Hello,
I'm not sure what this post is, I guess just a journal. Better than shouting into the void.
I am close to actually owning a house, so I am getting pretty excited about what I can keep.
I'm moving far, but my brother wants my current tanks.
Still, this is a few years out. No reason to not start planning!
With that background, here's my general plan.
I'm going to make a plywood tank. They're cheaper, more robust, easy to make, and I can add in all the functionality I want into the structure of the tank. I. E. the filters, powerheads, substrate, heaters, and really anything else. I'm trying to invest a lot in one tank, so I don't lose myself in a fish room.
I saw a thread a while ago, on another forum, about a hillstream loach biotope. They ran PVC under the substrate from one side with inlets and the other with powerheads to create a strong, laminar flow. I want to incorporate this in my tank on a larger scale. Additionally, I would want to run the PVC lines outside the tank. This would make servicing easier, free up space inside the tank, and generally just make the whole thing simpler.
I am still debating whether or not to use internal powerheads (such as Marineland maxi-jets) instead of an external utility pump. Because although the powerheads are simpler, more reliable, and mobile, they take up more space in the tank and don't have the power. Additionally, they have restrictive inlet and outlet sizes, and I would risk cavitation and death of the pumps. If I used the external utility pumps, I could get more power for less cost without sacrificing reliability. And free up space in the tank, which as I said is a main goal. I want a seamless tank, I want to make it look like I've cut out a piece of river and stuck it in my living room.
In terms of filtration, I want a sump. The only alternative for my seamless setup is a canister which would be expensive to implement at this scale. (Also repair is a pain.) I'd rather invest in a little more plywood construction that I could repair indefinitely.
It would have to be independent of the flow system as well. I really want bamboo shrimp, and I can't have my food immediately being filtered out and making ammonia bombs every time. Additionally, it would be helpful to be able to turn it off to clean the sump and keep the flow in the main tank on. My stocking would not appreciate flow and oxygenation dropping all at once. Speaking of oxygenation, I'm not against having bubbles coming out of the flow pumps. It would simulate waters down from a riffle pretty well.
I'm still quite loose on dimensions. But, I'm thinking a 6 footer, 2 feet deep, and 2 feet tall. At least those are the dimensions of the glass. I'd like for the left and right sides to not be at the end of the glass and instead have frames there. One, this simplifies construction and takes the weight off the glass, but two it lends to the seamless look. Almost like a portal to the riverbed. Additionally, seeing all the outlets and inlets and piping would break the illusion pretty quickly.
In the end, the tank would end up around 180 to 200 gallons. However, so far I'm planning on making a tray for the substrate, that way I can have a deeper bed without sacrificing gallons. (A deep sand bed really really helps with scaping I've found. It lets you hide basically everything you don't want to see.) So if it's a 180-gallon tank, it's got the swimming area of a bare bottom, (minus the scape.)
Speaking of scape, I really want a very simple scape. IMO all of those bougie rimless tanks with their perfect carpets, co2 injection, dutch garden-style pile'o'plants, are awful. Don't get me wrong it takes a lot of skill and care to make those tanks, and it's impressive in its own right. I'm no master aquascaper, but I despise them. So, I'm gonna keep it simple.
Big, round river rocks, medium, round river rocks, and small round river rocks. I love the look of a big rock in an aquarium. I feel a rock is rarely the centerpiece of a hardscape, usually wood takes the medal. River rocks lack direction, unlike seiryu or ohko stone, which makes it easier to create a naturalistic look. Also, these rocks are available in any size, so it's not hard to make details or find scale at all. I plan on this lending to a very natural look. I want my tank to look like a riverbed human hands have never touched.
I also want to not have any plants. They're expensive for such a big tank, but mainly I want to promote algae growth on the rocks. I like the look of algae-covered rocks, and my stocking choices would appreciate it.
Stocking! I'm very concrete on wanting Panda Garras, and Singapore Shrimp. The tank could support large groups of both. I'd additionally like some darter tetras, but they are quite "new" to the hobby, and there's not much information on them. I like Characidium Fasciatum for its markings and size. I would have a group of 10 Garra, 10-15 shrimp, and a larger group of the darters, around 20 to 30.
Now I have a choice: leave it as is, add a large school of Zebra Danio, or one large "Shark" like an SAE or Flying Fox.
I'm worried the Danios could over-energize the tank if I got too many, but miserably underwhelming if I got too little. I'd be worried about the sharks being aggressive. However, I would not be getting for their cleaning "ability", rather I just love how they look. If there is a suitable "Shark" for this tank let me know. (I'd prefer gray, brown, and silver, to maintain the color scheme.)
I think that covers everything I wanna pour out so far. Thank you for listening to my ramblings.
