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Slowly assembling a new tank: 45 Gal (24x24x18)

5K views 46 replies 11 participants last post by  SoulstormTX 
#1 ·
I am slowly putting together a planted tank setup. The intention is to have CO2 and the whole 9 yards while being somewhat budget conscious. I don't have a ton of expendable income for my hobbies so this will be pieced together over the next few months so please bear with me on the updates.


The tank has been purchased. It's a rimless 24lx24dx18h (60lx60dx45h).




I have also done a design for the stand and bought and cut the steel to size.




The next update will be an update on the welded stand and the rest of the equipment.


Thanks for looking and I look forward to sharing my progress with you guys.
 
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#5 ·
There is no mention of the glass type on any of the documentation. I dont think it's a true optiwhite or starphire, but it's certainly quite a bit more clear than the run of the mill greenish tint aquariums. It's just not the absolute clearest tank glass I've ever seen.

As far as marineland quality goes, I did my research. I always do probably too much research before buying anything.
Apparently they had some kind of manufacturing flaw that was causing bubbles on the top few inches of the vertical seams. Most of these complaints that I found online were from 2013-2016 and from what I understand, marineland was very aware of the issue. I dont remember which forum it was, but somebody affiliated with the company addressed it. Supposedly they changed the manufacturing process to fix this problem. As mentioned above, mine is perfect. I'm sure I got one from the newer runs because it had to be special ordered.
 
#6 ·
I know I said the next update would be of the stand, but that's been a bit of a hassle as my welder fell through and I had to source someone else to do it for me. The stand should be finished in December or mid january depending on when he has time to do it.

In the mean time, I've been saving and sourcing other parts for the setup and I'll have a post on that soon. Dont expect to be blown away by the gear lol. Remember, I'm trying to get this done on a strict budget, unfortunately.

I have also started up an emersed grow setup in hopes to save money on plants later down the road when it comes time to scape/plant. I started with some clippings of rotala indica from a very nice young lady that works at a local pet shop (shout out to Taylor if you're here). I lost about half of the rotala in the first week but seem to be getting root growth and new growth on the rest of the stems so I'll count that as a win considering it was only 10 bucks out of pocket for a large amount. The reds seem to be really popping so I'm happy about that. I also started a tub of monte carlo in the emersed setup last Thursday and that seems to be doing well. No die off and I'm starting to see new growth. I probably planted in clumps that were too large, but we'll see what happens. I hope to get about 3 tubs of it to work with by time I'm ready to set up.

Thanks for taking the time to read and once again thanks to everybody I've been bugging for help. Much appreciated.
 

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#8 ·
Just a little update. As of today the co2 regulator, solenoid, and metering valve are on the way. I still need a few odds and ends to get it all put together. Huge shoutout to @Bettatail for all the help. He was invaluable in helping this co2 system become a reality.

The stand goes to the welder next week so thats exciting (and more importantly free 😁 ).

Also, my emersed growth setup is humming along. Monte Carlo and rotala indica are growing well. Pics attached.

Besides piecing together the co2 setup, the only thing I,m missing at this point is a heater, a heater controller, and my filter. Filter is going to be the last thing I buy just in case it's DOA on arrival for whatever reason.
 

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#10 ·
Here's a peak into the emersed growth tub. I guess I need to start thinking about how I want to scape this and what other plants I want to add in. Right now I've got rotala indica and some monte carlo. I'm definitely going to try to get some limnophila hippuroides for this tank as well. In order to offset all the red/pink I'm going to need to add 2 species of green stems. Any thoughts on how i might tie all this together?
 

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#12 · (Edited)
So the regulator I bought had a leak somewhere. I tried and tried to find it with bubbles but couldn't. When I was about to give up I noticed bubbles blowing from 2 weep holes in the back of the regulator so it's obviously busted. No amount of tightening the bolt or any of that would stop the leak so it went back and now I have the regulator posted below on the way. For those curious it's an E12-244 with a maximum delivery pressure of 100PSI. I'm glad I finally have what I'm assuming to be a working regulator on the way. The first one I bought never shipped and the second was leaky. It's been so frustrating.

