GZ_Loach Posted February 2, 2011 Report Share Posted February 2, 2011 Before I start I must say it has been a long long time since i have been on here, must have been about 2-3 years since my last post (I forgot my account information and what not). Anyway. Back in November I setup a 720L tank i picked up awhile ago and had it running very well and looking good when it decided it wanted to shatter one morning while i was asleep in the room next door!!! It sounded like the roof had been lifted off the house and a storm was passing over, its not something you can really imagine unless you have witnessed a large tank exploding yourself. Here is what it looked like when it was setup and running for 2-3days, it looked alot better when the plants had grown out but i didn't get another photo of it before it exploded. I managed to save most of the plants but ended up losing a few fish, including 3 Red Torpedo Barbs I had only bought the day before!!!!! there goes $120. (I did save one of the four tho) After the insurance work was sorted out I decided to build a brand spanking new custom tank + stand to fit in with the yet to be renovated room, Dimensions of the tank are 12mm thick 200cm Long x 90cm Wide x 60cm High (1080 Liters) with a powder coated metal stand to match at 75cm High. The tank has been completed but isn't ready to collect/setup as of yet becuase the room it will be going in hasn't been finished yet. The filtration is going to be an Eheim Pro 3 2080 What I haven't decided on is the layout i.e plants, bog wood, rocks and fish. So any ideas and help is more than welcome. At the moment I have a 350L tank with 5 Filament Barbs, 6 Clown Loaches, 7 Cardinals, 3 BN,2 German Blue Rams, 1 Siamese Algae Eater, 1 Red Tail Black Shark and 1 Red Torpedo Barb. This tank will still be running when the big tank is finally set up so not all of these fish have to go into it. Depending on the fish i would really like a moderate plant set up, at the moment I have a 4 foot twin tube t5 HO light fitting that I can use on the new tank but I'll need to get another fitting due to having such a large gap to cover (900mm) so any recommendations for T5's or MH's under $500 would be awesome. What I have thought about is a small group of Bala Sharks or something similar as I really like the look of the Barbs species and other related species, but I'm not sure it would be very practical having large fish as that rules out having small decorative fish like cardinals etc. If someone in Hamilton can help me out with plants that would be great becuase the petshops I've been to don't have a very big range, Still working on the co2 system so no big hurry. I will upload some photos as i find them. P.s in case anyone is wondering, the tank broke due to the floor being uneven, has now been leveled out so I won't have this issue again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
the-obstacle Posted February 2, 2011 Report Share Posted February 2, 2011 Welcome back. It seems we're doing the same thing with the same size tank. I'm going panda corys, some apistos and something decorative with some plants thrown in for good measure. I look forward to seeing what you do with it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GZ_Loach Posted February 2, 2011 Author Report Share Posted February 2, 2011 I'll take a few photos of my 350L tommorow so everyone can see the fish i have at the moment Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fruju Posted February 2, 2011 Report Share Posted February 2, 2011 What about an amazonian comm tank with schooling fish; feature fish: flagtail, banded leporinus, nice fancy plecos. Then add variety of whiptails, headstanders (look at p44 thread in general fresh) and a large school of bleeding hearts. This might look nice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adrienne Posted February 2, 2011 Report Share Posted February 2, 2011 When I was down in Hamilton at the tank crawl last year there was a spectacular looking tank with torpedo barbs in it which belonged to one of the Hamilton FNZAS members. If they come on to this forum and read this maybe you would be able to have a look. There were lots of beautiful set ups that I saw, most of them planted. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GZ_Loach Posted February 2, 2011 Author Report Share Posted February 2, 2011 A school of torpedo barbs would look quite nice. The old 700L tank i bought was from a guy in the waikato who kept a large group of torpedo barbs, but most of them died when his c02 system reset during a power cut. Where abouts can you go to get nice decorative rocks and bod wood? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
antwan Posted February 2, 2011 Report Share Posted February 2, 2011 With the price of excel and the size of your tank maybe you could run a couple of big DIY CO2 units until you have saved for a pressurized unit? You can get a cheap regulator off ebay for around NZ$100, and a bottle for around $200. I think before too long you would have recovered the costs that you would be spending on the excel. Just a thought. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GZ_Loach Posted February 2, 2011 Author Report Share Posted February 2, 2011 To be honest I haven't got a c02 unit becuase unless I buy a brand new unit with all the control gear etc I wouldn't have a clue on how to use it lol, so if I bought a good 2nd hand unit I wouldn't know where to start with setting it up :facepalm: Heres my holding tank: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blueether Posted February 3, 2011 Report Share Posted February 3, 2011 Hi and welcome back I got that 430 lt tank off you I think, going nicely as a coldwater native setup. