Bonsai applications in other areas

[AutumnWolf13]

I have a planted aquarium and last week the canister filter went belly up. Not to worry, as most aquarium owners, I had a backup...actually three backups. So I took out the foam pre-filter and wrapped it around a air operated sponge filter and put the biological media (pumice actually) in a used whisper filter and turned it on.

The third backup was a brand spanking new canister filter with a skimmer and UV sterilizer. I hooked it all up, but the supplied hose was curled up so it could fit in the box. When i hooked it up the curl in the hose would pull the intake and outlet right out of the tank. Thankfully it was not yet on! If the intake comes out it burns up the new filter, if the outlet comes out...40 gallons of water in the living room carpet!

I was at Home Despot to get some paint and an extention cord and wandered over to where they sell the wire and lo and behold, they sell industrial strength solid copper ground wire. I got 12 feet at $.58 a foot and I wired the filter hoses just like a bonsai tree branch and bent them hoses exactly how I want them. No pressure at all to pull the hoses out!

 

[jeanluc83]

Nice tank!

There was a time when I wanted to set up a reef aquarium. I started to spec everything out but once the cost got into $2000+ territory I decided against it. Setting up a planted tank was my next option but I had moved on to other things by then. Maybe one day.

I'm sure you probably know but be careful of copper around your tank if you plan on keeping crustaceans.

 

[AutumnWolf13]

the cost got into $2000+

With an emphasis on the +!

I did the same with bonsai. I was going to do bonsai but wound up putting my efforts into a planted tank instead. I tried to do it years ago but couldn't keep the plants alive and the algae dead at the same time. New technologies and knowledge got me back into it 4 years ago. Once mastered it, I got bored, now I'm back to bonsai. I did a saltwater tank, but not a reef tank.
Yea, the copper stays on the outside! Still kicking around the idea of doing a small shrimp tank or an
Apistogramma cacatuoides
tank.

 

[jeanluc83]

With an emphasis on the +!

That was just the tank and equipment. I hadn't even started to figure out what it would cost to stock the tank.

I had a 20 long that I had set up as a planted tank for a while. I went low tech with a HOB filter and a regular florescent light. I had to cut everything back about once a month and clean the glass. Other than that the maintenance was low. I never had any algae problems.



I "upgraded" to a 29 gal hex tank but it was too deep for a planted tank without more powerful lights. I gave it up about a year and a half later.

 

[AutumnWolf13]

I never had any algae problems.

Count yourself lucky! I had some problems, but after 8 months the algae just kind of disappeared on its own. I guess when the beneficial bacteria built up to a point where it would instantly break down the ammonia that the algae spores needed to bloom. haven't had a lick of algae since, despite a bit of neglect on my part.