BHornsey
Fish Fanatic
I thought you all might like to read my diary of how my latest big tank come into being.
I had been bitten by the 'fish' bug a couple of years back, starting with a Juwel Record 70. I then decided to get a Trigon 190 which I would plant but, due to my inexperience, impatience and inability to sort out all the conflicting information which is widespread, I found I had a tough time of it.
I've finally sorted that tank now and decided to get a bigger one (you just stop at one, can you!), but this time I would do it properly and take my time.
August 2006
Decided to convert my garage to a fish room (well, the car hasn't been in it for years!) I put up a partition wall behind the main door leaving enough room for my lad to park his motorbike and had a door put through the back wall to give access into the kitchen.
I bought some kitchen units (a 1000mm double to put the filter equipment, a 600mm for general storage and a 300mm) and a 28mm worktop to give a surface of 600mm x 2000m. Removed the plastic legs from the units and stood them on some 4" x 2" timbers. The worktop was braced along the back by a 4" x 2" fixed to the wall.
I ran an 1¼ waste pipe along the back to join the domestic drain as the washing machine was plumbed into the same room. I also ran extra electrical points and a cold water feed through to a water filter / RO. I bought a 50gall garden water butt. I put a tank connector in the base and I fill this with water which has passed through the RO pre-filters and I pre-heat the water with a spare 300w heater ready for water changes.
19/10/06
My tank from Windsor Aquarium has been delivered, 75" L x 23" W x 24" H. It came with a 6" x 6" weir in the right corner and drilled for my standpipe which was built in a Durso style from 1¼" PVC waste pipe.
I highly recommend Keith at Windsor (a TFF sponsor), nothing was too much trouble and he delivered it to my door.
I ran a 3/4" overflow pipe to the left corner, then into the left hand side of the tank to flow water left to right through the tank.
With an allowance of 2-2½" for the substrate, I estimate about 515 L / 113 UK Galls / 135 US Galls, plus a further 10-15 gallons in the sump.
I also got a sump with baffles to provide a return area and two media areas. I used some pond filter sponges which are just the right size to drop into the baffles.
In the sump return bay, I decided on an OceanRunner 3500 pump and used two 300w heaters. I decided to link them both to a temperature controller from Monitors Direct. It cost about £23 and has a display on the control panel to give a good readout. It can switch up to 1200w of heating.
I filled it and ran it up bare bones to check for leaks; none!
Used it to raise about a 100 guppy fry!
29/12/06
Ordered a Dennerle Regulator, check valve and bubble counter from Hobbyfish.
I also got an Aqua Medic M-Ventil Pulse CO2 solenoid. Although these are quite expensive (£65 from SwellUK) I find I prefer them as they are latching and use minimum power to hold the valve open; minimal power used and very little heat.
Built an inline CO2 diffuser from 1½" waste.
Started it up. Visible mist of CO2 observed in tank but didn't seem to diffuse the length of the tank. Decided to modify the spraybar. It now runs along the back with holes drilled every two inches down into the tank. Slight improvement but nowhere near good enough. After a long time spent trawling through various websites I decided that a Mazzei injector would be a good way to inject CO2. Now, try and find one of those in the UK!
After much hunting I found the UK distributor, Dryden Aqua in Edinburgh.
20/01/07
Mazzei Injector arrived, dumped the DIY reactor. Initially I installed it in the return pipe but it reduced flow to the tank noticeably. Another session on the internet!
I finally decided to drive the injector from a separate pump and the output of the injector was then 't'ed into the intake of the return pump. The added bonus of this is no drop in return flow and the return pump impellor helps to smash the CO2 into smaller bubbles. This gave an improvement but CO2 was still nowhere near what I wanted.
Back to the internet. This was getting frustrating. Most information about sumps seems to be about marines but these guys have different aims to planted tanks.
I finally dropped lucky and received some great help from plantbrain.
It seems the CO2 is all being gassed off by the drop down the standpipe into the collection area in the sump. To prevent this I needed to seal the sump collection area so that any CO2 gassed off wouldn't escape to atmosphere but would recombine. He also recommended a different type of mechanical pre-filter; a bag or sock filter. However, like the Mazzei injector, no-one in the UK seems to have heard of them. All my search hits were in the US.
