Lol. I’m not very mechanically enclosed either.

I have it set up so the water pumps in from a canister so if power goes out it will just stop. If a leaf blocks the drain, the other drain should be able to handle the load before anything goes too wrong. And it is also sitting on top of my tank so it would go back into the tank(in theory). I have 2 drains- 1that is 3/4” and the other is 1/2”. The reason for this and also the reason for placement of these are simple. That’s what the planter came with ?. This was mostly just an experiment to see if I could do it. I wasn’t expecting much but if it works cool. And if the plants don’t die cool. Maybe I will try something else like it.

the filter that this trickle is being fed by is only 1 tray of floss and the rest of the 3 remaining trays are full to max with bio media. It is also a uv sterilizer so tank is getting lots of benefit from this contraption. Imo.

 

[Nilsafeller]

I have wanted to add another filter onto this tank for a while now and was trying to make sure I could maximize some of the materials that I had laying around. I also had some friends help out with the process- thank you Nilsafeller for the planter. All said and done this entire set up cost me $15 out of pocket. 10 for the plants and 5 for the reducers coming out of the bulkheads.

I was advised to use uni seal rather than bulkheads, but I got the bh for free so that’s what I went with. Oops. Next time I will (maybe) listen. After getting it set up last night I came back to check on it and one of the bulk heads was leaking a bit so I will have to take it all apart and tighten it more, possibly even caulk the seam.

I ended up using my sera uvc 1200 as the pump into the box because it had a spray bar that just happen to fit perfectly into the planter. It isn’t as perfectly efficient or symmetrical as I would like. But it was dirt cheap and hoping it will add that much more to my bio load.

Because the planter is so thin (1/16) inch it takes alot of tightening to create the seal you need with the bulkhead... I used the rubber on one side of the planter and used aquaroum safe caulking on the other side and tightened as much as I could... years of masterbation have created very strong forearms that helped in this process

 

[Matteus]

I literally laughed out loud so hard my wife asked me why. So I read what was posted and she says- oh my tmi. Looks like I won’t have a too hard of a time with it myself then. Lol.

on a more serious note I have just placed the planter in a way that it drips mostly back into the tank for now. I think tomorrow I will year it all down to let the bulkheads dry out then caulk around the outside edges and try again. It was water tight when I tested it but now that everything is in place and there are stress points on the hose to keep it in place it has developed the leaks. Live and learn. Isaw the caulking on yours and thought I would chance it. Lol.

 

[Nilsafeller]

I literally laughed out loud so hard my wife asked me why. So I read what was posted and she says- oh my tmi. Looks like I won’t have a too hard of a time with it myself then. Lol.

on a more serious note I have just placed the planter in a way that it drips mostly back into the tank for now. I think tomorrow I will year it all down to let the bulkheads dry out then caulk around the outside edges and try again. It was water tight when I tested it but now that everything is in place and there are stress points on the hose to keep it in place it has developed the leaks. Live and learn. Isaw the caulking on yours and thought I would chance it. Lol.

I just put a thin layer of calk right on the face of the bulkhead... I thought bulkheads would have 2 rubber seals with them but mine I bought only had 1 so I had to use silicone on the other side... give it a shot.. mines been running for a year now with no issue but I was a bit sceptical at first because of how thin the planter box is... I'm sure you could find a rubber seal for it at home depot or something instead of caulking

 

[Matteus]

this guy is still doing really well. Boss of the tank immediately.

eating food sticks about 80-90% of the time I offer them. Loves shrimp and bugs, but still a hard NOPE on smelts. Seems to hate the smell of them , won’t even come to that side of the tank when the rays get their smelts.

he has a fun new game, he chases and bites the tinfoil barb so scales fall off of it. Then he hunts down and eats the scales. My wife who usually doesn’t want me to get more fish thinks I should get a few more dithers for him. Lol maybe some silver dollars or something. I really don’t like the tinfoil much, I keep trying to convince my wife it will cohab with my xingu rhomb. Lol.
It’s funny how some folk say that the aro knows your intentions. I hate the tinfoil barb mostly because it was a jerk previously, and the aro always picks on it. But all the other fish I do like including the flagtail don’t ever even get a nip. I’m not a superstitious kind of guy, but if they say this fish is good luck, it seems to be working.

since I received it I have basically started doing a dream job and hope to share more about that later.

 

[Galantspeedz]

An aro will supposedly ward off danger for you... at the expense of it's own life.

 

[DN328]

Very nice OP. I too like the BBXB - they look awesome as they age. If only we could have them here.

 

[Nilsafeller]

this guy is still doing really well. Boss of the tank immediately.

eating food sticks about 80-90% of the time I offer them. Loves shrimp and bugs, but still a hard NOPE on smelts. Seems to hate the smell of them , won’t even come to that side of the tank when the rays get their smelts.

he has a fun new game, he chases and bites the tinfoil barb so scales fall off of it. Then he hunts down and eats the scales. My wife who usually doesn’t want me to get more fish thinks I should get a few more dithers for him. Lol maybe some silver dollars or something. I really don’t like the tinfoil much, I keep trying to convince my wife it will cohab with my xingu rhomb. Lol.
It’s funny how some folk say that the aro knows your intentions. I hate the tinfoil barb mostly because it was a jerk previously, and the aro always picks on it. But all the other fish I do like including the flagtail don’t ever even get a nip. I’m not a superstitious kind of guy, but if they say this fish is good luck, it seems to be working.

since I received it I have basically started doing a dream job and hope to share more about that later.

View attachment 1403642View attachment 1403643

Arrow looking phenominal matt.. hows that filter doing?

 

[Matteus]

I haven’t pulled it apart lol, I just placed it so any leaks just drop back into the tank. I haven’t had a chance to test my water to see if it is making much of a difference in nitrates yet or not but seems to be doing ok otherwise.

 

[TheWolfman]

Congratulations on the fish! I’m officially jealous lol, the stocking is awesome.