Low Tech Community + Cabinet Build

*Warning* This tank is not set up and running! As yet there there are no pretty pictures of fish or plants

Welcome to my tank journal all.

Here I will document my (possibly quixotic) attempts to set up a planted community tank in my front room two weeks before my wife gives birth to our second child, and possibly several years into the life of my second child if the money runs out! I am doing this on a budget but don't want to skip on the best equipment so have been trawling eBay for a few months getting my equipment together.

So far I have a 9 year old Juwel Rio 400. The frame is quite beaten up (photos to follow) as it was a former marine tank and has had the frame cut for installation of a skimmer. Other than that it is in good condition and a bit of TLC should see it filled with life again. I would appreciate any advice on how to 'plug' the gaps back up in the frame if anyone has any?

I also ordered a huge and surprisingly heavy box of Quavers...



Imagine my shock when I opened it to not find delicious cheesy snacks but an 18 month old EHEIM Professional 3 2080 complete with new ehfimech and substratpro media (£115 on eBay, quite pleased with this price). Just what I need for my new tank, what luck! 🙂

The only other purchase I have made is the substrate, having read the forums here extensively I went for 3x9kg bags of Eco-complete and 1x25kg bag of Unipac Black Gravel (£91 delivered from Warehouse Aquatics website).

So the next stage of my build is to test the tank for leaks in the garage and get the filter setup to make sure there are no problems there. In the meantime I have contacted some carpenter friends to build the stand for the tank, complete with bookshelves above and to the right of tank and a corner computer desk to the left side. I am sketching some plans for this all in one unit so will share them here when complete.

I am currently asking for advice on low tech planted tanks in this thread http://ukaps.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=27&t=23266 if anyone would like to chime in with their advice.

Regarding the final goals for the tank

• Happy fish
• Lush plants
• Low maintenance
• Prefer to sit facing the tank than the TV

Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoy my continuing exploits as I post them.

Re: 400L Low Tech Community + Cabinet Build

Thanks Gary, I have grand visions for the cabinet, hopefully I can pull them off!

I took some pictures (sorry about quality, just using my phone) of the tank in the garage last night, specifically for any advice the forum may have on how to plug some of the gaps from the cut in the frame?

Tank, filter, and daughter

Here you can see the large cut out where the old skimmer was fitted


Close up of part of skimmer cut


Another close up of the other side of skimmer cut

Re: 400L Low Tech Community + Cabinet Build

Close shave there nduli, it's certainly a bulky bit of kit which I'm looking forward to seeing in action.

Last night I removed the old corner filterbox from the Rio 400 and cleaned some of the gunk that had accumulated behind using some partially diluted vinegar (malt unfortunately as I don't have white, so the garage now smells of a fish and chip shop).

I may be able to get my carpenter friend to come later this week so the build may go faster than anticipated. The drawn plans are coming together now, I just have a few bits to finish off. I'm looking at doing the bookshelf part with irregularly shaped rectangular boxes, but it's proving difficult to get a design I'm happy with.

Inspiration from houzz.com

Re: 400L Low Tech Community + Cabinet Build

I am concerned about the cost of plants for setting up my main tank... fortuitously I have been given a 44L hexagon tank, with old internal fluval filter. I am now in the process of setting it up as a plant propagator to try and save some cash on the plants by growing them myself in advance. I have all the equipment bar the lights, so have just ordered a '9W CREE LED (3x3W) BULB - COOL WHITE 6000K' , a GU10 Lamp Holder, and some plugs / 3 core to wire it up. I will jury rig some kind of fixing above the tank and house it in the garage, macgyver style.

Clearseal 44L (10G) Hexagon Tank
Fluval 3 Internal Filter
Old Juwel Heater (300W!)
3x3W CREE LED BULB (6000K)
Substrate - Plain pond soil, no capping (bucket of mud / chocolate puddle inspired)

I plan on growing the floor of the tank with Eleocharis parvula for the carpet, and then filling the tank with wood to take Java Moss and Weeping Moss. I intend to use the Tropica 1-2-Grow plants to seed this tank.

Once the tank has cycled I will add in some Cherry Red Shrimp to start a colony that I hope to eventually transfer over to the main tank with the plants. When the shrimp go in I will have to put some tights over the filter to stop the young getting sucked in. I will also need to feed them with high calcium foods because I live in a soft water area.

How does this plan sound? Any comments or advice welcome!

Re: 400L Low Tech Community + Cabinet Build

Good point foxfish. I see that I am probably trying to do too much with the one tank and would be better off just focusing on the plant growth. I thought the one 9W LED bulb would be enough for the tank, given that the plants will be going into a tank with under 1 WPG when they are transferred. I would only be an extra £8 to add another bulb so I'll consider that.... strokes chin.

