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Aquarium suggestions please?

Wisey

Wisey

Member
Joined
19 Jul 2014
Messages
1,061
Hi,

I'm hoping to set-up a planted aquarium after many years away from keeping fish. I'm really struggling with which aquarium to spend my money on, I'm limited to having the aquarium in my bedroom so I am reluctant to go open top due to the evaporation in to the room and I guess potential smells too. I know if well maintained it should not smell bad, but I'm sure any smells will be more noticeable without a top and the evaporation issue is my real concern.

I'm looking for something around 60cm wide, I like the look of the TMC Signature cabinets, they would fit well with the existing furniture and space in my room, so a tank of 60cm wide up to 45 cm in depth would be perfect. I'm planning on going high tech with CO2, external heater and filter in the cabinet.

I'm really struggling to find a tank of the right size, other than ones that come with a lot of stuff I don't need, or that come with lights that I would have to upgrade. Does anyone have any suggestions? Would going with the TMC signature aquarium or similar and then having a glass top cut with holes for the lily pipes be the best way forward?

This might seem like a poor question, but I have spent so much time searching for aquariums and can't quite see what I want and it is really frustrating me! I woke up at 02:45 last night and could not get to sleep for thinking about aquariums, I either need Temazepam or your help, preferably the later 🙂

Thanks in advance!

Wisey.
 
I generally seem to end up with custom built tanks so am not really in a position to recommend one particular tank or another, but I truly wouldn't be worried about smells or evaporation. I used to have 4 tanks totalling 12 square feet in an average sized bedroom and neither were ever an issue - you do lose a certain amount of water, bit unless your room is hermetically sealed it shouldn't build up anywhere.

Sent from my LT30p using Tapatalk
 
depends on your budget really. You can get a custom made from the likes of ND aquatics or similar. You could get a clearseal tank without the lid and put it on set of draws. Clear seal do have a black brace so won't be clear. You could look at making a DIY acrylic. You could hunt around local stores, some of these do make sell clear glass aquariums.
 
I did have a look at ND, but without checking, I just assumed that was going to be way beyond what I could sensibly afford.

My carpentry skills are not great and I don't have access to any sort of workspace for building my own cabinet, so I am probably limited to what is available commercially rather than DIY. The TMC signature cabinet is around £130, that seems like quite good value for a fairly contemporary looking cabinet, certainly more affordable than the ADA cabinets. As for the aquarium, I would be happy with 60x30x36 or 60x45x45 and don't mind paying around £200-250 for it, so I suppose that gives me a budget around £300-400 for a tank and cabinet. I would just prefer to have a top of some kind to reduce the evaporation, but have something that looks fairly sleek and modern. It may be that my carpentry skills will be adequate enough to produce a custom hood, I would not trust myself to make a cabinet that had to hold the weight of the tank, but a hood might be possible.
 
Thanks Murray, I have looked at those myself! It is a bit smaller than I was going to go for, but I like the glass top idea. I'm thinking that a piece of glass, or two pieces of glass sitting on some metal clips might be the way forward. I can cover the tank now, easily removed for cleaning, trimming, feeding etc. and when I move in to my own place rather than renting a room, I can put the tank in the lounge and just remove the glass top and have it open once I am less concerned about the evaporation side of things.
 
you'll get a decent size tank and cabinet for £300-£400 off ND aquatics, their smallest tank is 60x60x60 for £300 you would then just need to buy the lighting. A driver will cost you about £15, the tubes about £10 and the water proof cables about £5. Or you could get the ready made driver cables for about £25 if you don't fancy wiring it up yourself. You would then just need to self tap screw the holders into the top and place in the tubes. You don't even need to bother about reflectors.
 
Ok, thanks EnderUK, I'll probably drop ND a mail over the weekend and ask them to quote on something a little smaller than the 60x60x60 and see what it comes in at.
 
