jasonnz

Thanks for the comments. What would you do differently with the lighting?

My tan sits pretty much bang on @ 23 degrees now but I expect to have the temp at around 25 - 26.

Yeah - I knew when I started that a planted tank was going to cost some money - so I've got that side of it covered. I don't think anyone wanders into a monster tank build without expecting to spend some money. Thanks for your comments - great to hear that it looks good in your tank .. any pics?

Very keen for comments and feedback.

Access to the tank : WOO - 800 is quite deep and is going to provide some challenges when working on the tank .. - but I have had a little plan from the start to ensure we have access to every bit of the tank without having to climb in.. With the water level reduced slightly - it is possible to lie flat across the tank and reach down to the bottom. Obviously we dont want to put any weight on the tank so i present to you my working platform (which will be stored in the storage cupboard). Not actualy picture - but will look something like this :

Hardscape - Heading to stone and water world this weekend to see what we can find in terms to rock .. still no idea what I am looking for - and until we have everything in one place and we get to our planting weekend - we are not going to have a clue as to the final look. My wife and are have planned an adventure on Sunday to hunt down some exotic looking woods for different effects in the tank .. All we know is that all the toys and sculpture like things will be coming out of the tank and the entire aquascape will be as natural looking as possible.

Most fish shops us some kind of water pressure controlled device for cleaning tanks and completing water changes. I would like to automate things a little more in the future - but I have decided to pick up this kit from Hollywood Fish Farm for now - Marina Aqua Vac Water Changer. For those of you who don't know how this works - it just threads onto a tap - when you turn the tap on - the unit uses the pressure to either "suck" or "fill" your tank. Water and fish waste disapears straight down the drain. No buckets or mess. I use prime at the moment for treating my water before changes currently - that will just continue.

Heating : I have purchased 2 x jager 300 watt heaters. I understand all sorts of options exist for heating - but again - that's an area i can play with later on - for now I just want something that I can drop into the tank and turn on. Obviously 1 heater is not quite enough ( being rated for a max of 1000 litres ) but 2 heaters will not only keep my water nice and warm - but also provide some backup should one heater fail. I have plans to upgrade and do some pretty cool things with heating - but that won't be for a good little while yet.

substrates: The important thing for me - with the size of the tank - is that I get a good solid base down for the plants to root into - a base which is full of nutrients and will be able to provide over the next 24 months or so .. without too much intervention. I also needed to choose which type of heavy substrate i was going to lay down - visually this is quite important. First up I will be laying some .. JBL AquaBasis - then using a sprinkling of JBL Florapol. Now neither of these products are strictly required for me to get my tank going - however the plants will thank me for it. I've chosen to use two main substrates in the tank, the first being Seachem Flourite Black Sand ( I would have liked to use this on it's own - but I do actually like the idea of a coarser looking substrate in the bottom of the tank) and the second being Seachem Flourite Black. After a few months - all the sand will have settled below the coarser material so my thinking is really around providing that nutrient rich base for the plants. Here is an idea of what the substrate will look like in the tank. (although in that pic its black sand). Very keen to hear thoughts about my direction here.

co2 : I'll run a standard setup for Co2 - obviously co2 can be a bit scary for some people - but I have a little bit of experience - I've ordered everything but a diffuser. For that I am going to build an inline reactor for the Co2 - which should only take a few minutes with some bits from the local hardware store... I will post pics of the build once it's done (prolly next weekend).

Lighting: Have talked to people about LED setups , MH and Fluorescents... Although I would like to go with some LED's it's still very DIY and I am have read some real horror stories about people having issues getting the wrong types of LED lights - going too far and getting massive algae problems and spending thousands perfecting the art. I have the time and dont mind spending some money - but I'm going to start with Fluorescents. Once these are in place and the tank is up and running - I will play around with some of the LED's on the market and test the capabilities - while not having to rely solely on them to keep the tank running. Remember the tank will be tropical planted - so lighting is quite an important aspect of the setup. For this tank I am going to run 4 Glo T5 HO Lighting System 48 Inch Twin - These units come with built in reflectors and a handy suspension kit for hanging from the roof. I will run them together like so == on the tank. For bulbs - to start with I am going to run 4 x Hagen Life-Glo High Output T5 46"/54W - and 4 x Arcadia T5 Freshwater Plant Pro 54Watt/46" bulbs. I was going to run 6 Plant Pro's but I was afraid I wouldnt have enough white light in the tank to make the fish look pretty. We will see how this goes - I can always play around with different bulbs. I am planning to add some LEDS to this also - but I don't want to rely on them this early in. There is so much else to be doing - I know the T5 bulb setups work - so that's what I am going to start off with.

