Starting a new tank

[beagle]

Hi all,

I currently run a 4 feet planted shrimp/cory tank. I am thinking of starting a new 5 or 6 feet planted tank and I need some advice. 3 questions to start with.

First, can anyone recommend me a good and reputable tank/cabinent maker? Tank safety and quality is my pre-dominant consideration as I have young children at home. My current tank is an Eheim tank which is very well-made. Unfortunately its small and Eheim doesnt make bigger tanks. I know Juwel has a 5 feet but I don't like their design. That is why I am considering custom-made tanks but I worry about workmanship.
You can also PM me on this.

Second, if I were to custom-make a tank, should I also include a sump-tank? I know sump-tanks work great for marine...but how about planted? Otherwise, I will run an Eheim cannister filter. In this case, what is bigger than the Eheim 2028 (which I currently use)?

Third, what sort of gravel should I use? For my current 4 feet, I use Dennerle deponit mix and gravel. Besides Sam Yick, I am not sure who else stock these. Trying to source for a better price considering the amount I need. Otherwise, what is the next best alternative?

This is a hobby for me to share some quality time with my boy.

Many many thanks for your thoughts,
Beagle

[lorba]

1. The eheim tank is a covered one? Get a open top one. A source that I know that do custom tank and cabinet is Nature Aquarium at thomson.

2. No experience with sump in planted. There could be issue on losing co2. Someone please advice. Anyway, for me, i would run 2 filters at both corner for better water circulation. On top of this, one can act as a mechanical filter which be washed with frequent intervals. The other one can act as the biofilter, untouched.

3. If you want cheaper material, try JBL base fertilizer and normal USA sand.

[Nicky]

Soon Heng make good quality tank and cabinet. They have many years of experience and I have ordered a 6ft tank-cabinet from the shop (the one near Serangoon) with no regrets and lots of satsifaction.

Few folks/shops in the Singapore can make total brace-less tank. If you really want it (brace-less) pls pm me and I will share more details with you. If you got the cash why not?

Re. the sump; personally I will not use a sump tank for planted. There are 2 schools of thoughts that I know of.. One believe that sump is suitable even for planted whereas the other (which I belong) believe that the sump remove some of the all important CO2. In the 6ft that I setup, I use 2x2028 and it works well with one connected to an external CO2 reactor and another connected to a chiller.

Re. the gravel and base-fert. What Lorba suggested (JBL and Lapis sand) will work and that's what I used for the 6 footer. Dennerle deponit mix and gravel is a good (but slightly more ex) option and you can get both at at Nature Aquarium (donno the exact pricing). Of course there is the all-time-favourite (in USA) the Seachem Flourite. I use it for my 4ft. Having said that, if I were to re-do my tank again, I will use what Lorba suggest; cheap and good.

Some people swear by ADA substrate. One thing is that they are quite light and may disintegrade over time. Plus there affect the pH and so the calculation of CO2 content becomes a challange (BUT I have not used it before, even though I have some and still waiting for time to be available to experience). There are still more option such as using the IMM Peat with normal sand or using Aquatic-Compost (though I recently heard of some negative feedback from people using the latter), etc, etc, etc. Of yah I also use the Dupla base fert before. Used it for 1 year or so and during that time my hairgrass grew very very well.

If I were to re-do my tank (4ft or 6ft) I will spare no cash and buy the Under-gravel heater. These gadget are cheap (buy those without the controller) but you will always regret it if you don't buy (and install) it now and faced with the anerobic (spelling?) substrate. NA (among many other LFS, I believe) sells them too (again donno the price). You can choose to switch it on at night (when the weather is cooler) or as and when you think you need to drive some convection current through the troubled substrate.

Hope these help.

[beagle]

All,

Many thanks for all the helpful replies so far.

Yes, I am still searching for the "ultimate" tank-maker in Singapore that can make me a top quality and well-thought out 5 or 6 footer. Hopefully I can make the tank braceless, if safety can be warranted by the tank-maker.

I will probably design my own cabinet for the tank-maker to build as I very much like to carry-over some of the features in my Eheim 4 feet cabinet (like pull-out tray for the cannister filter and totally enclosed top hood cover that can stay open at varying degrees).

I would be most grateful for further leads to such an "ultimate" tank-maker. You can PM me.

Cheers,
Beagle

[Peter Mok]

I had been looking around for a 3 or 4 footer tank and once went to Coral Reef Aquarium (83 Tagore Lane, near Upper Thomson Rd).

The tanks and cabinets there seem to be very solid and, of course, come with the prices. I think they export as they have a large factory and warehouse there.

At the end I settled with a 4 footer Qian Hu house brand tank as I do not want to spend so much on a new hobby which I don't know will last or not. Bought it during their road show at Parkway Parade. The set comes with a cabinet which is made of, I think, compressed chipboard with no solid wood frame inside. The sales person assured me that the cabinet is solid and can put up with the weight and last.

Does anybody have any experience with such cabinet?

[Cacatuoides]

compressed chipboard? IMHO, when chipboard comes into contact with water it will soften and might give way....sounds kinda dangerous to me.... if the frame work is made of solid wood, it might be ok.....wat do u guys think?

2 cents

[Nicky]

My own 4ft tank is sitting on a chip-board cabinet. IMHO I think it is an accident waiting to happen.

[Peter Mok]

It is no joke. Think of the broken glass and amount of water coming down, with all the electrical equipment below....... Did accident of chipboard cabinet giving way happen before? Now I'm getting quite worried.

[theodore]

A 4x2x1.5ft planted tank weigh at least 350kg. Personally, I won't dare to put such a large tank on chipboard cabinets after seeing how (chipboard) bookcase shelving can deform after a year or two.

[sherchoo]

Tank 350L and above should not go braceless esp since safety is your priority.

[himyick]

Can try Sin Chew Aquarium @ 381 Guillemard Rd Singapore 399784 , Tel: 6744 2378. I'm not related to the shop in anyway at all. Only know that it dun sell fishes only make tanks (german designs, the last time I asked), quite established.

[Nicky]

[quote:23dfc7da43="sherchoo"]Tank 350L and above should not go braceless esp since safety is your priority.[/quote:23dfc7da43]

Sherwin there are some really good tank maker out there who can easily do a brace-less tank of 350L. Question is only if one can afford to pay for the tank and workmanship.