My super cheap tank setup

[Yenko]

All prices are in Canadian Dollars.

10 gallon starter kit from wal-mart: $55.
Includes 2X25W canopy, 10 gallon all glass tank and Aquatech 5-15 HOB filter.
50W submersible heater: $15
1X 1.5 gallon acrylic hex tank: Free from friend; you can use anything though
1 can of white spraypaint: $3

Equipment total: $73

Add ten cents of tubing and you have your total... $73.10

The plants were all the offspring of other plants which were the offspring of other plants... and so on untill you finally arrive back at the ones that were purchased two years ago, so I consider them free.

Fish: The fish were all free. The guppies were part of a long line of guppies currently living in my dad's tank; the betta was gotten for free from the friend who gave me the hex tank, and the goldfish were gotten for free by my dad from a friend. They could not be put in the pond (It's frozen over) or his tank (Water too warm) so I dropped the temperature in the 10 gallon tank to 23C and put them in. They will be moved when spring comes.

The 1.5 gallon hex tank is currently set up as a sump and it contains the CO2 diffuser (bell jar design), the heater and the filter media. It looks ugly but it gets the job done. Excuse the rubber band on the driftwood; it looks ugly but is the best way to attatch my Java Ferns to it while they attatch themselves.


The sump:

The tank:

The whole setup:

 

[yvez9]

wal-mart sells 10 gallon tanks with 50 watts of light?

 

[Yenko]

Incadescent light, yes. I replaced the 25W incadescent bulbs with 2 14w flourescents.

 

[FrAnK3333]

I dont see the pics.

 

[Silly me]

I cant see the pic aswell..

 

[Yenko]

Yeah, all my pics that I hosted here burned up for some reason. Probably because I hotlinked to most of them on another forum.

The sump:

http/img.photobucket.com/albums/v316/LNC-3/0sump.jpg

The tank. Sorry about the wierd angle:

http/img.photobucket.com/albums/v316/LNC-3/0goodtank1.jpg

 

[yvez9]

those canopies with 2 incadescent lights are a steal if you can manage to find fluorescent bulbs witht he correct temperature rating.

I have a hard time finding them in hardware stores and big al's is way overpriced...

 

[Yenko]

I just bought two regular ones from Home Depot. The temperature isn't quite right, but I get pretty ok plant growth so I'm happy.

 

[kenneth_kpe]

hey can i see the whole design of your sump ? i want to make a sump to for my small 13 gal and i think im gonna do something similar ? what method are you using to get the water down to the sump ?: )

 

[Yenko]

http/img.photobucket.com/albums/v316/LNC...hetankworks.jpg

I hope that helps. I used tubing that's the same diameter as the original intake tube on the filter. The filter had a hard time priming itself but it managed. If you ever decide to do something like this, fill the filter with water, connect the hose then turn it on or the impeller motor might burn out due to a lack of cooling while it primes itself.

 

[corbypete]

Whens ASDA gonna supply the uk with some quality walmart kit??

i know we all shat ourselves over genetically modified supplies, but i doubt that affects fishtanks!

 

[Yenko]

Whens ASDA gonna supply the uk with some quality walmart kit??

i know we all shat ourselves over genetically modified supplies, but i doubt that affects fishtanks!

I wouldn't call the kit I bought quality - it had a pair of crappy metal reflectors that leached zinc into the water, an unreliable heater that didn't regulate the temperature well to start with and broke after 2 months. The only good thing was the canopy; which has pretty poor light reflection capacity even when spraypainted white; all my plants grow towards the lights except the Java Fern, which is content where it is.