Brianemone Posted January 4, 2007 Report Share Posted January 4, 2007 My tank that I originally had built for my reef tank that was never fully established was sitting in my garage gathering dust and cobwebs. I've had the urge to startup a planted tank for some now and since we have made some progress with the renovations of our new house I thought that it would be a good time to start getting stuff together for when the lounge is finished. The tank measures 120cm long x 70cm wide x 60cm high. The front and sides are Diamante glass (starphire equivilant) Here is a Pic of the tank, all dirty and lonely sitting on its back I moved it inside last night and gave it a quick clean, took a bit of elbow grease to cut out the old overflow and get it prep'd for a test fill which will happen as soon as i plug the overflow hole in the base. I'll put some pics of the clean up tonight Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
evilknieval69 Posted January 4, 2007 Report Share Posted January 4, 2007 Why not just use the overflow and have a sump?!?!?! Would give even more volume!! Nice sized tank BTW! What have you got planned for equipment? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brianemone Posted January 4, 2007 Author Report Share Posted January 4, 2007 Why not just use the overflow and have a sump?!?!?! Would give even more volume!! Nice sized tank BTW! What have you got planned for equipment? In freshwater tanks i prefer cannister filters, heck i'd have cannisters on marine tanks if they acheived what is needed. Plus i will be using CO2 so the sump would be counter productive. Plus the overflow took up a fair chunk of realestate that I would prefer to use for plants/fish. So far for equiptment im planning on 4 4foot T5's and two cannister filter (jebo 819's) Pressurised co2 system and UV Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
evilknieval69 Posted January 4, 2007 Report Share Posted January 4, 2007 Fair enough. Sumps can be made to not deplete co2 But it is easier to canister it. What other equipment? Pres co2? lighting? Heating? Plants? fish? Sorry im being nosy, but this tank is gunna be sick!!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
evilknieval69 Posted January 4, 2007 Report Share Posted January 4, 2007 8) 8) Gunna be 'off the hook!' LOL! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davidb Posted January 4, 2007 Report Share Posted January 4, 2007 for schizel my nizels, whats crack'a'lackin... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brianemone Posted January 4, 2007 Author Report Share Posted January 4, 2007 Fair enough. Sumps can be made to not deplete co2 But it is easier to canister it. What other equipment? Pres co2? lighting? Heating? Plants? fish? Sorry im being nosy, but this tank is gunna be sick!!!!! Im going to have to call shenanagans on the teeny bopper lingo on this thread. But yeah i know you can reduce the amount of co2 lost from a sump but its still negating the desired effect. Also the possiblity of me making a perfectly quite overflow is next to none. I want a silent gracefull pic. As for equiptment see above post. Thanks for the kind words Mystic and David Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davidb Posted January 4, 2007 Report Share Posted January 4, 2007 on a serious note- I wouldn't run a sump on a planted tank, I have got sumps on fw tanks, but I wouldn't have one on a planted tank because of the loss of CO2... what plants are you thinking of? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brianemone Posted January 4, 2007 Author Report Share Posted January 4, 2007 on a serious note- I wouldn't run a sump on a planted tank, I have got sumps on fw tanks, but I wouldn't have one on a planted tank because of the loss of CO2... what plants are you thinking of? Still need to do a bit of investigating in regards to most of the plants, Im not going for a Biotope or anything to any plant choices will be purely for aesthetics. I love Riccia and mosses, and dont like cabomba and most stem plants. I think forground of either Riccia or Dwarf Sag, and on the drift wood some nice moss and maybe some nests of Anubis nana (spelling??) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davidb Posted January 4, 2007 Report Share Posted January 4, 2007 sound like you have it sussed... what CO2 system are you using? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brianemone Posted January 4, 2007 Author Report Share Posted January 4, 2007 sound like you have it sussed... what CO2 system are you using? Not sure on the brand of the setup but I got it off Plantman who is selling off some of his stuff. It has a regulator, needle valve and solenoid, Im getting my CO2 bottle sometime in the next week or two (2kg) i still havent decided on a Co2 diffuser yet but i am considering getting one made by a guy I know that makes neon signs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davidb Posted January 4, 2007 Report Share Posted January 4, 2007 sweet Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brianemone Posted January 5, 2007 Author Report Share Posted January 5, 2007 No worries brian, sounds awesome aye! I cant wait to see pix as you go throu the process. Have you an idea of substrate etc also? I wanted a nice dark substrate to contraSt the green plants but i am very put off by the price of most purpose made aquarium substrates and things like Aquasoil Amazonia are not even available here, so I will probably end up doing the daltons aquatic for the base then propagation sand over that unless i can find something more along the lines of what i want. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
evilknieval69 Posted January 5, 2007 Report Share Posted January 5, 2007 I bought fertiliser mix stuff from the LFS and yes it is expensive. If i start another planted tank i will be using daltons aquatic mix with plasterers sand overtop. I use plasterers sand in my planted tank and i think its very good. Only $6 or something for a 20kg bag Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brianemone Posted January 5, 2007 Author Report Share Posted January 5, 2007 yeah prop sand will grow the plants without a problem but i would prefer something more earthy looking. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
evilknieval69 Posted January 5, 2007 Report Share Posted January 5, 2007 Yer propogating sand and plasterers sand are pretty much exactly the same i believe. Its the fertiliser below that costs the $$$ Last bag of plasterers sand i bought was $6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brianemone Posted January 5, 2007 Author Report Share Posted January 5, 2007 Its still sand though, I want a soil look to the bottom of the tank, dark brown rich topsoil. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
evilknieval69 Posted January 5, 2007 Report Share Posted January 5, 2007 Hmm, maybe sand with dark gravel mixed in with it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brianemone Posted January 5, 2007 Author Report Share Posted January 5, 2007 Moved the tank from the garage into the work room so i can tidy i up. Then i spat on it a few times and wipped it down Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
antwan Posted January 5, 2007 Report Share Posted January 5, 2007 Big difference, looking good. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brianemone Posted January 5, 2007 Author Report Share Posted January 5, 2007 Big difference, looking good. Yeah, being able to see throught the glass is a definate bonus, still need to clean the back and bottom and rinse out the tank a few times to get it sparkling though Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
evilknieval69 Posted January 5, 2007 Report Share Posted January 5, 2007 That is one seriously nice sized tank! Cant wait till it gets planted!!! Got any ideas on fish? Discus, apistos, corys and cardinals would be a good setup Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brianemone Posted January 5, 2007 Author Report Share Posted January 5, 2007 It'll be discus and a school of tetra, havent decided if im going to go with cardinals but if i can convince my self to breed them then i might have cardinals eventually. I'll probbaly start with a huge school of Neons though Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
evilknieval69 Posted January 5, 2007 Report Share Posted January 5, 2007 sweet man. Um i wouldnt go neons if you are gunna keep the temp high for the discus. Cardinals can stand the high temps whereas neons just disintegrate in the higher temps. They are better suited around 24 degrees. A mate had 50 neons in with his discus and they pretty much all perished..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brianemone Posted January 10, 2007 Author Report Share Posted January 10, 2007 Tank is now full to the brim and it has some driftwood soaking in it while i make sure everything is still watertight. We are getting our new carpet in next week so i dont want any leaks. Hopfully i will have all the gear i need within a month and will have things moving along once back from holiday in feb. Will post some pics tommorow of the driftwood in the tank to get some opinions Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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