Planted Tank Cabinet Layout Ideas
Most of the time its mainly the planted tanks that get highlighted in journals and write-ups... but the humble tank cabinet rarely gets much attention, especially on ideas and ways to maximize space usage. Perhaps its time to have a look inside them too.
Just to share, here is my display 2ft tank cabinet and its current layout...
Most of the equipment i have are quite standard in most cabinet setups... ie. canister filter, Co2 tank system, in-line reactor, water top-up flask, maintenance tools, power strip, timers etc.
Along the way, i managed to allocate enough space to place a small 10 Liter nano tank (L20cm x W20cm x H25cm) with its own hang-on filter and clip-on LED lights in the cabinet. It's a narrow fit, but with abit of arrangement, there is still sufficient clearance to allow easy access to the other equipment.
Due to the limited floor space in the cabinet, i had to look into vertical storage methods to keep the rest of the items. A simple solution was found by just using a combination of mesh grate and mesh baskets from Daiso. The whole vertical structure on the left side is modular and held up by heavy duty 3M command hooks.
Hopefully this layout inspires some useful ideas on maximizing space in your tank cabinets.
If you have any interesting layouts or storage arrangements for your tank cabinets, do share in this thread too!
Cant.make.up.his.mind-Aquarist
wow, thats a very organised cabinet you have there! I think many of us have just too many items (regardless of whether we need it) stored below/beside the tank, making it very unsightly.
Anyway, double air-lock for fishfood is a very good suggestion too, considering I just threw away 2 bottles/packs with more than 50% leftovers because the food went bad.
Will consider changing my stand to a cabinet soon, looking forward! Great inspiration! very poisonous..
wow a tank in your cabinet? What's the rationale for that because it's hidden from view? If there are fuana inside, imagine how bored they will be seeing only equipments haha!
Yeah, fish food tends to spoil much quicker with the repeated opening and closing of their containers, especially in our local high humidity environment.Originally Posted by furyprix
The air-tight clip lock box really helps, i also put a few packets of silica gel dessicant into the box too, keeps the food dry to maintain its usable lifespan.
It all came about when i was re-arranging my cabinet layout a while back, then realized there was enough space for a small tank... so i ended up putting one in, more tanks the merrier!
Its just a spare tank where i put some extra plants and shrimps to grow out. The shrimps don't seem to bother about the environment outside of the tank, they just go about their usual activity with or without light... i've had batches of shrimps living in my canister filters for months and they seem to thrive in those isolated environments too.
A very nice and organised cabinet! I guess its time for me to tidy up mine as well!
Sticky and Nutty in a Plastic Packet
*Lost count of how many tanks you have*
But an interesting thread, I tend to concentrate more on the 'tank support set up' rather than the tank itself.
wouldn't the mini tank raise the humidity higher inside the cabinet, and without good air circulation, cause the interior to spoil easily?
Very organised set-up. You just give me a lesson on organisation and improvisation
Sticky and Nutty in a Plastic Packet
The interior is laminated too. It should not be a problem.
I was initially worried about that too, so i've also been measuring the inside and outside of the cabinet with a hygrometer and so far there hasn't been any difference in humidity levels. I guess as long as the cabinet has sufficient ventilation holes and gaps for routing wiring and hoses, there should be enough air circulation/exchange for both exterior and interior humidity to equalize properly, so that it doesn't create any issues.
The tank's surface area and amount of surface agitation are also contributing factors too. A nano tank with small surface area and relatively low surface agitation (ie. hang-on filter with moderate flow) would produce alot less evaporation effect, compared to large sump filtration tanks which have much larger surface areas and alot more surface movement.
Btw, on the subject of ventilation... when getting a cabinet custom made, its a good idea to design it so that the back panel has larger holes/gaps to allow for additional natural ventilation (when your cabinet's front door is closed you can't see the back panel anyways). Even without a tank inside, more ventilation will help items like recently used maintenance tools and equipment dry abit faster.
Last edited by Urban Aquaria; 8th Sep 2014 at 18:15.
Yes, i'm using the Eheim Ecco Pro 300 canister filter and it comes with built-in rotatable double taps.
Really inspirational how you managed to sort out the items so neatly!
Sticky and Nutty in a Plastic Packet
Just to share with you all here with one of my biggest inspirations for a well designed tank. Although the set up is for Marine Aquaria but there are some things which we can adopt from the designs.
The whole thread is here: http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/sh....php?t=1767159
You can take a couple of hours to go through the whole thread and actually be immersed in his thought process.
This is some pictures of his current set up. From building to final set up.
His old set up has an interesting cabinet layout with a roll-out bottom so that he can do his sump maintenance easier.
Video of his old set up: http://youtu.be/alGiGkvft1A
I did learn a few things from him. Maybe you guys could too.
WOW!!
Amazing ..
Yeah, reef tanks are the ones with the most equipment, electronics and gadgets... they make planted tanks look so basic and simple in comparison.
A while back, i remember visiting a friends house and saw his 6ft reef tank, when i looked into the cabinet my mind already went dizzy just looking at the sheer amount of equipment and gadgets being used. He had to use 3 x 6 socket power strips just to run all the equipment and devices for one reef tank. Funny thing is with 18 power sockets, he still complain not enough sockets.
Last edited by Urban Aquaria; 10th Sep 2014 at 12:36.
Love the idea of removable side
Wow, what a neat set up Urban Aquaria!!! May I ask, for the multi plug, did you get it mounted on the back using double sided tape or something else? Thanks for sharing!
Yeah, i used a few 3M wall mount hook adhesives (the heavy duty 2kg load ones) to mount up the power strip.Wow, what a neat set up Urban Aquaria!!! May I ask, for the multi plug, did you get it mounted on the back using double sided tape or something else? Thanks for sharing!
I see, great! Thanks for the advise. Really inspired by your neat set up which a lot of us tend to negligent since it is out of sightYeah, i used a few 3M wall mount hook adhesives (the heavy duty 2kg load ones) to mount up the power strip.
Hi. May I know where can I get those small bottles on the top left hand corner of your cabinet?
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