I finally managed to get a lead from Anthony at SwellUK. He remembers TMC having them so a quick phone call to them and they gave me the order codes so that Anthony could get some in. I ordered 3 5 micron and 3 100 micron.
01/02/07
The tank was drained to allow substrate installation. This was ten bags of Aqua Medic Volcanit. I managed to get a good price from Anthony at SwellUK for the bulk order, and because I collected it as it would've been a fortune to courier it over. As this is quite course I decided to cover it in a finer gravel. I finally found a nice coal black gravel, about 1mm grain, at Pets At Home which topped it off nicely.
I also took out the sump, stripped it down and moved the baffles around to accomodate the bag filter and placed a cover over the collection area.
I fitted the cover with a slide out lid with some door draught excluder on the lower edge. This gives a nice airtight seal and allows me to swap out the bag filter once a week.
The drain pipe passed through the cover via a 1¼" bulkhead fitting and is fitted to the drain by two waste pipe expansion couplings to allow some adjustment. I kept one further sump baffle bay to hold a fine filter sponge.
05/03/07
After a lot of consideration I decided on my lighting; three 70w 5200k metal halides which I managed to get from FastLight.co.uk for a very reasonable price, about £65 each. They aren't 'stylish' but as they are in my fish room I wasn't that worried.
I had a bad experience with too much light over my Trigon 190! This gives a nice even light at around 2wpg.
I rigged it up to a hot water / central heating controller; the CO2 on one channel firing up about 90 minutes before the lighting which is on the other channel. The CO2 shuts off an hour before the lights.
06/03/07
With the sump mods completed I decided to cut in a UV between the Mazzei and the return pump. With the tank refilled and CO2 on a nice visible mist of CO2 can be seen. It's improved the CO2 levels but I'm unable to drive the drop checker beyond dark green and pH remains at 7.0, even with a phenomemal bubble rate. A 2kg fire extinguisher emptied in three weeks!
Monitoring shows all CO2 gassed off half an hour after it's switched off.
26/03/07
Finally took the plunge and planted up; plenty of Hygrophila (polysperma, corymbosa and difformis), Cabomba, Ceratophyllum, three swords and some vallis.
I also put in some Alternanthera Reineckii "Rosefolia"
For mid ground I put in loads of Cryptocornes, Mainly Willisii and Wendtii and some Balansae to the back.
I had found some nice pieces of bogwood at Wharf Aquatics and on these I put plenty of Java Fern, Bolbitis and Anubias, including a very nice 'Coffeefolia' from AE.
At the front left, half a dozen pots of Lilaeopsis Brasiliensis and to the right 10 pots of Eleocharis Acicularis. between them are some dwarf crypts, Cryptocorne Parva.
I also put in a Thai Crinum. I like these; I've found that when the leaves get long enough to trail across the surface, I can form 'loops' out of them and use them to corral the Water Lettuce (Pistia Stratiotes).
I also put in some Hydrocotyle Leucocephala to float.
The lights were limited to 2 hrs every day, water changes every two days. This would allow the plants to bed in without the light driving any algae growth.
30/04/07
Decided to add some fish; just a dozen white cloud mountain minnows and a dozen Black Neons. I also put in 4 Nerite snails (wonderful algae eaters!)
01/04/07
Still not happy with CO2. In an attempt to improve it I decided to increase the flow rate through the Mazzei injector so the pump was replaced with a 2500 lph. Finally tracked my problem to the standpipe pulling gasses down into sump. Various mods tried, mostly around trying to put a bleed hole to prevent it syphoning but it still drew down air. I finally managed to get CO2 levels to acceptable levels, though, and backed off the bubble rate to the tank. However, all CO2 is gassed off within a few hours of the solenoid switching off.
04/04/07
Having pondered this for a week I thought, what if the standpipe draws down CO2 instead of atmosphere? I tinkered with adding a feed to this from the CO2 supply. Then in a moment of inspiration I realised I had CO2 contained in the sump, gassed off by the falling water. I finally fitted a 3/4" vent pipe between the sump cover sump and top of the standpipe, in place of the vent. Problem solved. This created a sealed system so that CO2 has nowhere to go.
