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The continuing saga of the 700L tank


the-obstacle

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the tank is full for the first time. I just wanted to test the seals and level of the stand etc. I'll let it soak for a few days while I gather the ingredients for the layout and then it'll be all on for the build.

I've done a full 360 on the plans for this tank. It's going to be stocked with geos and pandas and a school or 2 of tetra (cardinals and maybe something a little higher up the water column). The front half or so of the tank will be sand only and the rear will be made up of a stone wall housing a raised planted area with daltons in the base and then sand to seal and finally some bigger stones so the geos can't get them in their mouth.

I went to Pakiri on Saturday and came home with some big bits of drift wood which are currently soaking on the deck in tubs that are far too small. Am I likely to get silicone toxins in the wood if I soak in the tank on this first fill? The silicone has been curing for a week and a half and most of the smell has gone.

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ugh... this thing is taking forever! After seeing DavidR's fish room yesterday I've got the bug back though and today I painted the back pane and should get the plywood to finish the stand/bracing tomorrow then it can be put in place and filled.

I've sorted the rock wall divider and now just need daltons aqua mix, 3/4 bags of sand (have to find one that's not sharp so the pandas and geos are happy) and to finish rigging up the MH lamps for the plants.

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I still have 19kg of east coast play sand left if you want it Dan. It's the light brown stuff in my cory/loach tank.

hmmmm, might take you up on that in a day or 2. I drive past a place out by woodhill forest that sells black west coast sand so I'm going to go out and see what they can do for me but if that's not suitable I'll drop you a line. Thanks :)

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hmmmm, might take you up on that in a day or 2. I drive past a place out by woodhill forest that sells black west coast sand so I'm going to go out and see what they can do for me but if that's not suitable I'll drop you a line. Thanks :)

I've got a 25kg back of that daltons builders sand which i've used with cories and had no problems, yours free, and i'll let you see the fish room :lol:

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hmmmm, might take you up on that in a day or 2. I drive past a place out by woodhill forest that sells black west coast sand so I'm going to go out and see what they can do for me but if that's not suitable I'll drop you a line. Thanks :)

Ooh black sand sounds great, let me know how you get on as I want some darker sand in mine.

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The answer is: Not for my tank - it's the wrong type of dark (if that makes sense) and it just looks like mud when wet.

Has anybody tried the Cemix builders mix or the Cemix Sterilised sand from bunnings? It comes in paper bags so I can't see the colour without buying any. I noticed the Daltons No.1 sand has pummice mixed in with it and it seems to be a sharp sand so I'll stay away from that for the geos and pandas.

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Nah, it was from a place by the woodhill mountainbike park that I suspect is the quarry for all the "woodhill" black sand products sold around the country. It has a high iron content which put me off a little but I'm not sure exactly how bad the iron would actually be in a tank.

It was the colour that put me off - it just wasn't quite right. Perhaps if it was mixed with a builders mix to give it a bit more texture it might look better.

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It's relatively fine, a bit gritty but not sharp (if that makes sense). It's all sea sand from very very old dunes that are now inland enough for there to be a few kilometres between the sea and the inner edge of the dunes which are now covered in pine forest. It's the same sand you'd find on muriwai beach.

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Let me know how u go with the MH, my tank is going in sometime after easter and I'm still looking for good lighting.

If you could let me know what there like in terms of:

-Heat generated

-Power usage

-Overall light output / even coverage

Will do - antwan uses the same ones so he might like to chime in too.

-The bulbs and glass front get mega hot - searing skin hot. Interestingly the back of the ones I have are fairly cool as they're designed to go in ceilings. I imagine after an hour or 2 it'd be like the heat generated by a oil column heater on full.

-I suspect they'll use 150W each :)

-Overall light output puts every single light setup I've ever seen to shame. I had my 4xt5 light hood on at the time on the tank on the other side of the room and I was able to flood the tank with 1 MH light 6 metres away. The spread is fairly good but because they're relatively small units (not 4 foot long) they will need to be 1-2 feet above the water level. Even at that height I don't expect there to be much loss on the bottom of the tank under 60cm of water - these things are hella bright!

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The units themselves get hot, but the rest of the room won't heat up comparable to a sauna. But if the room is small enough it will be a nice temp, but not hot.

I have two 150W'ers over my 6 foot and it's just enough spread-wise. The light easily penetrates to the substrate at 2 feet tall (plus another ~40cm (distance from light to water's surface). One of the best things you get from MH lighting is the ripple-effect when the water moves on the surface, it's pretty cool to see.

Regards to using CO2, it would be better if you did, but it can be done without it. I had a tank in high school that had a single MH over it, without any ferts and only DIY CO2 every now and then, and I had great growth.

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Well, I got it half scaped. Put in 50 litres of daltons aquatic mix and 30 litres of daltons no.1 sand. Tomorrow is planting day but I need another bag of riverstones as I used the 20kg bag I got from Sophia today. Might also increase the sand covering the daltons before I plant. Either way - it's all go from here on in.

The heater is on and the apistos are going in tomorrow before I plant as they're freaking out in their 20L holding tank. I also need their filter on this tank so it's win win all round.

I still have a sand issue for the front unplanted part of the tank. I'm considering just going with good old fashioned silica if I can't find any other alternative. At least I know it's not sharp and the rams and cories are cool with it. I'd like something a lot darker in this tank though. something that matches riverstones perhaps? I thought I could get away with the daltons no.1 but, while it turns out it doesn't have pumice in it, it does have sharp edges and that's not cool.

Oh, I've also organised the sweetest viewing chair that's going to be built on top of 2 shipping pellets so I'll be at the perfect viewing height. I think DavidR has done hte right thing with the low stand for perfect couch viewing.

That's today's update. Oh, forgot to use emotes. :wink: :facepalm: there you go.

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I kept a couple of 25cm bags of river stones over if you want those, it might not be enough if you want the motherload though. Any Central Landscaping Supplies has them and they are cheap enough. On the weekend I am going to go there and ask for a sample of the Muriwai sand and see how it looks mixed with the white silica sand, and/or east coast to darken my tank up a bit. You are welcome to come and see what that looks like if you haven't sorted yours out first.

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