# New 60 gallon open-top tank! (56k warning)



## Axeru (Apr 11, 2006)

Started this project some three weeks ago, requested by my parents, that they wanted a new tank. Said and done i built a DIY cabinet, somewhat inspired by the ADA-cabinets, and got hold of a 60 gallon tank. Also ordered the lighting (seaqualux) and some different ehiem stuff (filter 2224 and diffuser) and this is what turned out:

The inside of the cabinet,
with the 6kg Co2 and the filter:

First time filling the tank.The lighting is a 4*54w T5:

Getting the plant from Tropica:

List of plants:
Hemianthus callitrichoides 
Bolbitis heudelotii 
Anubias barteri var Barteri 
Hemianthus micranthemoides 
Microsorum pteropus 
Vesicularia dubyana 
Cabomba Furcata 
Limnophila Aquatica 
Rotala Macrandra 
Lilaeopsis brasiliensis

During the planting:

During the planting 2:

Two days later, When the plants have started to grow:



Please give me feedback on the project, will keep on posting updates, but at the time I am fighting the first algeas, and its alot, never had these big of a problem before, but what to do. I have unplugged two of the four flourocent-tubes and put in 16 amano-shrimps and four otocinclus sp.

If to be hounest, i think this project will crash in the next couple of days because of the algeas, it is just to much....:boom: :boom: :boom:


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## ranmasatome (Aug 5, 2005)

i think the tank looks good for now.. let it grow in and see what happens..
i have a problem with the pictures though.. they are so big that i can't fully appreciate the entire tank.


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## Bert H (Mar 2, 2004)

Looks like you're off to a nice start. I agree with ranma, pics are too big to appreciate them in the whole.


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## darkfury18 (Apr 28, 2006)

I'm no expert at this but I believe you need more fast growing stem plants when starting out. I just set up my tank 4 weeks ago and have been dealing with green spot algea on the glass about a week after setup. They are finally starting to recede though. Just hang in there and add some fast growers to suck up any extra nutrients to help fight the algea. BTW your tank looks awesome compared to my setup


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## John P. (Nov 24, 2004)

CO2 on its side=Bad


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## lemcc (Dec 19, 2005)

> CO2 on its side=Bad


i 2nd this


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## Axeru (Apr 11, 2006)

Have had two previous tanks, both with the co2 on the side. Both have worked out fine. What do you think is bad with it?


Here are the pictures scaled down, hope you enjoy!


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## jeff63851 (Feb 23, 2005)

The tank looks great! 

I don't see any algae yet. What type of algae do you have? The plants look pretty healthy to me. All you have to do is just wait for the Hemianthus callitrichoides to fill in. Anyways, nice start!


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## Axeru (Apr 11, 2006)

jeff63851 said:


> The tank looks great!
> 
> I don't see any algae yet. What type of algae do you have? The plants look pretty healthy to me. All you have to do is just wait for the Hemianthus callitrichoides to fill in. Anyways, nice start!


It's mostly greenhairalgea on the plants in the current from the filter. The Hemianthus have app. doubled in size, but this has proven to be the hardest start for me yet. Have had the c. furcata before, but not the rotala, and it has proven to be difficult, will plant more cabomba to have some more fast growing plants. this sound like a good idea or not?

Best regards


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## Axeru (Apr 11, 2006)

Picture update 2006-06-26, a week later.


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## Jonesy (Jul 8, 2005)

John P. said:


> CO2 on its side=Bad





lemcc said:


> i 2nd this


I 3rd this



Axeru said:


> Have had two previous tanks, both with the co2 on the side. Both have worked out fine. What do you think is bad with it?


Pressurized CO2 is a liquid. By placing the tank on its side there is a risk of getting liquid CO2 into a regulator not designed for that application. The regulator is designed to sample the gaseous CO2 in the headspace of the upright cylinder and the seats and seals (depending on the material) may not handle liquid CO2 very well. At the very least it will shorten the life of the regulator and could possibly cause a regulator failure. Even tanks designed for liquid CO2 dispensing are used in an upright position (they come with a special valve that integrates a dip tube to sample the liquid CO2)

All compressed gas cylinders (unless otherwise specified) whether in use or in storage should be stored and secured vertically.


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## Axeru (Apr 11, 2006)

Jonesy said:


> Pressurized CO2 is a liquid. By placing the tank on its side there is a risk of getting liquid CO2 into a regulator not designed for that application. The regulator is designed to sample the gaseous CO2 in the headspace of the upright cylinder and the seats and seals (depending on the material) may not handle liquid CO2 very well. At the very least it will shorten the life of the regulator and could possibly cause a regulator failure. Even tanks designed for liquid CO2 dispensing are used in an upright position (they come with a special valve that integrates a dip tube to sample the liquid CO2)
> 
> All compressed gas cylinders (unless otherwise specified) whether in use or in storage should be stored and secured vertically.


