Need help picking equipment (new tank).

[pedzola]

Those look like very nice aquariums!

I'd also venture to guess that they are fairly pricey.

However, there were no prices or other ordering info that I could find on the web site.

[Erik]

Wow martin those are beautiful aquariums.
Any idea on prices for the 4 ft tanks?
Erik

[Martin Thoene]

Sorry Erik, no idea. You should give them a ring.

While I was out of work last year, I saw this article about aquarium maintenance companies in the Toronto Star. This company was mentioned and I gave them a ring, thinking I might pick up some work doing maintenance. The guy running the place said that he might have a sales position available and we arranged an interview.

Must have chatted for about an hour I guess. I told him I liked the product very much. Told him I thought it was "sexy" not just a glass box.
They make all the glass parts on site. The top and bottom frames come from China (it's a Chinese owned business), as do the cabinets and hoods in knocked-down form. The tanks are siliconed together fairly conventionally, but the detail I really liked is they run a thin bead around where the edge of the frame meets the glass. This seals that area where water can trickle and a buildup of calcium can develop over time, detracting from the appearance. Therefore, I believe in the long term, these tanks would stay looking good.
The hoods are nice. Everything is very 'curvy'......Sexy!

I think that the company was that new that they couldn't really support a salaried position for a salesman at that point and I got another job anyway. The problem for a new manufacturer breaking into the industry stems from companies like Hagen having contractural tie-ups with a lot of the major distributors.

Martin.

[pedzola]

Cool aquariums... but back to the topic at hand...


I already mentioned that I've ordered the tank, cabinet, filtration, lighting, and the all-important air pump & accessories.

What is left to buy is substrate and decor. I'm going for fake plants, rocks, driftwood, etc. A natural look.

I am not usually impressed w/the selection of decor at my LFS. Specifically, it is nearly impossible to find any natural looking rock. The "rainbow" stones and red lava rocks are abundant, but just don't look right.

Can anyone give me any recommendations for where I might be able to find nice looking aquarium-safe/loach-safe rocks?

For substrate I'm planning to use this ("Deep River"):
http://www.drsfostersmith.com/Product/P ... 004+113555


Hard to find good driftwood too... ;(

[Martin Thoene]

Yeah, I think we all got that you ordered your stuff already. Just discussing this other manufacturer option.

That substrate choice looks really nice. Quite dark which will look good and generally makes the fish have good colour. I kind of saw a joke in you wanting artificial plants, yet wanting a 'natural' look. One thing to consider when going for the 'natural' look is that to a great extent in nature the substrate is composed of the same material as the larger rocks. Therefore, having contrasting rocks and substrate is unnatural. Something a lot of people forget and it tends (to me anyway) to look incongruous.
Matching exactly may be difficult. One option in obtaining rocks is a road trip....go get your own. Here's the CT geology....

http://www.wesleyan.edu/ctgeology/image ... ap_big.jpg

You'll be wanting the granite or igneous rocks, but I don't know exactly what colour they might be. Avoid areas with sedimentary rocks.

I set up my River-Tank in 2001 using existing gravel in the previously used tank. It is a mix of red/browns, pinkish tones and greys.....exactly the colours found in Canadian Shield and Niagara Escarpment rocks. While on a trip to Lake Superior I collected a whole load of different sized rounded boulders, pebbles, gravel etc to grade down in size. Also collected driftwood from the lake shores.



The trip was a camping vacation, so not a dedicated collection trip....effectively the stuff was for free and the collection time was enjoyable. You do not of course have great lakes in CT, but I did find there are some lakes and there's rivers of course.

http://dep.state.ct.us/CGNHS/lakes/lakepond.htm

Anything collected in the wild needs thorough cleaning and ideally with wood a good boiling before going in the tank.



It's an option worth considering unless there are state laws against such stuff or the only suitable areas are on private land.

Martin.

[pedzola]

Wow, thanks for the CT info and the great pictures!

As you said, I think that substrate and rocks of different colors just doesn't look right.

I will have to do some research and figure out what will look good w/this substrate. Unfortunately we've got a foot of snow right now, so it's not exactly a great time to be looking for rocks in nature.

Maybe I can dig around at stores that sell garden stuff or masonry supplies.

As far as having live plants... I don't wish to deal w/the extra complexity and expense of a CO2 system. Also, plants need bright lighting, so it seems to be kind of a contradiction w/loach-keeping since they mostly prefer low light. (or am I mistaken?)

I have some pretty decent looking fake plants... and they are easy to redecorate with, move around when cleaning the tank, and etc.

I really want this tank to look good so I'm going to try to choose everything carefully........