I hate Impulse shopping

[Wizzard~Of~Ozz]

Went into the Big Als in Oakville, was talking to the guy about the pricing to drill a tank.....

Ended up walking out with a receipt for a 120Gal (48lx24hx24d) with 2 holes drilled in it.... Now just to get some substrate which I just got my answer about.. time to read.. (Pricing for Turface.. They also sell bulk dry ferts so it might be a bit better then I had hoped...)

This might prove to be a fun weekend or 4 trying to set all this up (properly this time)

I was going to get a 125, but the 6' length and less height were a bit of a deterant for me...

Hopefully I can put together a "making of" and maybe it will turn out decently..

 

[drobertson]

Now what do I do with that old tank.LOL

 

[dapellegrini]

Awesome... Please do. I would love to see a drilled FW tank setup in photos...

 

[PITT]

What is 'drilled'?

 

[Wizzard~Of~Ozz]

You get holes drilled for overflows and outputs.. so you don't have to have tonnes of things hanging over the edge.. This allows you to use a sump and get the heaters and other stuff out of the main tank..

 

[PITT]

Thats seems pretty cool. I Googled it and it seems everything is in the bottom? So how does that not disturb the substrait?

 

[Wizzard~Of~Ozz]

I'm getting mine drilled 6" from the top, 1' from each side. This way I can use a 90deg. elbow to make an overflow, or a 90deg elbow to take it to the bottom for other plumbing ideas..

I wanted to stay near the top for 2 reasons. 1 is pressure, the water pressure at the bottom makes leaks more likely, the other is, if there is a leak or a seal fails, I will only leak out 30Gal and still have the fish, rather then having 120Gal on the basement floor..

The substrate will be happy on the bottom..

The other nice thing about having it is the ability to add a Sump, this way I can use any filtration I want (Including a Diatom Filter) and never have to put it in the actual tank. I can also dry fert into the sump and not worry about the fish eating it..

Lots of advantages to a sump, even if it's nothing but a reservoir. Also, no matter how much evaporates, the water level is always at the top in the main tank..

Trying to add a sump in an undrilled tank can be expensive (permanent syphon overflow), or not really possible at all. it is also, another thing to see in the tank..

 

[PITT]

ahh...

When I looked I only saw bottom drilled pictures and that threw me off the hoses on the tops makes much morse sense.

So would you put both holes in the back or will you see hoses on the side?

 

[Glenc]

Very cool, looking forward to pics of that nice new big tank! Let me know if you need any plants

 

[dapellegrini]

I believe typical SW setups have the outflow from the bottom and top corner overflows. I wish I had a drilled setup with a sump for most of the reasons WoO listed there, but I make do just fine with my canisters. -- Looking forward to photos...

 

[Wizzard~Of~Ozz]

Part 1 is in the house. 400lbs of Turface MVP substrate (way more then I need, but @ 14$/50lb it took a bit to get to the 100$ minimum order. I'm sure I can find a home for a couple hundred pounds anyway,...

 

[Purrbox]

8O 400lbs of Turface?!? Oh my. Well as long as you can think of other uses for the rest of it. I'm still working on my first bag of Turface and don't think that I've even used half of it yet. I've got it in my 2.5 gallon, 10 gallon, and Emersed setup. Before long I'd like to put it in my 5.5 gallon as well, I just haven't gotten enough amibition to tackle changing out it's substrate yet.

 

[Wizzard~Of~Ozz]

I Figure about 200lbs in the 120Gal, maybe 170 and the other 30 I'll use as a filter media in a sump down the road. I'll include 100lbs with my 75 that's going to my sister, and the other 100 will probably be going to Glen for his 75 (provided he likes the look). Wasn't too worried about buying too much, always worry about not getting enough.

For price comparison..

400lbs Turface : 112$ = need about 56$
400lbs Eco Com: 700$ = need about 350$
400lbs Flourite : 780$ = need about 390$

Now, I wonder how it's gonna stack up against them for growth.

 

[Purrbox]

I haven't tried Eco Complete yet, but I definately prefer Turface to Flourite. About the same growth, better color, and way easier to rinse.

 

[Plantbrain]

The ADA AS is great and cheaper than EC and about the same except no washing for 400lbs(oh you will regret that one when you wash T or F) and the volume is less weight as it's less dense materials.

And the ADA AS will produce better growth in most plants and give you a wide range of growing species at a high level.

It's very reasonably priced really.'

See Jeff Senske's site: ADG in Houston TX or in the UK, Aqua Essentials.
Why go to all this trouble and then skimp on the substrate?
It's hard to remove and hands down, if you have ever replanted in Turface vs ADA AS, there's no contest, that makes the tank look better.



Regards,
Tom Barr

 

[Wizzard~Of~Ozz]

Tom, I won't be adding 400lbs, it will probably be at most 200...

In Canada, a lot of the choices you have in the US are not available or are very difficult to get in quantity. I tried looking for Turface, Shultz and another one (which I can't remember) a year ago. Asked in more places then I can remember. actually came across Shultz Aquatic Soil once, the price was absurd and they wouldn't say where they ordered it (obviously)..

I ended up finally finding one at a supplier, the price was cost..If it's a bit of work, it will be far less then the work I put in finding one.

 

[Wizzard~Of~Ozz]

Ok, 400lbs is just way too much, at about 75lbs it has a nice 3-4" base.. Pretty cool volume:weight ratio.. this stuff is pretty light.

Pics to follow setting up. still have a lot of work to go.

 

[Glenc]

Don't worry Wiz, I'll take 100 lbs off your hands!