Built in 6ft tank

[aquafrogstuff]

I recently embarked on a project to build in a new 6ft tank that will eventually have discus in it. In addition to the supports being connected to the house structure, I have had plumbing, drainage and electrical supply run to/from the cavity beneath the tank. The electricity is of course for the filter, heaters, UV steriliser etc etc. The water supply comes from a 5,000L rainwater tank that's also plumbed into the house to supply toilets, washing machine etc. It'll be used to top up the tank after water changes. Drainage allows me to drop the water level in the tank to a fixed level without barrels, hoses etc. Can't tell you how much I've waited to do water changes without bottles and hoses. The drain line also has a bard for a syphon hose to vacuum the tank as required. It's just been set up, so hopefully I'll get some plants into it tomorrow and gyprock on the frame to blend it back into the rest of the house.

Update photos to follow.

[aquafrogstuff]

...more photos...

[aquafrogstuff]

Before I started.

[waitaki]

love the drainage idea!!
looking good - can't wait to see when you add discus!

[AHC]

Looks Great. It will be a beautiful tank is a beautiful home.

[lpiasente]

cat looks comfy on your dining table. :)

[Matt15]

Nice job mate..... thats a very well done DIY project. Can't wait to see the final pics when its finished. Where in Brisbane do u live, i'd love to drop by and take alook...=)

[aquafrogstuff]

Thanks for the responses.

I've had the tank going for a few days now. Can't begin to tell you how glad I am about the built in drainage and water supply. Water changes are now so easy and more convenient. Highly recommend this. I'll get some shots up this weekend. Tank is still looking a bit murky from the substrate supplement.

Cheers,

Dwayne

[aquafrogstuff]

Photo from late last week with water still looking 'tea stained' from the substrate supplement.

Temporary metal halides installed. I'm still umming and arring about those. They're standard shop front fitting 150W with 3,000k globes. Already I'm having algae problems. They're running 10hrs/day to get the plants going. Have dropped the on time back to 6hrs to see this reduces the algae grownth. Any suggestions welcome.

[dearis]

Wow, this will be a sensational show piece congrats and love the bit of wood.

Regards Darren

[aquafrogstuff]

Progress with gyprock works to the one side and reworked manifold beneath tank allowing the filter to take supply from both ends of the tank to reduce turbulance. Now to finish the gyrocking and get the light fitting sorted out...oh and get some discus in there soon.

[aquafrogstuff]

Since my last post above, I have developed a horrible algae problem. Can anyone offer some advice on getting rid of this $%!@$## algae.

Relevant info below:-
1. Lighting: 2 x 150w MH with 6,500k tubes running 6hrs/day;
2. Fert: Seachem Flourish, about 12mL per week;
3. CO2: None;
4. Filter: Eheim classic 2260 running 3,500LPH;
5. UV: Yes, 18W
6. Temp: 29deg average;
6. Other: Stocking with Seachem SeaGel (Matrix Carbon and Phosguard) in in-tank filter with powerhead.

Thanks in advance.

[lpiasente]

Ew algae. No expert but I had a major algae problem. Igot 2 SAE , whiptail catfish, 4 bristlenose and a uv steralizer now no algae. All gone in the week

[dearis]

mmm there is an imbalance somewhere.....are you using ferts?

[rwel4809]

It is because of an inbalance between light and fertz.

You will probably need to get some CO2 going to even things out.

I notice you have some ambulia in there which is a good fast grower to help suck up nutrients as you run the tank in. But you will probably need more, try adding some wisteria as well.

you will also need a team of algae eaters in a planted tank that size, probably 4 - 5 SAE's a few BN's and some Oto's if you can get them.

To get rid of the algae you could try double dosing flourish excel. Many of us have used it to great success - BUT BE WARNED one of our members just lost a prize fish with this method!

HTH :)

Robert

[dearis]

Hownwort is another good plant for sucking ferts up...

[aquafrogstuff]

Cheers for the help. Will try the above and try to convince my wife about the CO2 ;o)

BTW 'dearis' - From my original post, I am using Seachem Flourish (12mL/week).

Can you also please clarify what 'SAE' is for??

[Big Daddy1]

That is a lot of light. You're going to have to get CO2 injection, use Flourish Excel or dim the lighting.

You've got 300W concentrated on a single spot vice spreading it out. This is your major hurdle. Your choice and the idea is awesome.

Siamese Algae Eater - I find them useless, they eat more meat than greens.

The BN pleco is a great idea.

[dearis]

SAE is a fish http://www.aquahobby.com/gallery/e_sae.php

[aquafrogstuff]

Thanks all. Great help.

[DiscusDave]

It may also pay to get some Flourish Potassium. With that much light you need good plant growth to out compete the algae - the first step is C02 or Excel as said above, then you need to provide the macro nutrients the plants need - potassium in particular (followed by nitrogen and phosphates but that's often present anyway)

[aquafrogstuff]

Update 31/08/08 - Completed custom light fitting and installed over tank. The fitting runs 3 x 150W MH @ 6,400K. It also has four downlights which will have their globes replaced with blue HILEDs for moonlighting effect. The sides of the fitting contains 4 x 48W flourescent tubes which will also be replaced in he near future with tubes more appropriate for aquarium applications. Not sute what lighting regime I'm going to run at this stage. Haven't got that far, still sitting like a stunned mullet admiring the lighting effect on the tank.

Other than the fitting, I'm still battling algae (hair) so I've added some albino bristlenoses and planted wisteria to compete with the algae.

Hope you all enjoy.

[dearis]

Awesome lighting system!

[aquafrogstuff]

Its been a while since I posted some images in this thread, so I thought I'd add some recent photos (from early October 2009). In the last few months, the tanks has settled well, plecos added and additional plants, some thriving, others didn't cope so well and died off. Anyway, recent pics below, enjoy....

[Mr Wild]

Looks awesome!

[lpiasente]

wish I could do that at my house. There doesn't seem to be much swimming room for the fishies, those plants have gone wild.

[jannie_s]

looking good post a photo when it has settled with fish in it

[aquafrogstuff]

Jannie_s, thanks. It's got fish in it (13 discus, 2 sailfin plecos and an assortment of corys, tetras and SAEs).

Thanks for the other comments.

[xrboy_85]

Looking good Dwayne

plenty of hiding spots for all discus!!!! we should start an algae mulisha!!! ha ha

Cheers Justin