Update on the new 6 foot tank project

[Gill Passman]

Well, the cabinet is finished and the tank is now installed with gravel,
plants and water - no fish yet....

For those not aware (new readers) I recently purchased a 72" long, 18"
deep and 24" high tank to replace one of my 4 foot tanks (replace she
says...hmmm we will see).

Hubby built the cabinet himself over a few weekends. The only thing
remaining is to decide on lighting(apart from lights which really depend
on whether we build a hood and go florescent or decide to suspend lights
above). The room that the tank is in has excessive natural light (it is
a Conservatory with a glass roof) so I'm not too concerned short term
although it would be nice to see the fish after dark (when they get in
there).

I bought a Fluval FX5 for filtration and must say I am very pleased with
it to date. A few niggles like the hose not being long enough for a tank
this size but otherwise working pretty much as described. Noise wise it
is a lot quieter than the other Fluval canisters that I have. The
startup went like a dream - it was so good not to have to do the manual
priming...it also automatically expels any air in there as part of the
start up process. So, yep, a nice piece of kit I think - time will tell.
We chickened out of using the "water change" capability on the basis
that it was just as quick to stuff the hosepipe in the tank rather than
mess with the attachments for it's first fill...I will probably look
into this feature in more depth once I start having to do the water
changes with a bucket (lol)

The next stage is to equalize the water between the two tanks (the old
one is a 47.5gall). So right now I'm on daily water changes on the old
tank and topping it up with a combination of water from the new one and
tap water. I plan to do this for most of the week and then move the fish
next weekend....hmmm, it will be fun trying to catch them....

Once the fish move the contents of the old 404 filter will go into the
FX5. I might possibly leave the internal Fluval 4 Plus in the old tank
and use it as a QT tank for any new purchases short-term. The old 404 is
earmarked for my Malawi tank...

Lots of shopping to do but looking OK so far...

Gill

[Ali Day]

"Gill Passman" > wrote in message
...
> Well, the cabinet is finished and the tank is now installed with gravel,
> plants and water - no fish yet....

Glad to hear it's going so well, and welcome to having a monster tank in
your living room.
One of the best things I did for mine was buying a second big filter unit, I
was running only on one XP3 and bought another and I've never had such clear
water etc.

Now all I need to plan is my big stripdown in the next month or so.
New features are going to be a hole drilled through the wall putting some
piping into a water butt, so my wife can use the waste fish tank water on
the garden.
Undergravel heating.
And have a water supply coming up through the floor with a water
osmosidoofus T'd in to give me the soft water I've always wanted.

I've also looked at getting a PLC (a control device) from work and make the
water change over using some solenoid valves and pumps to be completely
automated, how lazy is that ;)

keep us updated!

A

[Marco Schwarz]

Hi..

> For those not aware (new readers) I recently purchased a
> 72" long, 18" deep and 24" high tank to replace one of my
> 4 foot tanks (replace she says...hmmm we will see).

Found.

> The only thing remaining is to decide on lighting (apart
> from lights which really depend on whether we build a hood
> and go florescent or decide to suspend lights above). The
> room that the tank is in has excessive natural light (it
> is a Conservatory with a glass roof) so I'm not too
> concerned

[Conservatory]:
At the moment the water of my shrimp tank in our small
conservatory at the north side of our house is having 12°C
(last night 7°C). The room is heated.

[Excessive natural light]:
Sounds like a room in south or south-west direction.
Is this new tank open or closed (evaporation)?

Is your conservatory heated (humidity, thermal insulation of
the wall, ventilation)?

> I will probably look into this feature in more
> depth once I start having to do the water changes with a
> bucket (lol)

:-)

> The next stage is to equalize the water between the two
> tanks (the old one is a 47.5gall). So right now I'm on
> daily water changes on the old tank and topping it up with
> a combination of water from the new one and tap water. I
> plan to do this for most of the week and then move the
> fish next weekend....hmmm, it will be fun trying to catch
> them....

