Column Tanks

[Pedrod355]

Hello All,

I am just starting out here ,

I would like a column tank 147L 500mm Dia, they don’t seem popular for various reasons so before i rule this style of tank out i would like to ask some questions so i can make a decision, the water PH is roughly 7.7-8.4. I would like a tank of bright coloured fish that don’t just stay still all the time.

what fish will suit this style of tank ?
How many fish roughly would tank take & sizes ?
Can you get different fish that will swim at different levels as water is more vertical viewing ?
Places to purchase online ?

Any recommendations/info would be much appreciated.

 

[mbsqw1d]

Problem with column tanks, is that fish swim in horizontal directions and not vertically, so whilst you could boast a large volume of water, you're still restricted by the dimensions.
It'd be useful to know the GH (hardness) of your water prior to giving some recommendations. This can often be found by checking your water supplier's website

 

[Pedrod355]

Yes agree, i was more meaning fish that would swim lower down near bottom of tank and others that might swim closer to surface ?

 

[Essjay]

That's the water quality report which doesn't give hardness.

Can you tell us the name of the water company and I'll look for the page you need to go to.

 

[Pedrod355]

Water Quality Search - Scottish Water

Water Quality Search

www.scottishwater.co.uk

 

[Naughts]

check out @Fishmanic 's hex tank, it may compare to the dimensions you are thinking about.

 

[Essjay]

50 cm (20 inches) is a very small swimming length for fish. Depending on your hardness, there would be options of very small slow swimming fish.
But a cylinder of 50 cm diameter and 147 litre volume would have a depth of 75 cm. My tank is 45 cm deep and I can only just reach the bottom to clean it. Would you be able to reach down 75 cm (30 inches)? Especially with a top opening just 50 cm across so you wouldn't be able to lean down into it?


Scottish Water:
First enter your postcode on that page in the link to find the name of your supply zone. Then click on "water hardness data" which will give you a list of documents. Open the pdf for "water hardness 2019" and look for the name of your supply zone in the first column. You need 2 numbers from that line, the one in the hardness as mg/l CaCO3 column (third column of numbers) and the one in the German degrees column (the last column of numbers).

As you'll see in the table, there are a lot of different units of measurement for hardness but fish keeping uses just two. All fish profiles will be in one or the other. And fish keeping gives them different names. mg/l CaCO3 is ppm and German degrees is dH.

 

[Fishmanic]

My 35 gallon tall hex tank is presently stocked with 4 black skirt tetras, 5 neon tetras, one Asian Fisherman and 1 Bushynose pleco. They seem to be happy in the tank. The tanks measures 24 inches tall by 24 inches wide at the widest point. The narrowest width is 20 inches.

Here is my January 2019 Tank of the Month winning entry. At that time , I had 9 serpae tetras, 4 black skirt tetras, an angelfish, an Asian Fisherman, and a Bushynose pleco in the tank.

Fisherman's Paradise​

 

[Pedrod355]

Yes i think i will swerve the column tank, thinking a corner tank “JUWEL TRIGON 190 LED” with a depth i can reach down to the bottom ,would be a lot more practical.

These tanks come complete-plug & play almost, is this a ok way to go or are you better purchasing everything separately?

I have hunted everywhere on local water company page & can’t find anything about “water hardness data” ?

 

[Essjay]

Juwel are one of the better makes so their filters etc are OK. But customise the filter media a bit.
They say the green sponge removes nitrate but it doesn't. Pretend it's a blue sponge.
The black sponge is carbon. Leave it in the cupboard.
The white pads are first in the direction of water flow and get clogged easily. Buy a length of filter wool from a roll (Amazon, Ebay) and use a white pad as a template to cut it to size. That's much cheaper than buying Juwel pads.
Ignore what they say about replacing the media. Just wash it in water taken out during a water chnage and it will last for years.



Scottish Water - when you enter your postcode, what is the name it gives for your supply zone. Once you know the name of the zone, look it up here https://docs.google.com/viewerng/vi...Water-Quality/230320WaterHardnessData2019.pdf

 

[Pedrod355]

Thanks for info,

Think got data now ,

Hardness 75.04 mg/l
4.20 German

 

[seangee]

Measure carefully before making a decision. Those corner tanks take up more space than you think. I got rid of mine because it just took up too much of the room. And they don't provide as much swimming space as a regular rectangular tank with the same volume.

 

[Essjay]

Hardness 75.04 mg/l
4.20 German

That is soft water. Fish profiles will give the hardness for any species in one or the other. They call mg/l as ppm and German degrees as dH (or dGH).
The best place for fish research is https://www.seriouslyfish.com/knowledge-base/