I have the FX5 already - I'm going to use it with media and use the AO1200 as a mechanical filter for now. I will keep an eye on things and if we need to make changes - we will make changes. For some reason I just didnt want any holes anywhere in the tank but the top 8) - I had heard a lot of horror stories. I am going to clean up the intakes - cables etc with some capping .. and just play around with positions until we have everything working well. Then I can work on concealing things. Exciting news today - I ordered a crane load of gears to get the ball rolling .. update shortly on - substrates - hardscape - Water changes - Co2 - heating - lighting - very exciting. a little later tonight i will post updates.

Yup - the tank will stay there and will be visible from both sides - that was the whole idea. It's for the enjoyment of the 8 of us who are stuck in the office every day. The other team is just a few metres away in another part of the office - so they will be able to enjoy it as well. Yes - we are working on some lighting options at the moment. Still undecided on a hood or having something suspended. Yes - we have a combination of wooden wedges and liquid nails. This will pack it nice and tight.

Did you find any at all?

no - end horizontal brace is out by 2mm at one end. So will neet to pack it. It's only a very small section that is slightly lower than it should be. It means you can get a metal ruler into the gap - which means that when filled with water - the tank would have to bend itself down onto the brace - which is bad.

drumroll please. Yes - it was heavy. OMG it was heavy. But we moved it 25 metres, stopping half way. And now that the tank is in place. We have found one of the braces is higher than it is supposed to be. grrr.

At the office we have 15 people - and big double doors. So no issue there. At the loading end - we only need to lift one end at a time - to get it into the van. We are all 100KG ish men with a bit of muscle on us .. so I think we will be fine. Bracing ..Yes - I read a bunch of guides and measured the locations of the screws I put into the bracing backsheets .. at an average of 4 or 5 suggested measurements. Don't be worried about bringing it up - I would rather someone say something - than be asking why someone didnt - :happy1: :happy2: :happy1: :happy1: :happy2:

Yeah .. 4 of us tough boys from work are going ! :happy2: :happy1: :happy2: :happy1: :happy2: :happy1: Organised the polysteyrene .. so we are all good to go.

Thanks Caper

Went along to the Auckland Fishkeepers Association club meeting tonight - was a good discussion about all things fishkeeping. We discussed alot about different tank setups sumps, filters, lighting and even my tank stand. I think I am going to head down the road of LED's for the tank lighting now. Filters - I am definitely going to start with my FX5 and probably just add another if it is so required. I'm not going to put a sump in just yet ... although I can really where it would be handy. Anyways - finished handles on the stand tonight - I am going to give it all a quick sand tomorrow and one last coat of paint and put it into place. Very excited about the arrival of my tank on Thursday night .. I will post pics then. For now ... :bounce: :bounce: :cofn: :bounce: :bounce:

Thanks for the great chat and meeting. I got some good advice tonight and our discussion about lights will save me from making some costly mistakes. You guys have amazing wealth of knowledge.

I did get a few quotes for metal stands - but build times seemed to be so far in the distance ... also i got the itch to do it myself. Nothing like a weekend building (but no .. I have not seen the metal framing your referring too .. I don't watch tv.)

No - i did look into building a metal stand - but it's not something I could of done myself. I thought I would have a go with wood. It's all treated timber and I hope that it's not going to rot or cause any issues. With regards to budget - sure I could have saved half the dollars - but I'm not too fussed to be honest. It was a very nice weekend learning alot about wood and spending some time doing it myself. What do you mean poly sheets ? You mean inside the cabinet or under the tank? Nope - no holes in the tank _ I have asked Greg to give me specific openings in the lid's and nothing else. I think I have a plan for sumping later should I want to do that. For now - I am going to run the one FX5 I think. I have absolutely zero interest in big giant fish. So I am sure I will be OK. If not - I will go in a different direction - I'm pretty relaxed about the filtering at this stage. Gravel cleaning will be interesting - I have a plan to :nilly: :nilly: Thanks for your input - can I have a link to your tank setup?

Yeah - absolutely understand - though - all it would take is one sleepless night worrying about it .. and I would have done it anyway. Best to get it done now. Yes - the magentic latches I put on are rather pathetic actually - but it's on thing to be at the hardware store - never having done something like this before - and then being back installing them - before you realise that you might have got a size to small. Only 8 trips to Mitre 10 Mega in 3 days. :happy2: Seems the glass tank is on schedule also - which is a massive plus. Just putting together a list of other bits and bobs I am going to need - Should start to think about building a list in my first post.

very nice look. I think a darker gravel would do wonders - especially if you can get some real good cover with those plants. My hat goes off to you sir.