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Big Aquarium

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Personally I think to keep things simple'ish and cost efficient you should consider something like a Rio 450 and have the other wall cabinet as storage for things... Try to do things that will minimise work, especially speeding up water changing and making it less of a chore.

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In Jewel cabinets I would have:
  • FX6 filter.
  • Fire extinguisher for CO2.
  • Tanks/bottles of EI & liquid carbon and dosing pumps.
  • Fish food.
  • Tank & plant fiddling tools.
  • Some form of tank controller.
For things in storage cupboard I would have :
  • Other FX6 filter.
  • 200litre (40gallon) water storage tank fitted with pumps and heater. This will make 50% water changes much easier.
  • Handy surface for to place ornaments on. (as well as fish bits, whilst working !!).
I would also plumb in mains water, could even by via 6mm/4mm bore plastic pipe (behind skirting board) if you have a storage tank. Doesn't matter it flow is not 15mm plumbing flow, as long as fills up each week will be fine.

I would also plumb in waste water disposal somehow as 200l of water is a lot to get rid off. You could either plumb to house waste or to outlet of outside wall, to attach a pipe to, to water the lawn.

All these things are to make up keep & maintenance easier & quicker so you can spend more time looking at your tank.

See Zeus's journal on how to do a 500l high tech tank.
 
ian_m said:
You could either plumb to house waste
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I did and never want to go without it again, offcourse my tank is bigger, but just being able to change water without hauling anything is a real bliss.
 
Edvet said:
I did and never want to go without it again, offcourse my tank is bigger, but just being able to change water without hauling anything is a real bliss.
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I just throw hose pipe out of window on to front lawn and pump water out. Saving so much time from, lumping around part filled, sloshing 40l tubs or waste water, to pour down the downstairs loo !!!! Get a nice green lawn as a bonus.

Was going to drill a hole in the outside wall and plumb in a hose connector on inside wall to a "sprinker bar" on outside wall, so I could just connect the waste water hose up and start pumping !!! Again to save time and faffing.

Of course tank controller, have to push/link again....😀 There is cupboard space a plenty to make a decent tank controller, unlike my "all fitting in a tiny box" version. :grumpy:
https://www.ukaps.org/forum/threads/how-to-use-a-plc-to-control-your-fish-tank.42993/
 
Get the hose out to the garden plants/pond drain the tank don't trip over the hose, then move the hose to the water mixer fill the tank don't trip over the hose again, wife complaining about door being open in winter, time to put the hose threw the letter box again, cleaning filter in the cold,rain and snow 🙄
If the walled backed into the garage I would have all the filters etc in their with the hoses coming through the wall, then sink drain in garage
 
I have the kitchen sink on the otherside of the wall, plumbed through the wall and now my sump has an overflow to the sewer.
Every two months or so i throw the gardenhose in the sump and run it for a few hours, to do a large exchange. I have an RO system next to the sump and i can drip either RO only or RO + waste in the sump thus changing about 100 liter/day. Tanklevel is constant always ( surpuls drains away through sewer) and i change 50% per week this way. (luckily we have good water, no prepairing neccesary).
 
Hi Tim, just my experience - I wanted a large tank liked the open top, had the same fears as you so got a 6’ hooded tank.

only kept it a year because it was a pain to get anything in and out with the hood and bracing etc. As mort said everything seemed much more of a chore at that size. May have been the hood and bracing though.

Changed to 2 X 600 and 1 X 900 tank, all EA Aquascaper, now a lot more fun. I have 3 sapes, all cheaper to do than 1 large one and I can concentrate on the detail on each a lot more. Added benefit is I can split up maintenance as much as I want.

They are all in the dining area, no smell, loss of water is about 1cm a week and certainly no damp.

I should have just shelled out for the open top tank that I wanted in the 1st place......
 
Ps. Spend time thinking about what was you want the tank on. That’s the other place I went wrong. No good if it can’t be viewed properly from where you spend your time!
 
Crikey thanks guys, some really salient points, much more to consider than I originally thought.
Siege said:
Edit should have said what wall you want the tank on!!! 🙂
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It has to go on the righthand wall with the door, as in Ian's sketch; there's a radiator on the other wall.