Good luck.

--
cu
Marco

[Gill Passman]

Marco Schwarz wrote:
> Hi..
>
>
>>For those not aware (new readers) I recently purchased a
>>72" long, 18" deep and 24" high tank to replace one of my
>>4 foot tanks (replace she says...hmmm we will see).
>
>
> Found.
>
>
>>The only thing remaining is to decide on lighting (apart
>>from lights which really depend on whether we build a hood
>>and go florescent or decide to suspend lights above). The
>>room that the tank is in has excessive natural light (it
>>is a Conservatory with a glass roof) so I'm not too
>>concerned
>
>
> [Conservatory]:
> At the moment the water of my shrimp tank in our small
> conservatory at the north side of our house is having 12°C
> (last night 7°C). The room is heated.
>
> [Excessive natural light]:
> Sounds like a room in south or south-west direction.
> Is this new tank open or closed (evaporation)?
>
> Is your conservatory heated (humidity, thermal insulation of
> the wall, ventilation)?
>
>
>>I will probably look into this feature in more
>>depth once I start having to do the water changes with a
>>bucket (lol)
>
>
> :-)
>
>
>>The next stage is to equalize the water between the two
>>tanks (the old one is a 47.5gall). So right now I'm on
>>daily water changes on the old tank and topping it up with
>>a combination of water from the new one and tap water. I
>>plan to do this for most of the week and then move the
>>fish next weekend....hmmm, it will be fun trying to catch
>>them....
>
>
> Good luck.
>

The room faces west so gets a lot of sun from midday onwards. Temps
don't drop significantly now we have Air Con in there, which I'm also
hoping will help in the summer to keep it cooler - not just for the
fish. The walls are cavity wall insulated and the glass is K Glass.
There are lots of opening windows and we have window blinds that somehow
are supposed to keep in the heat in the winter and cool the room in the
summer (can't exactly remember the marketing blurb).

The tank has a sliding glass lid - I have already noticed the water
condensing on the lid - hmmm, another thing to think about - it doesn't
look too pretty..

Gill

[Gill Passman]

Ali Day wrote:
> "Gill Passman" > wrote in message
> ...
>
>>Well, the cabinet is finished and the tank is now installed with gravel,
>>plants and water - no fish yet....
>
>
> Glad to hear it's going so well, and welcome to having a monster tank in
> your living room.
> One of the best things I did for mine was buying a second big filter unit, I
> was running only on one XP3 and bought another and I've never had such clear
> water etc.
>
> Now all I need to plan is my big stripdown in the next month or so.
> New features are going to be a hole drilled through the wall putting some
> piping into a water butt, so my wife can use the waste fish tank water on
> the garden.
> Undergravel heating.
> And have a water supply coming up through the floor with a water
> osmosidoofus T'd in to give me the soft water I've always wanted.
>
> I've also looked at getting a PLC (a control device) from work and make the
> water change over using some solenoid valves and pumps to be completely
> automated, how lazy is that ;)
>
> keep us updated!
>
> A
>
>
That sounds ambitious....the water change water butt thing sounds good -
certainly better than carrying buckets outside to throw them on the
plants...

I've not come across undergravel heating over here...what's that all about?

Thanks
Gill

[Marco Schwarz]

Hi..

> The room faces west so gets a lot of sun from midday
> onwards. Temps don't drop significantly now we have Air
> Con in there, which I'm also hoping will help in the
> summer to keep it cooler - not just for the fish. The
> walls are cavity wall insulated and the glass is K Glass.
> There are lots of opening windows and we have window
> blinds that somehow are supposed to keep in the heat in
> the winter and cool the room in the summer (can't exactly
> remember the marketing blurb).

Sounds good! Didn't want to scare you, was job-related
involved with them..

There is another conservatory in south-west direction and we
use it the complete year. The small cool one in north
direction is my summer refuge.

