Tank Building on the Cheap

[newland]

Hi All

I've recently got into the tropical fish game and with my first tank set-up I thought i'd have a go at a second one.

Well I've managed to get hold of 2 15G tanks 24*12*12 for a very good price £10.

The only problem is they don't have hoods,filters,o2 pumps etc.

I'm gonna build the hood my self but before i start planning it i need some advice on the following:

1) What type of filter to put in. The One i have currently is in the hood. is this the best sort? Would another sort be fine?

2) is the Light UV or just a strip light? If its usually a strip one would a UV light be better? Or is this going to cause alge problems?

Also if anyone knows of a good place to get suplies other than Ebay then please let me know.

Also Would 15G be ok to set up a marine tank or only tropical?

Thank you

 

[ad_smith]

for my 75 gal i am using just plain old strip lights you would get in your kitchen or a classroom. they come in different lengths and they are pretty cheap to buy from places like Wickes and B&Q (UK stores) they work really well, all my plants are growing fine and the fish are happy

 

[newland]

Cheers

I think i'm going to go with strip lamps as i can get 24" long ones real cheep.

Got any ideas on the filter i should use?
What types best and an example of a filter would be most aprichative.

Thank you
All

 

[Blacky]

the cheapest best filter ever i think is a plain old plastic bin use an over flow system from the tank to the bin. fill the bin with filter media and add a submersible pump in the bottom connect hose to the pump and back to your tank

this will work on two or more small tanks like yours you just have the seperate over flow hoses going to the bin and you still only need the one pump back but you just add a t connection at the return hose and one goes to one tank and the other to the 2nd tank.

you will neva over flow the tanks if you make the over flow hose slightly larger than the return one and have the overflow hose at the top were you want the water level at. this way the pumps only returns the amount of water that is put in the bin to start with!!!

real cheap but effective if you have some were to put the bin out of sight.

you can also store your heaters in there aslong as they dont touch the plasic bin cause it will melt over time and minimises equipment in the tanks themselves

 

[DannyBoy17]

The above is a wet/dry, which is effective. Very easy to build, just search google for "DIY Wet/Dry filter".

Even with a sump, might a reccomend a small aqauclear filter?

If you are going marine, do oyur research first. You will need some Powerheads to keep a healthy current flowing through the tank. It harders to keep your parameteres stable with a SW also.

DB

 

[newland]

Thanks all for the help.

Would an internal filter be ok such as the futerla 2(Err can't remember the spelling)
be ok for 1 tank for tropical fish?