At last, CO2 came up rapidly. After an overnight shutoff, CO2 was still at about 15-20ppm and I was able to back off CO2 supply to a reasonable level as I was able to drive levels up dramtically.
05/04/07
As the tank is running well now, I decided to add two dozen Neon Tetras and 7 Otocinclus.
I also increased the photo period to 6 hours every day.
For plants I put in some Ludwigia Glandulosa and Mermaid Weed (Properpinaca Palutris "Cuba")
12/04/07
I decided to space out water changes now that things had settled; every 4 days I change 50% and dose. I then dose again two days later.
Also added in a dozen shrimps.
19/04/07
Increased photoperiod to eight hours, water changes still every 4 days. Noticing a little covering over diatoms / brown algae. However, the Ottos are over the moon and getting very fat on it!! Added in some Java Moss on the bogwood.
28/04/07
Decided to space out water changes to normal weekly intervals and photoperiod is now the full ten 10 hours.
The diatoms have just about disappeared and growth is strong.
Had a bit of a prune and move. The Mermaid Weed is being overshadowed by the Swords so I moved it into an area where I had cleared out some Hygrophila. I also moved the Ludwigia Glandulosa to the far right, in front of the weir where the Cabomba had been.
At this point I posted some pictures on this forum (follow the link in my signature)
12/05/07
I put in three Farowella (Twig Catfish). Bit disappointed though; one died overnight, another died two days later.
15/05/07
Growth is amazing! The Hydrocotyle quadruples in size in a week. I'm constantly chucking out tons of it. The Pistia is the same. FINALLY managed to get a couple of pots of HC (Hemianthus Callitrichoides). This seems to have become THE plant at the moment and it's getting hard to get hold of. Don't know what sort of success I'll have?
Decided to add in half a dozen Elephant Noses (I love these!) My remaining Twig Catfish is still going strong.
01/06/07
After two months, things have gone well. Have removed the last of the Hygrophila Polysperma, but left the H. Difformis and H. Corymbosa which is growing well.
Just added in two Crinum Natans.
The HC is better than I dreamed. It's doubled in size and is spreading toward the Hairgrass so I've moved some around. The hairgrass itself has doubled in mass. I've had to have a session with the scissors to trim it down and pulled up the excess which is starting to spread into the Crypts. I also had to pull up a load of Lilaeopsis.
The Java Ferns have established well and have produced some plantlets which I've added onto the bogwood.
Also, the last of the fishes have been added; three Leopard Skin Discus.
I don't know what you've found but I find when I add any fish to my planted tanks, they immediately look stressed and start gasping at the surface. This usually lasts for the first day, then they're OK. I assume it's because fish shops tend not to keep them in tanks with high CO2 and it takes them a short time to adapt. I noticed this particularly with the Black Neons and the Discus. Any one else noticed this?
********
The bag filters have been worthwhile. Every Sunday, just swap in a clean one. The dirty one I rinse out the worst of the mess, then pop it in the washing machine on a quick wash cycle (about 45 minutes)
I then leave it overnight in a weak bleach, followed by a rinse and a dowsing in water with some dechlorinator to kill the remaining bleach.
I've since found, though, that the 100 micron bag filters pass a bit of mess so I might order in some 25 or 50 micron and see how they go. I have also found the 5 micron mesh to be two fine; it impedes water flow and causes it to overflow the bag.
I'm also considering putting the UV on a separate pump. The pump driving the CO2 injector would then be turned off with the solenoid.
I've settled into a nice routine;
Sunday: Change water and dose macros and micros and out in 30ml of Excel
Tuesday: Dose macros and micros
Thursday: Dose macros and micros
I dose all ferts dry by weight.
8.4g of KNO3 (about 10 ppm)
1.6g of KH2PO4 (about 2 ppm)
2g of Aqua Essentials Dry trace mix
My tap water is 6½ KH, 13 GH, and there is a bit of NO3 and PO4 in it (Roughly 20 ppm & 2 ppm of each)
In light of the water content, I tend to dose half macros only on the Sunday, but add in a bit of K, just to cover this.
I've noticed quite a lot of discussion about when to dose and what but I can only say that I've had no problems, probably because I dose dry. I work full time so I don't have the time to mess about so I keep the schedule simple.
For now I'm enjoying simply watching the tank!
In a few days I might post some more pictures.
