New 4ft Tank

[jmkgreen]

£425 incl £40 for delivery.

I was so close to getting a Hagen Vicenza 260 but I wasn't convinced by the build quality and wanted to do the equipment to my own specs. Eheim 2075 should arrive tomorrow, got an ETH 300w heater also on order, need to figure out the lights next.

 

[silverrabbit]

I WANT!!!

 

[emsvaughan]

£425 incl £40 for delivery.

I was so close to getting a Hagen Vicenza 260 but I wasn't convinced by the build quality and wanted to do the equipment to my own specs. Eheim 2075 should arrive tomorrow, got an ETH 300w heater also on order, need to figure out the lights next.

I currently have the Vicenza 260, and had it set up as a reef, but must admit, the build quality is not great on the cabinet. I have toyed with the idea of selling it and buying from ND aquatics, and seeing this tank has made me think even more about it. My main problem, is that I am a joiner, so am very critical of build quality.
Stunning tank.

 

[The young one]

I was looking at that exact tank today and hoping to buy it in the next few months, i will be using it as a lake malawi or a new world cichlid tank. I have the exact same laminate flooring as you aswell. Did you order the lighting off n&d aqautics, and if so is it any good?
Beautiful tank btw!

 

[jmkgreen]

I currently have the Vicenza 260, and had it set up as a reef, but must admit, the build quality is not great on the cabinet. I have toyed with the idea of selling it and buying from ND aquatics, and seeing this tank has made me think even more about it. My main problem, is that I am a joiner, so am very critical of build quality.
Stunning tank.

You can always build the cabinet yourself. I am not known for DIY and have no past experience of cabinet building so for me it was over to the experts.

Having said that, I have added twin lid stays to the hood to prevent it flipping over and resting on the wall!

 

[jmkgreen]

I was looking at that exact tank today and hoping to buy it in the next few months, i will be using it as a lake malawi or a new world cichlid tank. I have the exact same laminate flooring as you aswell. Did you order the lighting off n&d aqautics, and if so is it any good?
Beautiful tank btw!

No, I asked them for a quote and while they were in the range of "internet prices" they were not as cheap as say warehouse aquatics.

Also, I asked if a 54w t5 system would fit, they said it would be a squeeze. Now, Rabbut in the hardware section reckons his fits in the same space no problem. As it stands I have not done anything about lighting yet - priority has been ensure the tank doesn't leak, that the flooring doesn't bust under the weight and to get the pipe work installed.

So far with it full of water and two bags of Argos play sand for one week it remains level, it now has an Eheim 2075 running and a Hydor ETH 300w. The flooring creeks a little bit across the room which shouldn't be entirely unexpected but so far nothing is actually wrong in any way.

 

[The young one]

sounds good i'm hoping to order mine soon!

 

[emsvaughan]

I currently have the Vicenza 260, and had it set up as a reef, but must admit, the build quality is not great on the cabinet. I have toyed with the idea of selling it and buying from ND aquatics, and seeing this tank has made me think even more about it. My main problem, is that I am a joiner, so am very critical of build quality.
Stunning tank.

You can always build the cabinet yourself. I am not known for DIY and have no past experience of cabinet building so for me it was over to the experts.

Having said that, I have added twin lid stays to the hood to prevent it flipping over and resting on the wall!

My wife keeps saying the same thing. You are a Joiner build your own cabinet, then I can have what I want too... Women, don't ya just love them.
I would make my own, but I just aint got the time at the moment and it's like a busmans holiday too

 

[jmkgreen]

I updated the Flickr pics with additions of the sand, filter and heating equipment.

The tank is now cycling.

 

[Whitester]

That is a really nice tank. 120 US gallons.....drool! I have a 48"x12"x24", 60 gallons. I wish I would have held out for a tank like yours. The extra 12" of width really cranks up the gallons. Please keep us updated as you progress.


Edit... I read about concerns with the weight. Just with the water alone, you will have approximately 1000 lbs. The area where you have the tank, are those 2 outside walls of the house? If so, they both will be load bearing, meaning the floor joists should be adequate to hold that weight. I would only be concerned if your total weight is closer to 1600 lbs. If those walls are both not outside walls, and the one directly behind the tank is an interior wall (non load bearing). You might have some concern. Especially if you are on the second floor. You may want a structural engineer to come an look at your flooring frame work. If you do not have any engineering friends, you could always look in the telephone book. What has me concerned is you said there is some creeking of the floor boards. Better be safe than sorry. I really don't think it's cause for concern IF those two walls are outside load bearing walls.

