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Hello Part 2 (Tank Project)


bOi

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haven't done it my self but a lot of ppl here have and it has no real benefit except looking tidier. bad point would be it will be not as easy to clean the tubes if it ever needs to be and less flexible to move around if u ever decided u want to change where the filter goes.

[i see ur also up late :lol: ]

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[i see ur also up late :lol: ]

Make that the two of us :lol: Up finishing some assignments and reading. Online as well and occasinally visit this and another forum (nzicemag) in between breaks.

About the setup, well yeah I kinnda want it a bit tidier thats basicaly the main reason, but altho it may have not much benefits but dont think I'll move them around once its set there :D Cuz all ends are for viewing (front back and sides), kinnda like a room devider. Hope its turns out alrite when its done :wink:

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Did you get the one in the link above?

Hey timtam22, NAh i didnt :D Got a brand new one. All at a good price. Fluval FX5 (as in the pic) = $549 :P But it was a one off bargain (last instore). Media was free :D

Here are the pics:

Box and media bits

P1020783-small.jpg

What was in the box

P1020788-small.jpg

What was in the canister (media buckets). Used my sky remote to scale everything

P1020790-small.jpg

Inside of the canister

P1020791-small.jpg

IN and OUT

P1020798-small.jpg

The infamous dual out

P1020792-small.jpg

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Wanted to set it up on my old tank so I can get the bacteria growing in the new filter but realised if I had to do this, would need to cut the current hoses that comes with it to length of the old tank. New tank not in place yet. Cuz doing some repairs on the cabinet and some modificatios to the stand and cleaning the tank and lid.

Soon will everything be up and running!!

Next on the menu is Lights. Whats sort of lights should I put in? It takes 6 x 30" tubes. I think they are t8's but not sure. How can i check?

as thiking of some normal whites maybe 2? or 4 and the other 2 marine blue? Kindda like the colour. or more likely to be 2 x white/sun/normal, 2 x marine blue and 2 x purplelish ones

Also the power cord on the lid says, 250V. Should this be alright?

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T8's are 26mm thick

T5's are 16mm thick

250V is correct, our voltage varies from 190 to 220 RMS but 250V devices are fine on it. It's when they say '110/130V' you gotta watch out :) poof bang whoops.

As for lights, I've got a twin setup here with 1x10,000K white, and 1 marine blue on a freshwater tank and it does look nice with rocks etc, I love the look of 6500K lighting on my planted tank though.

I got 5 6500K (Cool Daylight, Phillips Colour 83) 48" tubes for $9ea today, you'll tend to find the higher kelvin rating aquarium purpose lamps to be more costly (I've seen them in pet stores for $50++ea).

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Awesome price bOi,

we managed to get one while we were in aussie, they were selling them at $340 aussie dollars, so we had a bargain! Been running it for about 4 months now and its great! :lol: Its nice and quiet and the 2 minute stopping to let the gases out makes a huge difference to the sound!

Good luck with the new toy :D

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I got bulbs yesterday :D Checked to see if the lights in the lids worked.. it DID

Got 2 jewel cool day lights at about $20 each and 1x marine actinic bulb at $50

Just blew one of the jewels :cry: cuz one of the fittings didnt work?? Turned it on and boom.. there goes one light..

The rest is okay. and seems to work fine.. Prob wont use that socket where I blew my bulb. The lid holds 6x30" tubes and 1 socket not working.. And got no spare bulb to test.. Bunnings and place makers dun have 30" normal tubes.. :(

Does anyone knows where to get them normal fluoro tubes at 30"?? :o

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yeah.. very hard to find but redwood aquatics have them. heaps too..

i was wondering whether i should do a new lid... so i can get fittings of a common size for it. Cuz now the lid is alluminium.. so is very hard to alter or modify.. :(

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Hi boi,

In the bottom tray we used some biomax from our other tank to seed the tank, as well as eheim substrat pro (which i had to put in a bag as the tray holes are too big for these).

Then i used ammonocarb and nitro-zorb in the second tray.

In the top tray i used filter wool and prefilter in the top tray.

:wink:

Good luck with setting up the tank!

:hail:

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yeah on my african tank i have a twin four foot fitting and i put a philips coral one (blue) and a cool white one. looks very good and would recomend them.

having the blue light with the white light looks really good and makes the tank look extreamly clear! also brings out a lot of the blue colour in my fishes out. carnt wait to see some pics when its all setup :bounce:

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Went around looking for tubes, to no avail. Cant find any 30" ones other than those meant for aquariums :(

Spray painted the hood black to match the stand/cabinet. Also pvc taped the edges of the polystyrene (25mm) black :D

Will go up soon and have some pics too... ahh those long awaited pics

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UPDATE!!

Tried and tested the FX5 the other day on my old tank. My fishes loved to swim against the current of the OUT. Filled the baskets with media.. mixed them a bit with the old media I had from the other filter and let it ran for a few days:

P1020801-small.jpg

Painted the Lid matt black on the outside with some DULUX spray can and used alluminium tape as reflectors :)

P1020805-small.jpg

and the end results:

P1020812-small.jpg

Had a bag of calcite pebbles lying around, not sure where ill put them later once the sand has settled:

P1020807-small.jpg

Got some bulbs few days ago, blew one of the Jewel day lights:

P1020810-small.jpg

With the lid on, got these results:

With just the purple "power-glo" light and the Jewel day light:

P1020816-small.jpg

With just the 2 x Marine Actinic Bulbs:

P1020815-small.jpg

With all the bulbs on:

P1020817-small.jpg

Now, im just going to let the tank cycle a bit more, feeding food, adding the cichlid salt, aqua plus etc. Will check the pH and kH tomorrow. Just waiting for the temperature and sand to settle down

:roll:

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