henward Posted August 29, 2012 Report Share Posted August 29, 2012 Alright, plans to buy a house is looking good. 80% there. i am planning on building a big tank, as you know, an arowana community. tank dimensions will be: 3m x 1.2m x 74cm H approx 2600 Litres I am thinking a 'braceless' look. i have already confirmed, i can use a big sheet of glass and double up on the base to brace it but have the braceless look, if that makes sense. Also this will provide extra strength at the bottom - tank will be build on side on the stand. Anyway, i have a spectacular piece of wood thats gong in there, and the top will kinda stick out. I want it to stick out .. like the amano look.... the lids my problem. i dont know how to excecute it, i was thinking of a mesh type lid, plastic smooth edged so arowanas wont cut themselves. and the wood can stick out of the water, lights suspended on ceiling - i was thinking stand would be about 70 to 80cms from the ground, so my sump can fit and the tower come out of the side of the tank, whcih will all be covered by something. any ideas on the lid? Any ideas? Also, is it easy to do those pips that go behind the over flow so its completely silent? also do they restrict flow? should i bother? i wanted it quieter - after seeing a very quiet tank, i quite like the quiet set up! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David R Posted August 29, 2012 Report Share Posted August 29, 2012 I think either cut a hole in the glass/acrylic lid to fit the piece of wood or build a box on top of the tank and have more wood sticking up with plants etc as per that other one I showed you. As for the plumbing, you're going to need some MASSIVE flow for a tank that size with the stock you're planning, I would look at running three drains in your overflow, drilled thru the bottom if possible. The first has a tap on it to adjust the flow and runs as a full siphon taking as much of the flow as possible (there was a post on MFK showing flow rates for pipes, and a 50mm pipe at full siphon will flow a HUGE volume of water). Obviously a full siphon not sucking in air will be silent. The second drain has a durso on it and handles the small excess of water not taken by the first, and because of the small flow and the durso it should be nearly silent. And the third drain is a back up so that if something blocks one of the first two it won't flood your lounge. Search for "bean animal overflow", its more commonly used on reef set ups but could easily be used on a massive FW tank if its in your lounge and needs to be silent. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
F15hguy Posted August 29, 2012 Report Share Posted August 29, 2012 correct me if im wrong, but doesn't mesh size affect light input into the tank???, have heard that you need at least 1cm mesh if you want UV light to get into the tank (may have misread the info) due to the wavelength Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ira Posted August 30, 2012 Report Share Posted August 30, 2012 correct me if im wrong, but doesn't mesh size affect light input into the tank???, have heard that you need at least 1cm mesh if you want UV light to get into the tank (may have misread the info) due to the wavelength I think you have, generally for electromagnetic radiation you'll need gaps larger than wavelength otherwise it will be blocked. The wavelength of UV light is 0.0004 millimeters and smaller. And I'm not sure that's relevant with visible or near visible light and definitely not relevant in this case. I think you're misreading/misremembering a rule of thumb in regards to more simply minimising a tighter mesh blocking more light due to the mesh's density. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
F15hguy Posted August 30, 2012 Report Share Posted August 30, 2012 thought so, was an article regarding reptile enclosures Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
F15hguy Posted August 30, 2012 Report Share Posted August 30, 2012 If you have a mesh lid the grid must be larger than 1½ cm to allow the UV through. is it worth removing this from the care sheet, or worth keeping to allow decent airflow Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adrienne Posted August 30, 2012 Report Share Posted August 30, 2012 I dont know if there is any chance that this is a feasible idea but seeing as you will own the house - could you put your sump etc outside the house therefore reducing the chance of flooding if something happens? With regards to a lid, isnt the whole idea that the wood sticks up above the rim of the tank because there is no lid? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
henward Posted August 30, 2012 Author Report Share Posted August 30, 2012 it will e in a purpose built garage. well purposely modified garage. not inside the house. noice is not the highest priority, though pretty high. its flow and practicality. and then the wood sticking out would equal that. 3 overflows sounds like a good plan!! i was planning on 2 with massive drains. piping will be over engineered to ensure it has no bottlenecks at all. overflows will have combs on each to ensure that nothing big goes down into it. maybe pick the combs in alternating patters to make the gaps bigger as there is nothing in the tnak that will fit that small hole! as for mesh, i was actally thinking more plastic chicken wire, black. maybe surrounded by glass or wood perhaps but not sure. the point is to see the wood stick out with lights suspended. i dont quite get the point adrienne, can you elaborate? the mesh should give a more 'open' look as opposed to glass. worse case, i will use glass and fit it around the wood. but an open look would look awesome. davids idea of a vavarium is cool Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
henward Posted August 30, 2012 Author Report Share Posted August 30, 2012 how do i pull off the cover? vivarium thing davids suggesting is an awesome idea. i am seriously and still am considering that, really you place a reptile cage type thing on top of the tank! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
henward Posted August 30, 2012 Author Report Share Posted August 30, 2012 something like this http://www.thereeftank.com/forums/f76/d ... 03981.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David R Posted August 30, 2012 Report Share Posted August 30, 2012 You could always put the sump elsewhere, like how mine will be thru the wall into the garage behind. IMO you should make the stand lower so its easy to get into (especially if you're putting an enclosure on top) and so you can chill out on the couch watching it. But its all personal preference I guess. That 'egg crate' lighting diffuser stuff could work, but I'd be worried about the aro jumping and hitting it, would be like a cheese grater on the barbells... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
henward Posted August 30, 2012 Author Report Share Posted August 30, 2012 You could always put the sump elsewhere, like how mine will be thru the wall into the garage behind. IMO you should make the stand lower so its easy to get into (especially if you're putting an enclosure on top) and so you can chill out on the couch watching it. But its all personal preference I guess. That 'egg crate' lighting diffuser stuff could work, but I'd be worried about the aro jumping and hitting it, would be like a cheese grater on the barbells... Yeah that's also my thoughts on it... II can always put sump further away... that's not a problem. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reuben.a Posted February 26, 2013 Report Share Posted February 26, 2013 i know this is an old thread but this sounds similar to what you are talking about, and gosh... it would just be something else to have it in your home!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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