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My 200g window

Michael1212

Michael1212

Member
Joined
18 May 2019
Messages
82
Location
Singapore
Week 5 (latest) full tank shot:
week_5_front.jpg

***

I've been planning a big tank for some time, then covid happened and my condo renovation got delayed months. Happy to say that things are finally moving forward, so I can start to share a few photos of my progress.

So the main idea here is to build an aquarium window into my office, since I wont otherwise have a view.

The tank arrived just a few months ago into some serious renovation work.

under_construction.jpg


Most of the works have finished now, and this is what it looks like today, from the living room side and office side respectively.

office_side.jpg



living_room_side.jpg


The wall is built around the aquarium, so God knows what I'll do if there is a crack.. but the glass is 1.5cm and it is built like a tank :lol:

I'll share more more pictures as I get some time or have something worth sharing. Thanks for viewing 😁 Also, that isn't my scape, that is currently just a pile of wood I have to work with.
 
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For lighting I have 3 Kessil A360x tuna suns, and another Chinese made pendant light in the sump.
For filtration I have a bean animal overflow into a 50 gallon sump. The return pump is a Sicce Syncra SDC 7.0.

I'm planning to run a co2 reactor on a separate loop with the output being fed into my return pump. Just finished modding my return pump this afternoon to take this flow. Hoping I can get away with just one reactor, but I got a regulator with dual needle valves in case I need to add a second one.

return_pump_co2.jpg


Here is a pic of the co2 reactor. By a German company called Dupla, but it looks a bit like an aqua medic. Curious to see how effective this will be.

dupla_co2_reactor.jpg
 
Michael1212 said:
Here is a pic of the co2 reactor. By a German company called Dupla, but it looks a bit like an aqua medic. Curious to see how effective this will be.
Click to expand...
Looks a lot smaller than an Aquamedic and very much lower quality, will be surprised if that doesnt leak, you might struggle with that for a tank this size!
Great project and your Condo looks awesome from the photos posted ;)
 
Thx london dragon. Yeah the co2 is something I'm a bit concerned about. Will give it a test run, and if it is close but no cigar ill get a second dupla. If it isnt close at all then I guess I'll need some help lol.
 
Had some time to play with some layouts over the weekend. Im finding it quite challenging find something that works ok from both viewing angles. Here is one rough layout idea that I'm liking. The lava stone is temporary. Planning to use petrified wood chunks and white sand as the base instead. Thanks for viewing.

20210406_200126.jpg
20210406_200151.jpg
 
It is pouring down with rain outside today. Perfect weather to spend some time trying to get my tank going. Which is great because my sand delivery just recently arrived.

This is my layout from the front side:

hardscape_front.jpg


and from the back side:

hardscape_back.jpg


Now I just need a truck load of plants... Constructive criticism as always welcome.
 
Thanks for the kinds words Tim. Time for another update.

I spent Friday evening testing the sump and the automatic water change system. After a bit of tweaking with baffle heights, the whole system is pretty silent (around 40db from outside the cabinet). Zero splashing, but the sicce sdc pump does make a slightly audible hum. The water change for tap water is dead easy. 800 liters in one hour with a single twist, and a pinch of Seachem Safe. Zero fingers wet. I'm still working the RO unit out though.

I was meant to pickup my plants Saturday morning, but due to some delays I didn't get them until after the afternoon, leaving me just a couple of hours to stuff them in the tank before dinner. Fortunately I was able to lure a mate over to help with the offer of beers. Here are some day 1 pics from the phone camera:

day1_front.jpg

day1_back.jpg

day1_top.jpg


I got superglue everywhere, but other than a couple of root tabs floating, almost everything has stayed down (so far). I took a shotgun approach to plant selection. 33 different species, and I'm hoping like mad that some of them adapt and like growing in the tank conditions.

