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Unexpected
Supporting Tank of the Month I Donated 2026 Rockstar
Last reply · posted in Equipment Discussions
What is the exact meter I need. 100+ Gallon tank which includes a sump. Dwyer RMA-150-TMV or RMA-151-SSV? Also, how does it connect to the the system? Are there additional parts I need to purchase? If so, what are they called and where to get them?
14 Replies · 1978 views
JayP
Supporting I Donated 2026 Rockstar
Last reply · posted in Equipment Discussions
Assuming many here have seen UNS' Limited Edition tank line which is distinguished by having the back panel glass infused with a frosted blue color. Wondering if anyone had purchased one, seen one in person or just generally, what thoughts are from seeing them online? I'm still rethinking some of my earlier tank purchases both new and used, and considering selling a few of those for some different footprint tanks and have been intrigued by these but haven't seen one in person. Black Friday is getting close after all.

UNS Limited Edition Aquarium
6 Replies · 55 views
mrmoss
Last reply · posted in Journals
Ive reorganized the order of my tanks so I can better keep track of them ie. Tank 2 moss tank is now tank 3. This helps in any confusion I had when tracking tanks they are in a sort of order now. Rather than taking time editing my old journal id rather create a new thread. Pics will be current (for the most part) as they are posted. I am not aquascaping. I am just farming.
95 Replies · 6287 views
JayP
Supporting I Donated 2026 Rockstar
· posted in Lounge
This thread is for the general discussion of the classified ad Oase Biomaster Thermo 250. Please add to the discussion here.
0 Replies · 14 views
Art
Art
Staff member I Donated 2026 Founding Member
Last reply · posted in Meet & Greet Forum
Welcome to ScapeCrunch, @fordohio!
We would love to get to know you. Please tell us about yourself. What tank do you have?
3 Replies · 686 views
artandsoul
Last reply · posted in Journals
Santa came early this year with a new 75g tank. I've never owned a 4' tank ever been stuck on the normal 30" wide 29g and 20g's forever. I wanted the uns 90u 36x22x22 but 750.00 is nuts to me I don't have that much in all tanks and equip I own so went cheap route.
Saw the 75g at PetSmart the imagitarium brand for 150 on sale. Those cheapos have bad reviews on leaking and I believe it as I actually picked up a free leaky 75g imagitarium at petco last week and sold it for snake terrarium for 40.00. Went to petco they also have the 50% off sale on marineland and aqueon. The tank was 159.00 out the door. Got lucky the manager said take this set of new glass tops for free, were a return they cant sell it.I assume the made in USA marineland is a better tank than the other cheapos and I actually don't mind the black silicone.

Went to Lowes today for some wood 4- 2x4x8 and 2- 2x4x10 and sheet if 1/2 osb for top and bottom shelf and for extra strength. When I get done I'm sure it would hold a 300g tank. Will wrap the tank in either bead board wood paneling or 1/4" plywood with some nice moulding on corners. Def gotta make a lip to hide the bottom plastic rim as well so its not so ugly. probably build a hood to why not hide some rims! Just gotta build or find a pair of doors on something else I can steal and use for this stand. I don't plan on getting it setup for few weeks but want stand base 1/2 done now so I can try some diff dry scapes with wood and rocks in it. This will be replacing my 20long I was scaping in other journal its now a plant farm full of ludwigia and plants for sale.
Still not sure on the name on this tank, Whipple landing is where I took some pics I want to copy for the tank. Its feed by the great pee dee river here so name may change later.
33 Replies · 1157 views
gnatster
Supporting I Donated 2026
Last reply · posted in Planted Aquarium Discussion
MTS creeps into your home, one 2 tanks at a time. This one is a UNS 45SA. I don't have firm plans for it yet, but I have some ideas. All the bits have finally arrived. Today is a "where will this fit and let's see how it runs next to the sink in case there is an issue" day.

I have some ideas of where I may want to go. Hillstream Loach / Goby with epiphytes is one direction. Submersed Buce growout idea is floating around in my head, too. Once I figure it out, I'll start a journal that will probably be updated a lot at first, then languish until I get Art's automated reminder email to post.

Hardware
UNS 45SA AIO /w Lid and Intake Screen
Hygger Submersible Heater 50 Watt
FZone Solo Series Nano LED
N-Fill Smart ATO

