Retirement and forum shutdown (17 Jan 2022)

Hi,

John Howell who has managed the forum for years is getting on and wishes to retire from the role of managing it.
Over the years, he has managed the forum through good days and bad days and he has always been fair.
He has managed to bring his passion for fish keeping to the forum and keep it going for so long.

I wish to thank John for his hard work in keeping the forum going.

With John wishing to "retire" from the role of managing the forum and the forum receiving very little traffic, I think we must agree that forum has come to a natural conclusion and it's time to put it to rest.

I am proposing that the forum be made read-only from March 2022 onwards and that no new users or content be created. The website is still registered for several more years, so the content will still be accessible but no new topics or replies will be allowed.

If there is interest from the ITFS or other fish keeping clubs, we may redirect traffic to them or to a Facebook group but will not actively manage it.

I'd like to thank everyone over the years who helped with forum, posted a reply, started a new topic, ask a question and helped a newbie in fish keeping. And thank you to the sponsors who helped us along the away. Hopefully it made the hobby stronger.

I'd especially like to thank John Howell and Valerie Rousseau for all of their contributions, without them the forum would have never been has successful.

Thank you
Darragh Sherwin

Tank between 2 rooms

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oddfish (Joe)
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06 Jun 2014 21:17 #1 by oddfish (Joe)

Tank between 2 rooms was created by oddfish (Joe)

Hi, I'm new to the forum. I've had tanks for years but looking to do something special in the new house. I've left a 5ft + (160cm) opening between 2 rooms and hope to fit a tank. One room will contain the filters etc but I would hope a 5ft tank approx 75-95cm in height with a depth of 30-40cm should be enough.

Block construction to the wall is currently 10cm plus a hang and picture surround of maybe 2cm which means between 18-28cm into the second room. Do I construct a block wall and then get a wooden base to place the tank on (maybe rubber on the wood) and then get an aquaone filter/pump system for the tank.

Hopefully someone here has done this or knows someone that may have some tips on how to do this or where I might source a suitable tank.

Thanks a million..

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hammie (Neil Hammerton)
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07 Jun 2014 06:14 #2 by hammie (Neil Hammerton)

Replied by hammie (Neil Hammerton) on topic Tank between 2 rooms

Any chance you can take a pic of the space you want to occupy?

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bart (Bart Korfanty)
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07 Jun 2014 08:20 #3 by bart (Bart Korfanty)

Replied by bart (Bart Korfanty) on topic Tank between 2 rooms

Hi
Lets assume the tank you are looking for is
length 150cm
height 75cm
width 40cm
For that construction anych aquarium building chart says 13mm thick glass(with minimal allowed safety factor) so it's better to go 14mm or higher just in case. That means ridiculous price of glass of that thickness
(for 95cm high it's 17mm glass)

Other options are 60cm high - 10mm glass, 70cm high - 12mm glass
That's the glass thickness issue.

The maintenance. In general tanks higher than 60cm are pretty hard to get your hands into. You will be doing regular cleaning and it's pretty awkward to reach to the bottom in something that is 70cm high newer mind 95cm. Also if you want to do some live plants the light will be greatly dispersed in taller tank, so need for more bulbs (of course greatly simplifying the matter)

As for the support. Properly made box construction from 3x4 and 2x3 wooden beams is more than enough to withstand this weight. It's also the cheapest option. Steel frame stand would be another choice but we are talking couple hundred yoyos for something like that. The tank is placed on styrofoam(aeroboard) 20mm thick is enough.

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oddfish (Joe)
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11 Jun 2014 10:20 - 11 Jun 2014 10:32 #4 by oddfish (Joe)

Replied by oddfish (Joe) on topic Tank between 2 rooms

bart wrote:
Hi
Lets assume the tank you are looking for is
length 150cm
height 75cm
width 40cm
For that construction anych aquarium building chart says 13mm thick glass(with minimal allowed safety factor) so it's better to go 14mm or higher just in case. That means ridiculous price of glass of that thickness
(for 95cm high it's 17mm glass)

Other options are 60cm high - 10mm glass, 70cm high - 12mm glass
That's the glass thickness issue.

