# [Wet Thumb Forum]-Tank machinery & light hood & details inside tank



## DJ (Nov 26, 2003)

Hi,

It's always fun to see how people handle the additional stuff around their tank, that is filtration, hood, light etc. I'm interested in your opinion!

So I thought to show how I did it.

First a picture of the lighthood (best viewed in the reflection in the water. You also see the filter intake at the surface with a prefilter inside.








The I've got a second filter intake near the substrate, also equipped with a prefilter.








Only the prefilters are cleaned weekly, the filter pot is never cleaned.
Then the filter exhaust, which van be directed in all directions








Then an overview of the machine room








In the left the filter intake can be seen and the filter pot as well as the 2280 litres/hour pump, here a detail








In the right there is the CO2 equipment which is in a parallel stream with the main water flow so that the over all water current is not restricted








And with some 12 tubes it is worthwhile to do some DIY to keep it tidy









Further details:
tank itself can be seen in aquascaping section
220x70x60 cm (~225 gallon)
6*58W @ 6*15W
pH 7.0 / KH 6 / 525 µm / phosphate 0.5 mg/l / nitrate 10 mg/l
weekly water change 300 litres (a third)
CO2 (at daytime)
PMDD KNO3, Fe and trace elements.

DJ


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## DJ (Nov 26, 2003)

Hi,

It's always fun to see how people handle the additional stuff around their tank, that is filtration, hood, light etc. I'm interested in your opinion!

So I thought to show how I did it.

First a picture of the lighthood (best viewed in the reflection in the water. You also see the filter intake at the surface with a prefilter inside.








The I've got a second filter intake near the substrate, also equipped with a prefilter.








Only the prefilters are cleaned weekly, the filter pot is never cleaned.
Then the filter exhaust, which van be directed in all directions








Then an overview of the machine room








In the left the filter intake can be seen and the filter pot as well as the 2280 litres/hour pump, here a detail








In the right there is the CO2 equipment which is in a parallel stream with the main water flow so that the over all water current is not restricted








And with some 12 tubes it is worthwhile to do some DIY to keep it tidy









Further details:
tank itself can be seen in aquascaping section
220x70x60 cm (~225 gallon)
6*58W @ 6*15W
pH 7.0 / KH 6 / 525 µm / phosphate 0.5 mg/l / nitrate 10 mg/l
weekly water change 300 litres (a third)
CO2 (at daytime)
PMDD KNO3, Fe and trace elements.

DJ


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## Guest (Jan 4, 2004)

DJ,

Great DIY project. Well organized.

-------------
Regards,
Jay Luto


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## MOR B. (Oct 9, 2003)

wow
need more info as im going establish a new 130cm*60cm*60cm tank in my living room


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## DJ (Nov 26, 2003)

What info do you need?


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## JERP (Feb 4, 2003)

Very nice. I never considered using rigid plumbing instead of tubing inside of the cabinet.

How bout some close-ups of the lighting panel? I can't quite see what you're doing there.

With rigid plumbing directly connected to the tank bulkheads, is filter maintenance difficult? I mean is there enough play in the piping to allow access to filter cartridge?


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## imported_Platy (Feb 4, 2003)

Wow thats FANTASTIC!









I would love to see more detailed pics of your lighting / filter - and a picture of the tank itself









Looks amazing! So tighty and to clean looking
















Best Reguards ~

125 Gal - 4.06wpg CF - 99% flourite - Pressurized Co2 - Uv Sterilization inline - Densly Planted


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## JamesHoftiezer (Feb 2, 2003)

Looks better than mine.

Rigid plumbing is not a problem as long as you have flexible mounts for your equipment. TO remove the filter would be a nightmare if really hard plubed but a few flexible connections will usually take care of it.

*James Hoftiezer
Hoftiezer.Net - Journals and Libraries
Rate My Tank!!

Tank Journal - Aquascape ( Latest / Archive(No Longer Active))
Tank Journal - Parts and Construction ( Latest / Archive(No Longer Active))*


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## TonyD (Mar 25, 2004)

DJ,
Question on your filter intake. You have the standard corner overflow then the lower intake near the substrate. Is that lower one just cut into the same overflow box lower down? Did you drill a bunch of little holes or is it just a big open square with a sponge in it? Then how did you plumb your overflow box down to your filter, is there a standpipe in there?

Tony


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## DJ (Nov 26, 2003)

Hi,

Time to answer some questions.

Jerp - lighting panel close-up.

SOrry, don't have them. In the reflection in the water you can see how it is made: standard water tight end caps, mounted on a rail that contains all wires. The wires er fed to the machinery cable and the last picture (with the timers) shows how the ballasts are tucked away.

Rigid tubing questions

Between (a) the filter intake and the filter pot and (b) the filter pot and the pump and (c) the pump and the exhaust are flexible connections. That's for the reason James mentioned.

FIlter maintenance is VERY easy: I only clean the prefilter at the filter intakes, and I do that weekly. The filter itself (big black pot) is NEVER cleaned. It is filled with really coarse ceramic stuff and after a year of running the filter I decided to clean it. I hardly found anything inside! So I decided to never clean it again. I only stop the filter for 5 minutes a day to give surface feeders time to eat. Then a very tiny amount of dirt is thrown into the tank when I turn the pump back on. But that can hardly be called cleaning.

Platy - filter details

The big black pot (ZP-10) is the filter and in the same pic you can see the EHEIM pump. Question, I understand Ehaim stuff is expensive in the states. I paid $125 for this Eheim pump (2280 lietrs/haur) is that cheaper than in the states?

Tony D - filter intake

The filter intake: I have a standard overflow filter (with a hole in the bottom of the tank) and a separate second hole in the bottom of the tank for my substrate level intake. In the fifth picture you can see them coming from the tank to the machine room (with the two orange valves in the back). With the two valves I can trim the water flow (prefeered choice: very mild surface skimming, most via the bottom intake). So Tony, I don't have the usual struggle with surface / bottom intake youre hinting at







And yes there is a standpipe in the overflow (though in my set-up this is not essential).

Platy - tank pic

Your wish is my command















Cheers,

DJ


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## Ron Kundla (Feb 2, 2003)

DJ,

Your tank looks great and you have some excellent looking angelfish! Altums I believe?

What kind of flow do you have from that pump into the tank? Do you see alot of water movement? Your pictures make it look so serene.

Ron


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## DJ (Nov 26, 2003)

> quote:
> 
> Your tank looks great and you have some excellent looking angelfish! Altums I believe?
> 
> What kind of flow do you have from that pump into the tank? Do you see alot of water movement? Your pictures make it look so serene.


No, ordinary scalare, 'peruensis' grand parents caught in the amazon. This type is rather small, even compared to normal scalare, but they do have very long fins.

Actually the pump moves 2280 litres an hour. But by having a large diameter pipe as axhaust (32 mm internal diameter) and having it positioned horizontally, all you see as water movement is a very mild rotation of the surface water.

DJ


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