Back in the trenches......

[lousyweather]

so, getting close to being totally done on the stand, and will submit pics for folks who want to see it....give me a couple days!
I am ruminating (sounds better than obsessing!) on filter outlets at the moment. My water movement will (hopefully) be supplied by two Eheim 2217 filters. One of the 2217 will supply flow to the pH probe, then the CO2 reactor, then a heater (inline), then into the tank. The other filter will simply act as a filter...I'll bag some media (probably that Eheim media which came with pumps), and pads. This will return as well to the tank. my original plan was to put an intake in either rear corner, about 3-4" off the bottom, with either nylon or fine window screening attached to them. Returning the filtered/CO2 water back to the tank would be done via spraybars, one each situated on either end of the tank, opposing each other (well, 4' from each other!), and each bar being maybe just below the surface, pointing downward roughly 30 degrees. I dont want to create TOO much turbulence, but want enough to possibly negatively affect BGA growth. Heres the rub: I want a fairly calm surface for eventual Red Root Floaters....I hear they dont do well with turbulence.
I can fairly easily manifold my plumbing off to accomplish feeds on other spots, but until I actually start this thing, I wont REALLY know what the turbulence will be with those 2217's alone. Ive been perusing pics online, but dont see a whole lot as to filter outlet positioning.
Still think Im not OCD?

 

[myswtsins]

There is no denying your obsessive attention to detail, that's for sure! The RRF (red root floater) will find the quiet spots naturally so I wouldn't worry too much about that. Better to focus on overall even flow through out the tank. One inlet in each back corner is good. You want to put the spraybars on the side panels facing each other? Well, I can answer that question, no you don't. lol That would cause major turbulence and turbulence is bad for fish, plants and flow (remember these freshwater fish come from calm waters or maybe fast flowing rivers with one direction flows, no ebb and flow like the ocean). Better to put both spraybars on the back glass end to end creating a circular flow from back top to front top to front bottom to back bottom (where your inlets are). This is a typical setup.

I would discourage nylon or window screening over the inlets. In a planted tank you have a certain amount of plant debris and it will clog the inlets quickly with the fine mesh over it. Plus any fish poo would be forced to breakdown to get through the mesh and then your filters have to try to collect those tiny bits which is harder than collecting big bits. Usually a sponge, from a powerhead, DIY or they sell pre-filter sponges is what people use. I did use nylon mesh over a HOB inlet in my shrimp tank to protect the shrimplets, I then moved on to a sponge. Also keep the pre-filter clean, a dirty pre-filter can kill your flow rates which low flow rate = low nutrient delivery (among other things!).

Speaking of flow rates. The rates for the classic eheim series tend me quite a bit lower than advertise once you put a pre-filter on, fill it with media and add however much head to get over the top of the tank and with your inline heater and reactor that filter will be even lower. I think it will still be suffient flow but no need to worry about it being crazy flow.

 

[lousyweather]

ok....new pictures....the urethane dried faster than I thought it would!



Above is the front view....not thrilled with a corner install, but there is no other good places for this thing....I want it in the living room where I spend most of my time!



another pic



So, thats where I am so far! Also, the painting of the back of the tank came out ok....I like it this way.

 

[tanker]

Nice tank, but wasted a corner. Put a lamp or something in that corner, behind the tank. Also with those window, I may want to cover the sides of the tank, maybe with something removable (black felt attached with Velcro?). .

 

[lousyweather]

There is no denying your obsessive attention to detail, that's for sure! The RRF (red root floater) will find the quiet spots naturally so I wouldn't worry too much about that. Better to focus on overall even flow through out the tank. One inlet in each back corner is good. You want to put the spraybars on the side panels facing each other? Well, I can answer that question, no you don't. lol That would cause major turbulence and turbulence is bad for fish, plants and flow (remember these freshwater fish come from calm waters or maybe fast flowing rivers with one direction flows, no ebb and flow like the ocean). Better to put both spraybars on the back glass end to end creating a circular flow from back top to front top to front bottom to back bottom (where your inlets are). This is a typical setup.

