options for small 1.5ft tanks

[johnchor]

hi bros

need your advice
i wanted a small 1.5ft tank wider than GEX deskboy 450 - 17cm
i looked at Gex Glasstior 450 and EJA 450, both has width around 20cm and 21cm.
EJA price looks cheap at $28 but down side they do not have covers

how about 5-plan tanks and ocean free tanks?
ocean free tanks looks super cheap at only$18 with cover!
but the width is about 25-30cm i think too wide for me....

what other cheapo brands 1.5ft tank with maximum width 22cm.

thanks

[johnchor]

hi bros

does anyone use EJA glass tanks? are they ok?
and also does Gex Glasstior 450 comes with a cover?

thanks

[Urban Aquaria]

I've used the small EJA glass tanks before, mainly for temporary holding or quarantine purposes, they are relatively cheap and have worked fine so far. The ones i've seen all seem to come with curved corners though, so might not be as suitable if you are planning to use them for aquascaping purposes.

The GEX Glassterior tanks come packaged with glass covers and plastic supports.

[johnchor]

hi bro

thanks for advice
"The GEX Glassterior tanks come packaged with glass covers and plastic supports."
does the glass cover cover the whole of the top?
i need to secure the whole of the top except for 2 small holes for filter pipes. something like GEX deskboy 450 covers will be good.

how much is GEX Glassterior 450?

thanks

[Urban Aquaria]

The GEX glassterior tanks come with a glass panel that covers around 3/4 of the top area, it leaves long rectangular gaps lengthwise, not holes.

If i remember correctly, the 450 tank costs around $40+ (depending on LFS).

[jasonwoo]

Bought desktop 450 from c328 last week and price is only $24.


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[johnchor]

hi urban bros,

thanks for info on GEX glassterior tanks cover.
i think the cover only cover 3/4 not suitable for my application. as i need the cover to be fully covered and secured.
what other brands on the market?

[johnchor]

hi bros

btw how do you minimize the condensation on the tank glass?
i set my chiller to 24-26c and lots of water condensation. cant see anything inside and water dripping everywhere.... haiz... headache.

[Urban Aquaria]

hi urban bros,

thanks for info on GEX glassterior tanks cover.
i think the cover only cover 3/4 not suitable for my application. as i need the cover to be fully covered and secured.
what other brands on the market?

Looks like the deskboy ones would be suitable for your usage... or you can also just DIY some acrylic or plastic sheets to cover any open top tanks too.

The alternative would be those tanks which are fully covered in a box cover, like the Boyu brand tanks.

btw how do you minimize the condensation on the tank glass?
i set my chiller to 24-26c and lots of water condensation. cant see anything inside and water dripping everywhere.... haiz... headache.

You either have to adjust the tank water temperature abit higher so that there is less condensation, and put a layer of cloth around the bottom of the tank to soak up the water droplets... no choice, thats the challenge when keeping a chilled tank in our local hot and humid weather.

[johnchor]

hi bro urban

thanks for advice.
the EJA has rounded front corners and i think is quite hard to make a cover to fit this type of tanks. too bad the dimensions are perfect for me.
i think i should get another GEX deskboy 450 to be safe as it comes with a good cover. the only complain i have for deskboy is too slim...lolz.

cheers!

[BFG]

Maybe you need to go the customised route, using thicker glass or acrylic. My 15mm thick tank glass will have condensation at 24 degree celsius.

[Urban Aquaria]

BFG has a point, it could be a good idea to just custom making your tank... i got a low profile tank custom made by N30 a while back and the price turned out to be comparable to ready made ones, the difference is i could get it custom made to my exact specifications.

[johnchor]

Hi bros I found out something bad with gex deskboy tank covers
I have 3 casualty since I started using it. It seems like the cover prevents enough oxygen into the tank. Now I remove it and my inhabitants seems ok now.
The cover has 2 holes about only 1-2" big...
Do you think it is big enough to allow enough oxygen to get into the tank?
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[johnchor]

Hi bfg bro someone suggested carwax to,minimize condensation... Do u think carwax will damage a plastic tank like gex deskboy? Thanks
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[BFG]

Hi bfg bro someone suggested carwax to,minimize condensation... Do u think carwax will damage a plastic tank like gex deskboy? Thanks
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Carwax? Won't it impede your tank glass visibility? Anyway Johnchor, sms lingo usage is highly frown upon in this forum.

[johnchor]

hi bfg sorry bro

i will avoid sms lingo. by the way do you think the GEX glass cover caused oxygen problems?

Carwax? Won't it impede your tank glass visibility? Anyway Johnchor, sms lingo usage is highly frown upon in this forum.

[BFG]

Johnchor, I'm not familiar with Gex product so can't give you any useful reply.

[Urban Aquaria]

Hi bros I found out something bad with gex deskboy tank covers
I have 3 casualty since I started using it. It seems like the cover prevents enough oxygen into the tank. Now I remove it and my inhabitants seems ok now.
The cover has 2 holes about only 1-2" big...
Do you think it is big enough to allow enough oxygen to get into the tank?

Tanks with covers do tend to restrict oxygen exchange at the water surface due to lack of fresh air circulation, but unless you have really high bio-load or the livestock require high levels of dissolved oxygen, the gaps or vents in most covers are usually enough to provide some air circulation (as long as the cover is not completely sealed with no gaps at all).

Though with covered tanks, there is a tendency for heat to build up faster and get trapped so the higher overall water temperature may reduce the level of dissolved oxygen in the water, and that may affect some fishes and shrimps.

What you could do is increase aeration by running an additional air stone or sponge filter so that there is more surface agitation for added oxygen exchange.

Another alternative is to DIY a cover made of fine netting or mesh (instead of using a solid plastic or glass cover), that will ensure lots of air circulation and also prevent any livestock from jumping out (if that was your original reason for using a cover).

Hi bfg bro someone suggested carwax to,minimize condensation... Do u think carwax will damage a plastic tank like gex deskboy? Thanks

I've tried applyng those water repellent solutions for car windows and mirrors before, they basically make the water group into larger droplets so that they flow down the glass, which helps minimize the effect of the glass fogging up...it does work, but has to be re-applied regularly to stay effective. It doesn't stop the condensation though, you'll still need to put some cloth or towels at the base of the tank to soak up the larger droplets.

I only tested that on glass tanks though, not plastic ones. Usually the solution bottle will state if it can or cannot be used for plastic surfaces (if not, then you have to experiment and see).

[blu3her0]

I'd actually done some little experiments on how to combat condensation (tried wiper fluid, rainX and even anti condensation fluids for car windows), and it seems like vinegar mixed with warm water applied onto the glass and wiped off with a piece of dry cloth did put condensation off for awhile while being friendly on my pocket. Reapplication would be required every few days though.


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[rakurime]

ive just decomm-ed my deskboy 450, find it too small n narrow to do certain things, especially aquascaping n maintenance, worst still is that my fauna got limited space to swim!

i did not use the original glass cover as i was using a HOF and cooling fan, so i used plastic egg crates as a "cover" for night time only
(that 2 tiny holes actually is for airline tubing to go through, to add airstone etc, by right its supposed to be used with their internal F1 corner power filter)

now i have upgrade to a 2ft tank, much spacious!

the only thing i like abt deskboy is that its very lightweight given its acrylic material, and slim profile..

if just for super small fish, recommended not to do aquascaping as u will end up with limited space for the fish to swim

(pm me if u wanna get another deskboy 450, can sell u cheaply as i used it for less than a month, everything's intact)