Big tank on a small budget

bigh high pieces of drifwood wik look briliant.

 

Thats what I was thinking too. Got some nice pieces drying and then soaking. Its almost 55cm high. I was thinking centre piece?

 

you need way more! hehe and bigger. remember center piece not dead center..... remember the rule ofv3rds when scaping

 

Hehe. Yes thank you. I have read about the 3rds rule somewhere... That means I must go wood hunting yet again for some BIG pieces. But I do enjoy it also.... And read some more on scaping.

 

this is an awesome setup, i like what you have done to make you life easier with the water changes. i still struggle with mine its a big mission. its sitting in my lounge as the main attraction piece of the house so as per the wife im not allowed any DIY additions to make my life easier. i think the best for your scape is to search big tanks on the net and get ideas and then give it a shot. i can tell you now you will be re doing it a few time before you are fully satisfied and even then that will last about 6 to 7 months if that and its time for a rescape cause your eye gets used to it. a few big ferns if you can get your hands on them is always awesome and good old amazon sword will fill that tank up nicely. just don't do the mistake i did wit doing a rocky scape on the one side and planted on the other unless you just gonna do ground cover and get a hill effect. 2 nice big pieces of spider wood on either side with branches meeting towards the center would look awesome.
sorry i get carried away keep the good work up, its looking amazing so far.

 

I'm completely paranoid so I just wanted to point out that your water line runs directly over your electricty plugs. Please be careful. :unsure::alberteinstein:

 

@Ammar thanks for the advice. I have started reading up on scaping that said to find any type of aquarium suitable wood in bloem is a mission and if your looking for really big pieces you might as well look for Bigfoot... But I will find the right piece....

Thanks @Hawke I'm a little paranoid about it also. But its not a perm install yet. Water change tank was removed after the change. Also when I start with the electrical everything will be mounted on the other side of the tank against the wall... But thanks allot.

 

Sweeet dude!

 

So a wile back I was all chuffed that non of my cichlids were fighting anymore. Well not so chuffed anymore. I started noticing about a day or 2 ago all of the fish in my 350 were hiding in one corner everytime I walked into the room. Did not think much of it at the time but when I did my waterchange last night I got a bit of a surprize. One of my parrot fish laid eggs and she is the one herding everyone else into a corner.... She is super agro. I know 99.9% of parrot eggs are infertile but its still kind of cool. I must be doing something right...

 

Ps: I have no clue about breeding. Never intended to try anything remotely like that but should I just leave them until she has eaten all the infertile eggs or should I remove either her or the eggs???

 

you can remove it or she will eat it

 

Thanks @Ryno but due to me being a bit busy she did exactly what you said. Ate all of them. But what's the chances of parrot eggs being fertile??? In any case thanks for the advice maybe next time I will save them before she eats them all....

Well it was a busy 2 weeks for me so the tank has been left alone for once... ( I tend to fiddle to much in any case... So maybe its good. ) But it gave me chance to plan and scheme some more. In short the 350l will be moved next to the 720l. I want to join them in the same sump. But just for bio on the 350l and the canister will then only handle the mechanical. The plan is that this will increase my water volume. The only thing I'm not sure of is allot of the members also agree its not so good in terms of a possible disease breakout? What do you guys think? I also have a 60l tank that I can turn into a sump just for bio on the 350l and stick with the canister again for mechanical? But it will be moved either way? That's the plan in any case. But first my electrical box is almost build so no more water lines running over cabling. Will post pics tomorrow. By then I will look more like a control box and less like a spice rack! Hehe

 

yeah i wont join sumps. imagine parasites or white spot?

 

Come on...post pics of the spice rack :blink1:

 

Soon soon. I promise... With some Origanum and all..... Hahaha

Progress is a bit slow sorry. Need to make some money to spend first.

 

I have been quite for a while now. Sorry for that. Everything is a bit on hold now. Got some critique on my sump design a while ago and it got me all confused and concerned at the same time.

Ok so according to my research ( new guy with minimal experience with sumps) my 2 chamber sump should work just fine. The problem lies with my flow going around my bio media and not through it. But according to my understanding in what I have read online aerating it from beneath should solve this as the aeration should carry the water particals through the media as well as to add extra o2 by agitating the water surface in the sump? Or have I missed the plot completely and just rework my sump to a more conventional type with a drip plate over the bio media? Please advise...

Ps: sorry for all my own made up terms.

 

I looked at some of the pics ... Am I correct in saying that the water form the main chamber (one with the vegetables baskets - brilliant BTW) has a next flow via the bottom of the pane of glass then that small chamber - now with some batting in it has the overflow to the pump area?

I this is correct then adding some flow under the vegetables basket might help but ideally I would think that then you would want the water to rather flow over the next pain of gloss to force "filter" into the next chamber.

A simple fix might be the following ... two peaces of glass, ABS or perspex same size side panel of the sump - cut a few cm of each on the height side of things. Attach that to side of your vedge rack, one flush with the floor the opposite with the top of the sump ... now you have created a moveable chamber that will force flow via your media. as for the gaps on the sides and between the panels grab loads of batting or dense sponge to filter seal this moveable media box. (Hope this makes sense)


Later ferdie

 

@f-fish that is a brilliant idea.... Thank you so much. If I understand you correct I will be closing the 2 long sides of the "media rack" to force water flow through it instead of around it with some perspex and just fill the gaps left with foam or something similar? That should house some nice bacteria also.

I was almost at the point of pulling the sump to silicone a extra baffle in there with a drip plate over the media. The problem is the tank is running already... And I don't have space for everyone in the other tank...

Thanks again for the plan and taking time to check out my sump..
Cheers......

 

Drawing it out I would actually go for the second option i.e. only one side of the media rack needs perspex. the second option will also allow for a higher flow rate.

 

Ok I did misunderstand. Thanks for the drawings..... always helps. Brilliant idea again..... Thank you so much.... And I don't have to dismantle the entire sump and its a pretty easy fix. Do you think a drip plate on top of the basket would be beneficial to spread water flow?

Now I have something to fiddle with today......