Scaling back
Posted: Fri Apr 20, 2007 11:09 pm
Didn’t take very long before we realized the challenges of an 8x2x2 foot loach tank.
Since we have a 84 gal acrylic (African) tank, we were going to get acrylic until we spoke with the folks at glasscages.com who reminded us that it would scratch very easily and the bracing will not work so well with glass covers. I’m pretty careful cleaning the 84 gal not to scratch it. It takes a lot of time but its not so deep and my short arms can reach the bottom. For a larger, deeper tank-- glass would be a lot easier to clean.
So the challenges start to add up…
Very heavy glass tank –we would need a moving crew.
Too large for traditional canister filtration—need to design a sump system
Need a larger RO/DI system
How would we light such a long tank?
Then, when we thought about retirement being only a couple of years away, we decided the big loach tank will have to be part of our retirement home plans.
In the meantime, we’ve ordered a 6 foot long, 18 inch wide and 21inch tall tank -- the largest tank size that will fit into our station wagon. I think it will keep the loaches happy for a while.
Since we have a 84 gal acrylic (African) tank, we were going to get acrylic until we spoke with the folks at glasscages.com who reminded us that it would scratch very easily and the bracing will not work so well with glass covers. I’m pretty careful cleaning the 84 gal not to scratch it. It takes a lot of time but its not so deep and my short arms can reach the bottom. For a larger, deeper tank-- glass would be a lot easier to clean.
So the challenges start to add up…
Very heavy glass tank –we would need a moving crew.
Too large for traditional canister filtration—need to design a sump system
Need a larger RO/DI system
How would we light such a long tank?
Then, when we thought about retirement being only a couple of years away, we decided the big loach tank will have to be part of our retirement home plans.
In the meantime, we’ve ordered a 6 foot long, 18 inch wide and 21inch tall tank -- the largest tank size that will fit into our station wagon. I think it will keep the loaches happy for a while.
)
