Archivarium 2004

[Sahara22588]

Well, I finally got a bigger tank for my room! It's a 110 gallon (measures 48"x24"x22") and it came with a solid pine stand and canopy. The stand and canopy were hand made, but they're not completely finished (missing door, lid, etc.). I got the tank, stand, and canopy for $250. Good deal? What do you guys think??

I think instead of getting doors put on the stand I'm going to have a bar (like for a shower curtain or something) put on the inside so I can just move a curtain to get to the filters and stuff. I might not end up using the canopy b/c I'm putting the tank against a wall with a sloping ceiling and it may not fit very well (or at all).

My plan for filtration is to get two Cascade 1000 canister filters for the tank. I'm gonna fill one with all biological media (BioBalls, sponges, ceramic rings) and have the other one with all chemical/mechanical filtration (carbon, zeolite, Purigen, polyfiber). I'm also going to put some powerheads throughout the tank bottom to get adequate circulation. All in all I think the filters will turn the tank over about 5 times in an hour. Sound good???

I'd like to plant this tank, so what should I do for lighting?? Would a Coralife Lunarlight bulb be enough, or would there still need to be more light? I don't really mind spending more money, but I'm kinda maxed out for now. What should I use for substrate? I'd like to have sand on top of the substrate b/c I like the way sand looks, but I don't think sand will be enough to grow plants. At most all I want to grow is some riccia (for a nice grassy look), maybe some hairgrass, an anubias or two, nothing really hard. I just want something to make it look a bit more natural and to make my bichirs happy. Could I put something like duckweed of hyacinth on the top of the tank to keep the lighting muted, or would that screw up the plants on the bottom??

Thanks for reading. Maybe you guys can offer me some advice on how I should set this tank up so I can make it look really nice.

Byez!!
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"Am I to risk my life to win the chance to live?"
-Phantom of the Opera

[LOgan SLOgan]

Id suggest you don't get a canister filter and get an emporer 400. it cost 50-100$ but in the end it is worth the money or is there not enough room on the back?

Logan
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"now is happening now. anything thats happening now is now now" what happened to then?" "we missed it" "when?" "just now"

[Sahara22588]

I don't really want a hang on filter b/c then I'd need to move the tank farther away from the wall. It's already gonna be about 6-8 inches away from the wall and if it's any farther I won't be able to get next to it to do water changes (b/c my bed is right there). The guy I bought it from was gonna throw in a Emp 400, but apparently it's broken and he didn't want to trouble me with having to fix it. I have a Whisper 60 I've been using on my current 55 that I'm going to use to cycle the 110 for a little, just until the canisters get up and running.

Byez!
_________________
"Am I to risk my life to win the chance to live?"
-Phantom of the Opera

[benedictj]

$250 is an awesome deal on a 110. Here in New York, that's the used price of a 55 with stand and the fixins. (Unless you find the 'just get it out of here' folks).

Frankly, I'm jealous. What are your stocking plans?
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Best,

Jake

[kimura]

I'd say go to a hardware store and mix a couple different sizes of gravel along with some laterite. it will have a real nice texture and should do OK with plants. I wouldnt use really fine sand since it can sometimes compact and cause problems. I'm not sure how tough ricccia is to grow but in my recently set up low light tank I'm growing anachris, wisteria, java fern/moss and anubis with .75 wpg. I swear by hagens power glo light. it looks absolutely beautiful and will grow plants great. my plants grow slow but real steady by having really hardy plants algae hasn't had a chance to get started so start with some fast and hardy plants to prevent algae.

I would stay away from duckweed unless its gonna be the only plant in the tank. I introduced it into my 75 gallon and it grew so fast it nearly killed all my othere plants. float some anachris/elodea on the top to block some of the light and soak up excess nutrients.

btw giant anubis is now one of my favorite plants for beauty and function. I get a new leaf every 10 days or so and my fish love perching on them.
http://www.aquahobby.com/garden/e_barteri.php

[Sahara22588]

kimura; Is there any way I can have some sand on the top (only a thin layer)? I'm going to move my bichirs from the 55 into the 110 and apparently having a sand substrate is a little better for them than gravel. Is the Power Glo light like a flourecent bulb?? I have a 48" single tube light on the 55, and I got two 24" twin tube light fixtures with the 110. Do you think there'd be enough light with just these three lights so I don't have to break my wallet in half on power compact lighting???

benedictj; Part of the reason I got it so cheap was b/c I used to work with the guy. He also got it super cheap from one of our more regular customers (but he used it for salt water then). I'm letting it sit outside right now since we've got a nice storm system moving in, so I'll let the rainwater clean it out a bit for me.

All I'm doing for fish at the moment is moving my 4 bichirs over from the 55. I might get a nice pleco (bristlenose or gold nugget) to help with algae growth since I'll be planting the tank, but other than that I think that will be it. I'd prefer to let my bichirs get as large as they can in a tank by themselves than overstock the tank with other fish I'll have to care for and possibly move later. I won't have much room for other fish tanks after I set up this one anyway, so I think I'll just keep the amount of fish to a minimum.

Thanks for reading guys!

Byez!!
_________________
"Am I to risk my life to win the chance to live?"
-Phantom of the Opera

[kimura]

the power glo is a florecent bulb in all the regular sizes. a 48 inch version of it is usually around 24 bucks but well worth the money imho. I think you should be OK with those 3 lights depending on which plants you get.

the trick with the sand is mixing a few sizes together to get the consistancy you want. the bigger the gravel the easier it will be for you plants to root. fine fine sand causes compacting issues and dead zones.

here is a pick of my sand: laterite and like 3 sizes of sand/gravel. you can always put the laterite on the bottom and cover it up with what ever you want.

http://www.loachtank.com/displayimage.php?album=88&pos=13

[Sahara22588]

The Home Depot by my house has 50 lb. bags of pea gravel and other assorted rock types for like $2 a piece, sound good? I would use gravel from a pet store but I think it may be way too expensive that way. I could go to Walmart or something though...

If I mixed pea gravel with a larger gravel then covered it with sand would that provide a decent planting medium?? Should I add something (like fertilizer or a fertilized substrate) to the bottom??? I know someone who used cat litter as their substrate in a planted tank since it had clay or something in it. Think I could do something like that??

Nice tank btw. I do like the difference between all the gravel sizes. Very cool. Thanks for helping me out so much!

Byez!!

P.S. The total wattage (if I used the Power Glow lights) would be about 1.09 watts per gallon (that's for a 110). Obviously I'm not going to have exactly 110 gallons, so I'll probably have around 1.5-2 watts per gallon. Sound good?
_________________
"Am I to risk my life to win the chance to live?"
-Phantom of the Opera