Yet Another Start From Scratch Documented Build

[jimbooo]

looking good littleimp, thas going to be one awesome tank when your done with it.

i'll follow this with interest.

looking at that heater cable you probably wont need another heater. once it's up to temp the cable and lighting will probably be enough. just a thought. great idea for the hospital tank as well. genius

 

[littleimp]

Cheers for the comments, I'm enjoying it but it's a bit annoying waiting for the bits to arrive so I can get on with it, still saves a fortune in the dodgy lfs I have round here. Mention CO2 & 'more than 1 tube lighting' & they all look puzzled, yet they will quite happily sell you £50 worth of plants

Next job is the backgrounds going on so i can get the sand & laterite in. Then I have to make a hood for the 6 tubes. Connect up all the co2 stuff. The start adding decor, water & plants.


Been playing around with the EI calculator today to see what I've got to look forward too.

My tank will hold 435litres so....

71g/500ml of KNO3 will give me 1ppm/5ml nitrate (0.2ppm/ml)
63g/500ml of KN2PO4 will give me 1ppm/5ml of phosphate (0.2ppm/ml)

I've had to increase volumes because of dissolving issues & I believe dosing in 5ml increments will be easier to control than 1ml increments anyways.

Obviously the solutions ain't going to last as long like this but I don't mind playing chemist & making these up anyways

 

[jimbooo]

why not just double everything and make up 1 litre bottles rather than 500ml.

 

[littleimp]

why not just double everything and make up 1 litre bottles rather than 500ml.

Becuase if you run the calculator the maximum solubility of KH2PO4 in 500ml is only 75g which gives a ppm of 0.24/ml for my size tank.

Even if I doubled the water I'm still only going to get 0.48/2ml so I thought I'd work everything out at 5ml or 0.2ppm/ml to make dosing less complicated. i.e. keep everything the same.

Plus I'd rather not be mixing chemicals at their maximum solubility as from past expericence this can be difficult.

 

[jimbooo]

no double everything. chemical's and water. that way the solubility will be the same ie:

71g/500ml of KNO3 will give me 1ppm/5ml nitrate (0.2ppm/ml)

would be

142g/1000ml of KNO3 will still give 1ppm/5ml nitrAte (0.2pm/ml)

that way your solutions will last longer.

 

[littleimp]

No I see what your getting at now, I thought you was talking about increasing ppm/ml

Didn't realise you was on about making them last longer.

Does anyone know if these chemicals have a shelf life?

 

[EliteFishy]

amazing tank!!

 

[littleimp]

looking good littleimp, thas going to be one awesome tank when your done with it.

i'll follow this with interest.

looking at that heater cable you probably wont need another heater. once it's up to temp the cable and lighting will probably be enough. just a thought. great idea for the hospital tank as well. genius

The heater cable is only 80w so I'm hoping that this is no way enough to heat the whole tank otherwise I'm going to be having overheat problems in the summer & will have to build a thermostat to control it. Their are also 2x 200w heater/stas in their too. Although I find that 1 does more work then the other but it's good to have a back-up.

 

[littleimp]

Few more bits done today.

This is the 2kg CO2 bottle & Deltec gauges, in the background you can see the aqua-medic solenoid to control it.

This is the bubble counter/diffuser I'm going to be using. It's made by Azoo & I've heard good things about these. Their are going to be 1 each end of the tank near the filter inlets.

This is the messy picture overall, still waiting for the juwel backgrounds to arrive & then it will be full steam ahead. Working on the lighting hood next so should be fun. As you can see have managed to get some big lumps of bogwood for the decor too.

 

[simonbrown403]

Looking good mate, will look better when planted.

Keep up the good work.

 

[littleimp]

More done last few days.

Juwel backgrounds were siliconed in.
Suction cups for heaters, filter inlets & azoo CO2 diffusers attached with silicon.
CO2 diffusers attached underneath filter inlet. First one on right hand side using a t-piece to split the co2 line & then another diffuser on left hand side. They are partly buried in the sand along with the airline to help hide them. You can just see top in first picture.

Half of the sand mixed with laterite forst & the then the rest on top. Just got to build the hood & attach the lights & then I can start adding water!

 

[jimbooo]

how exciting. not far to go now.

when are you planning to fill it and get planting?

 

[littleimp]

Building the hood at the moment but got to get the tubes.

Money's a bit tight at the moment what with xmas & some car bills!!

 

[littleimp]

Building the hood at the moment but got to get the tubes.

Money's a bit tight at the moment what with xmas & some car bills!!

My better half has just bought the tubes for me!!
She says she gonna get as much enjoyment from them as me so she's gonna help with the cost. The kids have ordered me 1000grams of r/o right so will be up & running in a week hopefully!!

 

[zig]

Great stuff littleimp, look forward to see you up and running, very understanding missus you have there.........btw i have the same co2 gauges as you (although i need a co2 bottle for mine but thats another storey) mine came as Tunze guages, they came boxed with the picture of the guages and all with Tunze printed on it.........they must be some sort of generic brand because i have seen them as Deltec as well since i bought them.........anyway im happy enough with mine.