Spent this morning trying to work out my co2. After a bit of tweaking and a few hours I've finally gotten ph to drop a full 1.0, but I'm not sure if the delay is due to anything I did, or simply having to be patient. Still a bit concerned about this one.

Got a question: would it be a terrible idea to tip some 5% bleach into the tank? I'd like to nuke the snails and other critters that came in with the plants, and since the tank is not cycled and there are no fish, I figure it would be safe to tip in a cup or two..

Thanks for reading.

Michael.
 
Hi all,
Courtneybst said:
I would say no for the bleach suggestion.
Click to expand...
Michael1212 said:
would it be a terrible idea to tip some 5% bleach into the tank? I'd like to nuke the snails and other critters............
Click to expand...
It is a <"truly terrible idea">, you aren't <"Donald Trump under a pseudonym">? Any combination of strong oxidising agent and plants has the potential to end up very badly.
Michael1212 said:
I'd like to nuke the snails and other critters that came in with the plants
Click to expand...
Personally <"I'm a snail fan">, but I'd try <"baiting for the snails">, either with a <"snail trap"> or <"just with cucumber etc in a net over night">.

cheers Darrel
 
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dw1305 said:
Hi all,


It is a <"truly terrible idea">, you aren't <"Donald Trump under a pseudonym">? Any combination of strong oxidising agent and plants has the potential to end up very badly.

Personally <"I'm a snail fan">, but I'd try <"baiting for the snails">, either with a <"snail trap"> or <"just with cucumber etc in a net over night">.

cheers Darrel
Click to expand...

Cheers, appreciate the emphatic advice :wideyed: :thumbup: Guess I'm influenced by those websites telling me to dip my plants in bleach before letting them enter the tank. Right now I have no visible bugs or snails, just over planning.

It is day 5 for the tank now and everything looks to be in order. No signs of algae, but a bit of fuzz on the wood that I'm not worried about. Some of the easy stem plants have taken off, but I'm not seeing any much difference in the medium tto sloww growing species yet.

It is taking me about 5 hours after co2 on to get a 1 degree ph drop, so I'm starting that up quite early. I notice near the end of the day co2 starts to fill up in the reactors which I assume is because it is more challenging to dissolve gas into the water. I've ordered a stronger pump to see if I can speed things up a bit. My water temperature is 27.5 degrees, and I have 800 litres, so I think it might be slow no matter what. I placed my probe as shown below, right after the overflow, which I think should be fair.

1621483609669.png


Also here is a pic of the reactor for those interested. A single pump driving two inline atomizes then going through 2 reactors with the output going to the sump return pump. Frankly I'm not seeing any difference between the Dupla (smaller one) and the Aquamedic in terms dissolution rate.

1621484049362.png
 
Hi all,
Michael1212 said:
Guess I'm influenced by those websites telling me to dip my plants in bleach before letting them enter the tank.
Click to expand...
It depends a little bit on the type of plant. Plants that are naturally emergent, and have been <"grown emersed">, are less likely to be damaged by strong oxidants, but <"mosses and obligate aquatic plants"> don't have a cuticle and are much more prone to tissue damage.

I have a bit of a <"jaundiced view"> of the advice and products offered by many forums and companies, in some cases the only conclusion you could draw would be that they attempt to deliberately <"mislead the customer">.

cheers Darrel
 
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foxfish said:
Hi Michael, nice set up.
Exactly how does the flow from your reactors enter the return pump ?
Click to expand...
Thanks foxfish. I connected the output of the reactors to the input area of the return pump as shown below. The return pump turnover on paper is about 5x of the reactor pump, so I assume almost all of it is sucked into the return pump.

1621502982824.png
 
Ok ... it is still not very clear to me how this works (sorry)
So your main return pump sits underwater in the sump, you have an independent pump feeding the reactors and the return is fed near the inlet of the main pump?
Where does the feed water to the reactors come from and is the compartment where the main return pump is housed sealed with an air tight lid?
Is that picture of the main return pump and what is the green tube sticking out of the front?
 
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