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All The Gear, "No Idear"

livewire

livewire

Member
Joined
1 Dec 2012
Messages
124
Location
Bristol UK
Hello everyone,

This is the start of my journal, I am gathering everything together in order to set my new tank up so want to document everything down so that I can get advice from people along the way. This way I should have everything ready to set the tank up without to many problems (fingers crossed)

Tank; 90x45x45 Optiwhite Bracless Tank, (Aquariums ltd UK) sat on a Solid Oak Cabinet
Lighting; 2 x TMC 1500 Ultima LED Tiles (with resistors removed to stop high pitch noise when using dimmer) running off of 2 x TMC 2 channel power controllers (Storm function included)
Filtration/Flow; 2 x Tetra Tech EX1200, Acrylic Inflo and Outflow pipes, Hydor 900lph Power Head
Heater; Hydor inline 300W
Co2; 5 KG FE, Up inline diffuser
Substrate; ADA AquaSoil 18liters
Hard Scape; Landscape Rock and Redmoor Wood
Plants; Yet to decide
Ferts; Tropica Specialized Fertilizer, Flourish Excel - Both dosed using a Marine Magic Aquarium Pump

I am hoping to seek advice from you all on hardscape placement, plant arrangements and anything else that will help me along the way, I will add plenty of pictures of dry hardscape set ups so I can get some advice on what to change ect.

Plant wise I would like a lot of plants in the tank so need to decide what style of arrangement I will have, leaning towards a dutch style but am worried that if I use a lot of stem plants the filters will be bending the stems over at the back of the tank.

First things first, here is the rock I have to use; (on my work bench)

a1af6329-eaa4-4046-8233-e1f603e28367_zpsd2c69d11.jpg


Redmoor wood;

8b09ad64-23c6-4ce4-b23c-41c797bc9959_zps41585349.jpg


Oak Cabinet; (in the shop)

2b3d738a-5cfe-4eef-bd9c-23e1c0b3dc92_zpsbd48a853.jpg


Lights; (one is running on the tank in my avatar at the moment)

ce1167ec-3265-469c-865c-533eb98a4700_zps42f70daf.jpg


Dosing pump;

96fc1e8d-ae0e-468b-af7c-dbeb2fe6a26e_zpsf2a62a54.jpg


Acrylic pipes; (spray bar pipes need trimming)

056b40b9-b8bb-4075-a085-1cdbabc2b9a3_zps3ed5a2a2.jpg


Co2 Gear; (running on existing tank, cables ect will be tidied up when in new cabinet)

20130321_215631_zpsbd92c682.jpg


I will get some pictures of dry hardscape set ups shortly.

Cheers
Dan
 
great set up and good luck limewire! which dosing pump (two?) is that and where can I buy it in uk? thanks!
 
Jack12 said:
great set up and good luck limewire! which dosing pump (two?) is that and where can I buy it in uk? thanks!
Click to expand...

If you search on ebay for aquarium dosing pumps you will find them, they come from China but they have good reviews so I am giving it a go.
 
aliclarke86 said:
Where did you find the acrylic pipes? Are they custom?
Click to expand...

Also from Ebay and again from China lol

They seem decent quality, funny story behind them as I made the seller an offer and he came back with a counter offer for less that what I had offered :facepalm: so I snapped them up for a decent price.
I need to trim the spray bar bits down so the spray bar sits higher in the water, the way they are now would mean they would be to far under the surface.
 
you got all the kit for an awesome scape. no pressure :rolleyes:

my one concern is your Co2 cylinder. those trigger handles are not designed to be kept closed. sooner or later it will fail. Best to swop it out for a tap/wheel valve.

hand-wheel-valve-878.jpg
 
Lloyd said:
My one concern is your Co2 cylinder. those trigger handles are not designed to be kept closed. sooner or later it will fail. Best to swop it out for a tap/wheel valve.
Click to expand...
Sorry what a load of bolls. No need to change the valve. No issue keeping handle closed, what ever method. I used cable ties easier to remove.

Or get a FE with holes to enable the handle to be held down with the pin.
hehandle.jpg
 
Lloyd said:
you got all the kit for an awesome scape. no pressure :rolleyes:

my one concern is your Co2 cylinder. those trigger handles are not designed to be kept closed. sooner or later it will fail. Best to swop it out for a tap/wheel valve.
Click to expand...

I agree that the wheel valve would be a better option but fitting it would mean the cylinder would need to be emptied so not to keen to waste around 4KG of Co2 :( maybe an option when the tank needs to be re filled.

