It`s just my opinion but I think you are making it much more complicated than necessary. I have two tanks with manifolds and the fish and I love them. One (50) has Reticulated Loaches which have spawned repeatedly, Panda Garra and some rosey barbs. The other (125 gal.) has five barilius canarensis, five sumo loaches, six clown barbs and two red tail tinfoil barbs, who all love to play in the current. Simple construction, no glue, two good powerheads, a couple pond pre filters and it`s up and running.
Hillstream tank build?
- Thread starter KansasSunfish
- Start date
Ok so I purchased for and pieces of glass at my local glass shop for a total of $22. And this evening, I glued up the first tank. Once that is dry I can glue up the other one, I don’t have room to do both at once. There have been a lot of comments on this thread, so excuse me if I don’t answer to everything, but recently I saw the statement that I am over complicating things. Of course I am. It has been a loooooooong time since I did a 10 gallon community tank. If you haven’t seen my other projects, you probably don’t understand what I am about. I like to build crazy tanks they get a lot of attention. The only thing keeping me from doing even crazier set up‘s is a lack of space. But one of these days, I will probably move back home and back into my original 40‘ x 60‘ fish room. Also, if you haven’t noticed, I tend to do things as cheaply as possible. This tank in particular came from the fact that I picked up free glass at work. It was tempered, so I couldn’t cut it to anything smaller, not that I would have anyways. I have always wanted to do a fast flow tank, with lots of rock and driftwood and fish that can survive in that kind of flow. So now here we go…
You SOB
. So jealous you have started I have a few months and two guppy breeding setups to make first.
What are the final dimensions one the siliconed tank?
Are you going with no braces? What thickness is the glass?
Is it dry yet?
Love the long narrow look.
. So jealous you have started I have a few months and two guppy breeding setups to make first.What are the final dimensions one the siliconed tank?
Are you going with no braces? What thickness is the glass?
Is it dry yet?
Love the long narrow look.
The final outside dimensions are 12x12x72 and inside are 11 1/4 x 12 x 71 1/2 So around 40 gallons per tank and there will be two plus the sump which could theoretically be as big as 24x72 floor size so it may double the total gallons putting my total around 160 gallons. Not a huge system but I think more than enough to have some fun...
As far as flow rate is concerned I will probably go with two adjustable flow pumps, each doing a minimum of 160 gph but could be adjusted to up to 400 gph each. (4-10 times turnover rate)
As far as flow rate is concerned I will probably go with two adjustable flow pumps, each doing a minimum of 160 gph but could be adjusted to up to 400 gph each. (4-10 times turnover rate)
No braces yet. It’s 3/8 tempered glass and only 12 inches tall. I will do what I typically do and once it has cured, slowly full the tank (water testing at this time for leaks) and check during the fill for flex in the glass. I really don’t think it’s going to need a brace but you never know.
Tip to anyone siliconing glass together: if you use the same tube for different things at different times make sure you clear the silicone out of the tip of the tube before using. It has a tendency to flash a bit in the nozzle so make sure you get down to the fresh part.
This morning we set yesterday’s tank on the floor (be careful not to jostle it at all, you don’t want bubbles in your seam) and I put together the second tank. I may start on the stand this weekend while it’s curing but not sure. It may be next week before I get going on it.
I reread this post this morning and I think you are onto something with the foam pads. The first time I read the post I didn’t quite understand, but now I think I get it. You were talking about putting the pads over the incoming water to the tank. Right?
Also, I totally agree about burying the height of gravel and so forth in the tank, I will also be varying the types of gravel, using fine, medium and throwing in lots of large and medium rocks and some driftwood. I’m thinking partially emmerced as well.....
Yeah, you can have a return chamber that water dumps into, and separate that from the rest of the tank with a thick foam pad. water flows through the pad in a uniform manner. It acts as a bio filter as well as creating a linear flow instead of just a pressurized jet of water, shooting into the tank. My criticism of most hillstream tanks I've seen is people don't ever have real flow, they just have a tank with jets of water shooting into them. If you want real flow, we need some serious water volume movement to even get close to that of a real stream.
You could possibly get one of those DC return pumps from jebao, I think they flow 3000+gph and are variable speed and less than $130 I think. you wouldn't have any head height on the pump so it should flow very close to what its rated.
You could possibly get one of those DC return pumps from jebao, I think they flow 3000+gph and are variable speed and less than $130 I think. you wouldn't have any head height on the pump so it should flow very close to what its rated.
I’m a sump guy so I’m definitely doing that. Not sure yet how much water flow is enough or too much for certain fish. I was thinking if I did two separate pumps one could be on at night with the lights off and both on when the lights are on...
