A tiny reminder for you since you're on a budget and its still fresh in my mind. Get everything but the livestock and set it up and let it cycle for a month or so before you stock, that way you won't have to immediately re-spend $40. I'm sure you're already aware though...good luck with your tank! :headbang2:
What are the costs of a tank? And opinions on the setup I've got planned.
- Thread starter Gotcha38
- Start date
Noone has touched on a most critical point. Just because the dresser will hold you for a minute, or an hour or a day doesn't mean it will support a tank full of water indefinitely. That water really wants to be on your floor and will never stop trying to get there! You need to take a critical look at the dresser in question and see where the load-bearing members are. You want the tank to be supported at the very least by two members close to the outside edges of the tank. Consider that a large desk which can easily support a 55gal might not adequately support a 10 gal. I had an old dresser that used to support a pair of 20 gal tanks, but they had to be placed perpendicular to the normal arrangement to catch the load-bearers at the front and rear of the dresser. A large flat expanse of tabletop will sag unless adequately supported.
I thought about that last night. It's not really trustworthy furniture, haha. The dimensions of the top of the sides (not the decorative actual top that over hangs some) are 30" by about 15" or so on the sides. So 3 sides would only be supported really well. I get the feeling that if I put it up there I wouldn't be able to get my top drawer open anymore. Climbed up there, sat right in the middle and set a camera to look for deflection and I didn't see any. After working with it a little I think that I can rearrange somethings in my tiny bedroom and fit a stand in there. If that's the case I might just up it to a 29. 30" is 30" right? My bedroom is smaller than most people's master bathrooms so almost every inch of wall is taken. There might be about 35" right beside the built in and bathroom door where I could get it to fit.
Thanks for bringing up the structural problems!
Read the Tank FAQ in your signature. Very good information thanks. I found a 20L on craigslist about 45 minutes away and when I texted about the condition the tank was in, what brand of equipment it came with etc, they just sent me back "Yes is 20L can buy w/o stand." Think I'm dealing with a ESL or someone that's trying to hide something? I don't want to drive 1.5hrs just to not buy something.
Yard Sale season is comming. I get almost all my small tanks free or dirt cheap because people give up quickly when they get over there head, spend a bunch of $ and then dont learn the basics. Start asking around a college campus and Im sure you could find somebody moving, people hate moving tanks. Id start slow&cheap and leave yourself room to evolve.You dont want to paint yourself into a $ corner. Remember plants and animals dont read books, so its up to you to understand the basic sciences involved, which comes from messin up, and wasting $ Im affraid. Dont emulate. Discover and create. Good luck
With the dimensions you give for the piece a 20L should be fine assuming the dresser is somewhat solid. If you place it against the back edge of the top the drawer should be ok, again assuming it's somewhat solid. Is the piece real wood or laminated MDF?
Laminate MDF goodness that is of an indeterminate age. Probably about 15 years of abuse. I think that's how long this complex has been here.
Found this on craigslist. What does everyone think?
http://greenville.craigslist.org/for/2283412933.html
As far as a filter if this is in a room you sleep in I would stick with a canister filter instead of a HOB. HOB make a lot more noise than a canister. Even the good ones. Anything with a biowheel(Emperor) will be even louder. Trust me I had these type of filter on several of my tanks for a long time and it was too loud for my reading room. I switched to canister filters and they are just about silent. Eheims are amazing filters and if you can find one used for a good price I would go with that. If not then a new sunsun is the way to go. It's not as quiet as a eheim but it is very queit.
That's the experience I've read in a number of different threads. I'm pretty sure that I'm going to get a Eheim classic, maybe from kensfish.com. His prices are pretty hard to beat on all of his filters. I might see if a local place will come close to matching it so I don't have to worry about shipping.
I understand that there are less expensive options, but I feel like it's ok to spend a little more on a brand and style that's been recommended by almost everyone I've talked to.
Plus my ceiling fan making a ticking nose can keep me up all night, I'm really looking for something quiet. haha.
A lot of people don't really know what they have, or they are computer illiterate and it took them 30 minutes just to type in a single sentence reply. See if they can call you and you can maybe talk about it. It's likely they just don't know much about it.
That kind of response leads me to think it's just a plain tank, but I would still call to make sure if I was still interested.
If it seems shifty at all then just skip the sale, I've driven longer, like a few hours away for good deals, but I had pics of what I was going to go look at and made sure to nail down the specifics of the tanks (does it leak, what comes with it, tank dimensions rather than gallons, since a lot of people fail at proper gallon sizing) before I even considered going out there.
