Buddha Meditation Aquaponics Tank / Update & Question

[Keightley]

So some of you regulars might remember that I was attempting to refurbish a 250 gallon acrylic tank. Yeah... that didn't work so well for me. I tossed it and got a glass tank that is a bit smaller. It is 120 gallon tank. Not a monster tank by any means but I still need some advice. I have built the stand out of cinder blocks. And the filtration system is two planter boxes. Each planter box has a HOB filter on it that brings the tank water into the box filtering it mechanically. The planter boxes are full of lava rock and plants (pathos and lucky bamboo). There is a slit in the front of each planter box in which the water spills out back into the tank. My concern is that on side of each the planter box sits on the aquarium glass brace. What I did not think through is the weight of the planter boxes when it is full of lava rocks, plants and water.





So I am thinking I need to add extra vertical support to the brace. I am thinking using a 4" x 4" post and painting it with pond shield and placing it under the aquarium glass brace under each foot of the planter boxes.

My question is this. Do you think this vertical brace is necessary? It would be so nice if it is not. If it is necessary, will my "fix" work? The last think I need is my planter boxes crashing into the aquarium full of fish. If my fix will not work, how do I support the planter boxes? I need an easy, elegant solution as (1) I am not too skilled in DIY and (2) I don't want an ugly fix.

And yes... I realize that the waterfall spillway could overshoot the tank onto the floor. If it even looks like that will happen when I fill the tank, HOB filters, and planter boxes with water, my plan is to cut a glass piece and silicone it along the rim of the aquarium in front of the waterfall spill way so the water bounces off it into the aquarium.

I thank you all now for your input.

Cheers,
Keightley

 

[Dloks]

I like it put some gold fish or something vividly active!

 

[Keightley]

Funny you should say that... my plan is to put fancy goldfish in it specifically 9. I did for a brief moment consider a single arowana but alas the tank is just too small and I have no plans on a bigger tank.

 

[deeda]

You may need to support the glass brace depending on how much weight there is between the two boxes, media, filters and the total amount of water in the boxes.

While not very attractive, you could use 2 lengths of white PVC pipe cut to length between the bottom of the tank and the underside of the brace and place one in the back and one in the front. The Buddha should hide the front pipe from view.

Another option is to get a PVC or vinyl fence post cover and cut to length to fit the same way. You could center it in the tank or align it under the feet of the planter boxes.

 

[Keightley]

Huh... that sounds like a good idea. I don't think a PVC pipe would be ugly if I spray painted white to give it a finished look. Or maybe I can get a clear PVC pipe and I could make some sort of PVC filter? Perhaps I can make a vertical planter by drilling some holes and plugging in some anubias plants? What diameter pipe would be enough to brace it do you think? What about wall thickness? Would 1/8" thickness suffice? Is two pipes the minimum? Maybe four... one pipe under each of the planter feet resting on the glass brace? Could I get away with one? If so, what size should I look at?

Sorry for all the questions. This just seems like a viable solution. I am just trying to wrap my head around the particulars.

 

[wannadivesteve]

I would probably try to build some type of shelf over that tank that they could sit on so zero of that weight is on that brace rather than support the brace to support the planters while just guessing if you aren't putting unexpected forces on the rest of the tank. If you pop the brace you could have fish and water everywhere.

 

[deeda]

If you want to use PVC pipe, you could use either 1/2" or 3/4" and use one at the rear and one at the front glass vertically.

You could use a larger diameter PVC pipe and cut holes in it with a hole saw and plant anubias in it to make a living planter.

Using clear or painted PVC will look great when new but eventually will grow algae or other stuff on it which will require some cleaning.

You could also do Steve's suggestion and just cut a board to fit the width of the tank, paint it white and then raise the planters. Just put little spacers under the feet of the planters above the cement blocks. This would be the easiest method.

 

[Steve_C]

If you use PVC pipe just spray it a bamboo color, paint some black on as the nodes, and drybrush a bit over it to make it look like bamboo reeds. That would go along with the Asian/Buddhist/meditation theme you are going after.

 

[J. H.]

So some of you regulars might remember that I was attempting to refurbish a 250 gallon acrylic tank. Yeah... that didn't work so well for me. I tossed it and got a glass tank that is a bit smaller. It is 120 gallon tank. Not a monster tank by any means but I still need some advice. I have built the stand out of cinder blocks. And the filtration system is two planter boxes. Each planter box has a HOB filter on it that brings the tank water into the box filtering it mechanically. The planter boxes are full of lava rock and plants (pathos and lucky bamboo). There is a slit in the front of each planter box in which the water spills out back into the tank. My concern is that on side of each the planter box sits on the aquarium glass brace. What I did not think through is the weight of the planter boxes when it is full of lava rocks, plants and water.

View attachment 1279093

View attachment 1279102

So I am thinking I need to add extra vertical support to the brace. I am thinking using a 4" x 4" post and painting it with pond shield and placing it under the aquarium glass brace under each foot of the planter boxes.

My question is this. Do you think this vertical brace is necessary? It would be so nice if it is not. If it is necessary, will my "fix" work? The last think I need is my planter boxes crashing into the aquarium full of fish. If my fix will not work, how do I support the planter boxes? I need an easy, elegant solution as (1) I am not too skilled in DIY and (2) I don't want an ugly fix.

And yes... I realize that the waterfall spillway could overshoot the tank onto the floor. If it even looks like that will happen when I fill the tank, HOB filters, and planter boxes with water, my plan is to cut a glass piece and silicone it along the rim of the aquarium in front of the waterfall spill way so the water bounces off it into the aquarium.

I thank you all now for your input.

Cheers,
Keightley

You could support it with a float fixed to the bottom of the brace instead. There are even water tanks that rely on floats to hold them up - it should work better than a post, as long as you don't fill the planters with water when the tank isn't full.
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