New 60 Gallon (Now 40b) Build!!

[George9]

Lol the wife won't let me get anything else other than the tiny tanks going unless i need it as a QT temporarily. She let me get my big tank so i can abide by the rules for a while

Haha it took me years of persuasion to get my big tank

Anyway, I don't remember, but do you have a stock list for the rest of the fish you're gonna add? Im interested to see what kinda fish your gonna get

 

[skywhitney]

Haha it took me years of persuasion to get my big tank

Anyway, I don't remember, but do you have a stock list for the rest of the fish you're gonna add? Im interested to see what kinda fish your gonna get

I'm interested to see what i get too! Lol i'm just kinda flying blind as far as that goes. I still dont know what all i want really. I'm probably not going to stock it much more after the 5 Black Neons cause i kinda like the calmness that a lighter stocking can bring instead of constant never ending motion (that make sense to anyone other than me ). I've thought about a few options for the centerpiece fish but there is just something stopping me from getting any of them right now, it just never feels quite right. The ones i've thought of are: Angelfish, Dwarf Flame Gourami, and Blue Paradise Fish. I'm super open to suggestions though, i have quite a bit of room left.

My current stocking list is:
Fish
[*] 4x Peppered Cory
[*] 1x Clown Pleco
[*] 1x Albino Bristlenose Pleco
[*] 6x Platy (2m/4f) who knows how many fry
[*] 5x Black Neon Tetra
Inverts
[*] 5x Ghost Shrimp
[*] 2x Nerite Snails (1 zebra/1 blood red)

 

[skywhitney]

Ok, first a couple of pics of my new Black Neons . (work and questions to follow)



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Now to serious matters... I need advice and guidance on plumbing, organizing, and a couple misc questions.

Questions:
- airstones. Do i really need them in there for the O2 exchange or is there alternatives? Powerhead?

- Plumbing. Ok so i'm about to set up a 5lbs pressurized CO2 system and i think a reactor plumbed into my system would be a good idea as this way i can avoid more hoses and crap going into the tank. What and how should i go about this? I would also love to switch out the fluval black ribbed hoses for some nice streamlined clear hoses, best way to go about this? If i do this should i move the output lower into the tank? If i move it lower should i get a powerhead to help move the water?

- Organizing. My tank is full of hardware and i'm not a big fan lol. The picture below shows what the back of the tank looks like and i'd love to be able to clean this up.

Right now i have two airlines going to wands that are burried beneath the substrate (see my first question). If i don't need them then i can cut the hoses close to the gravel and cap them so that in the event i have to hook them back up for some reason it would be easy to.
I also have two submersible heaters, one on each back corner. I would like to be able to replace these with an inline heater(s). I need advice and some guidance on this since it would also correlate to my question about plumbing.

Thanks everyone!

 

[blert]

IMO, you can get rid of the air stones. They are counter productive in a tank with injected CO2. I would not even bother cutting and capping them off, just remove the whole shebang. In an emergency you can always just throw a line in. So long as you have movement of the water surface all will be good.

Hoses... Head to your hardware store and grab a length of vinyl tubing of appropriate diameter. Save a few bucks and just do the output side as that is where all your inline stuff will go (or go ahead and do both sides if you like).

Inline heaters rock, as well as DIY inline CO2 reactors. Plumb into the output hose of the canister. So it would go... Canister out -> reactor -> heater -> tank. This makes priming the canister a little bit more tedious because of the bends and length of the hose but it is not that big of a deal. Here's some pics of how I did mine...
http://www.aquariumadvice.com/forums/f12/new-stuff-finally-installed-186049.html
I have my pH probe plumbed into the intake side of my canister. If you have any question on making the reactor or probe holder PM me.

 

[skywhitney]

Do i have this about right for the plumbing layout?

 

[blert]

Do i have this about right for the plumbing layout?

Put the heater after the reactor so it is the last thing the water passes through before entering the tank. It will help keep your temp more accurate as, when going through the reactor, the water is going to cool down some.

 

[skywhitney]

Put the heater after the reactor so it is the last thing the water passes through before entering the tank. It will help keep your temp more accurate as, when going through the reactor, the water is going to cool down some.

Got it. That makes sense.