The other thing I'm struggling with is the stand. I don't like the height of the either the Juwel or the EA stand. At around 80cm high, neither tank will be in my eye-line when sitting. Also, I find it overbearing and too dominating. I think around 65cm is about right.
I might have one made or have a go at building one myself; any advice?
 
Crikey thanks guys, some really salient points, much more to consider than I originally thought.

It has to go on the righthand wall with the door, as in Ian's sketch; there's a radiator on the other wall.

The other thing I'm struggling with is the stand. I don't like the height of the either the Juwel or the EA stand. At around 80cm high, neither tank will be in my eye-line when sitting. Also, I find it overbearing and too dominating. I think around 65cm is about right.
I might have one made or have a go at building one myself; any advice?
Click to expand...

We'll thats one big detail I didn't add to my Journal I didn't won't the tank so high myself so I could see it when sitting down. Glad I did as the maintiance would of been harder too as would of needed a box to stand on with a 80cm base. I'm 5ft 10in tall your about 6ft I think so with a big high tank you have to reach the bottom, I need the hood off and tip toes for hand to reach the substraye esp with tank being 60cm depth also. The issue then was fitting all the filters CO2 clyinder in etc. So with it being my first tank had to get the CO2 cylinder and filters before ordering tank. NQ Aquatics did the bospoke base no at no extra cost either. Can't remember what height of base I went for in the end, will measure it when I get home tomorrow.
Only issue with short base is it gives baggy knees in my jeans with my room divider tank as I go round the tank on my knees to see all the details:lol: but tank at eye level when sat down.:thumbup:
 
I think around 65cm is about right
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I did read somewhere (not here I think) where someone chopped 10cm (or more ??) height off his Juwel cabinet to make it lower. So a Rio 450 now 70cm cabinet height as opposed to original 80cm. Basically, he took the Juwel cabinet side panels, internal panels and doors to B&Q and got them (@ 50p per cut x 10 pieces ?) to trim 10cm off using B&Q monster cutting saw to guarantee smooth right angle cuts. Then drilled the dowel/fixing holes in the panels and ironed on black tape on cut edge of doors, reassembled cabinet. Need to be careful of hinge location on the doors, but obviously OK. Job done, 10cm shorter. Not sure I would have the nerve to do this to a new Juwel cabinet, 2nd hand maybe.
 
One advantage of the Juwel system (and others maybe), is the use of tank hood flaps, to allow access to the tank without having to lift the whole hood off. So for feeding and minor fiddling you can get easy access. Also I find it handy (with my Vision 180), I take the flaps off and can lift the lighting unit out (I have the 4 tube one of these https://www.iquaticsonline.co.uk/aq.../iquatics-aqualumi-universal-4-tube-92cm.html) and rest it on the one half of the tank whilst I fiddle in the other half.

I you want the doggie danglers of hood lifter (oh er missus !!) then see this article. Yes another interesting thing to think about.
https://www.progressiveautomations.com/aquarium-automated-hood-lift/
 
I like the low stand idea. I'm in the process of setting up a new reef tank and I made the stand 60cm high and 120cm total with the tank on. The idea for this was partly so I could reach everywhere easily and see everything from sitting down but mainly because looking down on a reef is so much better than the side. As I'm looking down I will have a glass lid for the winter but replace it with a net jump guard in the summer when I have the windows open. I'd at least consider doing something similar with a large planted tank as I think you'd get so much extra out of this view.
 
Our low (view from sitting) tanks are on brick pillars and just wrapped in wood front and sides.
 
I wouldn't worry about moisture from an open top tank unless you plan to have an 40.000 litre indoor koi pond. The average human probably exhales more water than most open topped tanks.

I am extremely happy about my EA 600, the 80 cm stand suits me like a glove (I'm ~183 cms) when working on it, and perfect height when viewing from the creaky chair.

2018-10-26%2008.34.20.jpg

The height is okay too if I throw a glance from my couch 3-4 metres away; although if I wanted the tank next to the couch and regularily observe it from that position, stand should preferably be 10-20 cm lower. So there's that. I find that not having a hood and top glass makes less obstruction for those small tasks you would otherwise postpone if the tank was hooded. This is one of the great things about open top tanks.
If I had any hope my floors could handle it, I would have gone straight for the EA 1200 instead, but alas.

In the end we are all different, and you are the best judge of what suits you.
 
Many thanks for the suggestions and info guys, very much appreciated 🙂
 
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