I'm not sure what this post is, I guess just a journal. Better than shouting into the void.
I am close to actually owning a house, so I am getting pretty excited about what I can keep.
I'm moving far, but my brother wants my current tanks.
Still, this is a few years out. No reason to not start planning!
With that background, here's my general plan.
I'm going to make a plywood tank. They're cheaper, more robust, easy to make, and I can add in all the functionality I want into the structure of the tank. I. E. the filters, powerheads, substrate, heaters, and really anything else. I'm trying to invest a lot in one tank, so I don't lose myself in a fish room.
I saw a thread a while ago, on another forum, about a hillstream loach biotope. They ran PVC under the substrate from one side with inlets and the other with powerheads to create a strong, laminar flow. I want to incorporate this in my tank on a larger scale. Additionally, I would want to run the PVC lines outside the tank. This would make servicing easier, free up space inside the tank, and generally just make the whole thing simpler.
I am still debating whether or not to use internal powerheads (such as Marineland maxi-jets) instead of an external utility pump. Because although the powerheads are simpler, more reliable, and mobile, they take up more space in the tank and don't have the power. Additionally, they have restrictive inlet and outlet sizes, and I would risk cavitation and death of the pumps. If I used the external utility pumps, I could get more power for less cost without sacrificing reliability. And free up space in the tank, which as I said is a main goal. I want a seamless tank, I want to make it look like I've cut out a piece of river and stuck it in my living room.
In terms of filtration, I want a sump. The only alternative for my seamless setup is a canister which would be expensive to implement at this scale. (Also repair is a pain.) I'd rather invest in a little more plywood construction that I could repair indefinitely.
It would have to be independent of the flow system as well. I really want bamboo shrimp, and I can't have my food immediately being filtered out and making ammonia bombs every time. Additionally, it would be helpful to be able to turn it off to clean the sump and keep the flow in the main tank on. My stocking would not appreciate flow and oxygenation dropping all at once. Speaking of oxygenation, I'm not against having bubbles coming out of the flow pumps. It would simulate waters down from a riffle pretty well.
I'm still quite loose on dimensions. But, I'm thinking a 6 footer, 2 feet deep, and 2 feet tall. At least those are the dimensions of the glass. I'd like for the left and right sides to not be at the end of the glass and instead have frames there. One, this simplifies construction and takes the weight off the glass, but two it lends to the seamless look. Almost like a portal to the riverbed. Additionally, seeing all the outlets and inlets and piping would break the illusion pretty quickly.
In the end, the tank would end up around 180 to 200 gallons. However, so far I'm planning on making a tray for the substrate, that way I can have a deeper bed without sacrificing gallons. (A deep sand bed really really helps with scaping I've found. It lets you hide basically everything you don't want to see.) So if it's a 180-gallon tank, it's got the swimming area of a bare bottom, (minus the scape.)
Speaking of scape, I really want a very simple scape. IMO all of those bougie rimless tanks with their perfect carpets, co2 injection, dutch garden-style pile'o'plants, are awful. Don't get me wrong it takes a lot of skill and care to make those tanks, and it's impressive in its own right. I'm no master aquascaper, but I despise them. So, I'm gonna keep it simple.
Big, round river rocks, medium, round river rocks, and small round river rocks. I love the look of a big rock in an aquarium. I feel a rock is rarely the centerpiece of a hardscape, usually wood takes the medal. River rocks lack direction, unlike seiryu or ohko stone, which makes it easier to create a naturalistic look. Also, these rocks are available in any size, so it's not hard to make details or find scale at all. I plan on this lending to a very natural look. I want my tank to look like a riverbed human hands have never touched.
I also want to not have any plants. They're expensive for such a big tank, but mainly I want to promote algae growth on the rocks. I like the look of algae-covered rocks, and my stocking choices would appreciate it.
Stocking! I'm very concrete on wanting Panda Garras, and Singapore Shrimp. The tank could support large groups of both. I'd additionally like some darter tetras, but they are quite "new" to the hobby, and there's not much information on them. I like Characidium Fasciatum for its markings and size. I would have a group of 10 Garra, 10-15 shrimp, and a larger group of the darters, around 20 to 30.
Now I have a choice: leave it as is, add a large school of Zebra Danio, or one large "Shark" like an SAE or Flying Fox.
I'm worried the Danios could over-energize the tank if I got too many, but miserably underwhelming if I got too little. I'd be worried about the sharks being aggressive. However, I would not be getting for their cleaning "ability", rather I just love how they look. If there is a suitable "Shark" for this tank let me know. (I'd prefer gray, brown, and silver, to maintain the color scheme.)
I think that covers everything I wanna pour out so far. Thank you for listening to my ramblings.