I would discourage nylon or window screening over the inlets. In a planted tank you have a certain amount of plant debris and it will clog the inlets quickly with the fine mesh over it. Plus any fish poo would be forced to breakdown to get through the mesh and then your filters have to try to collect those tiny bits which is harder than collecting big bits. Usually a sponge, from a powerhead, DIY or they sell pre-filter sponges is what people use. I did use nylon mesh over a HOB inlet in my shrimp tank to protect the shrimplets, I then moved on to a sponge. Also keep the pre-filter clean, a dirty pre-filter can kill your flow rates which low flow rate = low nutrient delivery (among other things!).

Speaking of flow rates. The rates for the classic eheim series tend me quite a bit lower than advertise once you put a pre-filter on, fill it with media and add however much head to get over the top of the tank and with your inline heater and reactor that filter will be even lower. I think it will still be suffient flow but no need to worry about it being crazy flow.

yea, I understand reduced rates on Eheims with filter media...if its not enough, can add another pump. I would simply put it below into a manifold and return to the top for additional flow, but only if it seems I need it. Too early to know yet. I am not a fan of powerheads....I just dont like how they look. I'll likely put a drop checker in there, and that bothers me enough!

I did wonder about intake sponges, as I felt it *might* restrict flow too much, but, gien eventually I'd like shrmp in there, id rather not get the shrimplets stuck on the screen either.....will check out some ideas there.....kinda a disadvantage to not having stuff running to test out at this point.

So, spraybars back to front, pushing the flow across the surface and then down the glass nd over the gravel to the back? Got it. One question.....whouldnt that also push detritus to the rear, making it harder to remove?

 

[lousyweather]

Nice tank, but wasted a corner. Put a lamp or something in that corner, behind the tank. Also with those window, I may want to cover the sides of the tank, maybe with something removable (black felt attached with Velcro?). .

yup, work in progress, Tanker. I put those shades up to cover the sides...they pretty much black out that room...its a dark dingy corner wihout the flash! Besides, Im a guy.....what do I know about interior decor? I am sure when my girlfriend comes over she'll have some ideas....God help me.

 

[fishorama]

Very nice stand! It is quite similar to 1 a friend made for me. I like it in the angle as long as you & maybe 1 other can easily see it well enough.

I think the spray bars should angle slightly down but mostly toward the front, you want to get the flow back to the intakes/prefilter sponges. Prefilters are quick to clean & keep big debris & shrimp out of the filters. On a dark background you won't notice them & you can plant pretty close to them without issues.

 

[myswtsins]

Pictures, yay! Stand is beautiful, love seeing all that lovely wood grain!

Most of the stuff will get pushed to the back where the inlets can grab it. In a planted tank some "stuff" in the gravel makes happy plants and since the back is usually the most densely planted that's where you'd want any possible stuff collecting. But honestly I've never had a problem with dead spots that stuff accumulated though.

I hear ya, I hate seeing equipment in the tank. I always do my best to hide anything that HAS to be in there. Unless it's not a show tank, then whatever. lol

 

[lousyweather]

Pictures, yay! Stand is beautiful, love seeing all that lovely wood grain!

Most of the stuff will get pushed to the back where the inlets can grab it. In a planted tank some "stuff" in the gravel makes happy plants and since the back is usually the most densely planted that's where you'd want any possible stuff collecting. But honestly I've never had a problem with dead spots that stuff accumulated though.

I hear ya, I hate seeing equipment in the tank. I always do my best to hide anything that HAS to be in there. Unless it's not a show tank, then whatever. lol

Well, the tank IS in my living room!
A bit more on lights....seems Ecoxotic is now only building lights for commercial use, and Current is producing a VERY similar product (with ramp timer) in their PRO line. Gotsta check that out!
This week I plan on washing some Oil Dri....maybe do some plumbing as well.

 

[lousyweather]

the latest! Just got a copper test kit and tested my tap......2 ppm Cu. Dang.....since at some point I'd like to try shrimp, it looks like an RO filter is in my future. *sigh*

Did some plumbing of CO2 stuff, filters. Waiting on a few more items before I can complete that, and I guess will be working with a RO unit in the basement. Do you folks who use RO just put an aquarium heater in your storage tank for the RO water? I will have to do something, as I certainly cant use my tap water!

Got a couple more pieces of Mopani, happily leeching in a bin on my deck....pretty happy with the Doctors F&S for that...3 pieces so far, all pretty cool looking.