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GZ_Loach Posted February 3, 2011 Author Report Share Posted February 3, 2011 Yep you sure did, its looking good. I like the sand too Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neon Posted February 3, 2011 Report Share Posted February 3, 2011 Your current tank looks cool - I like those filament barbs! You should definitely try get pressurised CO2 as it's so much easier than DIY. I've got it and it made a big difference to the plant growth and helping control algae. It's not too hard to set up either (though I did ask the guys at the fish shop a million questions about it :lol: ) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GZ_Loach Posted February 3, 2011 Author Report Share Posted February 3, 2011 How much should a basic unit cost? I've seen a few shops selling them and they seem pretty expensive, do you need to get a controll thing to keep the ph stable? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GZ_Loach Posted February 9, 2011 Author Report Share Posted February 9, 2011 I have a quick question about my metal stand. The guy at the shop reckons it will be fine to sit the aquarium on a bit of foam directly on top of the metal frame (Just bare metal, no cladding etc). Is that going to be ok? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
the-obstacle Posted February 10, 2011 Report Share Posted February 10, 2011 I have a quick question about my metal stand. The guy at the shop reckons it will be fine to sit the aquarium on a bit of foam directly on top of the metal frame (Just bare metal, no cladding etc). Is that going to be ok? Depends on the bracing / layout of the frame etc. Got a photo? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GZ_Loach Posted February 10, 2011 Author Report Share Posted February 10, 2011 I haven't seen it yet but the design the guy showed me was like any normal metal stand with a another piece of metal running down the full lenght of the stand so that could support the middle of tank as its 90cm wide Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
the-obstacle Posted February 10, 2011 Report Share Posted February 10, 2011 should be fine just make sure you get thicker poly than you normally would as it will sag where it touches the metal. For peace of mind I'd put a sheet of ply/mdf/particle board on there so the glass is supported at every point but i'm overly cautious. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GZ_Loach Posted February 10, 2011 Author Report Share Posted February 10, 2011 Yes i had considered that, would it be fine just sitting the ply on top and not bothering to screw it down? i suppose over a tonne of water would hold it there pretty well? :roll: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
the-obstacle Posted February 10, 2011 Report Share Posted February 10, 2011 Yes i had considered that, would it be fine just sitting the ply on top and not bothering to screw it down? i suppose over a tonne of water would hold it there pretty well? :roll: yep, should be fine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GZ_Loach Posted April 30, 2011 Author Report Share Posted April 30, 2011 Finally the tank is arriving on Monday, was held up due to renovations. So with the room sorted out and the tank arriving soon I decided I had better get my A into G and plan the layout, after looking at various setups I stumbled upon something interesting and decided to give it a go... this is the result 8) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GZ_Loach Posted April 30, 2011 Author Report Share Posted April 30, 2011 Still needs another coat and all the caves/tunnels filled in, not sure at this stage if I'll coat it in black silica sand Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anthony law Posted April 30, 2011 Report Share Posted April 30, 2011 nice !drool: !drool: what the material you are painting on the background call.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GZ_Loach Posted April 30, 2011 Author Report Share Posted April 30, 2011 Polystyrene and covered in resin with a black pigment added, took 4 hours to carve the poly, an hour going over it with a heat gun and then several hours to apply the first coat of resin ( first batch of resin i made too much of and the chemical reaction made it overheat and set really quick). Excuse the poor quality photo's, couldn't find the digital camera :facepalm: p.s this is my first attempt and making a 3d background Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anthony law Posted April 30, 2011 Report Share Posted April 30, 2011 im thinking of doing something like that on my 12foot tank as a river bank scene. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GZ_Loach Posted April 30, 2011 Author Report Share Posted April 30, 2011 It's not as hard as you think, you should try carving a short length of poly thats about 15cm thick and about a meter long and see what you think of it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
the-obstacle Posted April 30, 2011 Report Share Posted April 30, 2011 Looks awesome gz - well done! When I saw the first resin coated shot I was blown away. Really very very cool. im thinking of doing something like that on my 12foot tank as a river bank scene. Why am I not surprised you have a 12 foot tank? Is it the fibreglass one? sorry completely off topic. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.