Let's create a virtual CAC community fish tank

[CACAdmin]

I thought we could have some fun and build a virtual CAC community fish tank, each of us adding one thing at a time. To ensure there is lots to add, and easy enough for everyone to participate, we'll make it a planted freshwater tank.

We of course have to start with the basic equipment (tank, hood, lighting, heater, filter), then substrate, plants, fish, etc. For purposes of this virtual tank once all the equipment is in place we'll assume the tank is cycled (we don't want to put the tank on hold for 6 weeks :nah: ).

Only rules of the thread: One added item per member per day in a logical order (i.e. can't add plants or fish without water...lol)

I'll get things started.

Tank: Basic 90 gallon (48L x 18W x 24H) (no lid or canopy)

Now your turn to add an item.

[jewels]

We are going to need a stand Jay !!
We are talkin hundreds of pounds here so, , , I propose one like this http://canadianaquariumconnection.com/forum/showthread.php?t=6455

http://i385.photobucket.com/albums/oo292/themotherjewels/th_P1120381.jpg (http://s385.photobucket.com/albums/oo292/themotherjewels/?action=view&current=P1120381.jpg)
That will give us a nice solid base, and lots of room below for all the extras forthcoming.:yes:
I also propose a height of 25" - that will give some of our shorter members some hope of reaching down to the virtual bottom !!:chatterbox:

[fishclubgirl]

I'm suggesting a coralife 4 x 65 watt light 48". That will put us at 3 watts per gallon so we can grow lots of plants, weeee.... As for shorter members, we can always use stools to stand on. We're going to make such a pretty tank though I do foresee some battles over stocking:EvilPlans:

[Pamelajo]

I think the next step would be substrate! Seeing as it sounds like we are going to have lots of plants which I keep in pots,lol maybe one of our plant gurus can pick what substrate we should use in this tank.

[Noctame]

Smooth River Rocks! http://www.geology.enr.state.nc.us/03072002buildingstones/NC%20building%20stones/Building%20stones/Flagstone/River%20rock.jpg

For our hardscape!

[CACAdmin]

Let's see how our virtual tank is doing. As of today we have:

Tank: Basic 90 gallon (48L x 18W x 24H) (no lid or canopy)
Stand: 25" tall wooden stand with lelelling legs
Lighting: coralife 4 x 65 watt light 48".
Hardscape: River Rocks

So, as we need a canopy, I'll add:

Canopy: Perfecto Hinged Glass Canopy

Now your turn to add something.:Smile:

[fishclubgirl]

Substrate with my personal fave mix, one third sand, one third red flourite and one third small natural colour gravel. We're going to have to mix this well and give it a quick rinse too. I like this mix for plants and also find it hides the detritus. Also it looks quite natural too. I think the rocks will look great on top too!!

[Namor]

Neat idea Jay. :Smile:

Let's add some driftwood. I'll go pre-soak this piece.

http://i971.photobucket.com/albums/ae196/SaskPicDude/dw.jpg

:secret: It's actually darker than it looks... there's a big shiny thing in the sky today. :wink:

[fishclubgirl]

Oooh that's a nice piece of driftwood. Will look great with the rocks!! I'm going to add in a Aquaclear 110 HOB filter. Love my ACs and couldn't live without em!!

[fishclubgirl]

Oooh that's a nice piece of driftwood. Will look great with the rocks!! I'm going to add in a Aquaclear 110 HOB filter. Love my ACs and couldn't live without em!!
Oops, can I change my mind?? Owing to the size of the tank, let's do 2 filters, Aquaclear 70s at each end. I only run small tanks so I'm not familiar with bigger tanks. I think this will keep it better filtered though.

[susankat]

I would suggest Eco complete substrate. and a couple of canister filters.

Love the wood, You can send it to me :)

[Ruadh]

I've got the Prime ready.
Looks like we're about ready for water.

Rick

[fishclubgirl]

Ruadh, not so fast....
How are we going to keep the water heated??? Or we could do a wild betta tank!!! On second thought, I've put too much light on it for wild bettas. I'm not an "equipment" person. Can anyone suggest a heater??

[Ruadh]

Well.......ya see..........
I figured that by filling it up, it would spur someone to put in heaters and it kinda worked.

