Howdy y'all.
This is techically a "70g tall" or something like that. 23X23X31. Actual water capacity (based on inside measurements) is actually about 60g.
But, I'm going to construct the stand/canopy such that the viewable area is actually a 23" cube (hide the top and bottom 3", more info below)
$50 for a 4 year old tank, not bad. Glass is 1/2" thick and the tank must weigh 75 pounds empty!
This is my two year old son Isaac, just for giggles and perspective.
Here is what I plan on doing, but y'all offer as much advise/criticism/alterations as you want. This build won't happen for a few months (probably not until Jan) since I have too many grad school things going on to mess with it right now.... so now I'm in the planning stages
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Google Sketchup:
Overall goal-- typical mixed tank w/ mostly smaller tetras and similar fish. Maybe a couple of altums.
Plants--- definitely want some long vallisneria that will reach to the top of this tank.
Do I want jungle val, or italian val? I would prefer they stay around 24" tall.
Also a few standard swords, crypts, etc...... nothing crazy.
I will avoid plants that deteriorate quickly or need constant pruning like cabomba or anacharis (ie, bunched plants).
Decor-- Will definitely have some driftwood. I have a few 18" tall pieces that will look nice in there.
One of the pieces is cedar...... which I'm not sure I like. It's definitely been used before in an aquarium, it came from an LFS and probably sat in the tank for several years. Yet, it's still red and aromatic if you snap off a branch (which I did by mistake.... viva superglue!)..... opinions??????
Lighting--- will be lit with 26 Cree LEDs (50/50 mix of blues and whites). I'm using these right now over a 10g, and it looks stunning. This will be a "medium" light tank.
I should be able to put 50-70ppfd on the bottom of this tank even at 30"
Driving the blue XRE's and white XPG's at 1A with 60 degree optics. Lighting.... check!
Filtration-- Rena Filstar XP4. The XP4 claims a 450gph, but also claims only about 190gph with full media baskets. I'm using the XP4 on a 10g tank right now and the flow is actually quite nice for a 10g (which is shocking to me). I don't think this will be enough water flow for the big tank. I like to see a few plants sway around some
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Possibly a small Koralia for flow near the bottom, undecided. Please suggest.
Substrate---- Right now I'm using a mix of black Flourite and almost-black Carib Sea Flora Max. What would you recommend? I want very dark, almost black.
Stand-- I want the tank up high. The stand will probably be around 40" tall, plus the tank, then a canopy. That puts the tank right at eye level (and out of toddler reach... no cookies in my tank! :thumbsup: ). I'm a cabinet maker so I can do whatever I want
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Stain color----- do you like a dark mocha color.... deep red "cherry", or should I paint it jet black?
I will also build the stand and canopy such that the bottom 3" will be sunk into the top of the stand (ie, hiding almost all the gravel view)..... and the top 3" (ie, the water surface) will be hidden by the canopy, making the tank look exactly like a 23" cube. Plus having the extra hidden top area will give you the impression that you're in the tank looking up. Kinda like when you are at a public aquarium and you look up to the surface of those huge tanks.
