Fishboydave Posted July 3, 2013 Report Share Posted July 3, 2013 Hiya all been a bAckseat reader on these forums for a long time now I am currently in the process of a fully planted tank build plus sump The tank I aquired a while ago and I have just finished making the sump and setting up the overflow etc. the tank is a bit rough but I am trying to make the best of it. The tank is 1220 long 650 wide and 840 high all in ten mm glass and eurobraced The sump is a tiny bit smaller being 900 long 440 wide and 500 high After watching. A few DIY fishkeepers videos on YouTube I was planning on making a wet/dry trickle system that will sit in the sump so all in all I will be pushing close to 1000l my biggest setup to date. Any ideas and criticism will be greatly appreciated as I wish to make this my best setup yet Look forward to hearing from ya When I figure out how to post pics I will whack a few up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David R Posted July 3, 2013 Report Share Posted July 3, 2013 I hate to be the bearer of bad news for your first post, but an 840mm high tank with only 10mm glass only has a safety factor of 1.4, which is pretty risky IMO! http://www.theaquatools.com/building-your-aquarium If it were me I'd fill it to about 600 high and have plants/wood sticking out of the water. Not sure how that would work with your sump plans though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fishboydave Posted July 3, 2013 Author Report Share Posted July 3, 2013 Yea that was my first thought as wel but its been very extremely well braced I'd show u a pic but I hav no clue how to upload yet So far the pre fill tests have been smooth with no bumps as yet Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alanmin4304 Posted July 3, 2013 Report Share Posted July 3, 2013 That height of tank may be difficult to get the light sorted for plants. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fishboydave Posted July 3, 2013 Author Report Share Posted July 3, 2013 Yup I'm tossin up between a combination of 4 halides and 2 t5s or save and get LEDs would the halide and t5 combination be enough? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alanmin4304 Posted July 3, 2013 Report Share Posted July 3, 2013 I have no idea as I have never used halides. The problem with a deep tank is the balance between too much light at the top and not enough at the bottom. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adrienne Posted July 3, 2013 Report Share Posted July 3, 2013 I haven't used Halides but I wouldn't bother with the cost of T5HO as they won't get much further than 2/3rds depth of your tank. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Godly3vil Posted July 3, 2013 Report Share Posted July 3, 2013 Halides would be your best bet, people use them on marine tanks that are deeper than your tank so I don't see why it wouldn't work for plants, I could be wrong though. I use them on my 600 high tank and there is plenty of light at the bottom. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fishboydave Posted July 4, 2013 Author Report Share Posted July 4, 2013 Awesome I have finally figured out how to load pics so there will be some loaded momentarily Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fishboydave Posted July 4, 2013 Author Report Share Posted July 4, 2013 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
the-obstacle Posted July 4, 2013 Report Share Posted July 4, 2013 That's pretty standard bracing. I wouldn't trust it personally. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zuri08 Posted July 4, 2013 Report Share Posted July 4, 2013 Has bottom bracing aswell though.should be sweet id say.Whats the patch looking thing on the left hand side though? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
the-obstacle Posted July 4, 2013 Report Share Posted July 4, 2013 Has bottom bracing aswell though Yeah, that's the standard part I was talking about. Could very well be fine but it's not my definition of "extremely well braced". Happy to be proven wrong though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zuri08 Posted July 4, 2013 Report Share Posted July 4, 2013 Definetly not well braced thats for sure but will be suficient. IS that a patched crack on left of tank? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fishboydave Posted July 4, 2013 Author Report Share Posted July 4, 2013 It has normal bracing as well as eurobracingthn those two have been capped with another bit of glass so the bracings are 30 mm thick and the bottom bracing is 15mm the patch is covering an old intake hole which is messy as hell done by previous owners Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David R Posted July 4, 2013 Report Share Posted July 4, 2013 That kind of bracing is standard on anything over a few hundred litres. I agree with the_obsticle, you're taking a fair gamble filling it to full heigh. I know you said you've test-filled it, but it's only going to break once... I can't comment on the hallides but I would suggest seriously look into the LED option, either DIY or off the shelf. The higher cost will very soon be made up for by the lower running costs and longer life. The 30W LED floods I'm running on my tank are supposedly the equivilent of a 400W halogen. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fishboydave Posted July 4, 2013 Author Report Share Posted July 4, 2013 If there a way to strengthen it more by adding extra bracing or what no ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
the-obstacle Posted July 5, 2013 Report Share Posted July 5, 2013 I'm sure there is a way but I'm not an expert on these things. If it were me I'd either take it apart and cut the sides down to a safer height or I'd only fill the tank to that same height. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
livingart Posted July 5, 2013 Report Share Posted July 5, 2013 how old is the tank? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David R Posted July 5, 2013 Report Share Posted July 5, 2013 I'd only fill the tank to that same height. +1 for that idea. Fill it to ~60cm high and have some plants and wood sticking up to fill the remaining height. You'll also have less issues with getting light to the lower levels with only 60cm water depth too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fishboydave Posted July 5, 2013 Author Report Share Posted July 5, 2013 Tank is only 2 years old and has been fully filled for 80% of that time Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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