When it all moves over to the new tank I will remove the tape and replace with cable ties to make it look neater. It may even have the holes you mention! I never checked before adding the tape.
 
ian_m the squeeze handle is ONLY in place for easy operation while extinguishing a fire. they are designed to operate for a MAX 4-6 minutes burst, thereafter the cylinder will be depleted and the extinguisher would have done its job. IT IS NOT made to stay open for pro longed periods of time. Why on earth do you think they made wheel valves, for looks? Wheels valves are used when we want to regulate the output pressure. This is exactly what we want to achieve in our aquariums. the design is far more robust and reliable than the squeeze valve.
.
 
Lloyd said:
IT IS NOT made to stay open for pro longed periods of time.
Click to expand...
I am sorry, but my FE valves are meant to be locked open all the time. See the picture. These are for use in fixed installations ie electrical cabinets. I can get wheel valved FE's, again for use in fixed installations, but are generally special order and will have issues getting filled as can't just swap and empty FE for full FE. I have seen no lack of robustness and lack of reliability using locked down handles, much like everyone else on this forum. So not an issue.
 
I personally use a 5 kg gas cylinder which I get from my local air products supplier however I would use a FE if I ran out and would have no concerns with the valve failing I've come across many fire extinguishers installed in boat engine rooms wagon engine bays etc all with locked open valves and pipe work designed to burst in the event of fire to release the co2 non to my knowledge have ever failed prematurely not only that but the wheel valve doesn't regulate pressure it merely opens and closes the cylinder pressure in most instances is regulated by a regulator in my case regulated pressure is fed to a fine needle valve before being piped to my diffuser I dare say that I'm am stating the obvious to most member here I just found Lloyds comments a little off putting looks like you have some great gear look forward to seeing the scape enjoy
 
RossMartin said:
Hi,

How did you remove the resistors?? Did you replace them with anything else?

Thanks

Ross
Click to expand...


I contacted TMC who said I could post the tiles to them and they would remove the resistors free of charge. I did just that and they just sent 2 brand new tiles back to me, made me very happy because I am a little OCD and now my tiles have consecutive serial numbers..

A little update on the tank, I have waited 12 weeks for it to be built and it was supposed to be delivered on Friday, I paid the extra for Aquariums.ltd.uk to deliver the tank themselves but they decided to send it via TNT, the missus waited in all day Friday and no delivery!! I called Aquariums.ltd.uk and was told that they would chase TNT up and call me back, didn't get a call back so called them today and was told that TNT has contacted them and said the packaging has been damaged so they are delivering it back to Aquariums.ltd.uk!! TNT didn't bother making me aware.

I would assume the tank has been smashed or cracked, if it has I would expect Aquariums.ltd.uk to get me a replacement sent out sharpish but I wont hold my breath. Waiting so long for a tank to turn up kinda spoils the excitement.
 
Lloyd said:
ian_m the squeeze handle is ONLY in place for easy operation while extinguishing a fire. they are designed to operate for a MAX 4-6 minutes burst, thereafter the cylinder will be depleted and the extinguisher would have done its job. IT IS NOT made to stay open for pro longed periods of time. Why on earth do you think they made wheel valves, for looks? Wheels valves are used when we want to regulate the output pressure. This is exactly what we want to achieve in our aquariums. the design is far more robust and reliable than the squeeze valve.
.
Click to expand...

Please show me a FE which has a 4-6minute burst
 
Well still no tank, I contacted Aquariums.ltd.uk on Monday and was told that I need to call back on Tues morning as person dealing will be available then, so I did and was then told he was "out on the road" I asked what needed to be done to check the tank and was told it will be pressure tested I was promised a call back later that day with an update, surprise surprise I didn't get any call back. So I call on Wednesday and get told again the person dealing is not around and I would have to wait till the next again!!! At this point I just got angry and had to hang the phone up because I didn't want to start abusing the lady on the other end of the phone.

Passed the issue to the wife to deal (as she is a lot better dealing with issues like this) and the wife was promised a call back this morning. No need to guess what happened or didn't happen this morning, no phone call... so tomorrow she will be calling and asking for a full refund (which I am sure wont happen either) if it does I will have to look elsewhere for a new tank.

Such a shame, all the time and chasing I have had to do Aquariums.ltd.uk have not once ever said sorry, the lady I dealt with just seemed like she couldn't even say the word "sorry" if she was paid to.

All in all poor customer service from Aquariums.ltd.uk, I am sure other people have had no issues with them but unfortunately I have.
 
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