Staallion's 1500L Planted tank - in the making.

Rays of Sunshine · Nov 30, 2010

I don't know what type of fish you are going to have but you can use lake, pond or river sand(straight from the actual body of water). That's what I did for my Native tanks and also got the driftwood from there too. Just a suggestion. Love the tank and the stand, if I could weld, build tanks, etc...I would too.

This might sound a little odd but in America, Australia is always depicted as having croc infested waters, if this is the case, skip on what I have said above, it's too dangerous. It takes quite a bit of time to collect wood and the sand/soil mix from the banks. Too much time especially if you could be unknowingly stalked by a croc waiting for an easy prey.

Good Luck with the project and have a holiday.

happydownunder · Nov 30, 2010

very nice, could give us an idea as to what type of fish you are planning of having.
regards

Rayne · Nov 30, 2010

Holy crap thats one hell of a stand and tank. Good luck with the build OP. *subscribed*

Rays of Sunshine;4666183; said:
This might sound a little odd but in America, Australia is always depicted as having croc infested waters, if this is the case, skip on what I have said above, it's too dangerous. It takes quite a bit of time to collect wood and the sand/soil mix from the banks. Too much time especially if you could be unknowingly stalked by a croc waiting for an easy prey.

This here made me laugh. :ROFL:

Staallion · Sep 2, 2011

So... After about 9 months of staring at an empty tank in the lounge, I decided it was about time to get a move on...
I tested the 3' tank I will be using as a sump in the bathroom (no leaks... a good start.)
The tank sits on a 10mm thick sheet of poly, then a slab of 17mm marine grade ply, and then the stand itself... The ply needed holes drilled in it to accommodate the bulkhead fittings, which meant that the hole saw needed to be big enough to allow the bulkhead fitting through, whilst still being small enough to fit between the supports of the stand.
The tank was slid out, and holes were drilled. I was relieved when everything lined up

It was then time for a break, plumbing to follow the next day.

Staallion · Sep 2, 2011

The next day, I decided to fix up all the plumbing. 4 trips to the irrigation shop and Bunnings later, I finally had everything I thought I would need, despite having a list on the first shop...
I laid it all out so that the pump will pump through 32mm hose to the uv sterilizer (which will be turned on once the tank has settled), through to a t piece, then out through 32mm pvc fittings. One side will flow direct through a ball valve (to control flow) and a check valve before going to a bulkhead on the bottom of the tank, and back up to the surface.
The other side flows through another t piece, with a ball valve and an ordinary garden hose fitting coming off it (so I can pump straight from the tank outside to the garden) through a ball valve, another check valve, to another T piece with house fitting (so I can top up direct from the mains) and back up to the tank... After a few beers, and a huge dose of pvc cement fumes I finally had the plumbing side done, with only a few mistakes which I fixed along the way.
I then let the whole lot sit for a day before starting to fill the tank. I got to about 25cm deep before one of the bulkheads started leaking. (this was because of the odd angle I had to contort to to do the fitting up.) So out came the oil filter pliers and some bad language, and the problem was fixed. I then got about another 10cm before my plumbing under the tank started to drip... Im going to put this down to a loss of strength towards the end, when I couldnt do the threaded fittings up tight enough... That problem was solved, and it was all good to go.

I left if for a few days to settle, with no more leaks, I was quite happy.