jasonnz

Ok - so tonight i raced down to Mitre 10 Mega after work and had a big sheet of 17mm ply cut into 5 braces for me. only $107 for peace of mind. I have some offcuts still which can be used for even more bracing. Talked to some people about diag bracing using 4x2 or similar and the general consensus was that 17mm ply was going to be 10 times more effective. I then fixed them into position - Screwed them in with no less than 15 screws each. This may seem excessive - but apparently every additional screw adds ...... I am super happy with how rock solid the frame is. I then applied some hinges to the front. I know on the outside is a bit tacky .. but .. I splashed out on some nice handles which I will fix to it tomorrow. Plugged some magnetic catches to the inside of the doors and all works well. Very happy with the result. Pics .. placing the sheets into the back 3 centre positions End Bracing Front Bracing sheet - screws much ? lol. This is a shot will all bracing in and screwed down. Comments?

I'm starting to get excited... Yes - I think we will flag the sump for now. If i do add one at any stage - I have a plan in place that may not be overly traditional - but will provide the means to house and plumb one. I think we will keep the BGK for now - just until it grows up a little - it's a pretty special fish. Think I have decided today to add a CO2 setup into the mix for the plants as well - so excited about that. More updates on the cabinet tonight - should have everything braced by 8pmish.

Actually - not much to be honest. I havent thought much past the 2 small pleco's .. 2 angels - 1 BGK - 10 or so assorted tetras - 4 gouramis, 4 mollies and razboras .. 2 chinese algae eaters. Once the tank is running well - I will look at stock then .. think it's just a case of beefing each of those numbers up significantly. I would love a nice 50 or so school of something. any ideas?

Ignore the amount of fixings in place at the moment - i was out of time yesterday and needed to get the painting started. It will be fixed with approx one screw every 150 -200mm.

Bracing: I seem to be getting a 50/50 message from the boys at the office this morning about the bracing as well. I guess everyone has a different view. I don't mind airing on the side of caution - so regardless os whether there is a risk - I am going to remove the back panel - which is currently braced using 24 screws - the side panels - which although only have 4 screws currently - will have 12 each. and the front panels which will have 8 screws each. I will then apply 5 new additional braces from 17mm ply on the inside of the stand. 1 at each end - 2 at the back and one centre front. It wont change the appearance - it will only add around 10 KGs and this will ensure all our minds are at rest. I beleive the bracing as it stands is OK - but if the additional bracing is not required - it's not going to do any harm. Filtration: Yes - Yes - Yes - I know. The FX5 is a wonderful pump. I have seen a coupld of larger tanks using them to filter up to 1500 litres and they seem to be fine. I have convinced myself that it is going to be ok with a couple of powerheads. If it's not however - I need to decide whether to add another FX5 or whether to add a sump and use that with the FX5. Or I could just get a sump and mechanical filter. I will have to think about that some more. I guess the key thing with the sump is that I can then put the heaters downstairs instead of in the main tank reducing clutter. I have planned for 2 powerheads initially .. WATER CHANGES: I am eventually going to automate the water changes almost. I will go into detail a little later in the project. For now I have a very long hose and will dump the water directly into the tank and out of the tank without too much effort. I have a good source of 25 degree water - so I shouldnt need to heat the water.

You are the man - In 20 minutes of reading about MH - it sounds like something I could figure out - but I like the plug and play concept for now - just until I have a bit more confidence.

Haha - I have a small step ladder which will get me over the top of the tank. Was going to be 650 .. but I like taller tanks. Figured 800 was managable -

Yeah I was always aware the lighting was going to be a real experiment at 800 - I'll take your advice at 4 sets if I don't find another lighthing setup - It just seems to me the easiest surefire way to get my lighting sorted without to much hassle.

Thanks for that - The tip on the fx5 is good - t5's seem to be a very sure way to go - but I'll do some reading on Halide Lighting.

Thanks for the advice. Sounds good. I'll get it done tomorrow night.

So from the front of the stand at the top join on a 45 angle down to the bottom rear .. How many would you recommend. I have plenty of 4x2 left so it wont take an hour or to to get those added. What about the back?

Yeah - it's at my office. My wife is the boss :tears: . We have 14 staff who work their including 1 other fishkeeper :bounce: I thought this tank would be a very nice edition - given the enjoyment everyone gets from the smaller tanks. That - and I wanted a bigger tank !

