My 240g tank journal

[crazy loaches]

Here are some pics of the filter boxes I am making. The idea here is sticking with the tote theme. I have some mechanical filtration that will be a media bag on the drain outflow in the sump. But I thought about making something like the pond filters, that are just a big filter box on the intake of a fountain pump. So on my return pump I will plumb the intake into a tote that will have a filter floss pad as well as bio media inside. Simple, and hopefully easy to maintain.

There will be two of these... one in each sump:


Tote with lid cut.


Return pump is a Quiet One 4000. Used a union for easy disassembly. Intake is plumbed into box and has a T, holes will be drilled around these.


A piece of eggcrate cut to fit perfectly into the lip in the tote.


Some good cheap bio media... pot scrubbers. A 3 pack was under $1.


Completed filter box.

Time will tell how long it takes for the floss to clog, I am hoping to not have to replace it too often. My goal is once a month or longer for maintenance that requires me to actually do something . If it clogs too fast I might make a larger box. Or the other option I was contemplating was two layers, a more coarse filter pad on top of the floss maybe...

[newshound]

"Some good cheap bio media... pot scrubbers. A 3 pack was under $1."
becareful I know most sponges have anti bacteria chemicals in them

[Colin]

I have used those scrubbers before too although it was actually for an alligator's pre-filter for a large pool. The problem was that dye leaked out and discoloured the water.

It didnt bother the alligator but I changed it as soon as I noticed the water colour. if it was a fish tank it might have been a different story, if might have been poisonous?

Yoor obviously doing a great job of setting this tank up properly. Fot the sake a of few extra dollars I'd buy aquarium safe sponges...

best wishes
Colin

[crazy loaches]

Nah, pot scrubbers are actually pretty common as media, in fact some of the more serious studies on biomedia and surface area have been performed on them. I've already used them in my canisters for about a year. No dye I've noticed leaching, no chems, and they arent the ones that have metal bands on them either. For example here is an interesting site thats been mentioned before on other forums: http://saltaquarium.about.com/cs/filtra ... 071603.htm I dont know the credentials though, and I disagree with some of there prices, my potscrubbers were cheaper than what they are saying. One reason I dont want to spend a ton on bio media (would probably cost a lot, I've got several gallons of media volume) is because its not even needed really. But will be there for extra assurance. Heavily planted tanks dont need a lot of bio filtration, the plants will compete with bacteria for ammonia, etc, and the many leafs provide a huge amount of surface area in the tank anyways. I have seen a few impressive planted tanks that dont run filters per se, just some in tank circulation pumps. But they arent stocked heavily, and I wanted the sump for many reasons other than bio filtration .

Thanks for the concerns though, I will watch for any leaching of color. They are the same type from the same store I have been using for a while though, so I hope I have nothing to worry.

BTW, countdown is growing near. I am testing out my plumbing today filling the tank and will try to heat it up, get ph readings, test the filtration, drain system, tune the overflows, etc over the next few days. Unfortunately I do have to work this weekend though:evil:. Will probably run it through a trial week and then if everything looks good I'll be planting it shortly there after. Fish will wait a few weeks more.

I do have lots to finish still, most of which I have already at least started on. But pretty much all the critical parts are in place.

[crazy loaches]

Time to finish up the stand. Well maybe not finish... but put some more work into lol! I built the frame of the stand already, with the intentions of just covering up the framing with something easy like tongue and groove pine. I am trying to keep it simple and easy to do, as well as the nice country pine look that I enjoy. Here is what I got so far:


Putting the tongue-n-groove together. I cut the pieces to length with my sliding miter saw, put together with some wood glue, and tacked in place with air brad nailer.



Staining the wood, I used aged maple stain and semi gloss acrylic finish.



Haven’t stained the doors yet.



All the staining & finishing done (to the front section). Just need to get the door hardware installed.



My son really likes to help (translate: he throws a fit if he doesn’t get to be in the way) .



