Show us your Aquarium Setups

[freak180]

Was not expecting to see that LOL that seriously got me laughing hard :laugh:

Also I hope this isnt a stupid question to be asking but I been thinking about switching to sand for my Red Eared Slider turtles but I dont know which kind of sand to choose from. I know there is sand only made for salt water tanks so which ones arent?

[Mando]

Was not expecting to see that LOL that seriously got me laughing hard :laugh:

Also I hope this isnt a stupid question to be asking but I been thinking about switching to sand for my Red Eared Slider turtles but I dont know which kind of sand to choose from. I know there is sand only made for salt water tanks so which ones arent?

Unipac silica sand is inert and suitable for freshwater mate, anything silica based is fine

[.Markus]

Thanks for your advice guys, seems you both know what you're talking about!

I'll give the Juwels aquariums a look. The Trigon 190 seems really right up my alley.. :)

[vraev]

I made this.... had this for 2 months....maintenance was crazy..so got rid of it.. sold it all. Cost 1200$ to make this 60cm tank. Crazy crazy....CO2, ferts, filtering, etc etc..weekly water change. and in the first month...water change every 1-2 days. Those ADA tanks that are beautiful take work to keep it that way. Honestly...still love the look of these...maybe some day....but not anytime soon. No way.

To get it working well is a like riding on a tight rope....atleast in the beginning...got to get the setup balanced. Takes so much work. Lighting, CO2, filtering, ferts..all need to be balanced adequately.

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[compl3x]

So watching trapped and bored animals just swimming around in confoned space is relaxing? You actually watch them bore to death. These are animals that like to swim out in the open, not confoned to 4 walled glass for human gratification.

If this was about birds in small aviaries which are never let out to fly around I might agree with you. I doubt fish get too upset about being in a safe tank, regular feeding, and other fish to swim with.

[Aergan]

Turtles!

Winter tank and Summer tank.

[freak180]

AWE! Turtles are so awesome! Are they RES?

[Mando]

Thanks for your advice guys, seems you both know what you're talking about!

I'll give the Juwels aquariums a look. The Trigon 190 seems really right up my alley.. :)

keep an eye out on the prices though the normal rio 180 (basically straight edged variety) is almost ?100 cheaper if I recall correct, same with the visions, my mate has a couple of the bow front Vision 180 & 240 and while kinda cool they mess with your eyes when you look through them at certain angles. A godo background n cheap method is to back the rear outside of the tank with black card, this will enhance the plants, wood and colour of the fishes of course, a dark substrate sand also helps.

If you do it and want to ask advice on how to get plants to go mad etc how to set up a new tank etc etc, pm me ill knock up a guide nps.

Key thing to keep in mind is, 1 litre of water = 1Kg, so a 190 weights 190kg plus cabinet of around 40kg, check what flooring you have, if concrete solid floor then you are laughing, your capacity is limited by your wallet. Get as big as you can afford.

Only thing id say if your going planted route in it, keep to a rio, trigon or vision (they all have at least 2 T5 tubes, and buy the addon of the light tube reflectors, they make a BIG difference (100% light boost) and a cheap analogue plug in timer.) and whilst the filtration is superb add a small 600-100lph flow pump to get the water around the tank, only criticism of the Juwel setup, you could upgrade the bioflow pump to larger one but they are pricey, cheaper routes a flowpump like I have.

[.Markus]

keep an eye out on the prices though the normal rio 180 (basically straight edged variety) is almost ?100 cheaper if I recall correct, same with the visions, my mate has a couple of the bow front Vision 180 & 240 and while kinda cool they mess with your eyes when you look through them at certain angles. A godo background n cheap method is to back the rear outside of the tank with black card, this will enhance the plants, wood and colour of the fishes of course, a dark substrate sand also helps.

If you do it and want to ask advice on how to get plants to go mad etc how to set up a new tank etc etc, pm me ill knock up a guide nps.

Key thing to keep in mind is, 1 litre of water = 1Kg, so a 190 weights 190kg plus cabinet of around 40kg, check what flooring you have, if concrete solid floor then you are laughing, your capacity is limited by your wallet. Get as big as you can afford.

Only thing id say if your going planted route in it, keep to a rio, trigon or vision (they all have at least 2 T5 tubes, and buy the addon of the light tube reflectors, they make a BIG difference (100% light boost) and a cheap analogue plug in timer.) and whilst the filtration is superb add a small 600-100lph flow pump to get the water around the tank, only criticism of the Juwel setup, you could upgrade the bioflow pump to larger one but they are pricey, cheaper routes a flowpump like I have.

Thanks again Mando, got parquet flooring where I'd like to have it installed so won't be able to go overly crazy. Will keep try all those points you posted in mind when I build my aquatic empire! :)

[aniv]

[HawkMan]

don't know much about saltwater aquariums, but shouldn't the back and side walls and the equipment be kept clean ?

[TAZMINATOR]

don't know much about saltwater aquariums, but shouldn't the back and side walls and the equipment be kept clean ?

You don't have to clean all the time... as you see the water is so clear in the tank which means it's fine. If you see dirty or cloudy stuff in the water then you know it's time to clean it up.

The walls are fine ... since the water is clear enough to see fish. So you can clean once a while.

Same thing to my brother's fish tank. He cleans it once a while... and he had dirty walls in back and sides like shown in photo above.

I like fish tank but I don't have time to do all that crap cleaned up. I usually go in and out most of the day and night.

You can check the equipments every other day to make sure it is running properly and clean.

[aniv]

The dirty stuff in the back is coraline algae and other algae. It is necessary for the survival of certain fish (goby's blenny's) , corals and invertebrates. I know it looks bad but everything else thats living would look sick if I cleaned it all up.

[TAZMINATOR]

So watching trapped and bored animals just swimming around in confoned space is relaxing? You actually watch them bore to death. These are animals that like to swim out in the open, not confoned to 4 walled glass for human gratification.

You don't have to stare at the tank all day long... Just watch them for a few minutes and then move on your life then next day you do the same step each day.

Some of my friends have fish in their fish pond in their backyard... basically same thing as fish tank.

It is about perferences, entertainment, and wow factor. ... friends come by your home and go "wow, you have awesome tank!" Something like that.

Some restuarants have huge tank like you see in movies. And some of them have their tank under floor glass that you see fish through the glass below your feet.

[einsteinbqat]

A lot of African Cichlidae

[freak180]

A lot of African Cichlidae

Very beautiful. How expensive is it to make one like that?

[einsteinbqat]

Very beautiful. How expensive is it to make one like that?

Everything is custom made, including the tank (the glass is half an inch thick) and accessories, about 1500-1700$, if I'm not mistaken. Can't remember.