New large tank planning

yashaswibs

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May 31, 2009
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Hello everyone,

I had a 90 gallon aquarium with 2 canister filters, automatic water change system with overflow and heavily planted tank with 6 discus fish. Every one did very well but I moved once too often and gave up keep fishes about 2 years ago.

I am now in my own house and will likely not move for a few years.

I want to keep a large tank. Dimensions are still being debated. 180, 220, 240 gallons are some of the numbers thrown around. At what stage does it become too much of hassle to take care of?
Type of aquarium is still being debated- run off the mill from Marineland or Oceanic, or custom from glass cages. Acrylic vs glass. Rimless vs rim.
Filtration system- canister with bottom bulk heads with inline heaters and inline atomizers vs sump and wet dry.
Quite uncertain about lighting type.

The things I am trying to achieve are
1. Very clean look- NO tube, wire, overflows hanging off the aquarium (although my previous aquarium was very successful it was not great looking due to all the tubes and heaters along with a very nasty looking overflow- which worked very well).
2. Tank will have an automatic continuos water change system but I am still trying to figure out how to do it with no tubes being seen.
3. Tank should be quiet.

Given the above caveats I have looked into Tom's 180 gallon star fire aquarium and his eventual disillusion with canister filters ( I have Eheim and FX5, he had OC) and also long and hard at Gerryd's aquarium.

Help is much appreciated. This is still the drawing board so any number of changes are quite possible.

Thanks
 

Gerryd

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Well if you have 'studied' my tank setup you know I opted for no drilling and switched from dual eheim canisters to a wet/dry and have not looked back. I have the dimmable ATI fixtures and a rimless tank.

I would do this all over again in a minute. Cost is less purchasing a retail tank for sure but then the dims are more standard.

Also, a custom builder can do nice work with overflow and the like that are not ugly at all.

The auto drain/fill you plumb into the lines for filters and whatnot. You have gate valves to shut off flow to these areas, then open the drain valve. This should feed to an actual drain :) Then close that valve and open another tapped into the water lines. You can use float switches and electric valves for all of this if you want.

Hope this helps.
 

yashaswibs

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May 31, 2009
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Thanks for your reply Gerry.

Why did you choose glass over acrylic ? Why not drill the tank? Had you considered slimline type overflow?
Did you consider eheim wet dry?

I have also looked into ATI fixtures and look nice. Are LED lights more aesthetically appealing?

I realize these are pointed questions and I apologize if they appear less than polite but I really am trying only to get to bottom of my available options. You had helped me during my 90 gallon thread and I appreciate your help now.
 

Gerryd

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yashaswibs;116332 said:
Why did you choose glass over acrylic ?

Comfort level mostly. I never had acrylic and was not going to start with such a large tank. Also, I have 4 sides of the starphire glass (50%) discount which is very nice indeed.

Why not drill the tank?

Many reasons but in the end it was about flexibility of scape. Had I drilled the bottom or sides or wherever, there are permanent. I would ALWAYS have to account for their placement with any new scape or project. I did not want that. I can do canister and/or wet/dry as I choose or circumstances change. I thought hard on it, trust me.

Had you considered slimline type overflow?

Any and all types. Many discussions with the builders on what could have been done. In the end I just wanted a beautiful clean vessel to fill :)

Did you consider eheim wet dry?

Yes, again comfort level. Never used one and knew no one that had.

I originally used two large eheim canisters but after a year swapped to a large wet/dry and things really improved from that point on. Much simpler maintenance IMO/IME.

I have also looked into ATI fixtures and look nice. Are LED lights more aesthetically appealing?

The ati fixtures are nice indeed. I can't tell YOU what may be aesthetically pleasing in terms of light lol

I know my threads are 100 of pages long, but the first 10 pages of my original thread discusses all of the pro/cons of drilling vs not, etc. I went round and round.

Hope this helps.
 

yashaswibs

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May 31, 2009
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Thank you for your reply.

I spent some time reading through your initial thread. Your initial post was very similar to what I want in my tank. You then went on to do a Wet dry with sump. The video's are of great looking tank. 2 tubes, 1 overflow and 1 powerhead. Light hung from top. Neat and clean- no questions there.

I have also seen the 180 gallon that Tom started with bottom drilled tank and that looked breathtaking and utterly clutter less . Did he then go on to do a wet dry with overflow as he had enough of canister?

If I can get the tank sorted out the rest appear fairly straight forward- Aquatraders light hanging, wet dry sump with CO2 reactor or canister filter, automatic water change system and be done with it.

To point out where I am coming from

This is the light that I am talking about-http://www.aquatraders.com/LED-Aquarium-Lighting-Freshwater-Bright-p/56283.htm
I have not used this particular lighting system but used T5 from them which worked well.

This is the wet dry-http://www.lifereef.com/trickle.html
I have used overflows from them and they work great.

This is the CO2 reactor-http://www.aquariumplants.com/CarbonDoser_EXT5000_External_Reactor_50000_p/ext5000.htm
I will use the pH meter to dose it.

This is the automatic water change system-http://www.fmueller.com/home/aquaristic/125g/technology/cawc-system/
I have used this in the past with about 100 gallon a day change and it works fantastically. Probably more important that everything else to help maintain the tank. Will be hard wired with intake from plumbing outlet and output to the house water outlet. Just have not figured out how to get the water out- drill the tank vs drill the sump vs overflow.

If I use a sealed wet dry system, will it be a closed loop system them with no risk of flooding?

All answers and thoughts much appreciated.
 

Gerryd

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I have also seen the 180 gallon that Tom started with bottom drilled tank and that looked breathtaking and utterly clutter less . Did he then go on to do a wet dry with overflow as he had enough of canister?

Yep. If you look to the left of his 180 there is some emersed growth that hides the CPR overflow. The wood helps too.

That said, I think if the scape is good and plants are healthy, no one is going to waste time looking at tubes. The CPR do not have a large footprint.

I have a lifereef overflow but the cpr was a bit smaller so I switched. Still have it though as it is top quality.

Murphy's law states there could always be a leak somewhere, but a closed loop eliminate the whole overflow and sump issues for sure. Is why I went that way at first.

But the 02 and simplicity/ease of the wet/dry is much better for planted tanks especially. Although I now have a 75 powered by canisters. My 57 also has a cpr and small wet/dry.

I will swap the 75 out sometime in the future I am sure.

Pretty sure Tom now uses wet/dry on all his tanks....if that says anything, Mostly due I think to c02 retention, better 02, quicker degassing when c02 is off, and ease of maint.
 

yashaswibs

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May 31, 2009
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Few questions still stand out
1. If I do closed wet dry like the aqueon or Lifereef, would it avoid spill overs and be a closed loop system?
2.Is is not possible to do a Wet dry with bottom drilled tank without an overflow or would and overflow (internal or external) be required to protect against the entire water being dumped into the sump- even if it is a closed wet dry like the ones noted above?

As you can see- I am still struggling to give up a drilled tank option and go towards and external overflow.