You can get ada lid clips which are tiny stainless steel things to hold a glass lid. Ada also do a large variety of glass lids too and not horrible prices. I got some for my 30cm cubes at £14 each. You'll find them on thegreenmachine. That would maybe let get the tmc signature?
 
Thanks Lindy, have my eyes on these as a potential solution! I dropped a mail to ND last night as well to see if they are prepared to build something smaller than the 60x60x60, but as yet have had no response. I was down my LFS in Aberdeen at the weekend and they had an interesting looking aquarium and cabinet that was about the right size with a nice contemporary looking white cabinet. I don't recall the make, need to go back for another look when I have more time, it was an Italian manufacturer, but I can't for the life of me remember who and I can't see anything like it online anywhere. It's probably going to be October before I actually buy anything, so lots of time to decide, but also way too much time to procrastinate and not make a decision!
 
Just had a look at Askoll, the tank and hood do look a bit like the Askoll Pure White, but instead of a stand, it is a cabinet. If I remember correctly, its a high gloss white with twin doors, but the doors don't quite meet in the middle and there is a centre support which is visible and that's in a grey colour. It did come with some sort of filter and heater, but not pre-fitted in the tank and no doubt it would not get used anyway as I want to fit an external canister and inline heater in the cabinet.
 
So, I popped back to the LFS to pay more attention this time and the tank is a Ciano Emotion 80 White, it looks really nice, but a 128 litre tank with the following stats means I am just going to have to replace everything that comes with it:

Equipment included

- Biological filter

- 1 heater 150 W

- 1 water pump 260 L/h

- 1 2x24 W T5 lighting system

- 1 filtration foam 15 PPI

http://www.cianoaquarium.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=78&Itemid=126&lang=en

I got a good quote back from ND today, so I think that is probably the way forward to get exactly what I want. It was just a basic quote, but going to mail them again with a few more specifics and see how much it will cost to go for Optiwhite glass. I see some people say that they just pay for the better glass on the front and sides and use the cheaper glass elsewhere, would you agree?
 
Well, I was pretty much set on the custom from ND with Optiwhite front and sides and cheaper glass for the base and back, but it took them 4 days to get a quote to me and then they asked for my postcode to quote for shipping, I mailed back and a day later, still no response from them. I guess they might be busy, but in this day and age there is really no excuse for not keeping on top of your e-mails when people are wanting to spend a good chunk of money with you.

After looking at George Farmers TMC Signature featured journal and seeing the cover glass he had made, I'm tempted with going down that route again. I notice though that for some strange reason, the 60x45x30 has clear silicone, but the 60x45x45 which I was more interested in only comes in black silicone. I don't really understand why that would be? I don't think it looks bad in black, I just would have preferred the clear if there was a choice.

I guess I am back to the drawing board again and need to have a think as seeing that journal has put doubt in my mind! Going for the TMC with a cover now gives me a nice braceless tank that I can use uncovered at a later date. Decisions...
 
Wisey said:
As for the aquarium, I would be happy with 60x30x36 or 60x45x45 and don't mind paying around £200-250.
Click to expand...

Well an ADA 60p is 60x30x36 and will cost £150 and is completely made of Opti-white. http://www.thegreenmachineonline.co...be-garden/ada-cube-garden-60-p-60-x-30-x-36cm

It comes with clips and a glass cover can be bought for £22 - http://www.thegreenmachineonline.co...vers/ada-glass-cover-cube-garden-60-p60x30x36

Give ND time though. Sometimes it does take them a little while to get back to you. I bought two tanks of them with the same dimensions as the ADA 60P but with thicker glass (10mm) and only an Opti-white front and it cost £76 for each tank plus £30 delivery.
 
Ouch! Shipping quote from ND came in at £105! I know I live in Aberdeen, but seeing as they say free delivery with a tank and cabinet, I expected a surcharge, not a fortune! Adding that to a £337 aquarium and cabinet quote and thats £442 for a 60x45x45 and white cabinet. Suddenly not such a good deal, time to look at other options!
 
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