opti white tanks

Hi all,

Has anyone dealt with sydzy on adverts.ie in relation to custom opti white tanks? Or rainbow aquatics on Facebook? I got some quotes and prices are very reasonable.

Just wondering if anyone has anything built by either of them. Or does anyone know of where to get custom opti white tanks at a reasonable price.

Im Looking for a tank 75 X 45 X 45 For an aquascaping. This will be my first attempt so will this tank be too big?

Any suggestions welcome and thanks in advance.

Simon.

Got my small cube in aquaworld, didnt know at the time but seahorse would have made it cheaper.
You gonna be limited for the lighting with 75 cm length some of the light units have sliding feet.
The bigger the tank the more expensive it is gonna be considering the substrate, lighting, aquascaping material, plants etc.
What is your total budget ?
Regard
Anthony

rainbow aquatics will be building my sump and making a overflow in my tank seen work hes done before and its great work and he is very good wit his prices also very nice person to deal with

swai wrote:

Hi all,

Has anyone dealt with sydzy on adverts.ie in relation to custom opti white tanks? Or rainbow aquatics on Facebook? I got some quotes and prices are very reasonable.

Just wondering if anyone has anything built by either of them. Or does anyone know of where to get custom opti white tanks at a reasonable price.

Im Looking for a tank 75 X 45 X 45 For an aquascaping. This will be my first attempt so will this tank be too big?

Any suggestions welcome and thanks in advance.

Simon.

Rainbow Aquatics is run by a guy called Bart and would be well known around here and "sydzy on Adverts.ie" is also Bart to the best of my knowledge.........You are in very good hands there Simon if you get him to build a tank for you.

Best of luck with the new set up

Ger

Thanks for the info about Bart and sydzy, I had guessed they were the same but didn't know. Cool so all good info about him. I presume he will be cheaper then seahorse and aqua world.

anthonyd wrote:

Got my small cube in aquaworld, didnt know at the time but seahorse would have made it cheaper.
You gonna be limited for the lighting with 75 cm length some of the light units have sliding feet.
The bigger the tank the more expensive it is gonna be considering the substrate, lighting, aquascaping material, plants etc.
What is your total budget ?
Regard
Anthony

Haven't really thought about budget, will just take it as it comes. Was going to buy a whole set up already done but thought I'd enjoy it more trying to build it myself from scratch.

What size tank would you recommend? The tank will be on a counter top in kitchen and will be viewable from front and back. I will be drilling some holes in counter and have filter co2 etc in the press underneath.

I m afraid i wouldnt be able to recommend a size as my 4 tanks are between 30 et 38 l.
If i had to get a bigger tank i would be looking at the light fixture i want and see what length are availabe and decide from there.
It sounds like a nice project but a bit tricky as you will be able to see the front and the back.
Anthony

anthonyd wrote:

I m afraid i wouldnt be able to recommend a size as my 4 tanks are between 30 et 38 l.
If i had to get a bigger tank i would be looking at the light fixture i want and see what length are availabe and decide from there.
It sounds like a nice project but a bit tricky as you will be able to see the front and the back.
Anthony

Yes i know but i enjoy a challenge. I think i'll go 60 cm as most t5 clip on hang over lights are either 60cm or 90cm. Better off starting small incase things go wrong which i presume will! I think i'll try a mountain acquascape as it will be seen from both sides.

I got my one made in Aquaworld and they were the cheapest around at the time

Awesome shop really nice to deal with


Mark

SpiderMonkey wrote:

I got my one made in Aquaworld and they were the cheapest around at the time

Awesome shop really nice to deal with


Mark

Yeah been meaning to go out to aquaworld, i see they are leading the way for aquascaping and pushing things forward. I'm a seahorse regular and i've just been to artane aquatics today. Nice small set up there.

Any info for a newbie to aquascaping?

I'd just start with a good substrate, How many blubs will you be using 2-4? And are you going Co2 route? and then start firing away on here with all the questions you have.

And talk to Darren in seahorse

ger310 wrote:

swai wrote:

Hi all,

Has anyone dealt with sydzy on adverts.ie in relation to custom opti white tanks? Or rainbow aquatics on Facebook? I got some quotes and prices are very reasonable.

Just wondering if anyone has anything built by either of them. Or does anyone know of where to get custom opti white tanks at a reasonable price.

Im Looking for a tank 75 X 45 X 45 For an aquascaping. This will be my first attempt so will this tank be too big?

Any suggestions welcome and thanks in advance.

Simon.

Rainbow Aquatics is run by a guy called Bart and would be well known around here and "sydzy on Adverts.ie" is also Bart to the best of my knowledge.........You are in very good hands there Simon if you get him to build a tank for you.