First I tried laying out the bones of the cabinet on the carpet. Started by laying out the base on the ground and screwing this together : Once this was done we built the leg sections - we didnt attach them at this stage - we just built them - they are screwed together You can see the corner legs are 2 bits of 4x2 screwed together - the join in the top and bottoms is overlapped by this leg. We then built the top - which is identical to the bottom - this is screwed together Now came time to assemble the entire stand. We did this by lying the base onto a sheet of flat ply - we found this provided a more level surface to work from - rather than the carpet. The legs were simply placed ontop of the base - then the top was gently put into place. We used these braces (which we modified slightly to attach each leg to the base and to the top. You will see here that we also used some nail plates - I was going to use these in some places - but later on removed 90% of them and used the metal braces instead I realised that one of the legs was positioned the other way around - meaning that the 90 long bit of the 4x2 was not overlapping the joins on the end as i had planned - rather than leaving it - i took the 15 minutes to remove the bracing - reposition it and brace it again. I then turned the frame onto it's side and in this photo you can see me fixing the 8mm play backing to the frame - I also braced the ends with more ply And more ply for some front bracing. I then put the top on and fixed another 2 bits of ply for additional support. These can be removed at any stage. I measured the ply wrong - and took some of the surplus stuff back and got some additional cuts to fill the gaps you see on the end. First a coat of primer Then I decided to paint it black.3 coats - I also allowed for 2 doors on the cabinet - have some hinges .. and will eventually mount them. Not a priority for now however. I will also dress the unit with some trimming in the next couple of weeks. Keen for any feedback?

You could use an aquarium safe glue and install some small clips or hooks for you to attach the moss to... - or if you empty the tank - apply more cement and epoxy - allowing places to hook the mosses onto ... :dunno: Eventually the moss should hook itself onto something .. so it helps if there is a surface for it to bond with.

Hi all - I am upgrading my community fresh water tropical tank from 270 to 1400 litres. I thought it might be nice to have a thread where I can discuss the progress, ask for advice and post some pictures. Heres some info about what I have planned: TANK: The tank is 2400x700x800 and is being made from 15mm glass. I have quite a large space for it to sit in at my office (which is where I spend most of my waking time). The tank is being built by Greg from tanks2u and should be arriving on Thursday. STAND: I have spent the weekend building a stand for the tank. I was worried about the weight - and so opted to build something very sturdy and strong. The tank is made from 4x2 (90mmx45mm) bits of wood. I'm going to post the photos for the of the steps taken to build the stand, cost of materials etc which may be of use to anyone building a similar stand. I hope I have over engineered it - It seem's most of the tanks this size which I have seen have 1/3rd of the support. The stand is made from treated pine, the joins are braced with brackets - and most of the frame was assembled with screws first and then wrapped in plywood. Once applying the ply I have precoated it in primer - and then applied a black low sheen paint. (i'm actually just waiting for that to dry so I can do a second coat.). I chose to paint the wood even though it was very nice timer - because I simply do not have the time or the facility to sand the wood for varnishing. All of the wood was cut at Mitre 10 Mega from my plans - I only had to return once to get some of the lengths shortened (luckily it wasnt the other way around). They have a good facility to cut the wood and even cut the ply to my exact measurements. I also purchased every other part from Mitre 10 Mega - they are just down the road from my office so it was easy that way. The only tools I had at the office were: 1. Hand drill 2. Jig Saw 3. Hammer 4. another hammer 5. measuring tape 6. square drive for the screws 7. some longer 3.5mm drill bits - which I had to get after earlier trying to do the job with shorter 3mm drill bits. 8. a level I havent go any shelves in the stand and no bottom on the it either - what I did have was a 2.4metre leftover cut of ply which I used to brad to the bottom and act as a makeshift shelf. I used a solid sheet of ply to the back and sides which was 8mm thick then I used a 17mm sheet for the top to hold the stand. I could have opted for a thicker piece of something to use as the top - and I still might add something - but for now its the ply. The fron has 6 panels - these are all screwed in - although the play is to create two opening doors. The idea of the panels is to give me easy maintenance access to electrical/plumbing at all times - simply wip out 4 holding screws and life the panel off. The 2 end panels I made around 150mm - so that they can be permanently attached and and be dressed up at a later stage. I plan to use some dressing timber to clean the stand up a little later on. No canopy yet - however it will be built once I get the lighting configuration perfect. LIGHTING: For lights I have chosen 2 x t5 lighting setups They measure 120cm in length so I will be actually be placing them on a slight angle across the tank rather than in horizontally next to each other on the top of the tank. The lights are from Hollywood Fish Farm in Mt Roskill - This setup : Glo T5 HO Lighting System 48 Inch Twin http://www.hollywoodfishfarm.co.nz/deta ... win/m/931/ Now the kit doesnt come with bulbs so those are additional. I have chosen this light as the tank will be planted and I want to ensure maximum light at the tank depth of 800. I will back these up with some T8's if required. I would appreciate any comments on the lighting setup should you have some. FILTER: Today I purchased a Fluval FX5 - Now this has a 1500 litre per hour rating - So althought this should be fine given my planned stocking levels - I also have an Aquaone1200 which I have spare should I need it. As I wont have an overhead filter as I have traditionally had - all my faith is in this unit. I could have built a sump - however I didnt want to noise and I want to avoid any trickle sounds as it is in the office. Now I could have reinforced the part of the cabinet or sound deadened it - But I decided to use the fx5 instead. If I am not able to get the filtration i need - I will happily buy a second FX5 to run in the tank. With the output nosel from this puppy I shoudl need any additional help creating a current in the tank. http://www.hollywoodfishfarm.co.nz/deta ... fx5/m/928/ MEDIA: Fluval Carbon - and Ehiem Substrat Pro - I have 3 bags of carbon - and 2 boxes of media to add to my new FX5 which I will mix with some media I have been preparing in my other tanks. I also plan to use 2 500ml bottles of stability to help get my tank into good shape before it is inhabited. I also have a UView 24 watt UV purifier - now althought this bad boy is only rater for 200-400 litres I am going to see how it goes. I'm after good clear water as this tank is seen by all visitors to my office. I believe there is a 55 watt version available - so if required - I will grab one of those. I added the current one to my tank when I wasnt entirely convinced that although the water balance was perfect for the fishies - that it was as clear as I wanted it to be - once it was added it took 2 days to sort the tank out and produce crystal clear water. I'm monitoring the temperature using an electronice temp probe. I have ordered 2 heaters for the tank - and I am trying to look for a temperature switching power output setup - If anyone knows of an electrical supplier in Auckland who sells these or knows of where I can get a kit - that would be much appreciated. I just need something that will auto switch off and restart my heaters should something go wrong. IE a heather malfunctions and jams on - i dont want my fish cooking. I'm still deciding on substrate - looking to use a fine substrate as I have had larger stones for quite sometime. The tank will also be planted - and I hope to try and grow a nice carpet - however I understand it's the wrong time of year to be getting large amounts of carpet plants. We will see how we get on. No idea what I am going to fill the tank with - but for now it will definitely house my current community. Anyways - I must go and apply another coat of paint - I will post photos when I get home so you can see the stand build. :smln:

