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Bookcase Shelf Tank

mattyc

Member
Joined
17 Oct 2008
Messages
518
Location
Thelwall, Warrington
Hi all,

It has been a very long time since I last posted on the forum however I do go through the project logs every few weeks.

I have two tanks at the moment a 20L and a 170L, I have been informed by the wife (boss) that she doesn't want the 170L in the house because it takes up too much space and I don't have time to maintain two tanks. She has agreed that we can keep a tank so I have an oak book case and after reinforcing the shelf I am going to put a custom made tank on there.

So the tank, this is being made by ND Aquatics it is a 70x34x38 10mm rimless with an optiwhite front glass (the only visible side) I have also got a glass cover for the tank to stop some of the moisture getting into the shelf above.

Filtration will come from my 170L after I replace all the seals and the impeller, it is an Eheim Pro 3e 2078. I will be getting some new pipework for the tank and the filter will be placed by the side of the book case, this will probably need boxing in at some point so I will be on the look out for some oiled oak.

Lighting and heating, I have an aqua medic 200w titanium heater that I will be reusing with the controller for now. I am going to start work on a lighting and heating controller maybe with an Arduino or possibly a Raspberry Pi. The light unit I have isn't suitable for the new location, I need something that is very low profile to fit in the space I have. I am yet to decide on a light but something like the Twinstar lights might do the job.

I have a pressurised CO2 system that I am going to use and I am investigating a way to add this to the controller.

for things that are going into the tank, I have Cardinal tetras (that are about 4 years old) and cherry shrimp there was a pair of royal whip tail catfish, ottos and dwarf chain loach's but the tanks are very over grown and i haven't seen most of the fish in a while.

Planting I am going to be trying to do something that doesn't take too much maintenance because with 2 kids I just don't have the time. I have some plants that I am going to take from the other tanks

Substrait I used to use ADA aqua soil but again I have been out of the game for a little while so I am going to look for the best stuff for the money.

Finally hardscape I have some different stone and some redmoor root but again I am not sure what I am going to do here.

Thanks for looking
 
Send us loads of photos! please!?

This sounds like an interesting project. My only concern is... how much access will you have to above the tank for maintenance?
 
Yes, make sure tank access is easy else maintenance becomes a chore ...

Project sounds grand - I’d suggest having front & back done in optiwhite glass - in case of scratches :oops:
Also consider the cost of doing the tank completely in optiwhite (for resale)

Given the mixed reviews others have posted here, I’d go look at the tank before finalizing payment

As you have fish to transfer over to the new tank, I’d use Tropica Aqaurium Soil (rather than ADA) as there is no ammonia release (and it’s a great substrate :D), given dimensions of this tank, I’d just use Powder rather than a mixture ... it’s simpler

Look at George Farmer’s set up videos as he advocates low maintenance, long term tanks

Plant heavily from the start with algae free plants, including some fast growing stems (which can be removed as tank establishes - you don’t want anything faster than “medium growth rate” for easier maintenance)

Varied algae crew including various shrimp & snail species
If you’ve lots of tall hardscape/dense plants at the back, run filter inlet/outlets from tank sides (rather than a spraybar from back to front)
 
I have ordered the tank, I am unlikely to resell the tank and therefore just got the front in Optiwhite. The old 170L has been going for probably 8 years and I don't think it is worth much anymore.

For maintenance the shelf above can be removed and I have only put items on this shelf that are in baskets or easy to move.

To brake the project down I am going to do it in stages.

New equipment,
Aquarium 70x34x38 with Optiwhite front
Light unit Twinstar 600E
Light controller S2-PRO
Inflow/Outflow Glass ones from Hinterfield (I wanted Stainless but couldn't find short ones)

Stage 1, the old tanks,
Offline the 20L (DONE)
remove most of the plants and hardscape. (DONE)
Remove as mush of the equipment as possible and clean. (DONE)
Clean out the filter and replace seals. (DONE)

Stage 2, getting things ready
reinforce the bookcase shelf (DONE)
make a shelf cover (DONE used Clear PETG plastic)
Add in LED strip lights around the outside of the tank which wont be visible when the tank is in place.(DONE)
3D Print light mounts (DONE)
3D Print pipe holders (50%)

Stage 3, Hardscape planning,
find old redmoor root and rocks I have in storage (DONE)
Start a basic layout (DONE)

Stage 4, New tank
Apply frosted film to the tank back and sides to defuse the light from the LED strips (DONE)
build up new tank (DONE)
plant and flood (DONE)

Stage 5, Move in,
finally move the filter heater and inhabitants to the new tank (DONE)

Specs
Tank, rimless braceless 70x34x38 with an Optiwhite front.
Filter, Eheim Pro 3e
Light, Twinstar 600E with modified mounts with S2-PRO controller
Heater, Aqua medic titanium heater with external controller
CO2, Pressurised system

Substrate,
Tropica Aquarium Soil Powder
ADA sand
Hardscape,
Seiryu stone
Redmoor root

Plants,
Cryptocoryne parva
Crypt albida brown
Hygrophila pinnatifida
Crypt Balanasae
Cryptocoryne usteriana

Animals,
Cherry shrimp (unknown)
Cardinal Tetras (12, currently I have 6)
Ottos (5)
Dwarf chain loach (3)
Whiptail catfish (3)
 
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This is the old 170L,

I have a lot of the stuff for the new tank now, I only need to ordered the plants.

The new tank is due for delivery at the end of the month.
 

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The new tank is due to be delivered today and some plants.
I plan to start working on this later.
I have however made some progress,
Some of the parts have arrived
20181030_062513.jpg
Firstly I made a control box for all the controllers and bubble counters from some brushed aluminium sheet that I folded and added some cutouts. The heater controller is missing because it is on the old tank at the moment.
20181030_062332.jpg
the next job was to reinforce the book case and add a plastic sheet to protect the wood. the plastic sheet also has the background ambient RGB lighting attached to it.
20181030_062401.jpg
I cleaned up the rocks that were removed from my old tank and did a quick layout to get an idea of how it will look.
20181030_062350.jpg
Next up was to get my CO2 bottle filled and figure out how to hide it (just shoved down the side of the book case)
20181030_062453.jpg
Then it was tome to work on the light, I drew up some brackets to mount on the end of the light so that it would sit on the tank. I then ran them through my slicer and printed them a nice 12 hour print. I wanted these to be in clear ABS but the temperature in the garage is so cold that I couldn't get the bed up to temperature so I had to use my red PLA, I think the printer needs some more modifications to get the bed up to temperature and maybe an ambient heater. I had a helper with the printer.
22.jpg 20181030_062427.jpg 20181030_062433.jpg
Finally this is a terrible picture of the book case.
20181030_062527.jpg
I will add some updates when i have the tank later.
 
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The tank arrived ok, I have put it on its side to apply the frosting film to the back.
20181030_191340.jpg

Next job is to get some ideas built for the hardscape.
 
I started by getting the tank in place,
this is the rock hardscape only, I think that this layout works well, the lines on all the rocks tie up and slope down the the left.
20181030_214538.jpg
This scape was going to have some wood too and when I added that I think it sets off the stone. This is the setup I have settled on for now.
20181030_230749.jpg
There are some extra images from different angles and some other things i have done for those who are interested.
 

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Well I got all the equipment moved and the new tank planted.

I still have some jobs to do,
Finish removing the old tank
Tidy up the new tank
Remove the weights and cable ties from the wood.

anyway here is the full tank shot, I will add more once I have had time to take them.

planted.jpg
 
Love this , turning out really well . Love the natural layout and plant choices
 
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