Joz's 8'er

[joz]

Hi guys,heres some pics that I'd rushed just to post them up.
So please excuse the shyte quality :blush:

BTW the tank size is 2.4x.75x.6m.

Anyhow this is the only tank I have left setup since moving house.I'd sold of my previous 50+ 3x18x18" tanks and all my 4x2x2' tanks and my 1500ltre water storage tanks.
No more breeding for me anymore :( It just took up too much family time to keep them all maintained.Let alone the water restrictions today.
I used to run a hobby business that got extremely out of control(breeding discus)
And anyway,Melb is not the place to breed tropical fish commercially(especially heating for discus).
So as a few of the guys around here may know,I've put my energies towards another hobby that lets me get away for weekends and holidays.

Some pics.please excuse them as their not much these days :(


Also sorry about the sideways shot of my cannisters under the cabinet. :wacko:
You'll see the no longer functioning trickle filter aswell.
Incase anyone is wondering you can see some black hose thats attached from the overflow on the tank to its own drain pipe,there is also a water inlet that feeds the main tank about 20-30litres of water /day(very slowly) via a timer and an inline KDF filter.
(previously the sump in the trickle which also has an overflow was connected to the drain) This way all water changes are automatic with no overflow prblems.
Once the tank is up and operational it has virtually ZERO miantenance except for gardening and the occassional cannister clean.
Before we moved house it ran for about 4 years without it ever being stripped down.
Ph and hardness remained constant throughout this period aswell, with nitrates at an absolute minimum.

As I've mention elsewhere I've stopped using the wet/dry filter so I can utilise CO2 for plant growth.The trickle filter unfortunately rids the tank of any soluble CO2,but as a bonus does a fabulous job of oxygenating the water.Very happy fish :)
Sad plants :(

[leongross]

Wow, amazing looking tank Joz... Those guys must be very happy in there.

Would it work to have the CO2 on part of the time and the trickle filter on another? I think normally plants give off CO2 at night (now you can tell me if I'm wrong, I never did biology at school!) so having the CO2 on during the day so they can grow and the filter at night? Or am I misguided?

Edit: Don't you mean 8' tank instead of 8"? Eight inches? http://www.thefishtank.com.au/forum/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/ohmy.gif

[joz]

Wow, amazing looking tank Joz... Those guys must be very happy in there.

Edit: Don't you mean 8' tank instead of 8"? Eight inches? http://www.thefishtank.com.au/forum/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/ohmy.gif[/b]


DOH! http://www.thefishtank.com.au/forum/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/blush.gif

[joz]

Wow, amazing looking tank Joz... Those guys must be very happy in there.

Would it work to have the CO2 on part of the time and the trickle filter on another? I think normally plants give off CO2 at night (now you can tell me if I'm wrong, I never did biology at school!) so having the CO2 on during the day so they can grow and the filter at night? Or am I misguided?

Edit: Don't you mean 8' tank instead of 8"? Eight inches? http://www.thefishtank.com.au/forum/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/ohmy.gif[/b]


Thanks Leon,and the fish are all doing well.

Your right with the biology Leon.

The thought had crossed my mind with timers and solenoids to control pumps and CO2 feeds on a 24 hour cycle.But I suppose I just let the idea go.
You see the trickle filter would need to run virtually 24/7 for the bennificial aerobic bacteria to survive and not die and become a toxin to the tank.

1...So to run CO2 during the day is not such a problem with a solenoid shutting it of when the lights go out at night.
2...So during the day the trickle filter outlet would have to be re-directed to run just over itself and not through the tank.Again this could be done with a switching type valve changing the water flow direction,or have two pumps in the sump on timers.One coming on as the other turns off.Your right it would be of an advantage to rid the tank of any CO2 at night but hardly critical enough to warrant any concern..


Also its quite an interesting sight to see plants literally giving of oxygen in a tank with enough CO2.There are streams of tiny bubbles trickling from the leaves.
When you see this it makes you think all is well in the tank.
At this point plant growth is phenominal.
My only gripe as a plant tank,is that at the temperature I run my tank(28-30 degC)not that many plants are happy.

[leongross]

Thanks Leon,and the fish are all doing well.

Your right with the biology Leon.

The thought had crossed my mind with timers and solenoids to control pumps and CO2 feeds on a 24 hour cycle.But I suppose I just let the idea go.
You see the trickle filter would need to run virtually 24/7 for the bennificial aerobic bacteria to survive and not die and become a toxin to the tank.

1...So to run CO2 during the day is not such a problem with a solenoid shutting it of when the lights go out at night.
2...So during the day the trickle filter outlet would have to be re-directed to run just over itself and not through the tank.Again this could be done with a switching type valve changing the water flow direction,or have two pumps in the sump on timers.One coming on as the other turns off.Your right it would be of an advantage to rid the tank of any CO2 at night but hardly critical enough to warrant any concern..


Also its quite an interesting sight to see plants literally giving of oxygen in a tank with enough CO2.There are streams of tiny bubbles trickling from the leaves.
When you see this it makes you think all is well in the tank.
At this point plant growth is phenominal.
My only gripe as a plant tank,is that at the temperature I run my tank(28-30 degC)not that many plants are happy.[/b]

Sounds like to do it would mean a fair bit of work and maybe not so much return. I know what you mean about the oxygen bubbles, we had that as well. Never get tempted to add Apple Snails, we did so they eat any algae, they bred, great we thought; then they munched through $200- worth of plant... Little buggers, sent them packing to <strike>France</strike> the fish shop.

Yeah, discus like it hot! I guess you know that they are eaten by people in the Amazon basin. The best ones I've seen were in Singpore at Aquarama several years ago, huge and amazing colours..

[joz]

A few new inmates at home now.
The other day I picked up a couple of small spotted pleco's,then today I brought home 7 assorted young discus. :)

Poverty has now set in :(