Wow, this is enough typing; I'm off for a beer!
I had been bitten by the 'fish' bug a couple of years back, starting with a Juwel Record 70. I then decided to get a Trigon 190 which I would plant but, due to my inexperience, impatience and inability to sort out all the conflicting information which is widespread, I found I had a tough time of it.
I've finally sorted that tank now and decided to get a bigger one (you just stop at one, can you!), but this time I would do it properly and take my time.
August 2006
Decided to convert my garage to a fish room (well, the car hasn't been in it for years!) I put up a partition wall behind the main door leaving enough room for my lad to park his motorbike and had a door put through the back wall to give access into the kitchen.
I bought some kitchen units (a 1000mm double to put the filter equipment, a 600mm for general storage and a 300mm) and a 28mm worktop to give a surface of 600mm x 2000m. Removed the plastic legs from the units and stood them on some 4" x 2" timbers. The worktop was braced along the back by a 4" x 2" fixed to the wall.
I ran an 1¼ waste pipe along the back to join the domestic drain as the washing machine was plumbed into the same room. I also ran extra electrical points and a cold water feed through to a water filter / RO. I bought a 50gall garden water butt. I put a tank connector in the base and I fill this with water which has passed through the RO pre-filters and I pre-heat the water with a spare 300w heater ready for water changes.
19/10/06
My tank from Windsor Aquarium has been delivered, 75" L x 23" W x 24" H. It came with a 6" x 6" weir in the right corner and drilled for my standpipe which was built in a Durso style from 1¼" PVC waste pipe.
I highly recommend Keith at Windsor (a TFF sponsor), nothing was too much trouble and he delivered it to my door.
I ran a 3/4" overflow pipe to the left corner, then into the left hand side of the tank to flow water left to right through the tank.
With an allowance of 2-2½" for the substrate, I estimate about 515 L / 113 UK Galls / 135 US Galls, plus a further 10-15 gallons in the sump.
I also got a sump with baffles to provide a return area and two media areas. I used some pond filter sponges which are just the right size to drop into the baffles.
In the sump return bay, I decided on an OceanRunner 3500 pump and used two 300w heaters. I decided to link them both to a temperature controller from Monitors Direct. It cost about £23 and has a display on the control panel to give a good readout. It can switch up to 1200w of heating.
I filled it and ran it up bare bones to check for leaks; none!
Used it to raise about a 100 guppy fry!
29/12/06
Ordered a Dennerle Regulator, check valve and bubble counter from Hobbyfish.
I also got an Aqua Medic M-Ventil Pulse CO2 solenoid. Although these are quite expensive (£65 from SwellUK) I find I prefer them as they are latching and use minimum power to hold the valve open; minimal power used and very little heat.
Built an inline CO2 diffuser from 1½" waste.
Started it up. Visible mist of CO2 observed in tank but didn't seem to diffuse the length of the tank. Decided to modify the spraybar. It now runs along the back with holes drilled every two inches down into the tank. Slight improvement but nowhere near good enough. After a long time spent trawling through various websites I decided that a Mazzei injector would be a good way to inject CO2. Now, try and find one of those in the UK!
After much hunting I found the UK distributor, Dryden Aqua in Edinburgh.
20/01/07
Mazzei Injector arrived, dumped the DIY reactor. Initially I installed it in the return pipe but it reduced flow to the tank noticeably. Another session on the internet!
I finally decided to drive the injector from a separate pump and the output of the injector was then 't'ed into the intake of the return pump. The added bonus of this is no drop in return flow and the return pump impellor helps to smash the CO2 into smaller bubbles. This gave an improvement but CO2 was still nowhere near what I wanted.
Back to the internet. This was getting frustrating. Most information about sumps seems to be about marines but these guys have different aims to planted tanks.
I finally dropped lucky and received some great help from plantbrain.
It seems the CO2 is all being gassed off by the drop down the standpipe into the collection area in the sump. To prevent this I needed to seal the sump collection area so that any CO2 gassed off wouldn't escape to atmosphere but would recombine. He also recommended a different type of mechanical pre-filter; a bag or sock filter. However, like the Mazzei injector, no-one in the UK seems to have heard of them. All my search hits were in the US.
