David R's 2000L tank build

  • We are currently upgrading MFK. thanks! -neo
Glad to see you finally got this up and running!

Just touching back on the substrate - you mention building sand, here in the UK building sand is like a reddy colour, i didn't realise it was aquatic safe either.
Is this the same product for you or is the usual play sand just described as something else?

How far are you with the sump? Is it built? Do you have materials?
When will you be filling this with water?
Possible time frame for moving the fish in?
Do you have mature media to get it started right away or will you cycle from scratch?
 
Here's a couple of pics of the "builders sand" in my old tank (pardon the masses of food, feeding time is intentionally messy with a dozen large geophagus and a bunch of plecs!)





I think it would be fairly similar to what is sold as "play sand" elsewhere.

I'm picking the sump up on the 10th, it will probably need about a week to cure before I can add water to it. I also need to finish the plumbing (which should be fairly simple) and will probably test-fill and run it for a week or so before adding substrate and fish. I should be able to have fish in it by the end of the month, if all goes according to plan, but I've found it usually takes a lot longer than anticipated! Some of the driftwood is fairly dry so may take a bit of time to sink. It has been three weeks today since the tank was made, I'll give it another week just to be on the safe side then will start filling gradually so the wood can soak.

I haven't fully thought through the logistics of transferring over the fish, but I certainly won't be cycling the big tank from scratch! They're currently in a 400L tank with two canisters and a small sump with about 8L of bioballs. I'm thinking I might just drop all the fish straight in there, along with all the wood and sand from the current set up, and transfer the bioballs to the new sump and run the two canisters for a while. The 400L is pretty heavily stocked, but surely if I put them in around five times the volume of water with the same established filter media it will be a fairly smooth transition.
 
I did the same thing with the media transfer and everything went great for me too.

A little tip that i've picked up when moving sand around, use a dustpan (as in dustpan and brush) - it lets you scoop the sand up nice and easy, i throw it in a poly box and then move the box when it's full, it's really simple then to empty a mass of sand.

How are you filling it? tap water and adding prime or will you be using the HMA? i'm sure i saw you mention this earlier on about using the HMA filter? Will you be using it for a constant water change and overflow out the sump for easy maintenance or just siphon water out and let that fill it up as required?

Yes the builders sand is my equivalent play sand, builders sand for me is quite different.

Did you finalise a sump lay out?
 
Those altifrons were sold 18 months ago when I shut down my 1400L tank, but I do have a group of six younger ones for the big tank!!

Bones, I'll be filling it with the garden hose, no need for Prime or anything as we live out of town and are on roof water not treated town supply. It's great having pure soft chemical free water straight from the tap, until we get a dry spell over summer and have to start rationing it! A second storage tank is on the cards before the end of winter, so hopefully there won't be a shortage come summer. I mentioned "HMF filter" before, as in "Hamberg matten filter", totally different to HME filter (I had to google HME).

Here's a pic of the sump, water flows in at the left, the heavy waste settles out in the first compartment, then there are 4-6 vertical sheets of Poret foam, then a chamber with 40L of bio media (pond matrix and bioballs) then the heaters and pump.

 
David, quick question about the settling chamber. I havent much experience with sumps but like the design of yours, seems very low maintenance. If the heavy waste is going to accumulate in the first chamber, will there be much of a smell? I plan a big tank and sump next year and want to put it in the lounge, but wife will kill me if it smells...


Sent from my GT-N7105 using MonsterAquariaNetwork App
 
Hmm, good question!! I guess it would depend how often you clean it out, although even though there is physical waste accumulating there with all the water on top of it I don't think it would smell any more than the tank does. I think there will always be a bit of a smell with an aquarium, ventilation is the key!
 
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