My 265g low tech

[bloo]

My 265g Lowtech little over a year old. 84"x24" footprint. 30" tall.

2xT5HO over the whole length (2x4' and 2x3') about 36" over the substrate with good reflectors, 10 hour photoperiod.

Fluval FX5 canister. Tunze streams on a controller for circulation (overkill but I had them when I converted from reef).

One overflow on this tank is plumbed outside. I pump my RO waste water into the tank (drinking + 55g reef) and it overflows to the garden. No work water changes AND I water the garden AND I don't waste my RO waste water for my drinking/reef. I mean NONE. The other overflow is just plugged and I run the canister output into it and let it overflow into the tank. This means no sump even though the tank is drilled.

Substrate is miracle grow 'organic choice' capped with Flourite Black sand. About 2-3 inches.

No ferts. I started with ferts (ala Tom Barr low tech) but have found them unnecessary. Probably because of the large amount of RO waste water I put in constantly. I haven't tested it, but I assume it is a nice source of nitrates and phosphates on top of the soil substrate. Just a guess there, but my work tank needs weekly ferts and this tank doesn't.

You can see I'm still working on the java fern to cover the overflows. The left side is farther along, the right I just got planted a few weeks ago. All that java fern came from my work 65g tank low tech, which grows a ridiculous amount of it. I can't wait for it to finish growing out, because the ugly overflows have been the worst part of the tank. I'm almost there!

This has been, by a wide margin, the easiest tank I've ever set up. At least once all the setup and planting were finished (that wasn't so easy).

Plants:

Crypt parva
Crypt lutea
Crypt Balansae
Crypt Wendtii 'mi oya'
Java Fern 'needle leaf'

Fish:

13 Denison Barbs
20 Tiger Barbs
7 Panda Cories (just from a broken down tank, nowhere else to put em!)
Soon I'll finally be adding the rainbows. Boseman and Praecox. Then I'm done. I think.

Any comments appreciated! Except ones about my poor photography skills!

[jcgd]

Holy crow, RO waste water only? Have you ever tested that water? I assume it would be very hard.

Looks amazing!

[bloo]

I've only checked the pH and it runs 7.7-7.8. It is only about 20% more concentrated than my tap. I'm sure its hard but not nearly as hard as some people get straight out of the tap. Never had a problem.

[jcgd]

Very cool, and very nice setup you have here. I have some questions for you.

You said the second overflow drains outside. Do you run a sump? If so, how do you get the water to drain out of the system rather than simply increasing the volume in the sump?

[f8puffy]

Simple, simple, simple...and yet, still awesome. I love it. Good work man

[~Volatile~]

Looks great! Love the jungle-y look

[bloo]

Thanks for the compliments everyone.

jcgd, I have no sump. The tank is drilled with 2 overflows. The left overflow is plumbed to drain to my garden. I ran pvc through the wall of my house, then attached it to a garden hose that I move around in the garden to water my veggies at a slow flow when the RO sends waste water to the tank. The right overflow is plugged, so it is just a chamber in the tank. I run the canister output into that overflow, but instead of flowing under the tank it comes out backwards and flows INTO the tank over the top weir of the overflow.

I hope I described that well enough. It is a lot simpler than it sounds.

[jcgd]

No that makes perfect sense and sounds very simple. That is what I was planning on doing (with a cannister and overflow) but I am trying to figure out how to use a sump. Your method is probably much simpler overall. Thanks for the explanation.

[bloo]

Sumps have their place, but I wanted to reuse my RO waste water more than I wanted a sump so I went this route.