Jeager is a good make.

[Gobies et al]

How about one of the cannister filters being an Eheim Pro ll 2128 Thermal? That looks after filtration and heating without adding clutter in the tank. ::D:

[jewels]

I would suggest a couple of canister filters.

:)
I will go ahead and 'third' the canister.

We only need one , as we have a pressurised CO2 system coming in the virtual mail that will need powerheads. ( more on that later) The can will give us increased circulation options while reducing surface turbulance that would otherwise drive off our CO2:nah:

Call me crazy - with that much light sitting on the glass - do we really need a heater ?

[WhiteDevil]

actually forget the canisters, go with a 175g rated wet/dry w/ pressurized Co2 into a reactor off the return pump.

Also, lets add a heater or two maybe?

300w in sump, gives it a cleaner look.


(yes you'd need a heater, I have 640w above my 210(3.??wpg) above my tank and still got readings of 72 4" below the surface which was 88)

[fishclubgirl]

Ruadh,
Was thinking about it and you're right. How many tanks have I emptied and forgot to turn off the heater?? How many heaters have I fried?? So water first and then heater. Maybe we could do some sort of substrate heater?? This is going to be some tank!!

[Noctame]

I vote to do an inline heater - so its completely out of the tank, and if we get fishies who did they won't disturb it!

[Namor]

:eek: :confused:
:laugh:

{Banging virtual gavel}

Friends... Aquarists... Countrymen... Lend me your ear...

To avoid confusion, and to be fair, lets go with whatever item was added, and not change things for personal preference.

So say we all?

If so... this would leave us at...

Tank- 90g (48x18x24)
Stand- 25" tall wooden with leveling legs
Lights- coralife 4x 65 watt 48"
Hardscape- River Rocks
Canopy- Perfecto hinged glass
Substrate- one third sand one third red flourite and one third small natural colour gravel.
Driftwood- Sorry susankat, it's done soaking and has been placed in the tank. :tongue: :laugh:

Filter- Even though my exact thought was 2 AC 70's, I think (being the second item FCG added that day), we have to go with the next addition having a brand name and that would be an Eheim Pro ll 2128 thermal. Now... not being familiar with this product, is this sufficient heating and filtration?
I noticed gobies said ONE of the canister filters.
Water- Conditioned with Prime.

Furthermore... am I making any sense here?
You see... my gavel is actually a net, so it doesn't make much noise. :laugh:
I look forward to the flora.

[WhiteDevil]

do they even make inline heaters in the 400+ watt range? if not scratch that idea.

I say a fully automatic submersible shatterproof heater.

if eheim pro II go with a pro 3 2080, MUCH nicer filter


Reason I said wet/dry was I run them exclusively on my showcase tank, however my new 210 has a 400 rated W/D and a eheim pro 3 2080 on it.

I had to use 4 jager heaters in this tank at 300w each. to keep a sustained 86 degrees

[Gobies et al]

:eek: :confused:
:laugh:

{Banging virtual gavel}


Filter- Even though my exact thought was 2 AC 70's, I think (being the second item FCG added that day), we have to go with the next addition having a brand name and that would be an Eheim Pro ll 2128 thermal. Now... not being familiar with this product, is this sufficient heating and filtration?
I noticed gobies said ONE of the canister filters.



I use one Eheim Pro ll 2128 Thermal on my 90 gal community tank, as well as 2 sponge filters. It shouldn't require the extra filtration but as for filtration I go with more is better. The heating is adequate to maintain my tank temperature at 75 degrees in a room of 68 degrees. I haven't tried for more as the fish I have don't need really warm temperatures.

[Ruadh]

So we have a heated, cycled tank with substate.
How about some plants?
I have some really nice E. Ozelots



I think 4 would be about right for a background plant.

[CACAdmin]

Wow, we're really making progress. Ruadh, the photo no longer seems to be available so I went looking for another. I just want to confirm, is this (http://www.plantgeek.net/images/plantpics/ozelot3.jpg)the plant you're adding 4 of to our tank?

[fishclubgirl]

I'm voting for some sagittaria subulata as a foreground plant.

[CACAdmin]

For middle of the tank, maybe off to one side, I'll add an anubias v. nana on a rock.