Thanks all - very nice to see you all - very cool forums - learnt a whole lot in a very short 24 hours lol.

I just googled torpical fish forums and i arrived. Yes .. the planted tank looks amazingly amazing. My next tank is going to be a little more intense planting wise. I want to carpet 1/3 of it .. create a hidden valley and try and grow my moss tree. :bounce:

Hi all, I hope you are all rugged up warm and sitting close to a fireplace with a nice glass of red. I didnt actually realise that there was such a thing as the Fnzas - so I have just stumbled across these forums. I'm Auckland based - and have joined these forums to learn a bit more about fishkeeping and to share some of the joy I get from my current projects. My current 2 tanks are tropical freshwater. 1 x 90 litre aquaone tank - currently actually a hospital tank with some ill tetras and my betta. 1 x 270 litre sunsun - which houses my current community. Community consist of : 2 x angels 1 x black ghost knife 2 x plecos (currently only 12cm each) 4 x pengiun tetras 2 x harlequin rasboras 4 x mollies 2 x chinese algae eaters 1 x dwarf blue gourami 1 x golden gourami 1 x Opeline gourami 2 x cherry barbs. These fish all get along well - I thought I was the master in good behavour and even had my betta in their for a few days : :facepalm: I never had any interest in keeping fish of my own until one of my staff had a tank for sale. which was the 90 which a week later became the 270 .. I'm running an overhead filter inside the sunsun - and UV filter in the tank and an AquaOne1200 canister for filtration which is setup using spraybars. The tank is planted and has a very large size gravel substrate. Here are some pics This is a cool pic - just after some clarity was used in the tank for the first time - I don't know how many people have used it - but the effect it gives off is pretty darn cool. (clears up in around 45 minutes). Tank with normal water clarity - this was before it was fully planted. My current project - Which I will start a new thread for is a slightly bigger tank .. measuring 2400x750x800. (which is 1440 litres) or just shy off. As you know - one tank is never enough .. and a tank is never big enough - I am going to create a monster of tropical freshwater tank which will actually be a large community. The tank will be fully planted and I hope to do this over the next 12 - 15 weeks. I am building the stand this weekend and the tank will arrive next Thursday. My tanks are at my office which is where I spend 12 hours of each day - so I get to enjoy them (as does my team) all day long. So Yeah .. HI !