# 25year old tank



## parsonsmj (27 Apr 2008)

Hi my name is Martin and I have been reading this forum for a few months now. So thought it was about time I repaid with some input.
 This is my only tank and its 72"x 36" x 18" but the water depth is 27". This is because it is filtered with a Tunze filter system which fits inside the tank above the water level. It to has been going for the life of the tank, I have renewed the motor bearings once during this period.
I replanted it two months ago and started the EI dosing system which as you can see is working well.
As it holds 530lts of water I am dosing with 45grams of KNO3, 6grams of K2SO4, 6grams of KH2PO4 and 63grams of MGSO4 per week split into three, also 60ml of TPN with a 50% tap water change every week.
CO2 is pressurized from a 3.2KG bottle and pushed into the green with a drop checker with 4dh water, the bubbles per sec to get there is about 5+. This is because it has a high turnover and open top with a surface skimmer which is part of the Tunze system. The gas is on a time switch to switch on only when the lights are on. 
Lighting is an Arcadia series 4 pendant with 3x150w 5,200k MH lamps and 2 x 80w T5 pro plant tubes. They have separate timers and the T5s are on for 12hours and the MH lamps about 9hrs.
I have not added any fish for about 4years now, however I have a population problem. They just breed too well. Swordtails and bristlenose babys are always appearing. There is also Clown loach, Buenos Aires tetra, Congo tetra, and a few others that appear at feeding time.


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## Arana (27 Apr 2008)

Sounds great but i can't see the photos, can you try and repost


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## ulster exile (27 Apr 2008)

Nice tank!!!  Looks very healthy and green.  

Don't know how to make the photo show, but when you change the img tags to url, it links to the picture.

http://lh6.ggpht.com/parsons.is.martin/SBStjrfLIJI/AAAAAAAAAT4/NPfjgW44VbQ/_MG_2226.jpg


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## Ed Seeley (27 Apr 2008)

Think I've sorted the picture in the post but I'll try again here too.




Actually this link only seems to work after you've gone to the link posted.  Have you hosted this on a web page?  If so it only seems to load when that web page is active.


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## Arana (27 Apr 2008)

Oh yes very nice indeed


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## parsonsmj (27 Apr 2008)

thanks. I will try to do better next time


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## JamesC (27 Apr 2008)

Very nice tank. Everything looks very healty. I'm a great fan of Tunze filter systems and have had two in my time. Wish I'd kept them  

Thanks for posting
James


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## Steve Smith (27 Apr 2008)

Image not working for me


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## Ed Seeley (27 Apr 2008)

SteveUK said:
			
		

> Image not working for me



I can't work out why but if you click on the link of the URL then it seems to make the images work too!


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## parsonsmj (27 Apr 2008)

Sorry folks I have added a photobucket link maybe that will work better..


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## REDSTEVEO (27 Apr 2008)

Picture looks great. Twenty Five years old, looks brand new to me, you are obviously doing a brilliant job with it.

Steve.


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## Themuleous (29 Apr 2008)

Wow lovely tank!!

Sam


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## Garuf (29 Apr 2008)

It's never 25 years old, I can only imagine it looking this good and being like Trigger's broom on Only Fool's and Horses where his brooms the same one but has had 15 new heads and 9 new shafts.


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## aaronnorth (30 Apr 2008)

looks great, ho long has the tank been planted like it is now?


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## parsonsmj (1 May 2008)

Thank you all for your kind comments.

I had to replace the lights, so this gave me the chance to replant it all, however with fish still in situ. That was at easter so all that plant growth is in 5 weeks.
The tank is made from 10mm glass and took 6 people to get it in its position, so there it stays. From the start I found a problem with the size, being 36" from the top of the tank to the bottom is fine but with 30" arms YOU CAN'T REACH THE BOTTOM    As you all know prunning at this rate of growth is now a problem, anyone got a wet suit  

I am having a daily battle with hair algae so that will keep me busy.

thanks again
Martin


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## ceg4048 (1 May 2008)

Hi,
    For hair algae try turning the gas on 2 hours before lights on and turning it off 2 hours before lights off.

Cheers,


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## George Farmer (1 May 2008)

ceg4048 said:
			
		

> Hi,
> For hair algae try turning the gas on 2 hours before lights on and turning it off 2 hours before lights off.
> 
> Cheers,



Hi Clive,

Why the CO2 off 2 hours before lights off?


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## ceg4048 (1 May 2008)

Hi George,
                 It's not really necessary to run the CO2 up till lights out. CO2 usage is much more important in the morning but in the late afternoon the consumption is lowered. If your lighting ON/OFF cycle is consistent the plants figure out when lights OFF is and they actually start a shut down sequence a few hours before. Shutting down the gas early also allows you to drive to a higher level of CO2 and to dissipate earlier giving the fish a break. The first 5 hours or so are super important. After that there is much less importance. My gas shutoff time is actually about 4 hours or so before lights OFF. 

The suggestion to turn off the gas 2 hours earlier wasn't that it had anything to do with the hair algae necessarily but that if Martin simply shifts the gas ON/OFF cycle to the left by 2 hours it would help ensure higher CO2 at lights ON  and that he could keep the gas usage the same instead of having it on for two hours longer. Sorry, I should have clarified that.

Cheers,


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## George Farmer (2 May 2008)

Excellent, Clive.  Thanks!


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## alip01 (27 May 2008)

Looks good


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## bugs (27 May 2008)

Nice.


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## Sandra (28 May 2008)

looks great!


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