Thanks for the tips. If I went with 70cm (12mm glass) and a 5ft length, what would be the best suited (most appropriate) depth/wdith?

bart wrote:
As for the support. Properly made box construction from 3x4 and 2x3 wooden beams is more than enough to withstand this weight. It's also the cheapest option. Steel frame stand would be another choice but we are talking couple hundred yoyos for something like that. The tank is placed on styrofoam(aeroboard) 20mm thick is enough.

thanks..

Last edit: 11 Jun 2014 10:32 by oddfish (Joe).

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oddfish (Joe)
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11 Jun 2014 10:20 - 11 Jun 2014 10:26 #5 by oddfish (Joe)

Replied by oddfish (Joe) on topic Tank between 2 rooms

Sorry about the delay; picture attached of the planning/proposed opening.

Last edit: 11 Jun 2014 10:26 by oddfish (Joe). Reason: trying to add picture

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Bohrio (Alex Rodriguez)
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11 Jun 2014 19:36 #6 by Bohrio (Alex Rodriguez)

Replied by Bohrio (Alex Rodriguez) on topic Tank between 2 rooms

Hey there

If you are going for 70 cm I would play safe and use 13 mm glass. This will probably add 40% to the price if you were building a 60-65 cm tank but of course if money is not an issue then 70 cm will be as high as I would go, mostly because you are going to find it hard to clean etc.

how big is the wall opening 95 cm tall?

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oddfish (Joe)
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11 Jun 2014 20:29 #7 by oddfish (Joe)

Replied by oddfish (Joe) on topic Tank between 2 rooms

The opening is actually 160cm long and 105cm in height. If I use an 18mm ply with 20mm insulation, that brings me ~67cm so 60cm high with a lid would work quiet well..

Has anyone on the forum done this before? I assume there may be obstacles to get it done nice and flush with the wall.

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bart (Bart Korfanty)
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11 Jun 2014 20:37 #8 by bart (Bart Korfanty)

Replied by bart (Bart Korfanty) on topic Tank between 2 rooms

For the width i wouldn't go less than 40cm, It does not look good and seriously restricts possibilities of putting in nice decor. You are aiming for space to place some rocks and driftwood. Go 50cm or even 60cm wide if you can.

For opening like this would be better to do all the support construction on one side.

For 70cm height i think 13mm glass is a bit overkill, but whatever makes you feel safe

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11 Jun 2014 20:47 #9 by Darkslice (Stephen Walsh)

Replied by Darkslice (Stephen Walsh) on topic Tank between 2 rooms

Joe, that yourself?

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hammie (Neil Hammerton)
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12 Jun 2014 10:45 #10 by hammie (Neil Hammerton)

Replied by hammie (Neil Hammerton) on topic Tank between 2 rooms

From the point of view of the type and size of fish I would be looking to keep, I would possibly make the tank fairly wide! I wouldnt mind looking a couple of ft in each room and have the tank overall width being 36 - 48 inches wide! Imagine what the possibilities opened up are with a tank 150cm long 120cm wide & 60cm high are..... (Over all volume of approx 1094 litres)
all you would have to do is build a nice cabnite each side of the opening to house your filtration and so on (Id definitely go with a sump system instead of external filters tbh), plus support the weight of the tank....

As you have a blank canvas, You could even do a block built cabnite and cover it with light ply or something to make sure the strength and support are right!

the possibilities you have at your disposal right now are kinda endless......

Maybe in a few years when things are a bit more under control I will be in a position to build my own house and do something like this too

Im following this project with interest :woohoo:

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oddfish (Joe)
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24 Oct 2015 21:30 #11 by oddfish (Joe)

Replied by oddfish (Joe) on topic Tank between 2 rooms

So, the final product (almost).

I need to frame it so any recommendations of pics ?

On the other side, I am using the Tropiglo LED lights. The problem I have is that the top of the tank is open so the tank loses about 20litres of water a week and I'm sure this will cause a level of dampness in the room before too long. How to solve ? I was looking at a glass top for the tank ?

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