Well, I let the whole thing sit in the garage to long before installing and some of the pieces warped/expanded and a couple of the doors don’t fit right. Off to the saw...



I hate having to put a finished piece back through the saw...



Cabinet locks were a must for me...



All the doors installed and working... along with a light in the stand. Now to rig up some switches so it will automatically turn on.



The stand so far. The front is done, the side panels need stained, finished, and attached yet.

[loachmom]

You and your son do wonderful work together. The stand is just beautiful.
I think the locks on the doors are great idea. Having kids myself (I'm assuming the locks are to keep little hands out), I think I'll ask my husband to include locking doors on the stand he will be building for me.

[Colin]

Great, glad you have used them before and found them okay.

My 4 year old daughter loves 'helping' too. Funny when she calls the battery drill Daddy's toys

[Keith Wolcott]

Nice job on the stand. I may do something similar on mine.

[Whitey_MacLeod]

Looking good. The pot scrubbers are a great idea- I'm going to pick some up to pack out my xp3.

[crazy loaches]

Thanks for the compliments guys (and gals)!

You and your son do wonderful work together. The stand is just beautiful.
I think the locks on the doors are great idea. Having kids myself (I'm assuming the locks are to keep little hands out), I think I'll ask my husband to include locking doors on the stand he will be building for me.

Thanks, it amazes me how persistent he is when I do anything at all with the project. One night when I was testing out the fill plumbing and float valve I had the door open and light on watching the level raise. For about an hour straight he stood there watching and kept pointing and saying 'water'! He even grabbed his little plastic chair and pulled himself up a seat to watch the splashing. So far he really does enjoy watching the 'peish' in my tanks.

I ordered the locks online and got a whole set all matching keys thank god! In antique brash finish.

Great, glad you have used them before and found them okay.

My 4 year old daughter loves 'helping' too. Funny when she calls the battery drill Daddy's toys

Yeah, so far no problems.

Nice job on the stand. I may do something similar on mine.

Thanks Keith, one thing I kind of wish I did was to run the doors all the way to the trim at the top and bottom. That way they would be more invisible, you wouldnt see any horizontal seems.

Looking good. The pot scrubbers are a great idea- I'm going to pick some up to pack out my xp3.

Only thing I found with the XP3 is that unless you really stuff em in there will be large gaps in between them, so you might get some bypass. Not a big deal though, I used them in my XP3. And of course make sure not to get any with chemicals, etc.

[loachmom]

Sounds like you're raising a future aquarist, Tristan. One of my kids really enjoys fish more than the others. She has two tanks that she cares for faithfully.
I have a RenaXP3 that I packed out with pot scrubbers. I got my scrubbers at Walmart, and they were rather large. I had to 'open' them up and flatten them some before I packed them in the container.

[crazy loaches]

This forums coding is a bit different than most, but I think I figured out how to link succesfully to certain posts, so I've gone back to the first post and made a 'table of contents' to hopefully add some organization to this thread. Plus I just like to do nerdy things like that, and add a bit of interest to the thread. Hopefully it will work for everyone, please let me know if it doesnt since I am not 100% sure about the phpBB code. I'll try to go back to page1 and edit it when I make new posts (although might not be right away). And hope everyone isnt sick of seing this thread every single day since I have been updating it so much.

[Keith Wolcott]

Tristan- We are not at all tired of seeing your thread. I look for it and you are helping me with lots of decisions that I am trying to make. Good idea on the adjustment of the doors on the stand. I like the look of the tongue and groove so I think that I will go with that too.

Earlier, you made a comment about hearing some negatives about Glasscages. I have not found such info so I am wondering what typed of problems people had and if you have had any problems. I have now found that they travel very close to my home so I will not have much trouble with delivery.

Thanks you.

[shari2]

WAY cool table of contents Tristan! Works for me.

[chefkeith]

This thread is way too cool. Great job on everything.