155g Planted Elephantnose Display

[OliveFish05]

my father's egotism thinks the stand will hold so he refuses to help me build a new one
if I fill this thing it might not come down in a day, sometime later
but at least I know how my hobby can end and will never sleep well again

Do you have anyone else who can help you? I assume it would be nearly impossible to build one that large on your own? What are you going to do? Is there any way to reinforce the stand to make you feel confident in its ability to hold such a large tank?

 

[FF_Member146894]

Do you have anyone else who can help you? I assume it would be nearly impossible to build one that large on your own? What are you going to do? Is there any way to reinforce the stand to make you feel confident in its ability to hold such a large tank?

nope, no way
it's a time bomb with a hidden clock
and I'm going to have to light it
he says "he will be responsible" if it fails
so I don't doubt that he'll buy another tank or replace the floor in the room because money isn't an issue, and to be honest, I think it'd be rather funny if I get to see 155 gallons of water on the floor
edit: but I'll lose all of my fish, so I suppose that practically ends my hobby, and it won't be funny for long

 

[FF_Member146894]

to be fair the current supports will probably hold the tank, but it's pushing the limit of the lumber the way it is right now

 

[OliveFish05]

Would a cinder block stand with a 2x6 or 2x8 frame to rest on be an option?

 

[anewbie]

What i like for simple stands is a slab of quartz or granite supported by wood or cinder block. The slab is almost always 100% flat and rather resistant to water.

 

[FF_Member146894]

I'm going to go for a low-tech tank

for plants, I think I should do very long vallisneria waving and covering almost the entire surface of the tank, with maybe some water lettuce in the more open upper areas
crinum calamistratum can be placed randomly throughout the tank while the bolbitis heudelotii and various anubias can be attached to driftwood or rocks

I will cap the nutrient substrate with a natural tan colored sand and buy some big dragon as well as some rubble to cover most of the bottom
I will not try to remove any tannins in the water and will add various leaves to encourage dark water and small organism production

edit: I have also decided to use a school of striped african glass catfish for middle dwellers
I still haven't any idea for top dwellers, though, because I can't use african butterflyfish

 

[FF_Member146894]

the bolbitis will also be attached to very large manzanita or spider wood branches that will eventually make it cover the vast majority of the middle and upper bottom areas of the tank
it might also cover some of the bottom of the tank as a carpet in some areas, being attached to rockwork, I don't know yet

another thing I forgot to mention was tiger lotus and dwarf water lilies that will eventually create even more cover with their very broad leaves and intricate stems

one more thing I forgot to mention was that nesaea pedicellata golden will grow from between various rocks in the bottom areas of the tank

if you search for the various plants, fish, driftwood, and rockwork that will included hopefully you can get an idea of what the tank will look like soon

 

[anewbie]

I'm going to go for a low-tech tank

for plants, I think I should do very long vallisneria waving and covering almost the entire surface of the tank, with maybe some water lettuce in the more open upper areas
crinum calamistratum can be placed randomly throughout the tank while the bolbitis heudelotii and various anubias can be attached to driftwood or rocks

I will cap the nutrient substrate with a natural tan colored sand and buy some big dragon as well as some rubble to cover most of the bottom
I will not try to remove any tannins in the water and will add various leaves to encourage dark water and small organism production

edit: I have also decided to use a school of striped african glass catfish for middle dwellers
I still haven't any idea for top dwellers, though, because I can't use african butterflyfish

For those plants you don't need nutrient substrate and can get along just fine with inert substrate. Also you could consider a low dose of co2 - maybe ph drop 0.5 or so. That will accelerate growth but is not strictly required.
-
I have jungle val in my 120 and the leaves can easily grow 8 feet without co2 - but co2 does make a difference on rate of spread and growth.

 

[Tacocat]

I can't use african butterflyfish

Why not? Forgive me if it's something blatantly obvious, because I have no clue what elephant fish are compatible with.

 

[FF_Member146894]

Why not? Forgive me if it's something blatantly obvious, because I have no clue what elephant fish are compatible with.

my schoutedeni puffer will nip at the long fins

 

[FF_Member146894]

Also you could consider a low dose of co2 - maybe ph drop 0.5 or so. That will accelerate growth but is not strictly required.

I think I should just skip CO2 injection completely, a fully stocked tank will probably be enough

 

[I Like Rare Fish]

Nice! GL!

 

[FF_Member146894]

I got some crinum and bolbitis in today, it's in the plant grow-out tank

also the schoutedeni puffer

he's a little bit underfed right now because I had some trouble with nitrates but I expect that problem to be fixed in the next few days and he can go back on a regular feeding schedule
very outgoing fish, he's trained himself and recognizes me very well

 

[I Like Rare Fish]

I've always wanted a shoudenti. He's beautiful! Good luck!