 

[markandhisfish]

sweet tank mate. i have the exact same 1 in black. great build quality aint it

 

[jmkgreen]

That is a really nice tank. 120 US gallons.....drool! I have a 48"x12"x24", 60 gallons. I wish I would have held out for a tank like yours. The extra 12" of width really cranks up the gallons. Please keep us updated as you progress.


Edit... I read about concerns with the weight. Just with the water alone, you will have approximately 1000 lbs. The area where you have the tank, are those 2 outside walls of the house? If so, they both will be load bearing, meaning the floor joists should be adequate to hold that weight. I would only be concerned if your total weight is closer to 1600 lbs. If those walls are both not outside walls, and the one directly behind the tank is an interior wall (non load bearing). You might have some concern. Especially if you are on the second floor. You may want a structural engineer to come an look at your flooring frame work. If you do not have any engineering friends, you could always look in the telephone book. What has me concerned is you said there is some creeking of the floor boards. Better be safe than sorry. I really don't think it's cause for concern IF those two walls are outside load bearing walls.

The wall immediately behind it separates us from the neighbours. To the left of the tank as you look at it is the rear of the property. Above where the tank sits is the family bathroom with bath. I called the house builders who in turn called the firm who laid the foundation and the result was that it was not going to be a problem.

Mark, yes it is a great tank. Just waiting for the cycle at the mo...

 

[yabadaba]

Hi, I'd just like to query the cupboard space you have in your tank because (as you know from my other thread in the hardware section you kindly responded to) I have a 60x24x24 on order from ND Aquatics and want to make sure an Eheim 2078 (or now possibly a 2080) will fit okay.

Now, please tell me where I've gone wrong....because I must have! The tank itself is 24" tall and in the pictures it looks like the total height of tank & cabinet is split roughly 50:50, making your cabinet approx 24" tall as well, which equates to approx 610mm. Okay so far? The 2075 filter you have has a height of 500mm (according to various internet sites), which would give you about 110mm, or so, space above the filter. But, it looks like you have much more free space, in fact it looks to me as though your filter is only taking up about two thirds of the height.

So clearly I've gone wrong somewhere!! Can you please do me a favour and let me know your filter height and cabinet height, so that I can try and judge how well the 2078 (which is just 34mm taller) will fit in my cabinet. I am, of course, assuming that the 5ft version cabinet shares the same height & depth as yours.

 

[jmkgreen]

Hi, I'd just like to query the cupboard space you have in your tank because (as you know from my other thread in the hardware section you kindly responded to) I have a 60x24x24 on order from ND Aquatics and want to make sure an Eheim 2078 (or now possibly a 2080) will fit okay.

Now, please tell me where I've gone wrong....because I must have! The tank itself is 24" tall and in the pictures it looks like the total height of tank & cabinet is split roughly 50:50, making your cabinet approx 24" tall as well, which equates to approx 610mm. Okay so far? The 2075 filter you have has a height of 500mm (according to various internet sites), which would give you about 110mm, or so, space above the filter. But, it looks like you have much more free space, in fact it looks to me as though your filter is only taking up about two thirds of the height.

So clearly I've gone wrong somewhere!! Can you please do me a favour and let me know your filter height and cabinet height, so that I can try and judge how well the 2078 (which is just 34mm taller) will fit in my cabinet. I am, of course, assuming that the 5ft version cabinet shares the same height & depth as yours.

You're the same place I was when I queried Mark (and his fish) on precisely the same question lol!

Basically the filter is not as high as advertised. I make it 430mm to the uppermost part of the filter (the top of the priming button) and 530mm to the bottom of the cabinet hole. That's me taking a tape measure and getting it close as I can then lining my eye up to it best I can, so +/-30mm!

The Eheim box however is 500mm...

Bear in mind the Eheim hose connector slots into place and actually points the hoses out at roughly the correct angle so there's little curvature to "bend" them out through the holes then upwards needed. I put mine in a washing up bowl to catch any minor leakage.

Charterhouse list the filter at 500mm tall. Zooplus have it at 430mm. If you want it or similar Zooplus have them very cheap with 10% off your first order - staff at my LFS nearly fainted when I told them how much I paid - no way they could get close.

FWIW the cabinet is 640mm tall inside. It's 24 inches to the top of the cabinet including the rim where the ND sticker is.

I hope that demystifies it!

 

[yabadaba]

Thanks for that. So, potentially the 2078/2080 might not be as tall as listed on the various internet sites and the design is such that there is less likely to be a problem with routing the hoses properly.

Thanks for the 'heads up' on Zooplus, too. I'd come across that site before, but not noticed the 10% discount. Might even be able to afford 2 x 2078's straight away now!