Are Hydor inline heaters good. I've seen a few people on here who love them but others who don't...

 

[blert]

Love mine, it keeps the temp rock solid stable. Make sure to get the one with the correct sized barb for your hose.

 

[skywhitney]

Love mine, it keeps the temp rock solid stable. Make sure to get the one with the correct sized barb for your hose.

I keep my tank steady at 81-82. It can handle it fine?

 

[blert]

I keep my tank steady at 81-82. It can handle it fine?

Shouldn't be a problem. My 300 watt can be turned up to 96f. I have it set on 78f and all thermometers read 78f. Spend the extra few bucks and get the 300 watt model just in case you ever have to raise the temp to ich eradication levels.

 

[skywhitney]

Shouldn't be a problem. My 300 watt can be turned up to 96f. I have it set on 78f and all thermometers read 78f. Spend the extra few bucks and get the 300 watt model just in case you ever have to raise the temp to ich eradication levels.

Oh absolutely. I have two 300 watt heaters in there now.

 

[skywhitney]

Got all my stuff for the pressurized CO2 system today! I was also able to build a Rex Grigg inline reactor today.





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Now to tackle the plumbing...

 

[skywhitney]

The intake hose has been changed out to a 5/8" clear PVC braided hose which i love. Much less obtrusive to the eye. I've also noticed a higher flow rate on the output so there is another perk (hose related or not).

Now this hose is a BEAST to work with cause its so thick. It doesn't fit in the hose guides that came with the Fluval so i'm going to have to solve that with a new guide. I was thinking a PVC U-joint that i can feed the hose through. Ideas?

 

[skywhitney]

A closer picture of what i am talking about.

There is a bottom "guide" that you lay the hose on then slide the top piece over the hose and it secures it in place.

 

[blert]

Oh, I get it now!
T'was me, I would build a spray bar out of PVC (black PVC or paint it). Use a 1/8" drill bit for the holes and start with only a handful evenly spaced, you can always add more holes if you feel the need to but it is not easy to plug them up if you find you drilled too many. Match the PVC diameter to your hose diameter. I would also suggest, if you decide to do it, to use threaded pieces instead of cementing the whole thing together so it can be easily disassembled and cleaned. You have successfully built a reactor so it should be easy to design a spray bar replacement for that piece.
Here's a pic of an old retired one I made a while back (Mojojojo likes to help). This was a "deep water" spray bar, used on a separate loop from my filter, powered by a power head for the sole purpose of delivering CO2 mixed water through the tank. You, of course, will want to design it so it is closer to the surface so you can get some surface agitation happening.

 

[skywhitney]

I actually just removed my spraybar a couple weeks ago. I'm more stuck on how to create some kind of container that will help take the hoses over the rim without kinking them. This is going to affect both the intake and output.

I thought about a larger pvc that i could run the hose through to guide it into the tank. I've also thought about creating a pvc system that i'd plumb into the tubes so there was absolutely no concern of a kink. My only drawback about the secong option is that i'm possibly creating an unnecessary failure point for leaks.

Edit: i do have to admit, i'm actually quite nervous about setting all this CO2 stuff and new plumbing up since i've never done anything like it before (i've built acrylic tanks from scratch but all the plumbing was done already and i just had to plug it in). I just dont want to totally screw somthing up and have 70g of water everywhere.

 

[blert]

PVC will hold nearly forever so long as it doesn't get too hot. And by too hot I mean really really hot. You can do a lot of creative things with PVC. Here's a pic of the intake side of that old retired CO2 loop, made of one inch parts.

 

[skywhitney]

Stage 1 of the plumbing done! The reactor is plumbed in and the new hoses have all been installed.

Thanks for the reference pic blert, its exactly what i was looking for!



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Now to set up the CO2...

 

[George9]

Stage 1 of the plumbing done! The reactor is plumbed in and the new hoses have all been installed.

Thanks for the reference pic blert, its exactly what i was looking for!

Now to set up the CO2...

My Gosh! Your plants blew up in the past week since the last pics!

 

[skywhitney]

My Gosh! Your plants blew up in the past week since the last pics!

Yeah they're growing a lot quicker than i thought they were going to! I'm actually going to be selling one of my swords cause im gonna run out of room for two of them lol.