[Ruadh]

Nope, different one Jay.
Although that pic says it's an Ozelot, there are no 'ozelot' like spots on the leaves.
That looks more like an E. Osiris to me.

I sent you a PM with a link to the right one.

Rick

Wow, we're really making progress. Ruadh, the photo no longer seems to be available so I went looking for another. I just want to confirm, is this (http://www.plantgeek.net/images/plantpics/ozelot3.jpg)the plant you're adding 4 of to our tank?

[CACAdmin]

Here's a picture of one of the ozelots (http://www.tropica.com/productcard_picture.asp?id=073F) Rick is contributing. :Smile:

[CACAdmin]

I played with Aquasketcher (http://www.theaquatools.com/aquasketcher) to try to give us a visual of what we have so far. (Couldn't put in the river rocks or attach the anubias to a rock, nor is it our piece of driftwood, but at least it helps give us a visual of what we have so far.
Have a look and rotate it in 3D: http://www.theaquatools.com/content/view-your-sketch&num=13534

Now time to add some livestock keeping in mind it's a community tank. I'll start by adding a female white tip bristlenose pleco:
http://www.canadianaquariumconnection.com/jb_images/White-tipped-BN-Pleco1..jpg

[Ruadh]

How about a trio of Gold Barbs?

Like these http://www.wetwebmedia.com/fwsubwebindex/brbdanrasfaq2.htm

[fishclubgirl]

How about 1/2 dozen skunk (arcuatus) cories too??

[Ruadh]

This is a virtual 90 gallon tank.
We need some more fishies folks!
Anybody have some virtual Giant Danios to contribute?

[Ruadh]

High time for a water change.
Light fish load so 25 % should be fine. Ten CC's of Prime and away we go.

[susankat]

For a tank this size I wquld add a couple dozen cardinals and up the barbs to about 10.

[Melody]

Here ya go Rick!

http://i48.photobucket.com/albums/f227/canadiansinternetdotcom/2010-Pinks_Chestnut_Purple4.jpg

[Ruadh]

Excellant! Excellant!

Gotta speak to them about those public orgies though.

[Melody]

LOL Their buffet table manners need work::D: .

[fishclubgirl]

I think some giant vals in the back would look excellent!!

[jewels]

Hooray, , , we have algae !!:mad:
Brown Diatoms from the new set up, and probably some spiro from co2 depletion, and perhaps some nice BGA and BBA from NO3 depletion.:realmad:
Well, what did we exspect with almost 3 watts per gallon?:swoon:

Up next we have a 20lb CO2 cylinder, Nitrogen regulator, and a 300 gph powerhead to move this all around.

One suggestion per day?

HELP !!

We need some Stemplants quick !! Under high light it will hug the ground and not inhibit the other plants.

Any suggestions?

[Melody]

Tear it down, build it bigger! ::D:

[fishclubgirl]

Hygrophilia polyperma"Rosanveriq", I've got extra!! Pretty pink leaves!!

[Namor]

Whew... just finished another water-change, so it's time to sit back, and soak up the beauty of this tank.

I'll add a comfy viewing chair.-

http://i971.photobucket.com/albums/ae196/SaskPicDude/chair.jpg

[vince0]

bahahahaha

namor, that chair just sitting in front of the tank reminds me of something i do!

it seems that all my tanks are situated in a way that i can sit and do something else, but at the same time there is a direct line of sight to a tank, that way i can best enjoy my tanks

again, classic, just classic. i wouldn't expect any less from a true hobyist!

vince

[Namor]

:laugh:

Thanks vince0.

I'll post a pic of one of the other "dining room" corner tanks elsewhere.

[CACAdmin]

I see eggs on the ozelot leaves. Any idea as to who spawned?

[fishclubgirl]

My money's on the cories as I see more on the glass too.....

[CACAdmin]

If it's the cories, how long do we wait until they hatch?

[Melody]

Snails ate 'em! :DevilGrin:

[alLexX]

im adding a rainbow shark:) there my fav fish

[mollybawn]

I'm virtually sending:
-a mini digital thermometer and
-a dwarf Gouramis named Gabe!

And I'm gonna sit in that awesome retro looking chair for a few minutes and see how they all get along:)