Yeah, well that didn't quite work out as intended ... A bit like the tank above
. I got into fish keeping when I was about 14, and I gave up when I left for uni, Time rolled on and about 30 years ago I got a 3 foot tank to "start again". I found that whatever I tried I couldn't keep plants ... but then it was never going to happen with an under gravel filter and inert gravel
. We had an alcove in our lounge that would be perfect for a big display tank, and after encountering a few "Dutch Style" tanks at an aquarist exhibition I was determined to succeed.
After a lot of looking about, I found a company called Fit Filtration at Castle Donnington, spoke with Tim, and he built the tank (with the internal filter) to pretty much fill the space available. It measures 134 By 43 by 60cm, is braced, and I built the supports from 4" concrete blocks. Lighting was by 5 or 6 fluorescent tubes, which was way to hot and caused overheating, which was why really nothing was done with it until LED lighting came along.
That wall, and the fire we never really liked so it had to go recently, and I had to find another way to support the front of the tank. The sides and back are supported on a wall built of concrete block.Having removed the wall and put in a new fireplace, just what are we going to do with this? It was always my intention to have some sort of Amazonian biotope, but I just didn't really have a clue with how I could achieve what I wanted. It dawned on me recently, during lock, down that perhaps I could get some inspiration from the internet ... Oh boy ... talk about inspired. I'll be able to raise my game thanks to
@georgefarmerstudios,
@aquascapingamsterdam, and
@juri_js.
I've been ordering stuff and squirreling it away, since lock down, time to get busy and remove the cork bark and wood to be a little bit more creative ... plus I need some way of supporting the front of the tank, but I started ordering stuff, and squirreling it away. Has to be some benefit to working from home.
As you can probably tell, I'm going high tech, with two Dennerle Trocal LED light units, and CO2 injection, but first, lets sort out the "Cabinets", as well as removing that "hardscape". I think I'll have enough sockets ... yeah turns out not so much! Still those railway sleepers should be sufficient to support the tank. I also raised it 34mm so that the base was the same height as the new mantlepiece
Ordered plenty of plant "media" ... there is also a 50Kg bag of swimming pool filter sand that is out of shot as well. ... hope it's enough. (Lava Rock, Various Grades of Nordic Gravel, and some fine 2-3mm gravel) Yes it's all inert, what the blazes will the plant roots feed on?
There was nowhere in the kitchen to fit the RO unit, so it had to go in the "wet" side along with the filter pump, and the Cerges CO2 reactor.
For those interested, the tank filter is designed by FF, and consists of (R to l) the pre filter, really effective, needs to be rinsed daily. The second chamber is for biological filtration, with a chunk of Biohome media and twin DLS (Double layer spiral) filters, and finally a trickle filter for nitrate reduction. With 30 years of hindsight, it's dead easy to say that I would be better off with an external sump ... having never got on with canister filters in the past ... however this is what I have, so it will have to "do". Actually it won't, but that will be taken care of a bit later