Sheepsnana Posted November 17, 2011 Report Share Posted November 17, 2011 Hi all, I'm new to fish-keeping, but figured I'ld start out good and proper. Tank: I have the Aquastyle AR620 Tank, 90L. bought new, came with lights and filter built in. Got the AquaOne heater and thermo etc. to go with it. Substrate: I have the black shiny small substrate, only used half of the 5kg bag. Plants: Several live plants, swords, lyso, and a purple/green one that i can't remember the name of. A couple of little fake ones that will eventually come out when the live ones take over. Decorations: I got this weird hollow plastic coral / anemonie lookalike thing, poked some holes in it, and stuck a bubblestone under it. Then added another bubblestone for more bubbles. Then another bubblestone on the other side of the tank... Needed some driftwood for the bristlenose, so I got some pre-soaked. Have since added a plastic hollowed out log for the Gourami's, they needed to hide from the Betta/Siamese Fighter. Now the important part - FISH :happy1: 10 x Neon Tetras 2 x Bristlenose Catfish (They're brown, yellow spots, some yellow markings, expected to get to 12cm. Not sure on exact species) 1 x Siamese Fighter / Betta (Male - Awesome royal blue / teal / red) 4 x Golden Honey Dwarf Gourami's Was planning on getting lyretail swordtails or guppies, but my wife loved the Betta, so we got that instead. I think that's the limit of my tank, and the wife is holding firm on no more or no bigger... for now Let me know what you think. When I find out where I am supposed to post the pics of my tank and fish, I'll get some pics up. I had my first Fish Club meeting tonight, was stoked to find out there was one in Tauranga :happy2: In case you are wondering, that's what caused the name I chose. Mark was joking with my daughter, saying her name Shiana as Sheep's Nana. Was very funny as she took the joke well. Looking forward to getting to know you all, hope to hear from you, ESPECIALLY you locals! John Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
livingart Posted November 17, 2011 Report Share Posted November 17, 2011 Welcome aboard sheepsnana Mike will be pleased :sage: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anthony law Posted November 17, 2011 Report Share Posted November 17, 2011 nice meeting you too..will get you in to a bigger tank... :cofn: mike.. asss mark ..it will go to his head that someone actchely listen to him.. :digH: :slfg: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sheepsnana Posted November 17, 2011 Author Report Share Posted November 17, 2011 So, to bring everyone up to speed on how my tank has gone for the last month... things could have been better. Unless specified, everything I have got has been from Animal Antics (These guys are legendary!). First up, Petrix in Papamoa had a closing down sale, so I got the AquaOne heater on the cheap, and some JBL food, nice backdrop and plastic plants. Then I bought the Tank from Animal Antics with everything else to go in it. Cycled using Aquarium Complete and the 10 Neon Tetras. They're all still alive and doing great! The first two baby bristlenose that I got, were from a different pet store in Tauranga. New-Tank-Itis. They died after 6 days. Made no sense, they weren't eating anything. Seemed fine until they were gone. I've got a vid on Facebook, not sure if I'm allowed to link to it directly... (Can a Mod let me know?) I waited two weeks after that. I don't want any fish to suffer, especially not mine. Next I got another two Bristlenose, this time from a local breeder. I got a nice size breeding pair (Let's face it, those bristles are awesome!) The day after it was back in to Animal Antics, I used my $15 voucher to buy an awesome Siamese Fighter/Betta. Only paid $3 extra for it :happy2: This became known as my wife's fish :thup: get her addicted and I might be allowed a bigger tank.... :slfg: Just this week gone, I got the golden honey dwarf gourami's. These guys are cool, needed a bit more colour in the tank. Sadly, this wednesday just gone, the Betta had a fight vs what I think was Hexamita. I tried to do a water change, but by the time I had taken some water out, he got the Dropsy and died. Took him in to Animal Antics who helped diagnose the problem. There goes the wife's fish... my new tank won't be anytime soon. &c:ry First Fish Club meeting was tonight, was good fun to meet everyone. I'll leave Shiana at home next time so I can stay a bit later and get to know everyone better. And that's where I'm up to so far. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
livingart Posted November 17, 2011 Report Share Posted November 17, 2011 I've got a vid on Facebook, not sure if I'm allowed to link to it directly... (Can a Mod let me know?) http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=215288118538726 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sheepsnana Posted November 17, 2011 Author Report Share Posted November 17, 2011 Was I that easy to track down? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