The ATO has a funny story. I'm using the Tunze Osmolater 3 Nano on the 6 and 10-gallon tanks, but the sensor is large, out of scale for this smaller tank. Plus, the green light is obnoxious at night. A BRS video on the N-Fill Smart ATO popped into my feed. For 70 bucks, I'd give it a try. The ATO arrived with 2 power plugs, no pump. Called BRS, who have real live people in their offices in Minnesota that you can speak to, amazing, I know. The agent had a good laugh. Earlier in the day, they had a caller with 2 pumps, no power plug. They said they'd ship another, keep the one I have. A few days later, an email letting me know it was back-ordered arrived. A quick call to the helpful BRS folks informed that it would be about 2 weeks before a new shipment would arrive. In the meantime, I went on the N-Fill site and saw they had them in stock, with free shipping and 10% signup for email discount. Asked BRS for a refund; the money was back in my account before I hung up. Ordered the ATO from N-Fill and wrote with my tale of woo, asking to purchase a pump. They sent a link to the hidden spare parts page and ordered a pump, $20 shipped. Wrote them back and asked that they make it one shipment. Their support wrote me back, apologizing for the missing pump and refunded the pump price. To be clear, I did tell them that BRS let me keep, at no charge, the unit with all the bits, sans pump. They even sent it with 2-day shipping.

The Blank Slate
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A cramped AIO section.

IMG_1238.webp
16 Replies · 1297 views
renesis
Last reply · posted in Journals
Hi guys!

I'm new here, but not entirely new to planted tanks though I've been out of the hobby for the better part of the last decade between kids and moving a couple of times - but finally in a spot where I can do something again. I'm mostly going to be making things up as I go along, but plan on a lot of automation (I want to integrate everything into home assistant) and a lot of DIY as I love the challenge of building things out myself.

The starting point:

I picked up a 90P rimless, low-iron tank on a great deal.

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I have a rough idea in my head for a stand to be built from plywood - just have a couple other house projects to finish off before starting that built.

Wife says I can only have one aquarium, so for this tank, I want to go all out with a sump to allow for auto top off, and auto water changes, auto fertilizer dosing etc. etc. I have half a plan in my mind.

I've also started on the light fixture which I've modeled up in CAD, and plan on making out of an 8020 extrusion, and some 3D printed bits.
Screenshot 2026-06-01 092809.webp
I'm using bridgelux gen 3 thrive CW (3000k) and WW (5000k) LED strips which have super high CRI at 98+ along with some specific XPE2 wavelengths that I'll solder onto some starboards. Far Red (730nm), Red (654nm), Cyan (495nm), Blue (455nm), Visible UV (415nm). Each segment of the white channels will be on its own driver so I can adjust left to right brightness in thirds, and each colour channel on its own driver so I can vary each channel on a time-based approach.

These will be run from a custom PCB board with Meanwell N-LDD drivers, and will run ESPHome on an ESP32 so it can link up with my Home Assistant installation.
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That's it for now, this will probably be a very slow build so be warned if you follow along!
99 Replies · 7639 views
Kwyet
Supporting I Donated 2026 Rockstar
Last reply · posted in Journals
Sometime in Nov 2024, I bought a 60G Aqueon tank at the 50% off sale. I already had a 75 gallon stand and tank, but I wanted a shorter tank so I could look in over the top. The 75 gallon was relegated to the garage in case I want it again, and I painted the stand black. I also put black vinyl on the back.

My goal was to make a hillstream environment, based on the long-running tank of Rachel O’Leary. I had looked at other options like the river manifolds, but I liked Rachel’s better. I set it up with an fx6 filter, a horizontal spray bar on the left side, and 2nd modified spray bar situated vertically behind a corner Matten filter on the back right side. Glass strips were attached with silicone to hold it. I cut the Matten filter horizontally a few inches from the tank floor so the top part could be easily removed for cleaning. I also cut a small vertical groove from the inside so it wouldn’t constrict the holes so much on the curve.

This was how it looked on Dec 20, 2024:

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54 Replies · 6478 views
Dennis Wong
I Donated 2026 Expert in Residence MOTM Winner Rockstar
Last reply · posted in Planted Aquarium Discussion
His study answers many questions and is filled with data for folks to pour over.


22 Replies · 724 views
Art
Art
Staff member I Donated 2026 Founding Member
Last reply · posted in Forum News/Feedback
As we all know, AI bots are all the rage now. As is usually the case, when new technology surfaces, people find nefarious ways to use it. I feel very negative saying that because I am an optimist by nature. Unfortunately, it's something to manage.

AI bots have found ways to function more like people and this is allowing them to bypass the SPAM measures that most forums have. You may have seen some new members that are posting very robotic replies to old threads. Sometimes it's very difficult to know whether it is a robot or not because some people use AI to clean up their writing before making posts, especially if English isn't their first language.

We have updated our sign-on Captcha to ask a question rather than simply require a click to prove you are not a robot. We also moderate a new member's first post as a backup measure. However, like I said, it's sometimes tough to tell. In such case, we usually send an email asking them to tell us about their tank(s) to see if that helps us spot a bot.

The risk is that if we allow that first post to go through, the AI member would be free to SPAM in the future instead of the current seemingly innocuous replies.

Anyway, no system is perfect. If you notice a post from a new member that seems to have that AI robot quality, please report it so we can check on it. We would really appreciate it.

Thanks,
Art
4 Replies · 195 views
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