Welcome to Jon's Plant Page 

(more pictures at the bottom, click for the bigger picture)

Introduction (since this page will take about 3 minutes to load on a dial up, you may as well read something:)

    This is actually my second 225 gallon tank. The first one sprung a leak (at the bottom, of course) after I had it for about 5 years. It had been a reef tank in a former life, so I decided to just replace it with a new one in 1996. It has been a freshwater plant tank since then, but has gone through quite a few phases to evolve to where it is today. Growth rate has been rather insane, so most of the design has been to simplify maintenance and improve reliability. 

    People somehow find me and ask questions. I don't have any problem with this, but sometimes the range of questioning can be rather odd. One question was so different that it deserves top billing: "How loud is the tank?" If you look closely, there are several features designed to reduce noise. The overall effect is that the tank generates a constant 58 dB SPL (C weighted) at 3 feet. A lot of the others would be too embarrassing to the authors to print.

Basics:

    225 gallon tank (72" L x 24" W x 28" H)

    Four 72" 160w Coralife Trichromatic VHO bulbs

    Two IceCap 430 Electronic ballasts

    Dupla 250w cable heating system with Medusa temperature controller and DIY transformer ( <- click here to learn how to build one)

    Sandpoint fully automatic CO2 injection system (powerhead driven system in tank in back left)

    X10 automation controller allows 2 stage lighting for morning and evening at 320w, daytime at 640w

    1 Hydrothruster QVE 480 gph pump (running at 6 gpm )

    1 Iwaki MD20RT (running at 7 gpm)    

    Two Blue Thunder wet/dry filters

• Why wet/dry?  I like surface extraction due to the amount of debris fish and plants release.
•  I use cheap sheets of filter media in the skimmer cups, so I can remove excess materials fairly quickly.
•  It also allows for a constant water depth in the tank.
• Once you are using skimmers, it pushes you toward wet/dry filtration.
• Wet/dry also adds a good place for polishing sponges and a place to put your probes. 
• Hiding everything under the tank is definitely an aesthetic plus:)

Construction FAQ (got a question you think others may have too? Send it in to me)

   Framing is done in 4x4 pressure treated wood and probably a bit of overkill. 

•  Eight 4" x 4" uprights are staggered through the span.
•  The tops of all the uprights are connected by a 2 layer 2" x 6" sandwich bracing around the perimeter and single 2" x 6" between each of the front and rear uprights. The front/rear brace creates a natural "stagger" for the legs in the center of the structure. 
• The major support structure is drilled and bolted together. 
• The top of the stand is 5/8" exterior plywood which is supported by the 2" x 6" bracing that runs under it.
• Click the little pics for a close up

    The sides of the pedestal are removable access panels covered in 1/4  birch.

•  The right side panel is an electrical cabinet door on hinges with override switches for lights, pumps and CO2 injection.
•  The temperature controller is wired in conjunction with the pumps to avoid having heat on with no water movement since the probes are in the sumps.

    The "normal wear" items are fully redundant.

• Two prefilters, Two Hydothruster pumps, Two sumps (crossover connected so one pump can run with 2 returns)
• Two Icecaps (each running a pair of bulbs)

    The Hood

• A basic pine box with a high gloss white interior and German 3 piece endcaps. 
• It is suspended 1/4 inch over the frame of the tank in order to allow airflow underneath.
• The tank is covered with glass panels in the front, but open to the hood and back couple inches.
• I prefer open tops with substrate heating in order to allow the heat from the lights to escape.
• This costs me in CO2. I use 5 lbs every 3 months, but I keep a spare tank, and it seems like a better plan.
• Since the tank has a center support and SAEs jump, there are integrated "fish catchers" to keep them from landing on the center support

    SAFETY!

• The entire system is plugged into a GFI outlet
• The water is grounded via titanium rod
• The electrical panel is run through a 15A quick blow fuse

Current occupants:

• 12 Ottocinclus
• 1 Farlowella
• 8 Rainbowfish (assorted)
• 6 Black Tetras
• 6 White Tetras
• 8 Siamese Algae Eaters
• 3 Queen Arabesque Plecostomus
• 1 ton Malaysian Trumpet Snails:)

Plant Inventory:

Fertilization:

• roughly 75ml Tropica Master Grow per week, 100ml with water changes
• KNO₄ / K₂SO₄ as required to maintain detectable potassium while keeping nitrates around 10 ppm, nitrate potential has proved to be 0 ppm (by my kits)

Substrate:

• The lower layer is 2" of white silica sand (playsand) mixed with 22 lbs of Karl Schoeler's Substrate Gold (improved laterite), about 150 lbs
• The upper layer is 3.5" of standard, fine, aquarium gravel, about 250 lbs 

Tank Parameters (average): 

The shot above and below could best be described as "REALLY needing a trim".

Some crypts, etc

This is a recent shot after a really serious pruning. Click on image for a high detail shot that you can zoom around in.

right side of tank showing controls (left to right, Lights, CO2, Pumps, Medusa Heater controller, Sandpoint pH controller)

 inside showing wet/dry filters 

Internal electrical panel

Hood, note center support which can also double as a fish grill if they jump on it.

Note egg crate in hood to keep fish from jumping onto center support. I lost 2 SAEs prior to putting these in. This was taken prior to installing the cooling vents below.

The front of the hood is "visually" sealed to the front of the tank. Otherwise, the glare from the bulbs leaking under the suspended hood will blind you. The hood is cooled by relying on convection currents to draw from the open eggcrate in the back to the vents in the top. The are flat black to cut glare, but a significant amount of light leaks out and washes the back wall.

Sandpoint CO2 injector driven by Hagen 802 in tank (magnetic cleaner makes cleaning a lot faster)

Return tubes are CPVC with 9 routed slots spaced one inch apart starting three inches from the bottom of the tank, a slot slightly below the surface is used for breaking siphon. (Yes, I trimmed some things out of the way just for this shot) The force of the water pushes it downward from each slot. There is no surface agitation from the top slot.

Overflows are notoriously noisy, but there are several things you can do to quiet them. You will notice that the stand pipe in the bottom of the overflow has 2 pieces of plastic florescent egg crate on top of it. Above that is a 1" thick porous sponge. Above that is a piece of blue filter media. Running down through the middle is an 8" piece of 1/8" hard airline tubing. You use it to eliminate the "gurgles". The line that runs down to the sumps is covered in pipe insulation all the way down to the wet/drys. This effectively muffles the sound of the water running through it.

It is hard to see through the glare, but the back surface area of the tank is covered in eggcrate to keep the fish in. SAEs jump, take every precaution.

Think that was too much information? CLICK HERE for over 3 years worth of consumption data. 

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