I finally managed to get a lead from Anthony at SwellUK. He remembers TMC having them so a quick phone call to them and they gave me the order codes so that Anthony could get some in. I ordered 3 5 micron and 3 100 micron.
01/02/07
The tank was drained to allow substrate installation. This was ten bags of Aqua Medic Volcanit. I managed to get a good price from Anthony at SwellUK for the bulk order, and because I collected it as it would've been a fortune to courier it over. As this is quite course I decided to cover it in a finer gravel. I finally found a nice coal black gravel, about 1mm grain, at Pets At Home which topped it off nicely.
I also took out the sump, stripped it down and moved the baffles around to accomodate the bag filter and placed a cover over the collection area.
I fitted the cover with a slide out lid with some door draught excluder on the lower edge. This gives a nice airtight seal and allows me to swap out the bag filter once a week.
The drain pipe passed through the cover via a 1¼" bulkhead fitting and is fitted to the drain by two waste pipe expansion couplings to allow some adjustment. I kept one further sump baffle bay to hold a fine filter sponge.
05/03/07
After a lot of consideration I decided on my lighting; three 70w 5200k metal halides which I managed to get from FastLight.co.uk for a very reasonable price, about £65 each. They aren't 'stylish' but as they are in my fish room I wasn't that worried.
I had a bad experience with too much light over my Trigon 190! This gives a nice even light at around 2wpg.
I rigged it up to a hot water / central heating controller; the CO2 on one channel firing up about 90 minutes before the lighting which is on the other channel. The CO2 shuts off an hour before the lights.
06/03/07
With the sump mods completed I decided to cut in a UV between the Mazzei and the return pump. With the tank refilled and CO2 on a nice visible mist of CO2 can be seen. It's improved the CO2 levels but I'm unable to drive the drop checker beyond dark green and pH remains at 7.0, even with a phenomemal bubble rate. A 2kg fire extinguisher emptied in three weeks!
Monitoring shows all CO2 gassed off half an hour after it's switched off.
26/03/07
Finally took the plunge and planted up; plenty of Hygrophila (polysperma, corymbosa and difformis), Cabomba, Ceratophyllum, three swords and some vallis.
I also put in some Alternanthera Reineckii "Rosefolia"
For mid ground I put in loads of Cryptocornes, Mainly Willisii and Wendtii and some Balansae to the back.
I had found some nice pieces of bogwood at Wharf Aquatics and on these I put plenty of Java Fern, Bolbitis and Anubias, including a very nice 'Coffeefolia' from AE.
At the front left, half a dozen pots of Lilaeopsis Brasiliensis and to the right 10 pots of Eleocharis Acicularis. between them are some dwarf crypts, Cryptocorne Parva.
I also put in a Thai Crinum. I like these; I've found that when the leaves get long enough to trail across the surface, I can form 'loops' out of them and use them to corral the Water Lettuce (Pistia Stratiotes).
I also put in some Hydrocotyle Leucocephala to float.
The lights were limited to 2 hrs every day, water changes every two days. This would allow the plants to bed in without the light driving any algae growth.
30/04/07
Decided to add some fish; just a dozen white cloud mountain minnows and a dozen Black Neons. I also put in 4 Nerite snails (wonderful algae eaters!)
01/04/07
Still not happy with CO2. In an attempt to improve it I decided to increase the flow rate through the Mazzei injector so the pump was replaced with a 2500 lph. Finally tracked my problem to the standpipe pulling gasses down into sump. Various mods tried, mostly around trying to put a bleed hole to prevent it syphoning but it still drew down air. I finally managed to get CO2 levels to acceptable levels, though, and backed off the bubble rate to the tank. However, all CO2 is gassed off within a few hours of the solenoid switching off.
04/04/07
Having pondered this for a week I thought, what if the standpipe draws down CO2 instead of atmosphere? I tinkered with adding a feed to this from the CO2 supply. Then in a moment of inspiration I realised I had CO2 contained in the sump, gassed off by the falling water. I finally fitted a 3/4" vent pipe between the sump cover sump and top of the standpipe, in place of the vent. Problem solved. This created a sealed system so that CO2 has nowhere to go.
At last, CO2 came up rapidly. After an overnight shutoff, CO2 was still at about 15-20ppm and I was able to back off CO2 supply to a reasonable level as I was able to drive levels up dramtically.
