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Medicineman's 260 gal open top tank#2 journal (56k warning)

121K views 462 replies 117 participants last post by  medicineman 
#1 · (Edited)
Hi fellas.

For this holiday I have myself a present... another 260 gal open top tank for me! Perhaps some people will call me a nut :icon_roll
This one finally came out of the assembly, built everything from scratch. The tank measures at 197 cm x 70 cm x 76 cm, slightly differs from my old 260 gal (#1 tank). The glass is 12mm and polished all around the, including the rims as well. I'm placing this one on the 2nd storey of the house, which is at the balcony. The location is protected from rain and excess sunlight by a huge canopy at the 3rd storey. It is dreched by sunlight at an angle from 2-5pm, so I can save some lighting bills :)
It is quite a pain to get the tank to 2nd level. It took 6 men to painstakingly lift it up the stairs (and it got my toe too... :icon_cry: )

Welcome new tank!





The cabinet is teakwood with some ornamental traditional carvings done by handycraftsmen in central java.

As you see I ordered the cabinet to have many doors and those many grille to improve air circulation.



And another set of overflow system... the one that I love and trust. Overflow is 2" pipe and return line is 3/4" pipe. The height is set so I will have a nice level of water line at around 70-71 cm, leaving just a little space from the top.



This is the bottom "filter tank". Useful as always due to multi functional usage. (you cannot see the whole thing in the picture, but it continues to 60% the length of the main tank).



For the mean time, I'm filling it to test for leaks and to adjust the overflow/return height (just to minimize the splashes and outgassing)
Next will be lighting system, gravel, CO2 and another DIY chiller, not to forget all other stuff. This one is going to be another planted tank.
 
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#6 ·
As some of you may have noticed, this tank #2 is an entirely different set from its sister tank www.plantedtank.net/forums/showthread.php?t=23361 which is my 260 gal #1 downstairs

Due to availability and results, I decided I'm going to use some similar methods on the new tank.

Things to do :
1. Fine tweaking of the overflow filtration system
2. Soak the tank for 3 days then clean it thoroughly
3. Get some of "billboard" metal halides like the one on tank #1 (which is done and I did some homework moving all the ballast and heavy stuff to a remote place). Get some fluoroscent lighting for secondary "viewing" light. Perhaps another T12 or T8. Looks like this in the sister tank



4. Get the air con man to fix in one of those DIY "freezer" chiller like the one in my tank #1 www.plantedtank.net/forums/showthread.php?t=23212
5. Get another CO2 tank and regulator set (which is done and working)
6. Get a good reactor (well this will do the job cheaply - I will need a powerhead for this)



7. Substrate (done). Volcanic gravel 2-3mm, graded and cleaned. 6 sacks of them.
8. Base fertilizer (done). 3 bags @11pounds of JBL aquabasis. Some plant tablets. Some coco peat. Some fern peat.
9. Custom lighting bracket (again I failed to hang them from the ceiling)
10. Several packets of filter floss and friends.
11. Plan for an air ventilation system
12. etc etc... that I will update and will consult with the forum if I'm lost or not sure.
 
#11 ·
Jawdropping The teakwood stand is beautiful, and I love the glass bricks behind the tank!
I tried to look for a decent location to place the tank. It seems that this layout works well enough. The granite floor will also withstand all water and weathering. Kinda risky inside though with those sensitive marble one.
Kinda reminded me of amano's exibition house layout. Remember that? The one tank under stairs in front of glass bricks.

Very nice, looks like you have a nice home as well!
Nice layout there. When do we get the full virtual home tour?
Well.. I think home sweet home, though some people would over appreciate it. The house's no architec's masterpiece but merely a rough DIY design. Frankly it kinda stands out here but I'm not going to boast now.. there are so much more nicer home out there. It must have been the selection and materials that people will love. Thank you for the kind words and appreciation on the house. Well.. virtual home tour.. a little bit around the tank maybe.

Back to the tank...

And so today I hacked off a bit of the top of the return pipe, just to fine tweak it at a desireable level which is 2-3 cm under the water surface. This way I will get just nice agitation on the surface to make those nice water ripples. At the current level, the squirting of water is considerably controlled and I will not get any splash of water to the underside and on top of the rims as well as the sides.

However this proves a new problem as there is more water gushing back to the filter tank below when the pump is off. I'd better add a check valve soon inbetween the return line.

I check out the driftwood I bought several weeks earlier.They are sinking all right. Several weeks of a dip inside the koi pond does the job. Lets see how they look inside the tank later.



Some of the pond inhabitants. I have some shrimps and a shoal of breeding sumatra tiger barb in there as well. They seems to be happy when I add those woods inside.

 
#12 ·
A bit "glass brick" tour...



The balcony features afternoon basking in the sun facility and a high flowing air circulation. There would be some surface water movement due to this air flow every now and then.
Might be too much sunlight from 2-4 but not to worry as it doesnt beam all day. If I'm getting much more than I need, a black sticker will do the job.
 