Ok, sounds fair enough. I buy my Co2 tanks from a guy that has worked with fireprotection for something like 25-30 years, and ha says that it is allright to place it how ever I want, even upside-down, how come?


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## Jonesy (Jul 8, 2005)

Axeru said:


> Ok, sounds fair enough. I buy my Co2 tanks from a guy that has worked with fireprotection for something like 25-30 years, and ha says that it is allright to place it how ever I want, even upside-down, how come?


I've never worked in fire protection specifically but I wonder if CO2 fire suppression systems use the same type of regulator you are using or are they using a different system of delivery (suppression systems and fire extinguishers release CO2 very rapidly). There is also the consideration that fire suppression equipment is specifically designed for a particular task and may include various mounting positions in its design whereas normal compressed gas equipment is not (just because it works in one part of an industry does not mean it is applicable in another). Every safety seminar I have attended has stressed the importance of using cylinders vertically and explained why you shouldn't. If you are using a Milwaukee or JBJ style regulator they are designed to regulate a non-corrosive gas, not a liquid. Again, I cannot speak for fire protection but from experience equipment that works in one application may not be applicable to another and fire protection and industrial gas hardware have different design and safety parameters.

SCBA systems and scuba tanks can be used upside down but they don't contain liquid air (they might contain a little condensed water vapor but that is why industrial and laboratory users buy gases that are pre-dried or use inline driers).

Edit:

On topic, the tank looks really good - nice work


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## Axeru (Apr 11, 2006)

Thanks for the answer and the comments. Yesterday i put the Co2 tank in a upwards leaning positioning, somewhat like 60degrees up. Hope that will change the situation. 


Best Regards


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## corvus (Apr 9, 2003)

New guy here, but would like to point out that I've seen some very different equipment used in Europe vs. what we have in North America. I don't know about CO2 or other gas tanks, but... long story short, I saw enough other scientific lab equipment in Norway that was very strange-looking to this American. Just something to consider.


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## Maxxxo (Mar 19, 2007)

Your tank looks awesome 
I like this style/


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## Axeru (Apr 11, 2006)

Thank you. As a matter a fact, i will be rescaping this friday, a totally new look will be made...

Pictures on friday!!!


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## southpark (Oct 9, 2006)

the co2 tank can be placed in any orientation under the sun

BUT YOUR REGULATOR MOST LIKELY DOES NOT SUPPORT THIS

most "normal" co2 regulators (use by hobbyists and the type) are NOT designed to handle liquid Co2 ingress into the regulator and will FAIL dramatically if this occurs. most likely the manual for your regulator will have specific warnings to this nature if it indeed does not support liquid co2.

what may happen if liquid co2 should enter your regulator is a failure of the diaphragm (freezing up) on both the low pressure and high pressure sides and a sudden catastrophic release of full-pressure (800psi) co2 straight through to whatever end application you're using, in other words, your entire bottle will vent at 800psi right into your tank, at best, it will kill all your fish and cause a huge bubble of water (depending on how much liquid co2 you have remaining), at worst it will cause items to shatter, water to explode all over the place, and possibly your regulator to burst.

i would of course read your manual, but always be careful, you're dealing with a highly compressed gas and as always should be treated with extreme caution.

your horizontal placement was "ok" because it didn't directly tilt the co2 into the regulator, but anything below horizontal, or a full bottle (enough to reach the regulator even in horizontal), would cause a dangerous condition. a partial tilted bottle is ok, i don't recall the minimum tilt, but then again, that should be available in your regulator/bottle manual. Most people/manual/companies recommend vertical placement along with anchoring or securing the bottle to a stand/fixture to avoid the bottle shooting about the room like a rocket and killing someone in the event of a catastrophic regulator failure. there's a reason they use steel bands with latches to secure large fire extinguishers and other pressurized gasses in containers that will sit un-monitored for long periods of time..


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## LyreTail (Mar 7, 2007)

you are absolutely not allowed to place a CO2 tank on it's side like this. The place where you fill the bottle should tell you this. 
The CO2 is in liquid form under about 800+PSI pressure. If the CO2 tank is more than half full liquid CO2 runs into the regulator and once the pressure is released on that liquid CO2, the CO2 expands dramatically. The CO2 regulator is not designed to handle this dramatic increase in volume and pressure on the low pressure side.

I do not know about you but my bottles get filled completely

This setup you have in your picture is not only bad but extremely hazardous to your life and the life of your fish tank. Don't question it, just fix it ASAP


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## Axeru (Apr 11, 2006)

If you would have looked at the date on the first reply, it almost a year since i set up this tank. I have fixed it, so don´t worry.


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