A little tip about buying regulators: ALWAYS MESSAGE THE SELLER AND ASK IF IT'S BEEN TESTED FOR LEAKS. The number of regulators I've come across that are being listed after being previously listed, sold, and returned to the seller is staggering. If they cant say "yes we tested it" and their response is "Guaranteed to work" or "Was removed from a working environment" or "Unable to test" don't buy it. Make sure the seller knows what they are talking about if they claim they did test it. The answer that sold me on this particular regulator was as follows: "Yes, we have a tank of zero air (590). No outboard leak. No across the seat leak. Gauges, CGA are all fine." Searching for regulators is somewhat of an art as well. If you are in the market for one, shoot me a message and I'll send you my evilbay search string that pulls up just about every regulator that's listed (within reason).

In other news, the stand is finally at the welders place. I still need to track down some gussets for him to use, but I'm kinda curious if I can get away with not having them.

Bump:
I'm excited to see it too. Thanks for stopping by and checking this out. Sooooo ready to have it finished, but it will be another few months. I've been paying for all of this with monthly work bonuses! <a href="http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/images/PlantedTank_net_2015/smilies/tango_face_smile_big.png" border="0" alt="" title="Laugh" >:)</a> Nothing out of my actual checks!
 
#14 ·
Looks like you're growing plants well <a href="http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/images/smilie/icon_smile.gif" border="0" alt="" title="Smile" >:)</a>

This will be fun build to watch for sure!
Oh yea. Here are the plants today.
 

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#18 ·
Great build so far! I am jealous of your ability to weld. It's a skill I have wanted to aquire for a while now, so dang useful.

Growing out your plants in advance is another great idea. If you had to do it again would you change anything?
 
#20 ·
I wish I had the welding skills. I got a buddy of mine to do it. The only thing I would change is how soon I started the emersed setup. I've had to throw out, give away, and sell a bunch of stuff.

Edit: Also, I wouldnt have tried rotala as my first emersed conversion. Its apparently really difficult to take from submerged to emersed.
Looks great. After pricing plants here, I think I'll try the emersed start in tubs too. Are you just using organic potting soil?
Just regular miracle grow, and miracle grow indoor potting soil for the monte carlo. No reason behind it, its just what I had.
 
#21 ·
So this originally started as a budget build, but I ended up getting a rather sizeable, unexpected bonus at work so I upgraded my equipment selection a bit without going crazy and ordered pretty much all the remaining pieces today. Filter, reactor, heating control/heater, and various odds and ends all on the way. I'll post more info as everything arrives.

As far as the stand goes, it is in the process of having the gussets welded on over the next day or two. Then once I get it back, it's getting painted and having the wood panels added. Pics soon.
 
#26 ·
Cool build so far, looking forward to see where it is headed (nice work on the very robust stand design so far)!
 
#29 ·
I really like the dimensions of that tank. The stand looks like it will be very nice when complete as well. Will you have a door on it to access the inside? How are the wood
panels attached to the frame?
Thanks for checking out the build. There will be a “door” on the front in the form of the whole front panel being removable. It’s going to be magnetically connected to the inside of the gussets until I find that it doesn’t work. Lol. There will be just a bit of overlap from the panel under the gussets with tabs holding the heavy duty magnets. To open you would push the top back a hair, lift the bottom and pull it out. I will be adding steel handles to facilitate this. Right now the panels are just in with tension. I’m working on getting the back frame of the panels screwed down while keeping everything aligned. The frames On the back of the panels will be JB Welded to the steel for now, and if they hold up to my toddler and dogs they may stay that way. The bottom will have a sheet of epoxy filled mdf where the filter, co2, and reactor sit. That bottom panel will also be screwed to the side frames. It’s a bit difficult to describe, but I’ll post pics as I go.

But basically the top edge of the Panel frames are jb welded to the gussets and the bottom of the panel frames will be screwed to the “floor” that sits inside the bottom of the stand.
 
#31 ·
Random magnet tip:

Take apart a dead HDD, and save the powerful magnets. Mount a bottle opener on your deck, in your bar, cave, shed, basement, garage, fish room, etc. Mount an HDD magnet below it. You will now be able to collect a couple dozen bottle caps before any hit the floor!

Cheers
 
#32 ·
Stand is pretty much done. I just have to add handles to the front panel (pictured below), touch up some stain, paint the top wood that the tank is going to sit on, and screw the top panel to the frame. I decided to mount the front panel over the gussets instead of under just to make my life easier.
 

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#34 ·
It’s about that time. I’m going to put the tank on tonight when my help gets here, and I’m going to start setting up equipment and hopefully start the scape tomorrow.
 

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