Chris's 130l Tank

[Leaky]

I picked up the tank off my friend yesterday, it was in a bit of a sorry state it had to be said !!

ive given it a good clean out and have brought it home and is now in my room.

The lid was cream crackered and looked proper old so im buying a replacement, better lid and a stand to match !!!

first job though, re-sealing it !! i think the tank was a home made jobby and the sealent used has gone fairly green, im going to clean it up and reseal it inside and out and get some corner covers to cover the joins in the glass (not sure where from yet but hey ho !!

anyway, i will post some pics up once ive dismantled my shelf unit that will be replaced by the tank and a couple of pics as it is atm !!

I am going to post up pictures of all the work i do to it and also post a cycle diary to let you know how im getting on, it will be a couple of weeks before i even buy any other bits as ive got to buy a stand and replace the lid, but all in good time !!!

Shall Keep you posted, Chris !!!

Heres a few pictures of the tank in question !!!

first couple are of the dirty tank (the state i got it)

This is me cleaning it at my girlfriends house !! and a stray dog who decided to walk through

then the tank in its final new home (my bedroom)

i got the 130L tank, light power supply, a tropical light for live plants, the tank lid and a back ground ... not bad for a quids worth of petrol from down the road !!!!


first plan is to cut back all the silicon down to the seal, then reseal it so its completely water tight (its been stood in the garage for a long time of my friends and i dont know how the change in weather effected the silicon.

The next job after that is to pimp the lid

sanding it down, repainting it and changing the hinges and knob on it so it looks a bit more like the rest of my room (beech finish)

once thats done i will have the cash to buy the beech stand i selected to put the tank on, then i will be ready to buy tank bits and bobs !!


filter first, then heater then test kits and ammonia, get the cycle started then gradually buy ornaments and think about the fish (i have a rough idea of which i want)

Comments appreciated, good or bad !!!

Ive been researching and reading (a lot) on here, ive decided to go for everything external (well as much as i can get external) to keep the tank as free as possible so the fish feel more at home without strange objects in the tank.

Ive decided on a Tetratec EX 700 Filter, ive read that this is quite a quiet filter (which helps for my room) and a hydor external heater to fix onto the returning water back into the tank (if thats the right place to set it up)

ALl will be fitted into one of the two cupboards in the stand im going to get, in the other side i will buy and keep a small medic set in the case of an emergency, plenty of food and treats and my tester kit !!

I went around my local fish store the other day and i simply wrote down the names of the fish that i really liked the look of, i have yet to research into them but will be doing once the tank is going.

The fish i looked at are: (im not sure if these are all tropical by the way, the fish store sells marine and coldwater as well)

Blue Damsel,
Guppy,
Angel fish,
neon tetra
molly,
rummy tetra,
gourami,
torpedo barb,
platy,
panda corydoras,
blue acara.

I dont know what conditions they need or anything, that list is purely based on looks atm, im sure it will be decreased as time goes by !!!

Cheers, Chris !


- Copied from Other section of forum to turn into a proper journal -

On monday when i get my wages im going to spend a pretty penny on some new sealent so i can crack on and get it completely water tight.

I am also going to a rock merchants to find some nice looking rocks to sit in the tank and possibly buy some sand substrate, not sure yet though !!

what sort of rock would anybody recomend ? i dont want any that will turn the water funny or effect it.

Cheers, Chris

 

[Truck]

Blue Damsel, marine
Guppy, okay
Angel fish, measure from the substrate to the water line if it is more than 18" your fine
neon tetra okay
molly, okay
rummy tetra, okay, need a mature tank
gourami,okay, species dependant
torpedo barb, to big
platy, okay
panda corydoras, okay (mature tank)
blue acara. to big

look at those in bold

 

[Leaky]

well im planning on about an inch of substrate at the bottom making it 17" from the top of the water line to the top of the substrate so seems angel fish are out of the question nevermind !

as for the other fish, thanks a lot, they were a real help !

how many guppy can i have together without them hurting each other ? or is it just if ive got more than one male ?

in my LFS they have lots of them all in the same tank, im not sure if they are male or female though.