Re: 400L Low Tech Community + Cabinet Build

Those tanks look great foxfish, exactly what I'm hoping to achieve. One draw back of my plan to use LED lights is that they are so energy efficient that I don't think they kick out much heat. Since I want to have this propagator tank in the garage where temps will be low this will be a problem as there won't be enough heat from the lights to generate humidity. Spending £18 on an undersoil heating cable is a possibility, but this then stops becoming a cheap solution to growing my own plants and starts becoming expensive! Decisions decisions...

Re: 400L Low Tech Community + Cabinet Build

Ah excellent idea thanks! I have the spare 300W heater, I will get a tall jar of water for it and place it in the propagator tank to keep the temp and humidity up

I should be able to get this setup and going this weekend. I will be getting my plants from my local fish shop, which I am lucky is the top voted one in the country... Tri Mar Aquaria.http://www.tropicalfish.org.uk/plants.htm . Nice healthy stock!

Re: 400L Low Tech Community + Cabinet Build

Progress! I have found a brilliant source of wood for the aquarium, there were so many great pieces lying about I was in heaven. I only had 10 mins due to commitments, but this was my haul measured up against a 6 foot fence for scale...



There was about half a mile of managed woodland with piles of the stuff lying around from trees that have naturally reached the end of their life and have been felled. It's all nice dry beech and oak and after treatment should be fine for the tank. I will be going back to find the perfect piece when I get the time. I don't think I have ever been as excited about wood before!

I also have started emersed propagating on the windowsill some Lilaeopsis Novae-Zelandiae and Crypt Nevilli in a simple plastic propagator. As a substrate I used 'J.Arthur Bowers Aquatic Compost', which I hope to use under a cap of eco-complete/gravel in the main tank. We'll see how that goes, I'm expecting the crypt to melt and then regrow because it was underwater when sold.

Info on the aquatic compost from the data sheet:

Chemical characterisation of active components: Loam, peat, limestone and nutrients including potassium nitrate, sulphate of ammonia, mono ammonium phosphate and trace elements.

Appearance: Loam/Peat blend
Odour: None
PH: 6.5 approx.
Solubility in water: Insoluble

Click to expand...

I am testing it to see what it does to my tap water (tap water is ph 7.5, carbonate hardness 1°dKH, general hardness 70ppm GH/KH)

Re: 400L Low Tech Community + Cabinet Build

Contrary to my expectations after 30 hours the pH of the soil water is now one point lower than the tap water, tested side by side. There were small pieces of soil debris still trapped in the water so perhaps these were causing the readings. I will keep testing and reporting the results, including KH and GH next time.

I have now bolted my LED bulbs (6x3W Cree LED 6000K) and mounting to the garage wall, setup a workbench for the tank, washed some tesco kitty litter, leak tested the rio 400, cleaned the impellers on all filters, and ordered dry ferts from fluidsensor. I am propagating plants in standard propagators in the window sills and have now decided to use the small tank as a 'test run' since I would rather make my mistakes on a 40L instead of a 400L!

My final decision is if my substrate should be :
A) 50/50 mix of cat litter / j bowers aquatic pond soil capped with 50/50 eco complete / inert gravel
B) Osmocote / cat litter capped with 50/50 eco complete / inert gravel

Re: 400L Low Tech Community + Cabinet Build

I want to cap the cat litter for the aesthetics as I prefer the black of the unipac black gravel / eco-complete. I realise over time it will become mixed but the rocks I have sourced are black with red streaks (red serpentine) so the substrate should still look ok, I hope.

Two steps forward, one step back...

I have sourced some beautiful rock for the tank from the Lizard here in Cornwall, red serpentine and green serpentine. These are dark rocks with bright earth red and jade green striping, very beautiful that were once even mined to make art pieces with. I filled up a back pack (50kg?) and almost killed myself walking it back to the car but now I have some great big pieces and smaller to use around. Pictures to follow.

Additionally the propagation continues. I have java moss going in jars which has joined the lilaeopsis novae zelandiae and crypt nevellii on the windowsill. In the post from aquaessentials I have eleocharis sp. mini and some Cryptocoryne balansae. The garage tank is up and running awaiting it's plants!

The step back I referred to is my decision to downsize from the rio 400. I initially wanted this tank so I had the size to keep Angels, but I love shrimp so much that they are now out of the question. Having a 400L tank for shrimp seems a little... excessive! Not to mention the daunting task of planting it all. So I'm selling this on aquarists classifieds (hopefully!) and looking to buy a Rio 240 or Vision 260 instead. My planned fauna now revolves around Lemon Tetra, Blue Emporer Tetra, Bronze Cory, Oto's and Amano Shrimp .