Best of luck with the new set up

Ger

Hi this guys name on adverts.ie is SZYDY not sydzy - just in case someone wants to look up his shops page on there.

Also you may go trough few individual planted tank topics/journals on forum. You may find a good bit answers and tips and ideas of from where to start and what to expect (in terms of scaping, planting, expenses).

SpiderMonkey wrote:

I'd just start with a good substrate, How many blubs will you be using 2-4? And are you going Co2 route? and then start firing away on here with all the questions you have.

And talk to Darren in seahorse

Cheers! I'll go and talk to Darren. I'm just in the planning stage now, tank is first and i think i'll go 60 x 45 x 45 opti white. I was going to use 2 t5 but could be persuaded to use 4. Yes I want to go with a co2 set up.

Haven't really thought about whats going inside the tank yet. It will be a bit different as its going on a kitchen shelf which separates kitchen and living room so will be seen from front in kitchen and back in living room. I'm going to have to use up a kitchen cupboard for filter, co2 etc.

Substrate will most likely be ADA Amazonia. I don't know if i should add anything else.

ABdarudeone wrote:

ger310 wrote:

swai wrote:

Hi all,

Has anyone dealt with sydzy on adverts.ie in relation to custom opti white tanks? Or rainbow aquatics on Facebook? I got some quotes and prices are very reasonable.

Just wondering if anyone has anything built by either of them. Or does anyone know of where to get custom opti white tanks at a reasonable price.

Im Looking for a tank 75 X 45 X 45 For an aquascaping. This will be my first attempt so will this tank be too big?

Any suggestions welcome and thanks in advance.

Simon.

Rainbow Aquatics is run by a guy called Bart and would be well known around here and "sydzy on Adverts.ie" is also Bart to the best of my knowledge.........You are in very good hands there Simon if you get him to build a tank for you.

Best of luck with the new set up

Ger

Hi this guys name on adverts.ie is SZYDY not sydzy - just in case someone wants to look up his shops page on there.

Sorry my mistake!

Lauris wrote:

Also you may go trough few individual planted tank topics/journals on forum. You may find a good bit answers and tips and ideas of from where to start and what to expect (in terms of scaping, planting, expenses).

Yes thanks i already had a look, there was one really good one with very details pics but then at the end it didn't work out for him. I hope thats not the case for me!

Lauris wrote:

Also you may go trough few individual planted tank topics/journals on forum. You may find a good bit answers and tips and ideas of from where to start and what to expect (in terms of scaping, planting, expenses).

Just noticed that was your tank I was talking about. I'm glad you got your next tank sorted. It looks amazing!

swai wrote:

...there was one really good one with very details pics but then at the end it didn't work out for him. I hope thats not the case for me!

yeah. it was heartbreaking. and it was me. lol
I went very good route at the start but was not prepared to deal with it successfully. I hoped like that too.. but experience sometimes does hit us the hard way. I hope you will find some tips there.. you may pay additional attention what's said by platy. good tips and advices given through

if ur only starting off i think dont do anyting too large i had my 275 litre tank fully planted and i can tell u it was alot of work them plants were growing so fast it was unbelievable id spend an hour every second week trimming and in a big deep tank its fairly difficult

Check " nature s chaos " by james findley on you tube it is a huge aquascape than you can see from all sides it might gives you ideas.

alan wrote:

if ur only starting off i think dont do anyting too large i had my 275 litre tank fully planted and i can tell u it was alot of work them plants were growing so fast it was unbelievable id spend an hour every second week trimming and in a big deep tank its fairly difficult

275 litre is indeed too large! I've a similar size tank with terrapins and fish and they create a lot more mess so it takes me a lot of time to clean.

To be honest, i could easily spend an hour a day looking at or adjusting or cleaning my tank. My partner always gives out to me! I will enjoy doing it, i know that much and I had a choice of either going for a marine or planted. I went with planted to see how I go and will give marina a go after.

anthonyd wrote:

Check " nature s chaos " by james findley on you tube it is a huge aquascape than you can see from all sides it might gives you ideas.

That was next on the "to watch" list! It looks amazing. The stuff the Green machine does too is pretty good.