Thanks for the fish info !!!!

 

[azzaknight]

if you get guppys and you want to breed them you need to get 1male 2female ratios. if you dont want to breed them , you can just get males and they will be fine. males are brighter than females.

 

[Leaky]

okay im not sure i want to breed them, i dont think ive got the know how to as its my first tank so i may just get a few males !!

what fish dont go well with guppies in that list i put ?

 

[Truck]

okay im not sure i want to breed them, i dont think ive got the know how to as its my first tank so i may just get a few males !!

what fish dont go well with guppies in that list i put ?

angel fish normally are okay with guppies but they can become a little territorial and make a mess of the fins

 

[azzaknight]

i would get atleast 6 guppys as if you get say, 3, 2 wil gang up on 1, so get atleast 6.

neon tetra, will be fine but keep in a group of at least 6 but more look stunning in groups as they are shoaling fish.
molly,will be fine but you need to keep 1male, 1 female ratois or just females or just males
rummy tetra, need a mature tank but shouldnt be a problem
gourami, you might get problems depending on what type you get
platy, same info given as mollies
panda corydoras, will be fine, keep atleast 6

 

[Truck]

i would get atleast 6 guppys as if you get say, 3, 2 wil gang up on 1, so get atleast 6.

neon tetra, will be fine but keep in a group of at least 6 but more look stunning in groups as they are shoaling fish.
molly,will be fine but you need to keep 1male, 1 female ratois or just females or just males
rummy tetra, need a mature tank but shouldnt be a problem
gourami, you might get problems depending on what type you get
platy, same info given as mollies
panda corydoras, will be fine, keep atleast 6

neons and guppies need a mature tank too, they are so inbred these days they are really sensitive

 

[azzaknight]

true. sorry i forgot to add that

 

[Leaky]

so what fish would be a good starter fish ? or have i picked ones that need mature tanks i cant remember what sort of gourami it is, i will find out on monday, will have another look round

 

[Truck]

so what fish would be a good starter fish ? or have i picked ones that need mature tanks i cant remember what sort of gourami it is, i will find out on monday, will have another look round

were they dwarf or honey gourami?

platies and mollies are good first fish.

 

[azzaknight]

mollies would be ok i think. not 100% sure check with truck. you could get some zebra danio to start with. they are real hardy fish and are probily the cheapest type of fish you can get.

 

[Leaky]

i may get some danio, they are shoaling fish as well arent they ?

and as for the gourami i honestly cant remember but i will make a trip on monday and investigate, its on my way to college so will pop in at some point either on the way there or home again.

i will look into some mollies and platys as my first fish i think, then get some neons and guppies when my tanks mature enough !!

angel fish wont fit in my tank unfortunately it seems so i wont have to worry about the guppy - angel fish clash


edit: Just did a quick google search on the two types of gourami, they more likely were dwarf ones ( or out of the two the dwarfs appeal to me more) so i can always just check for them at the other fish stores that are around, i dont know about anyone else and where they live but i think im quite lucky, ive got 5 fish stores all within about a 20 minute drive of my house, and a hardware store as well that doesnt sell fish themselves, just the parts needed to keep them.

 

[Truck]

i may get some danio, they are shoaling fish as well arent they ?

and as for the gourami i honestly cant remember but i will make a trip on monday and investigate, its on my way to college so will pop in at some point either on the way there or home again.

i will look into some mollies and platys as my first fish i think, then get some neons and guppies when my tanks mature enough !!

angel fish wont fit in my tank unfortunately it seems so i wont have to worry about the guppy - angel fish clash

danios are shoaling fish so need to be kept in numbers of atleast 6, they are notorious fin nippers so shouldnt be mixed with mollies, platies or guppies

 

[Leaky]

Danios are out of the window then

the tetra family will be okay though ?