Firstly a big thankyou to Titan who suggested the programme
Here is a design for my stand for a 100gal aquarium. Its going to incorporate a QT and hospital tank and will be the focal point of my living room. The stand itself will only be sanded and have a clear stain, I love the look of wood, not veneer, it kinda takes something away.
Main frame is 4" x 2" with hidden supports, the top is enclosed slightly but still offers a large viewing area on 3 sides.
The aquarium itself is going to be freshwater tropical, heavily planted and the hardscape will be a mixture of limestone and bogwood/mopani root or sumartran driftwood.
Please give me your most honest of opinions............
limestone will mess with your water parameters, unless you are looking for harder water you might want to go with a different type of rock.
Slate might look nice.
You said heavily planted, that seems to be as elusive a number as "pretty hard water". If it is heavily planted then the plants may offset the limestone if your fish load is on the lower side, another seemingly elusive quantification, due to the plants consuming the CaCO3 for the carbon instead of the CO2. That seems to be the way it works anyway.
Personal preference: I like the clear glass corners, looks cleaner than a wood assembly to me, otherwise it looks like a really great setup. Good plan, workable.
Don't forget that you'll still need a glass top on the tank to keep wood damage down from condensation.
JDM i was only yanking your chain! Couldnt resist it really.
The panel in front of the 2nd tank will actually be a door for access, as will the panel on the front left and side left. Plan on having those tasty little push clips on all including the hood. One push and it pops open, dont want handles.
Also with the hood im planning on having 2 hydrolic type rams ( car boot style) so when you push down to open it opens by itself!
The top of the tank will be covered, and the entire inside of the hood will have a reflective film ( not decided what yet) covering it to minimise the amount of light lost, even with the reflectors that the tube holders have you still lose on light.
The rear of the stand will be completely open with extra braces in place, there are a few measurements and minor tweaks to be made but the stand as a whole will look the same.
Thankyou for your input tho it is appriciated
Il rephrase heavily planted to alot of plants hehe
The panel in front of the 2nd tank will actually be a door for access, as will the panel on the front left and side left. Plan on having those tasty little push clips on all including the hood. One push and it pops open, dont want handles.
Also with the hood im planning on having 2 hydrolic type rams ( car boot style) so when you push down to open it opens by itself!
The top of the tank will be covered, and the entire inside of the hood will have a reflective film ( not decided what yet) covering it to minimise the amount of light lost, even with the reflectors that the tube holders have you still lose on light.
Il rephrase heavily planted to alot of plants hehe
Any idea of what plants you want in the tank? Most LED would restrict you somewhat to the slightly lower light selection of plants so it is a consideration. I am toying around with the idea of a second fixture but I am making out very well with the first that I probably won't actually do it.
A Marineland Doublebright 48" is rated at2,600 lux at 24"... (how tall is your tank?... rating would have to be adjusted for that) I use the 24" fixture rated at 1,750 lux at 24" and I make out OK with a wide range of plants so far.
Some examples: low light seems to be in the 500 lux area, (crypts). Moderate light 500-1,000 lux, (Anubias, sagittaria). Bright 1,000 - 1,500 lux (ludwigia). Very bright 1,500+ lux, (cabomba, hygrophila, vallisneria).
Watts per volume is not terribly useful unless you are comparing the same fixture with different bulbs over the same tank size and usually that is not the case. The 48" LED fixture would work out well and ends up with a good lux rating for your depth, higher than mine and I see good growth on all but the highest light needing plants so far. Unless you are going for a CO2 injection high energy tank setup, LED would work work fine. They usually all have some sort of lux rating so you can actually compare LED fixtures against each other more easily than tubes. If you can get over 1,500 lux at 24" with any fixture, that would be the aim.
The bulb replacement compared to the LED lifespan makes up for the difference in up front cost as well as the long term operating expense. I'm sure that electricity costs in the UK is at least what it is here. LED is cheaper to run. Price a pair of 48" 6,500K bulbs and figure replacing them once a year on top of the fixture needed.
Anyway, those are my thoughts on the lighting matter.
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