Jump to content

My Tank (10x2x2.5)


huzzy

Recommended Posts

I meant to put some pics up earlier, but work has kept me busy.

The tank is 10long, 2wide and 2.5high. With the sump and rocks, is it a tad under 1500L

Cabinet

I had the cabinet custom made by some local furniture makers. The hardest part was picking colours and trims. The woodgain and aluminium suit the style of our house, it may not appeal to everyone. It has been designed to hold 4 ton.

Canister Filter

The Canister is an Ehiem 2217, and it barely makes a dent in the water movement due to the length of tube on the intake end. Will upgrade to a Pro or something beefier when time permits.

Coral Mound

I have exhausted LFS Baserock supplies on the Central Coast. Will have to make another trip to sydney for another 150kg shortly. This one pile here is about 120kg.

Hood close up

The Hood was originaly designed with lids, but they became more annoying than benefit so i removed them.

Side On

From the Left hand side, its a little murky due to them getting a midnight snack 5 mins earlier.

Sump 1

Sump 2

The sump has 90L of Dupla Cascade Bio Balls, and is fed by a spinning arm. Water is returned to the tank via an OceanMedic 6500 - Whisper quiet so far.

Temp is a steady 25.5deg. The hottest day i have had has been 33deg outside and the coldest nights have been around 6deg lately....Tank temp has never droped below 24 or above 26. Its warmed by 2 x 300W Fluvals in the sump.

P.S The observant will have noticed the sump says 10x2x2. Im not a liar. The tank was that size, but it was damaged during transport, so i changed the dimensions while i could.

Tank 1

Tank 2

Tank 3

Sorry for the blury pics, im a hopeless cameraman. And yes, i know it needs some plants. Again, lack of time.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

HOLY WOWSIES! That thing is a monsterrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr~!

What fish do you plan on keeping in there/have in there now?

Cameron smile.gif BTW: I like the look of the cabinet and what not, very sleek! thumb.gif

Link to comment
Share on other sites

What fish do you plan on keeping in there/have in there now?

Not Sure....its Malawi atm, but i have temptations to try my hand at some tangs.

Im looking for some good quality P. Demasoni right now, and may offload the 15 strong colony of Red Empress.

i wouldnt mind a nice Saratoga J., but that kind of limits tank mates....

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I assume all the mechanical filtration is done by the 2217?

Correct. There is a piece of fine wool seperating the two chambers in the sump, but its effectiveness is quite limited.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

With filtering, you want to turn your tank over 4-6 times per hour. It is tough to do this via canister filters on a tank your size. It is not difficult to move that much water with a pump, but difficult to do so via a canister filter.

You should set your tank up to filter via a sump system, otherwise there will be a very good chance you will not be satisfied with your canister filters performance regardless of how big it is.

Craig

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I agree with Craig re- filtration.

As far as landscaping...I gather bits and pieces and squirrel them away for use at a later stage. I literally have tons of differing rock, substrates, shells, wood sitting here that I can chose from. I will often buy something from the LFS that I don't immediately need, but know it will fit a "theme" that I have in mind for later.

I pick a theme...eg. smooth dark coloured rocks in a "cut away riveresque" theme. Then I match all the decor up...eg. smooth dark coloured gravel, two or three types of plant only (bunch and asymmetrically placed), a lighter coloured paint for the back/sides of the tank that is the same tone as the rock, but lighter shade. I add pieces of well worn wood (also darkish). Basically, what I am saying copy nature as best you can.

Don't mix limestone with woomera rock for example. Don't plant individual plants in rows or at even spacings. Dark rock/light substrate is generally not found in nature. Remember that the surrounding cliffs weathered to produce the riverbed sand. Hence brown quartzite gravel wouldn't be found around limestone rock (for example...unless we are talking glacial activity tongue.gif ). Similarly, angular gravel is unlikely to be found around waterworn rocks/pebbles.

Remember the tank is 3D...try to scape it to enhance the depth/width of your tank. Terracing can sometimes be advantageous too (especially in narrow tanks). Try not to place feature rock/wood/plants in the centre of the tank. Also avoid regular geometric placements of rock and wood. It makes the tank look 2D. Use different size rocks...perhaps one really large one, 2 or 3 slightly smaller pieces and a heap of much smaller ones placed around the larger pieces.

I try to build my rockwork outside in the backyard first. Admittedly it never goes in the tank the same, but it is easier to get a feel for it and organise a basic plan without the constraints of glass and stands.

Hope some of this helps a bit. Ultimately you are the one that will be putting in the admiration hours, so it has to please you.

Andrea smile.gif

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I have same size tank and use a 2x2x2 sump, cant remember what the pump is but it keeps it crystal clear.

Only problem I have is catching fish out of it!

Have just had to take out a heap of rock but still trying to redesign it to make it easier for me. Any secret techniques for this size tank?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Um Craig & Andrea - there is a sump, the canister is supplemental

Awesome tank Huzzy!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Also,

I forgot to mention the digital thermometers. Not sure if its something many people think about, but the accuracy of these things is quite laughable.

The two you can see in my sump pic are identical, bought on the same day, sitting 1.5inces apart in the water (at the same depth). 1.5degree difference. I had a third identical one, that was 4 degrees below the lowest of the two. The 25.5deg one is as close to accurate as i could get...i believe it is within 0.3deg of actual temp.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I had a 5deg spread on my digital thermometers too, luckily the only one of them that was accurate enough to keep is the only one that didn't fail unexplicably.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Um Craig & Andrea - there is a sump, the canister is supplemental

Awesome tank Huzzy!

The sump only has bioballs in it, to filter a tank it needs to have mechanical media in there to keep it visually clean.

My comments weren't aimed at a criticism, but highlighting a potential problem.

Having the canisters as a "supplemental" situation is good, but you've got to have them as supplemental and not as the only form of mechanical filtration before it could be considered supplemental.

Andrea, I agree completely with all your aqua scaping comments.

Craig

Link to comment
Share on other sites

My comments weren't aimed at a criticism, but highlighting a potential problem.

And they certainly weren't taken offensively. I do agree that my mechanical filtration needs to be beefed up quite substantially.

However, i may just feign offence to assist in the negotiation of some certain P.Demasoni. bigsmile.gifbigsmile.gif

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Sorry Craig, I thought you guys were refering to it being underfiltered in a biological sence & had missed the bit about the sump.

Perhaps add an AC500 for mechanical backup rather than more/larger cannisters?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

However, i may just feign offence to assist in the negotiation of some certain P.Demasoni.

Ha! I didn't realise the connection. You'll get a kick out of my tanks when you pick up the fish, and I'll show you what I mean by filtration, but the price will remain the same hug.gif

No worries Ash.

Craig

Link to comment
Share on other sites

However, i may just feign offence to assist in the negotiation of some certain P.Demasoni.

Ha! I didn't realise the connection. You'll get a kick out of my tanks when you pick up the fish, and I'll show you what I mean by filtration, but the price will remain the same hug.gif

No worries Ash.

Craig

In other words allow a extra 2hours for the visit and try to visit during daylight saving tongue.gif

Cheers

Good Craig

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

×
×
  • Create New...