QT/nursery tank

[Victor M. Martinez]

I'm about to purchase a new tank to use for QT and to try to raise some
fry. This tank will go in the master bedroom, on top of a wooden chest of
drawers. The tank will be planted, of course... :)
I was thinking of getting one of those eclipse combos, a 30 gallon looked
nice. It comes with 40W of fluorescent light.
Does anybody think it's not a good choice for the location? I certainly
don't want to deal with hoses and cables all over the place. The eclipse
concept is certainly convenient, but does it work?
Any advise would be most appreciated.

Cheers.

Victor M. Martinez

http://www.che.utexas.edu/~martiv

[Jim Brown]

Victor M. Martinez > wrote in message
...
> I'm about to purchase a new tank to use for QT and to try to raise some
> fry. This tank will go in the master bedroom, on top of a wooden chest of
> drawers. The tank will be planted, of course... :)
> I was thinking of getting one of those eclipse combos, a 30 gallon looked
> nice. It comes with 40W of fluorescent light.
> Does anybody think it's not a good choice for the location? I certainly
> don't want to deal with hoses and cables all over the place. The eclipse
> concept is certainly convenient, but does it work?
> Any advise would be most appreciated.
>
> Cheers.
>
> Victor M. Martinez

I would concern myself with that weight on top of a dresser. If it was an
older one made properly with real wood and strong framing, it would be maxed
out at 300 ponds plus, with high humidity and potential splashes to warp the
wood.
Also, is it for quarantine or raising fry. Not going to be convenient if it
has to do double duty-it will always be needed for one job while it's doing
the other. Perhaps two smaller set ups, as quarantine tanks don't need to
be big for most instances.

Jim

[Victor M. Martinez]

Jim Brown > wrote:
>I would concern myself with that weight on top of a dresser. If it was an
>older one made properly with real wood and strong framing, it would be maxed

It's not new, but a heavy pine mexican import. I don't think the weight would
be a problem.

>Also, is it for quarantine or raising fry. Not going to be convenient if it
>has to do double duty-it will always be needed for one job while it's doing
>the other. Perhaps two smaller set ups, as quarantine tanks don't need to

Yeah. I'm only thinking of raising fry once (I'm bidding on eggs online) then
it will be the QT tank. I plan on having a few fish in it and lots of plants
permanently. Leave enough bio-capacity to add new fish to QT when needed.

--
Victor M. Martinez

http://www.che.utexas.edu/~martiv

[Shell91]

Humidity and water splashes or spills plus the temperature under the tank
will eventually ruin the finish on the dresser, even if you put the tank on
a towel. If the dresser is just stained and doesn't have a varnish
eventually you will have permanent water stains in the wood. Maybe a
plexiglass sheet covering the top of the dresser would work.

Shell


"Victor M. Martinez" > wrote in message
...
> Jim Brown > wrote:
> >I would concern myself with that weight on top of a dresser. If it was
an
> >older one made properly with real wood and strong framing, it would be
maxed
>
> It's not new, but a heavy pine mexican import. I don't think the weight
would
> be a problem.
>
> >Also, is it for quarantine or raising fry. Not going to be convenient if
it
> >has to do double duty-it will always be needed for one job while it's
doing
> >the other. Perhaps two smaller set ups, as quarantine tanks don't need
to
>
> Yeah. I'm only thinking of raising fry once (I'm bidding on eggs online)
then
> it will be the QT tank. I plan on having a few fish in it and lots of
plants
> permanently. Leave enough bio-capacity to add new fish to QT when needed.
>
> --
> Victor M. Martinez
>
> http://www.che.utexas.edu/~martiv
>

[Eric Schreiber]

"Victor M. Martinez" > wrote:

>I was thinking of getting one of those eclipse combos,
>a 30 gallon looked nice.

Consider buying the hood and the tank separately. You may be able to
save some money.

>I certainly don't want to deal with hoses and cables
>all over the place.

The Eclipse is really nice in that regard! And maintenance is a snap.

>The eclipse concept is certainly convenient, but does it work?

It works very well as a general lighting and filtration setup. I've
got an Eclipse hood on my 20 gallon, and I like it a lot.

However, it may not be the best choice for a planted tank, unless you
have plants that don't require a lot of light. My plants did poorly
until I added a DIY light fixture to the existing Eclipse lighting.

The water return on an Eclipse hood creates a fair amount of
turbulence at the water surface. This is good for ensuring good oxygen
levels in the water, but tends to make CO2 leave the water quickly,
which will interfere with plant growth somewhat.

Those negatives aside, it's certainly possible to use an Eclipse hood
on a planted tank - I'm doing it with reasonably good success. But
some other options may be better.

If I had to do it over, I'd probably build a complete DIY hood for my
planted tank and use the Eclipse for an unplanted one.


--
www.ericschreiber.com

[Madpiano]

If you can, I would go for a Juwel Set up or one of the new Fluval ones.

The Juwel is great, as it has a very quiet filter which is just right for
planted tanks, but lighting is insufficient for plants and adding a second
light is near impossible.