05/04/07
As the tank is running well now, I decided to add two dozen Neon Tetras and 7 Otocinclus.
I also increased the photo period to 6 hours every day.
For plants I put in some Ludwigia Glandulosa and Mermaid Weed (Properpinaca Palutris "Cuba")
12/04/07
I decided to space out water changes now that things had settled; every 4 days I change 50% and dose. I then dose again two days later.
Also added in a dozen shrimps.
19/04/07
Increased photoperiod to eight hours, water changes still every 4 days. Noticing a little covering over diatoms / brown algae. However, the Ottos are over the moon and getting very fat on it!! Added in some Java Moss on the bogwood.
28/04/07
Decided to space out water changes to normal weekly intervals and photoperiod is now the full ten 10 hours.
The diatoms have just about disappeared and growth is strong.
Had a bit of a prune and move. The Mermaid Weed is being overshadowed by the Swords so I moved it into an area where I had cleared out some Hygrophila. I also moved the Ludwigia Glandulosa to the far right, in front of the weir where the Cabomba had been.
At this point I posted some pictures on this forum (follow the link in my signature)
12/05/07
I put in three Farowella (Twig Catfish). Bit disappointed though; one died overnight, another died two days later.
15/05/07
Growth is amazing! The Hydrocotyle quadruples in size in a week. I'm constantly chucking out tons of it. The Pistia is the same. FINALLY managed to get a couple of pots of HC (Hemianthus Callitrichoides). This seems to have become THE plant at the moment and it's getting hard to get hold of. Don't know what sort of success I'll have?
Decided to add in half a dozen Elephant Noses (I love these!) My remaining Twig Catfish is still going strong.
01/06/07
After two months, things have gone well. Have removed the last of the Hygrophila Polysperma, but left the H. Difformis and H. Corymbosa which is growing well.
Just added in two Crinum Natans.
The HC is better than I dreamed. It's doubled in size and is spreading toward the Hairgrass so I've moved some around. The hairgrass itself has doubled in mass. I've had to have a session with the scissors to trim it down and pulled up the excess which is starting to spread into the Crypts. I also had to pull up a load of Lilaeopsis.
The Java Ferns have established well and have produced some plantlets which I've added onto the bogwood.
Also, the last of the fishes have been added; three Leopard Skin Discus.
I don't know what you've found but I find when I add any fish to my planted tanks, they immediately look stressed and start gasping at the surface. This usually lasts for the first day, then they're OK. I assume it's because fish shops tend not to keep them in tanks with high CO2 and it takes them a short time to adapt. I noticed this particularly with the Black Neons and the Discus. Any one else noticed this?
********
The bag filters have been worthwhile. Every Sunday, just swap in a clean one. The dirty one I rinse out the worst of the mess, then pop it in the washing machine on a quick wash cycle (about 45 minutes)
I then leave it overnight in a weak bleach, followed by a rinse and a dowsing in water with some dechlorinator to kill the remaining bleach.
I've since found, though, that the 100 micron bag filters pass a bit of mess so I might order in some 25 or 50 micron and see how they go. I have also found the 5 micron mesh to be two fine; it impedes water flow and causes it to overflow the bag.
I'm also considering putting the UV on a separate pump. The pump driving the CO2 injector would then be turned off with the solenoid.
I've settled into a nice routine;
Sunday: Change water and dose macros and micros and out in 30ml of Excel
Tuesday: Dose macros and micros
Thursday: Dose macros and micros
I dose all ferts dry by weight.
8.4g of KNO3 (about 10 ppm)
1.6g of KH2PO4 (about 2 ppm)
2g of Aqua Essentials Dry trace mix
My tap water is 6½ KH, 13 GH, and there is a bit of NO3 and PO4 in it (Roughly 20 ppm & 2 ppm of each)
In light of the water content, I tend to dose half macros only on the Sunday, but add in a bit of K, just to cover this.
I've noticed quite a lot of discussion about when to dose and what but I can only say that I've had no problems, probably because I dose dry. I work full time so I don't have the time to mess about so I keep the schedule simple.
For now I'm enjoying simply watching the tank!
In a few days I might post some more pictures.
Wow, this is enough typing; I'm off for a beer!