livingart Posted November 17, 2011 Report Share Posted November 17, 2011 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alanmin4304 Posted November 17, 2011 Report Share Posted November 17, 2011 Welcome. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reptilez Posted November 17, 2011 Report Share Posted November 17, 2011 Welcome. You will catch MTS(multiple tank syndrome) and you will have tanks everywhere !!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caryl Posted November 17, 2011 Report Share Posted November 17, 2011 It sounds like the whole family has got involved in the hobby. This is good :happy1: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nymox Posted November 17, 2011 Report Share Posted November 17, 2011 Welcome Sheepsnana, good to have you along last night. Take your wife on a bit of a tank crawl check out all the locals tanks, there is bound to be something she really takes a shine too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cricketman Posted November 18, 2011 Report Share Posted November 18, 2011 HI! much goodness and info to be had! You've started well, and with a flick through some threads on here you should be Bro-fessional in no time. :thup: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sheepsnana Posted November 18, 2011 Author Report Share Posted November 18, 2011 tank crawl check out all the locals tanks, there is bound to be something she really takes a shine too. Do you mean local pet stores? Or is there more that I don't know of yet? A thought came to me today at work. I can get the glass pretty cheap. How hard would it be to custom make a tank? I'm thinking 400litres. I just need to do a bit of research as to how strong the sealant needs to be (can't have it falling to pieces on me!) ...and find a place to put it.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Squirt Posted November 18, 2011 Report Share Posted November 18, 2011 Being "only" a teenager, I managed to build a small tank. Make sure you get correct thickness of glass, and compensate for the thickness of the glass. Just use aquarium safe glass sealant and use some braces. A local should be able to help you And welcome Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sheepsnana Posted November 18, 2011 Author Report Share Posted November 18, 2011 Browsing the forums, a lot of people have a massive tank (300L+) and a mini tank (less than 50L). Is this normal? How thick would you recommend the glass to be? 5mm? 6mm? Toughened? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Squirt Posted November 18, 2011 Report Share Posted November 18, 2011 You can't use toughened because you can't cut it! I can't recall a tank being made out of toughened so can't give you thicknesses. There is a calculator on this site, I think 4+ is safe. Give us the dimensions of the tank, different size different glass thicknesses. Edit link http://www.fnzas.org.nz/?page_id=1635 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sheepsnana Posted November 18, 2011 Author Report Share Posted November 18, 2011 I know the local glass manufacturer. I can get the toughened glass cut by them :happy2: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alanmin4304 Posted November 18, 2011 Report Share Posted November 18, 2011 Toughened glass is cut to size then toughened. If you try to cut toughened glass it will explode into a million pieces. You can cut laminated glass but it is only about as strong as the thickness of one layer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sheepsnana Posted November 18, 2011 Author Report Share Posted November 18, 2011 OK, I'm not sure exactly how its done, I just have cut-to-length pricing and sheet pricing. Figured the cut-to-length pricing was just that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nymox Posted November 18, 2011 Report Share Posted November 18, 2011 I would tend to stick clear of toughened anyway, as Alan said it doesn't really crack or chip, it more or less explodes, could be a worry under pressure in a larger tank. If you want to get carried away with different glasses then go for some of the ultraclear stuff like optiwhite or what ever its called, I think there is another one called sapphire it is beautiful stuff. But look into how big you want the tank, then look into bracing the tank, european bracing is very popular for good reason. And rimless tanks are always stunning when set up right. Filtration and lighting are worth thinking about at this stage too if you are having a tank made. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sheepsnana Posted November 20, 2011 Author Report Share Posted November 20, 2011 I've found there are a few of the cheaper tanks online, so I prob wont need to build my own at this stage. Got to make sure they're water tight and not acrylic. Thanks to LivingArt for the moss! There were a few other little plants thrown in, which has added some variation to the tank. The Gourami's are very grateful, as am I. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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