The Fluvals have 2 Lights, but I am not sure about the filter. I haven't
tried them.

I am just thinking that the noise from an Eclipse may be inconvenient in the
bedroom.

[Eric Schreiber]

"Madpiano" > wrote:

>I am just thinking that the noise from an Eclipse may be
>inconvenient in the bedroom.

They're pretty quiet so long as the water level is kept high enough.

--
www.ericschreiber.com

[Dave Millman]

"Victor M. Martinez" wrote:

> Jim Brown > wrote:
> >I would concern myself with that weight on top of a dresser. If it was an
> >older one made properly with real wood and strong framing, it would be maxed
>
> It's not new, but a heavy pine mexican import. I don't think the weight would
> be a problem.

Famous last words!

A 30 gallon setup can exceeld 300 lbs. Find 300 lbs worth of people and bounce
lightly on the dresser. If you see the slightest movement whatsoever, it will
fail, probably in the middle of the soundest sleep or the best dream or...

[Victor M. Martinez]

Dave Millman > wrote:
>Famous last words!

Indeed... ;)

>lightly on the dresser. If you see the slightest movement whatsoever, it will
>fail, probably in the middle of the soundest sleep or the best dream or...

Hmmm.... ok, it'll be a 20 gallon tank then.

--
Victor M. Martinez

http://www.che.utexas.edu/~martiv

[fisherman]

Eric Schreiber > wrote in message >...
> "Madpiano" > wrote:
>
> >I am just thinking that the noise from an Eclipse may be
> >inconvenient in the bedroom.
>
> They're pretty quiet so long as the water level is kept high enough.

We have two 18g tall Eclipse tanks and they definitely do a good job.
Having said that, note that they are 1) not in the bedroom although I
would agree with the earlier post that they are really pretty quiet as
long as they are full and 2) ours do not have live plants in them and
I suspect the lighting would probably be a little weak for live
plants. Other than that, the water stays crystal clear and they
really are a snap to maintain.

Good luck!

Dave
Knowledge is power.

[NetMax]

"Victor M. Martinez" > wrote in message
...
> I'm about to purchase a new tank to use for QT and to try to raise some
> fry. This tank will go in the master bedroom, on top of a wooden chest
of
> drawers. The tank will be planted, of course... :)
> I was thinking of getting one of those eclipse combos, a 30 gallon
looked
> nice. It comes with 40W of fluorescent light.
> Does anybody think it's not a good choice for the location? I certainly
> don't want to deal with hoses and cables all over the place. The
eclipse
> concept is certainly convenient, but does it work?
> Any advise would be most appreciated.

Fry, plants, quarantine (inconsistant and conflicting requirements) &
bedroom operation (new set of requirements). You might be trying to
squeeze too much out of this one tank Victor ;~) FWIW, planted tanks are
inconsistent with quarantine set-ups. If there is a disease, you can
damage the plants with the treatments and reseting and sterilization
becomes far more problematic JMO :o). As far as water spillage, the
Eclipse is a good choice to contain the droplets & humidity, but your
filter intake might not be consistent with fry. For quarantine, I tend
towards no substrate, simple Aquaclear (disposable sponge instead of a
bio-wheel to contend with), no or low lights, in a quiet corner of the
house. In regards to weight, your wooden chest might be adequate for the
vertical weight vector, but suspect for strong horizontal loading. Take
the drawers out and look inside at the vertical framing (do they transfer
the weight directly to the base/feet or through fasteners?). If you are
satisfied with the vertical framing, check what holds the framing
upright. Sometimes simply attaching a sheet of plywood along the back is
all that is needed to provide the extra needed horizontal (twist)
reinforcement. You also want the end of the aquarium to fall on the
vertical framing or the cabinet top will distort. In this case, you
might be better with a 30g instead of a 20g, if the 20g sits in the
middle and not above the cabinet sides. Putting a heavier thicker board
to keep the top from warping is not as easy as you might expect (been
there, done that). as always.. ymmv ;~)

NetMax

> Cheers.
>
> Victor M. Martinez
>
> http://www.che.utexas.edu/~martiv
>
>

[Graham Broadbridge]

For about 10 years I raised anglefish fry and sold them to the LFS.

I never attempted to do that in a planted tank, I always used a totally
clean tank with no substrate and no plants. Fry always leave leftover food
and goop around and it's much simpler to vacuum out of a clean tank.

Graham.

"Victor M. Martinez" > wrote in message
...
> I'm about to purchase a new tank to use for QT and to try to raise some
> fry. This tank will go in the master bedroom, on top of a wooden chest of
> drawers. The tank will be planted, of course... :)
> I was thinking of getting one of those eclipse combos, a 30 gallon looked
> nice. It comes with 40W of fluorescent light.
> Does anybody think it's not a good choice for the location? I certainly
> don't want to deal with hoses and cables all over the place. The eclipse
> concept is certainly convenient, but does it work?
> Any advise would be most appreciated.
>
> Cheers.
>
> Victor M. Martinez
>
> http://www.che.utexas.edu/~martiv
>
>