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My humble tank


kiwipete

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Just thought i'd share with you my humble tank, 650mmx400mm

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I have had the glass tank for years with goldfish in it.

Several years ago the goldfish were moved to an outside tank and tropicals were introduced to this tank.

It took me about another year to get around to building a stand for the tank, total height of around 1430mm.

Six months after the stand was built and tank set up, a split developed in one of the side seams. Panic reigned for a while and then all fish were transferrd to my "Nappy" bucket used for water cycling. My local petshop hosted my fish for a month whilst I refurbished the tank, replacing all RTV sealing.

When I collected my fish, I had a new one in there, as per the photo. It is about 75mm in length, but I have no idea what it is.

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It occasionally chases some of my other large fish, but dosent attack them. Just swims as fast as lightening.

My clown loach is a dag, often sleeping on its side, one crazy fish.

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There are many others that I will introduce when I can capture them on film. :o

My biggest is a Plex (sp?) that is around 200mm in length! started as a small fella around 20mm long when introduced to the tank.

I want to replace this tank with a larger one so I can have propper communities of fish, I will be looking at one around 450x450x900mm in size, again custom making the cabinet.

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Nice looking tank and fish :D

I agree with Ryan, you are going to want a bigger tank. :wink:

Your pleco is probably one of the Pterygoplichthys species, they seem to be the most common ones sold here in NZ (apart for the Bristlenose, which dont grow to 20cm anyway) All of them can reach over 30cm, and Gibbys 45cm. :o

I would go bigger than the 90cm tank if you intend to keep the Pleco, mine are in a 120cm tank now, but they will outgrow that soon enough :-? That will give you space for a bunch of clown loaches too, if you think One is fun, imagine what 6 is like. A whole Circus 8)

Both the pleco and the clowns are long lived fish, expect the pleco to live 15+ years, and clowns have been recorded at 50 years old ! They grow slowly, maybe 2 or 3 cm per year, but they live a LONG time :wink: So it's worth it to set them up in a big tank. 8)

Ohh.. and get an EXTRA tank, not a replacement ;)

Cheers

Ian

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Chers guys for your input.

Unfortunatley I am restricted in space where I can put a new tank, so 90CM in length it is im afraid. :(

The octagonal tank will be sold when I replace it, there will be no where for it.

Just an update of the new tank that is in operation now.

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Here are some more pics of my fish...........

Neons etc

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Black widow

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The big fella.

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The following are fish I have, but I have no idea what they are called.

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These two look like they are mating, doing some sort of tango dance :o

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There were two others that I couldnt vatch on film, they are snake like critters, living under the rocks/stones etc and are orange and black striped, measuring about 60-70mm in length.

I hope I havent posted too many duplicates here. :oops:

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No Worries. :)

Your pleco is a Goldspot L001. The squigly markings are very distinctive.

http://www.planetcatfish.com/catelog/species.php?species_id=177

I have 3 about that size, but I believe they max out about 30cm long, not quite as big as some of the others.

If you are handy with the construction stuff you might be able to build a 2 level tank stand? A smaller tank can be set in the lower part and still leave room for the filters etc.

This is one of my stands. It has a 90x30x30 cm tank in the base and will support a bigger 90cm tank on top as well. It could have been designed with space for a cannister filter behind the lower tank and an access door at the end. But I dont have a cannister filter at the moment :(

tankstand3.jpg

Cheers

Ian

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But how would you perform maintenance on the lower tank especially after you add another tank to the top???? I've often wondered how people do water changes, etc. when the stand is 2 tier.

It is a little less convenient :-?

Water changes are no real problem. Most of the panel above the tank is just held in place with magnets and can be pulled right off. That gives plenty of space to get an arm and gravel vac into the tank and work. Likewise the internal filter can be removed easy enough. Main hassle is having to syphon the fresh water INTO the tank instead of just pouring from the bucket like normal. But the tank isn't that bag, so it only get one bucket changed per week ;)

There is an internal shelf at the back above the tank that holds the air pump and multibox etc. So they can all be got at easily, and the lights are mounted on the inside of the cabinet. I've just used some compact flouro lights, the tank isn't planted and the plecos prefer the lower light levels.

Main thing if you are building a stand like that is to make sure you have some space to work above the tank and keep the lower tank smaller (or at least shallower) :)

Cheers

Ian

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Ian, i noticed that you're using an eheim pickup. wat do you think of them; would you recommend them and is it possible to replace the sponge with efhisubstrat pro for example?

Seems to do a good job in the smaller sized tanks like that. Although the flow rate is lower than the similar sized AquaOnes I have, the sponge media is much bigger so it's a more efficient filter.

Not sure about upgrading the media, mine just has the standard sponge in it.

Cheers

Ian

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