I could add my 5 cents to the tank size you will go.Order something about 50-60L for a start.
1. Less expensive (light unit, soil, plants, rocks ect..)
2. Easier to maintain

As for beginning you will spend less on ferts, co2 gas, water changes and chemistry elements.. also if something will go wrong you will have less to lose (however the biggest lose is time and emotions). once you will be ready to go bigger you can always get a second tank or upgrade existing one with less investment needed. I learned it the hard way. I should set up nano first and see how good I can deliver all needed for my plants

Cheers thanks, maybe your right. I was going to go with 60 x 45 x 45 which would be about 120 litres. If i go 60 x 30 x 36 it would be about 65 litres. I think though the small tank would look a bit lost on my kitchen counter. Its a tough decision as tank will be viewable from front and back so don't want it too small. Hard to make my mind up!

the idea about tank in this size on kitchen counter sounds exciting.. but would you consider a smaller tank somewhere else and leave the kitchen tank on HOLD? I do believe it is nothing bad to go your size but as I said. If I would have a choice again befor setting up my project failed I would go 50L instead of 125L. But it is probably just me because I failed on my one. lol. whatever you willchoose I'm sure it will be great and you will keep it well

I must say I really disagree with the comments about getting a smaller tank get the tank size you want now there's no point getting a small tank now and wanting to get a bigger one in a few weeks. 120 litres really isn't that big of a tank and pretty easy to maintain

Yeah I'm set on a 120 liter. 60 X 45 X 45. I want to go even bigger but don't know if the counter top will hold the weight! OK now my mind is made up about tank all I need to do is plan filter, substrate co2 etc. Think I'll go external eheim or fluvial. Anyone any opinions? Maybe a 205?

Also any lighting suggestions? 2 X t5 bulbs, 4 X t5 bulbs or a 150 watt halide with suspension bar so can change the output if light if needed. Thanks.

go JBL geenline 1501e. I have it. Brilliant job it does. Quiet, powerfull (1400l/h with real output around 1000L/h when full of media) and energy efficient (only 20w). To clean this filter is a simple pleasure. not a single dropon my carpet. It also has manufacturer warranty - 4 years. In Seahorse I paid 169e 5 months ago.Online best price I managed to get was 159e with free delivery. + in Seahorse they will give you a plenty of stickers. Also you may want to look at their external heaters. I got 200w Hydor of them. Brilliant thing. Does not disturb your tank because simply it's not in the tank and T is always blade sharp 24/7. Co2 you can get online. I got my 2way regulator with solenoid valve from co2supermarket co.uk. did cost me around 70quit with delivery but it is solid build and no plastic at all. you can get tank of Homer here on forum.. 2kg or 5kg (better 5 - it will last you forever). And then you can decide - you can stick with original spray bar and intake or you can get fancy lilly pipe to make it look cool with all in glass (diffuser, lily intake and out, drop checker).. I only could suggest not to save on glass - I got cheap one from ebay and it was weak and cheap glass.. when tried to clean it went into a tiny pieces right in my hand. decided to stick with blau (good deal in Seahorse).

Thanks lauris, I heard the 1501 were quite good. Yeah external heater sounds better and looks better too! Seahorse Is probably my best bet because of the loyalty cards! Every penny counts these days. Co2 is the only thing I don't have a clue about out. I don't even know drop checker is! Will 100% get the glass lily pipes as they look so good and clear tubing from filter.

You just ask for the pipes in seahorse to keep them in your hand. especially 16mm ones. you will feel the nice quality of glass. as I said - It would be a bit risky to get them online and you are saving only few euros buying on line but in meantime you can get stickers which balance the thing out. Drop checker is another simple device for cheking the levels of co2 in your tank. simply add ready solution to ir or get 4DKH solution in ebay to make up your own (works about 10x cheaper as to buy ready one in shop) with simply adding PH test few drops. just google it.. it is straight forward to understand how drop checker works. as a ready set up you can get one from Seahorse again. I dunno if they still sell those sets but DD complete co2 set was at very reasonable price with them 120e or so. ) set comes with all you need and 2kg
co2 tank. to fill the tank it will cost you 25 in Tallaght and the same place will fill your 5kg for the same price. so in this case would be a much better idea to get 5kg fire extinguisher and separate co2 regulator. I can give you the link for my one. It is not well known brand and fancy but it is well build and reasonably peiced.

So this is what you will need for complete co2 set:
- Regulator with solenoid valve (70€ and up)
- Co2 tank (25-30quit of Homer ,2 or 5kgs if he still have then. or fancy one for 120+ in size of 2-2.5kg's.. I was in Seahorse with my hangover. lol. couldn't resist sexy Blau tank for 140quit. lol. after that day I did a promisse to myself to stay away from LFS when on hangover. lol)
- Co2 diffuser (12-16€)
- Bubble counter (10-15€)
- One way non-return valve (3-5€)
- Drop checker (14-18€)
- Pipe (3m 7-10€)

*sure the price may vary fron place to place.