#14 ·
matthewburk said:
Awesome all around. Wish I could find some black pipe like that to use in my tank, what is that?
Whoops... those "black pipes" are just sillhuette ... tehehe :)
You see that I took the pictures in the afternoon when the sun is shining from behind.

Seriously, those are just regular grey pipes "rucika" brand. If you desperately needs a black pipe, just make a joint connection and paint the pipe black (spray can will do). Just be sure to prep the pipe well. It should last a year or so until you have to undone the pipe, paint it and install it back. (It has been done in saltwater tank by my tank fabricator)
 
#15 ·
medicineman said:
Whoops... those "black pipes" are just sillhuette ... tehehe :)
You see that I took the pictures in the afternoon when the sun is shining from behind.

Seriously, those are just regular grey pipes "rucika" brand. If you desperately needs a black pipe, just make a joint connection and paint the pipe black (spray can will do). Just be sure to prep the pipe well. It should last a year or so until you have to undone the pipe, paint it and install it back. (It has been done in saltwater tank by my tank fabricator)
Just paint it :icon_eek: I think ill try that, any suggestions on what paint to use or not to use? How should I prep the pipe?
 
#17 ·
A quick fill to the overflow filter. I use some leftovers filter floss from the pond last year. Another chamber is filled with coarser, uneven substrate that I graded last week (volcanic river gravel/sand).



I've had my lesson on ungraded gravel. The bigger pieces will surface over time leaving the finer ones at the bottom. So I removed the bigger ones this time.

Ready in sacks for use after washing. I hope real soon in a few days.



Tomorrow the custom made stand for new lighting will arrive (looks alike the one on my 260 gal #1). So I'm going to circuit the control system for the metal halides and make some planning on the wiring. I'm expecting the "freezer" man to come over to install plumbing and wiring with some leftover DIY chiller parts from the sister tank.
 
#18 ·
This is how the substrate looks like when graded. I use only the smaller particels which are 1-3mm in diameter. This kind of substrate proved to work well in my other tanks. The longer it runs in a tank the better it is seasoned. It does not grow compact either. The colour contrast scape layout and forgives some amount of algae that might grow on it. The only downside perhaps is the texture and weight which are beaten by silica sand. However silica sand does not have any CEC quality and too light in colour.

 
#21 ·
The substrate came in. I use almost all of the sacks and end up with an average of 5 inches in depth. A little bit of countouring and it's done.



The metal halides philips control box all went remote in order to minimize the strain to the top of the tank. Like tank #1, the halides sits on a custom made aluminium bracket.



I did some wiring for the halides and lighting bracket and test the whole system. They work just fine :) Again... twice it worked on tank #1 and tank #2.
 
#22 ·
planted at last!!!

Ah... planted at last.

It's christmas and Santa Claus visited me this morning ....:biggrin: yaay.. yaaay... it's time for a christmas present. Suddenly my tank is already scaped..:D
(kidding.. it was just me and my brother doing the job).

So we took a trip to the local fish and plants center where there are 60+ fish shops in a row. Like usually, I prefer to visit on saturdays and sundays when the selection and stock are at its max. We have a look and went home with a trunk full of plants (again I bought too many :icon_mad: ... what a waste)

Like the sister tank #1, the chore is a pain an a huge mess. It took a whole day to prepare for the scape. The driftwood from the pond were taken out for a cleaning and sticking some moss and pellia. Another wood goes with fern and several kinds of bolbitis. I had a bad luck since the main wood somehow floats so I tie it to a brick.

Behold the scaped tank... still murky.







Next is cooling or the tank and the CO2 system (waiting for installation)

Lets wait until the water gets clear and I'll show you around. I'm just too tired to finish the scape right now. Just let them be and wait for another free time for some adjustments.
 
#25 ·
cleared up a bit

Here's the tank after 18+ hours since scaped. The water has cleared up a bit, so I'm taking more pictures as I worked the tank.

I'm delighted to find that the tank stays at 28 C (which cools down over 1 C during the night).



The freezer man arrived to install DIY cooling system. I'm out of luck.. the condenser was leaking. So the guy ran to the nearest store to get a replacement. I took in some in process work while he was away :biggrin:

The half way installed hardwares



look at his stuff..



after he was back, another mishaps happened. He ran out of O2 for welding :icon_roll :icon_roll ... my oh my... Then it was the time for filling the refrigerant after vacumming the compressor stuff when his refrigerant bottle got clogged! oh boy..... :icon_eek:
Ok..ok... he fixed it and the system finally ran smoothly that afternoon :)
 
#26 ·
back to the tank and some details. Clear enough yesterday morning for some picture taking.

The center part



The right part. The driftwood is covered by pellia and moss, personally attached by myself (painstakingly while doing the whole tank). The shops ran out of moss so I tried out pellia.



The left part.



Notice the ferns on the drifwood. I love the look how the driftwood seems to be a tree growing under water, with the ferns as the leaves.



Things get clearer today and the system is running better each day. Temp gets lower and the whole tank looks less messy. Still a long way to go attending the tank, not to mention the scape.
 
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