> The tank has a sliding glass lid - I have already noticed
> the water condensing on the lid - hmmm, another thing to
> think about - it doesn't look too pretty..

Probably no problem with Air Con. Enjoy it.
--
cu
Marco

[Ali Day]

"Gill Passman" > wrote in message
...

>>
>>
> That sounds ambitious....the water change water butt thing sounds good -
> certainly better than carrying buckets outside to throw them on the
> plants...

I presume yours is about the same as mine around 600 litres? 20% water
change every week ten days or so that's a lot of buckets to be carrying. I
have a hose that sits in the garden that I use to syphon it off with at the
mo, but it's minus a lot outside at the moment and weekend I don't want to
leave the doors open to syphon the tank.

> I've not come across undergravel heating over here...what's that all
> about?

Theory is plants grow markedly better when the roots are heated, also it
creates a water convection within the gravel itself, which helps breakdown
the crud build up. Now how true this is I'm not 100% sure, but it's a gadget
so what the hell. The other thing is the gravel acts like underfloor
heating, it takes a while to build up to temperature, but then your heaters
in the tank are hardly used at all.

[2pods]

> That sounds ambitious....the water change water butt thing sounds good -
> certainly better than carrying buckets outside to throw them on the
> plants...
>
> I've not come across undergravel heating over here...what's that all
> about?
>
> Thanks
> Gill

AFAIK it's the same type of deal used in seed trays etc.
One or more waterproofed (natch !) heating elements in cable form to heat
the soil/gravel.

I've heard it's very good for planted tanks, though I don't think it's for
me.

Peter

[Mr. Gardener]

On Tue, 28 Feb 2006 08:43:58 +0100, "Ali Day"
> wrote:

>
>"Gill Passman" > wrote in message
...
>
>>>
>>>
>> That sounds ambitious....the water change water butt thing sounds good -
>> certainly better than carrying buckets outside to throw them on the
>> plants...
>
>I presume yours is about the same as mine around 600 litres? 20% water
>change every week ten days or so that's a lot of buckets to be carrying. I
>have a hose that sits in the garden that I use to syphon it off with at the
>mo, but it's minus a lot outside at the moment and weekend I don't want to
>leave the doors open to syphon the tank.
>
>> I've not come across undergravel heating over here...what's that all
>> about?
>
>Theory is plants grow markedly better when the roots are heated, also it
>creates a water convection within the gravel itself, which helps breakdown
>the crud build up. Now how true this is I'm not 100% sure, but it's a gadget
>so what the hell. The other thing is the gravel acts like underfloor
>heating, it takes a while to build up to temperature, but then your heaters
>in the tank are hardly used at all.
>
I've been looking at those heating cables in the catalogs for years. I
understand the theory and it makes sense, but so far I have not been
tempted into forking over what turns out to be a pretty stiff price
for a setup in a large tank. I've wondered about the convection
heating that is put into motion with underbed heating, but I wonder if
the convection would be totally blown away by the much stronger
filters that we use. Placing the heater horizontal and close to the
gravel is said to be almost as effective. I've also placed a heating
pad beneath the aquarium, essentially achieving the same end. But I
have not really seen any real difference in plant growth. There are
too many other toys higher on my list. I'll leave the heating cables
to the real techno plant freaks. I can't remember if Amano uses them
or not.


-- Mr Gardener

[Richard Sexton]

In article >, 2pods > wrote:
>> That sounds ambitious....the water change water butt thing sounds good -
>> certainly better than carrying buckets outside to throw them on the
>AFAIK it's the same type of deal used in seed trays etc.
>One or more waterproofed (natch !) heating elements in cable form to heat
>the soil/gravel.
>
>I've heard it's very good for planted tanks, though I don't think it's for
>me.

It's never been demonstrated they make very much of a diference at all. It's
very easy to grow great plants without them.

--
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