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Seeking advice- 60P low tech

Really nice setup legytt.
Troi said:
NB unstrengthened the frame can take a max load of 20 kg on the top...that is according to IKEA.
Click to expand...
Hmm, that's a bit concerning. I have a 125L tank on top of my double width Besta, with only a few corner brackets as extra bracing (to stop it turning into a parallelogram!). I did jump up and down on the top of it and it was fine, so hopefully it'll stay together...
 
Thanks!

Based on concerns about the load on the Ikea cabinet, I am considering buying one of these:

http://www.petsathome.com/webapp/wc...-oak-cabinet?gclid=CMW7orrtlsUCFQT4wgodt0YAog

More expensive, yes. But it would match my Juwel Rio 125 cabinet perfectly, and I would have peace of mind about the load. Also, I wouldn't need to do any kind of DIY to sort out my filter + pipework etc...

It may be a while until I actually have livestock in there. I need to make space for the tank, buy a cabinet, buy lights, set it all up, plant it, get it all stable first! So looking at at least a few weeks!

I don't know the first thing about shrimp either. So I'll have to research their requirements carefully before I buy them.
 
You have to bear in mind that we live in litigation-land these days. Companies will put the absolute lowest numbers they can on their products, as long as it doesn't hinder their sales. People don't generally buy kitchen cabinets based on their load-bearing capacity, so they quite happily stick a very low number on it because its not going to deter 99.9% of their customers, and protects them from any defects, regardless of how unlikely.

I'm not saying don't buy the roma stand, since it looks pretty good (I'd say better) and £90 isn't bad. But for people who already have a tank on this (and have already strengthened it!) I wouldn't be too concerned, unless its being knocked left-to-right all the time, or being dragged around with weight on top
 
I am using another IKEA cabinet for a smaller tank (21 liters, a mini M knock-off) and I have added 4 metal L-brackets to prevent the top from bending. Easy and cheap. I also drilled holes in one side for the filter tubing and protected all the wood joints with a white self-adhesive plastic sheet. The whole cabinet and extra materials cost 35€ (my DIY cabinets cost the double or more: wood, coating, materials, painting, etc. and look much worse).
The good thing about the mentioned Bersta cabinet is that the top wood is attached on (over? sorry my bad English) the side panels (and not attached between the side panels, as it happens in my cabinet) and this improves the resistance. However it is true that it is not real wood, thus making some improvements is always interesting, really easy, cheap... and you sleep much better knowing that your tank won't fall down!

Just two more questions... with the Bersta model I'm not sure what to do with the filter tubing. My first idea was not to use the back panel which is actually a kind of thin paper board (so tubes can reach the sides of the tank just from behind). Another option would be to drill large holes on the sides but my experience tells me that it doesn't look very nice as the melamine white cover cracks/peals and you need to buy some plastic rings to cover the mess. So, my two questions: do you find necessary to drill the side holes? Where do you buy the O-ring plastic protections?

Jordi
 
FILTER.
Will I need one? If so, what kind? All I have is a spare APS 1400lph external filter... which is probably overkill to the point of destroying the shrimp?

LIGHTING.
What kind of lighting do most people use with the 60P? bear in mind this will be a non-Co2 tank so I don't want to overdo it.

HEATER.
Will I need one? Are there any discreet and small ones at a reasonable price?

Any advice is greatly appreciated. I have never kept shrimp before. Cheers,[/quote]

imho
1. No
2. Cfl or T8
3. No

Regards
 
Agree with the heater. No need to have one. My "only shrimps" nano tank (it has been both, low and high tech) never had heaters. I live in a warm area and temperatures in winter went down to 17ºC and shrimps (red cherries) kept on breeding at such temperatures. If you are using mosses, they really prefer low temperatures

Jordi
 
Forgot to mention the no filter applies if your planning on going heavily planted low tech dirt. Without dirt and lots of plants I would put in a filter.
 
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