265 Gallon Setup
- Thread starter russwalters
- Start date
Just wanted to give everyone an update - I started working on the canopy this weekend, which is going to hold 4 48" t8's and a strip of blue LED's for moonlighting. My background from Designs by Nature just arrived today as well. I am going to begin the installation of that this evening. It is a slimline background and I will be installing it a couple of inches off of the bank of the tank so I can hide my filtration. Any recommendations on what type of mesh to use for the intakes? Do they have to be directly infront of the intake tubes, or does that not really matter? I am planning on having to filter intakes in the tank - do I need a hole on each side of the tank for them?
Thanks everyone.
Thanks everyone.
Are you dead set on having the space behind the background for your filtration?
I agree that it looks much cleaner to have your equipment hidden behind the background but it can pose some issues. I made my 1st DIY background and left a 2" space behind it for the canister filter intakes. I installed three 4"L x 3"H pieces of egg crate (lighting grid) covered with gutter guard in the bottom portion of the background to allow sufficient water to reach the filter intakes. I eventually removed the gutter guard because I was using live plants and they clogged it up with loose or dislodged plants. I also find that fry and juvenile fish find the space behind the background a great place to live and hide but extremely difficult to remove.
I opted to install the next DIY background directly to the rear of the tank but left two empty spaces at either end of the tank background and just painted my intakes to blend into the background. This method is working great and will be the only method I use in the future. It's easy to spot any clogging of the intakes and they aren't really visible if you aren't looking for them.
Also, if you should decide to add any power filters, you might want to consider leaving the height of the background about an inch below the trim to allow clearance for them.
A heater can be installed horizontally, if it's submersible, to hide it better or if you use an inline heater, double check the canister filter output hose size before you buy one. I'm using a Hydor ETH 300W heater on both my 220G and 125G tanks and they work great on the Eheim 2260 output hoses.
I agree that it looks much cleaner to have your equipment hidden behind the background but it can pose some issues. I made my 1st DIY background and left a 2" space behind it for the canister filter intakes. I installed three 4"L x 3"H pieces of egg crate (lighting grid) covered with gutter guard in the bottom portion of the background to allow sufficient water to reach the filter intakes. I eventually removed the gutter guard because I was using live plants and they clogged it up with loose or dislodged plants. I also find that fry and juvenile fish find the space behind the background a great place to live and hide but extremely difficult to remove.
I opted to install the next DIY background directly to the rear of the tank but left two empty spaces at either end of the tank background and just painted my intakes to blend into the background. This method is working great and will be the only method I use in the future. It's easy to spot any clogging of the intakes and they aren't really visible if you aren't looking for them.
Also, if you should decide to add any power filters, you might want to consider leaving the height of the background about an inch below the trim to allow clearance for them.
A heater can be installed horizontally, if it's submersible, to hide it better or if you use an inline heater, double check the canister filter output hose size before you buy one. I'm using a Hydor ETH 300W heater on both my 220G and 125G tanks and they work great on the Eheim 2260 output hoses.
Thanks, Deeda. I am pretty set on hiding the equipment behind the background and have also decided to add a powerhead attached to a sponge filter that will help to circulate water from the back of the BG to the front.
As for the inline heater, have you found that the one Hydor 300w is enough for the 220? I have a 265, and have been planning on two submersible 300w, but like the idea of the inline heater.
Thanks!
As for the inline heater, have you found that the one Hydor 300w is enough for the 220? I have a 265, and have been planning on two submersible 300w, but like the idea of the inline heater.
Thanks!
I have been using hang on the back overflow for about 10yrs in tanks from 80gal to 180. Never had an issue. I'm talking about the ones w/ the overflows inside the tank that use a clear u-tube to siphon to the back. Not those overflow using PVC pipes.
I have had no problems maintaining 78F in the 220G tank, the room temperature during the winter is between 68F and 71F, so you need to take into consideration how much higher you want the heater to raise the temperature compared to your average room temperature.
