52.6 Gallon Planted Aquarium

AshleyNZ

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Well, seems I have MTS, much to my parent's disgust. I happened to find a $250 auction for a tank 45 minutes from me, and managed to buy it. Came with alot of other bits and pieces, including heaters, a 24 inch light and a canister filter, along with various outdated chemicals. 
This is a very exciting step for me, as the biggest tank i've previously owned is a 17g bowfront, which proves difficult for stocking choices, but still a neat tank. 
So, anyway, this is my 17G tank that i'm shortly going to sell due to not being able to have 3 tanks in my room at once (What do you mean 'Too many tanks?!") 
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This is my new tank (Pre-loved) or...half of it. It's on the floor because I should be painting or varnishing the stand, and wouldn't want those fumes in my room when I share it with fish and a lizard. 
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It came with a stand that was done by the previous owner.
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I do believe it is a custom build, because the silicone looks unprofessionally done in some spots, and the bottom panel of glass is a darker tint. (The strips on the bottom panel are for extra support, I believe)
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A few things I dont like, but can get over I guess. Here you can see the glass on the top. These stains are inbetween the two panels of glass, so they'll remain there. 
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Also this algae is unable to be removed from the silicone, but I might redo it anyway (I have to do the top strips anyway as water is getting inbetween panels, and chips around the top)
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Staining that wont disappear with white vinegar 
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And lastly, scratches. Covering the two main panels entirely, but my bowfront has a few too and they dont show on some angles
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If anyone has any advice on any of those issues that would be appreciated. I guess they're not "big" things, really. I will love the tank, for sure. 
 
Do I have plans? Well, at this stage I wont have money for a wee while, but I plan on using silica sand as a substrate, having 2x 40w 4 feet tubes as lighting, spiderwood driftwood if I can source some, low-maintenance plants aswell. Not sure on stocking apart from wanting a Red Tailed Black Shark and some cory cats. 
 
Feel free to leave any comments
 
 
 
what plants are you thinking of stocking, and i love your small tank (iv got the same tank im about to rescape, are you using CO2 and ferts in it?)
 
mike455555 said:
what plants are you thinking of stocking, and i love your small tank (iv got the same tank im about to rescape, are you using CO2 and ferts in it?)
Not sure about stocking. I do not use CO2 or liquid ferts, but do have 1 JBL root ball under each plant in the substrate :)  
 
Noticed this too, on one side panel. Doesn't seem to want to come off, but I may add extra elbow grease to see if that works.
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Could maybe be hidden with the substrate, shouldn't be a problem
 
Stained the stand and lid of the tank yesterday. Came out fabulously.
Well, here it is
 
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Looks alot bigger in real life, as it's 4 feet long.
Now to finish cleaning it out, and buy sand and lights ect :)
 
-jealous- what sand are you going with  and what lights? thought of plants / stocking yet? 
 
mike455555 said:
-jealous- what sand are you going with  and what lights? thought of plants / stocking yet? 
Lights I might do 2 Aqua One 48" 40w tubes, sand will be white silica, and not sure on plants, might go with twisted val, crypts, anubias nana... along those lines, anyway. I will put a Red Tailed Black Shark in there, and six peppered cory catfish . Thats all I know of so far. A few weeks yet before I get money 
 
Just added black trash bag backround, has a few imperfections, but those can be hidden by a backround plant for sure. 
Tank glass has some sort of oil mark on the back, which is visible infront of the black, but i'll hide it. Overall a nice job I reckon :)
 
Will upgrade filter from a 110G/hr to a 300g/hr filter just to be sure :) 
Will have 80w of lighting all up, and will have sand substrate. Not sure on stocking yet. 
 
Just ordered 25kg (Around 50lbs?) of silica sand, should be here this week, exciting to have something going in the tank
 
Got the sand today, overnight shipping
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Don't quite think it's enough, though. Another 10kgs (20lbs) would be good. Currently have 50lbs but still in bags so we'll have to see
 
 
It might be enough, I used 25 kilograms of sand in my 55 gallon but I regret not making the sand irregular and natural looking because it looks a bit boring completely flat. 
 
Yeah, I might want the sand bed a bit deeper. I could use the 10kgs of it from my 17 gal, but there's crypts in there 
 

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