Mission Impossible - UPDATED PICS!!

[smithrc]

fansastic setup...

I think you might need to add more light though (sorry to be the barer of bad news)

we've got 3x40w over our 42gal (thats 50US gals) and its not enough.
our tank is only 16" deep. so to get the light to the bottom of a 24" is going to need a bit more.

It will look fantastic as a planted tank though (the UV filter might be worth a look as planted tanks can suffer from algea... the UV would nip it in the bud - pun intended)

 

[Jimmy927]

i bet it is pretty noist is it?


james

 

[KarlosFandango]

No, it's pretty much silent. The pump for the air curtain isn't the quietest but I have plans for that The Fluvals are very quiet. With the door open it's hard to hear them at all but when closed it's silent.

I really hope that the lighting I have will be enough There's no way I'm getting anything else under the hood. The reflectors that I made may have to be upgraded to NASA quality reflective film, at the moment they are tin foil with varnish over the top.

One thing to note. If you have sliding glass covers make sure the edges aren't too sharp. Whilst moving one across I managed to create my own spray bar by slicing through part of one of the pipes That created another day of trying to get all the plumbing and electrics back in place.

I'll try and get another picture up soon now everything is in place. Also waiting on an order of java moss and fern, so we'll see what it looks like then.

 

[konrad05]

my best suggestion for you is to put your tank specs into this

http/users.bluecarrots.com/dave.mann/pet...in/tankcalc.htm

and see if you have enough lighting. Cause it will a lot cheaper to know from the start that you have low-lighting conditions. Not after buying 100 dollars worth of medium-high light plants. And since your bulbs are right at the top of the canopy, looks like the light-to-substrate distance is greater than 24 inches

 

[Sanj]

Have you thought about T5 lighting? You can easily get 3x 54W under there and perhaps more.

 

[KarlosFandango]

Definately can't see me spending any more on new lighting, it's already cost far too much and there aren't any fish in there yet How much extra are reflectors worth? If I have 120 watt of lighting how much is that with the relectors?

 

[KarlosFandango]

Update....

Thanks to the helpful suggestions made above I now have two more 40 watt bulbs in the hood, just waiting for the ballasts to come. That means I have 200 watt of lighting without counting the reflectors.

Reveived the plants today, they weren't quite what I was expecting (size and shape) but they're in. The java moss being exceptionally good at floating around the tank Here's a pic of the tank with plants.

Looks a bit 'staged' at the moment but they will need time to fill out and thicken up.
Got 5 red backed, green striped swordtails to help with the cycling of the tank and found this already, after two hours of being in there!!

 

[Snowie]

Looking nice.

What other fish are you going to keep? Angelfish would probably like it since it's so tall.

Are you going to add a background?

 

[Rdelusion]

These types of posts are the best!!

Tank is look fantastic Karlos! Good job on the cabinet and lid!

Sand is soo the way to go!

 

[KarlosFandango]

Another update This is with just the blue tube on, looks really nice at night. Moved all my corries into the tank now and they have already spawned, seems they like it.

 

[sakaspuds]

that looks great with the blue light

 

[parker313]

Wow, that looks fantastic! Another vote for angelfish - they love the nice tall tanks