New 90 P (90 x 50 x 50) tank setup

[Noahspapa]

It’s time to take down the 20 gallon long tank that was my first “ high tech planted” aquarium and upgrade to a tank with on an appropriate size/depth.

I’ll order a Landen (90 x 50 x 50) tank on Amazon for this. Free overnight delivery. Preposterous!

I’ve studied the thread TRyan posted on 3/4” plywood stands and will be building a stand for this - thank you TRyan!

For filtration, I’ve been studying JayP’s thread. I had a biomaster thermo 350 on the 20L which I’m thinking of reusing. And I also have a netlea prefilter sitting around and an ARC small acrylic yugang reactor I can steal from a tank. I’m thinking of buying an Oase 800 or other pump and chaining these pieces together to provide a second filtration/carbonizing path? Not sure on the pump manufacturer & size?

I’ll be putting this together in the style of the ADA nature aquarium. Aquasoil in the back, some hardscape (rock, wood) in the midground and a decorative sand foreground. Very simple. Primarily a guppy, Endler, Cory, pleco, neocaridina tank.

Soliciting the scapecrunch community for feedback, advice, suggestions, etc.

Thank you as always. You all are the best!

 

[Naturescapes_Rocco]

Excited to see it!

 

[Mr.Shenanagins]

Nice catch on the Landen The DC powered jebao/jecod pumps available on Amazon work well and the price is right. I’d get one that’s a little overpowered for what you need and you can dial it down to the appropriate speed. The pump won’t have to work as hard and you’ll get a longer life out of it.

 

[TRyan]

Looking forward to seeing your tank and stand! Let me know if you have any build questions about your stand.

 

[Noahspapa]

Looking forward to seeing your tank and stand! Let me know if you have any build questions about your stand.

Thank you! I went over the design with a good friend of mine who is very, very handy and I will likely assist him in building this. He is questioning the lack of a center brace. I believe you’ve built and used these in two instances with a 90 P without issue. Correct? The center brace would be a real pain for getting things in and out.

 

[TRyan]

No center brace needed for a 3' tank. If it was a 4' tank, then I would put one in. The side pieces and back are holding all the weight and keeping things rigid. My stand is very strong without a center brace.

Feel free to install a center brace. You will lose a lot of access underneath by doing so.

 

[Noahspapa]

Thank you. That’s what I thought. I can tell him someone’s done it and tested it. We worked together for 39 years so he’ll get it.

 

[Noahspapa]

Do any of you have a pointer to a thread that shows:

1) plan/parts list for offset horizontal reactor?

2) tips on using skimmer on input lily pipe - how to “dial that in” so it’s not constantly pushing air through the system?

 

[JayP]

2) tips on using skimmer on input lily pipe - how to “dial that in” so it’s not constantly pushing air through the system?

The main thing, and this is true for all surface skimmers, Is to try and maintain a consistent water level in the tank. All skimmers get out of "tune" when the water level drops. Secondly, you, of course, want most water entering the pipe from the bottom slats so adjust the bottom slat "door" so that the air bubble you see in the skimmer float only comes down 1/2-1 inch at most, otherwise, you'll see smaller bubbles breaking off and getting down to the pipe's bend.

 

[BenB]

Looking forward to seeing this build. Were you possibly inspired by the 90P at the AGA?
It was amazing. Not just the scape but the hardware. People actually whispered around it.
Be sure to trick it out with the light screen background

 

[Noahspapa]

Thank you. I have an ATO system in each tank so I think the level is relatively constant. I’ll pay more attention to how I have the flow distributed. I had kinda given up on the skimmer on input but will be retrying it using this input. Thanks again.

 

[Noahspapa]

Looking forward to seeing this build. Were you possibly inspired by the 90P at the AGA?
It was amazing. Not just the scape but the hardware. People actually whispered around it.
Be sure to trick it out with the light screen background

Hi Ben. I hope you’re enjoying the summer. Will you be attending aquashella NJ by any chance. I’m booked to attend - it will be my first Aquashella.

I’ve been planning to switch my original 20 gallon long (my first tank) and my 29 gallon out for 90p’s for a while. The 20 long had gotten overgrown and I was ready to move on so it’s transitioning first. The 29 gallon long will be next, then eventually I’ll build a new ~48” stand and replace my two 10G tanks with 60Us. The existing tanks are all too shallow front to back for my liking. I’ll use the 20 long and it’s equipment for a while to serve as a place to keep the fish from the next tank to be taken down while it’s in transition. I’m also building out small caridina shrimp tanks in my back room. Keeping busy!

 

[BenB]

Will you be attending aquashella NJ by any chance.

No, I have a trip that has been a year in the works. Maybe next year.

 

[Koan]

2) tips on using skimmer on input lily pipe - how to “dial that in”

If you use it on the input instead of the outflow, it's going to need a piece of sponge in there. Otherwise it will drink down your Endlers

 

[Noahspapa]

If you use it on the input instead of the outflow, it's going to need a piece of sponge in there. Otherwise it will drink down your Endlers

Good point. I certainly can put it on the outflow. I have a set of steel pipes with a. Skimmer on the outflow and then a jet output.

 

[Noahspapa]

Was just thinking…. As I plan to evolve several of my tanks, as I transition it would be very nice to have a spare cycled tank running to house the fish while the new tank is cycling. I can use the 20 long and its cycled filter. What needs to be in the 20 long? I’m assuming it needs an ammonia source (soil)? I want to keep it very simple so I can easily catch the inhabitants again to move them.

 

[Noahspapa]

Update: been working with TRyan (thank you!) on a stand design. Will start working on that next week. From reading the “big filter” thread I’ve decided to go with Rocco’s modular component approach. I have a small netlea prefilter, I’ll follow with a large netlea prefilter canister filled with media, then the MDP-3500, then an inline filter from ARC, then I’ll follow with the horizontal reactor with bypass and two returns. I have to work out all the connections and positions.

It looks like it’s best for the bypass to be plumbed with solid pipe/connnectors and also horizontal/parallel to the reactor. Is this correct?

 

[Naturescapes_Rocco]

It looks like it’s best for the bypass to be plumbed with solid pipe/connnectors and also horizontal/parallel to the reactor. Is this correct?

It depends on how your plumbing is oriented! Remember, water takes the path of least resistance -- and you want the valve to control the overall flow on the arm that has the path of least resistance. It doesn't have to be parallel to the reactor; mine currently isn't!

See this post here for more orientation info!

 

[Noahspapa]

I was looking at the attached drawing when I asked that. It seems to make sense from a “neatness” standpoint.

Is it ok to use a small prefilter followed by the larger prefilter container with media? I don’t see why it wouldn’t.

Did anyone find the netlea unit to unit connectors from the Netlea video?

 

[MKEnovice]

Excited to see how your filter turns out. My recommendation would be to have nothing upstream/ prior to your DC pump, and to arrange filtration after the pump. It would be a pain to prime otherwise.