Chris's 130l Tank

[bagu]

hey!

how about starting out with something simple, but community like...

as in start off with danios and a BN pleco...

then let it mature then around 5 months, put in some German Blue Rams, or cockatoo cichlids or apistogramma agasazzi or kribs.

and some nice tetras (rummy nose) mind you they are softwater, so a pH of 5.5-7.5 is nice.

 

[Leaky]

Heya Bagu, ive been looking at the threads in the tropical fact file bit with all the cichlids and they are too big for my tank

i would prefer colourful fish such as guppies and others, as for danios ive also been informed about them potentially nipping the fins of the other fish so i want to steer clear of them.

ive got a long time to think about my fish as im still no where near completed the building of my tank etc.

so im open to all suggestions atm

 

[Leaky]

Heya guys !

Update time !!! (FINALLY )

Today i picked up a tank stand from a kind woman called Niki that gave me it for free (yes this is probably the cheapest fish tank ever )

there are lots of plans for it but im just glad to have got it home at the moment !!

First thing is to add two wooden blocks under each of the main supporting pillars, once thats done, add two metal pipes or strengthening beams to the back of the tank stand.

Once this is done im going to add another pieces of 3/4 MDF cut it exactly to the tank size then screw that down with a couple moresupporting posts underneath it.

After this, its going to be sanded down, painted jet black with white or cream lattice (ive not decided yet) with a more modern handle and hing fitted to the door.

Inside the cupboard im going to take the shelf out and put another dividing pillar down the middle (splitting the middle cupboard into a bigger and smaller compatrment) the smaller compatrment will have some shelves built into it for tester kits or food etc, the other half will be carpeted and then be home to the filter and the heater will get mounted onto one of the sides (probably the middle divider) to keep it nice and secure and easy to get to.the lighting situation will probably stay the same, but as well as the light bulb, fit in some LEDs into the top of it to resemble moonlighting that will be operated by a switch at the side.

holes will be cut into the back of the stand for the pipes for the external filter but as i dont know the dimensions they will come last i think.

Next thing is to get some polystyrene under the tank itself then i can begine resealing it !!!.

Thanks for your patience, after lots or reading i probably wont get any shrimp inscase they get eaten.

Comments Welcome !!!

 

[Leaky]

Bump Bump !

Ive been thinking, could you use hot glue on the outside of the tank to stick corner beading round (if im still going to)

and does anyone know anywhere i can get really cheap aquarium safe sealent to redo inside and out of the tank ?

Thanks, Chris

 

[saz326]

Good bit of planning going in here. You certainly do need to reinforce that stand. If you look at the picture taken fron the front you can see the stand is already buckling in the middle a bit. (the bottom of the stand in the centre is sagging). Its all gonna be worth the hard work though.

Im confused about the beading. Where is it going exactly?

Are you going to have the tank as far back on the stand as it will go so it is more against the wall, or are you going to have it in the centre of the stand so there is space at the front and at the back? Reason I ask is that it looks like the tank is going to be in an upstairs room by a door... it is likely that the floor is going to wobble a bit when people walk through the door, so as far back as possible on the stand would minimise "wobbly tank" syndrome.

You might also want to fit a door stop to the floor in your room or hang the door from the other side of teh door frame. I can see the door opens inwards into your room and it looks like it could be quite easy to open the door in a rush and bash the tank. Not clever when it's old glass full of water. *smash*.

Great project. Congrats on all the free kit.

 

[saz326]

...just realised what you meant by corner beading. Yeah - you could do that using hot glue gun glue as long as you dont put too much glue in one spot or it might upset the sealent...

but why do you want to do this? I can see it would make the tank look far more a part of the cabinet that it is sitting on, but you would loose the ability to see the sealent (check on its condition) and it would make cleaning the tank (lots of dust traps) really quite hard. Also, when you make splashes when doing water changes or even playing with the plants you are likely to splash the wood which over time will start to go a bit manky.

If you decide you will do this, then may I sugest that you use PVA glue or a few small blobs of silicone (one top one bottom) so that you can remove the beading fairly easily if you decide its not quite what you want. (If you use PVA glue then again just a few blobs and hold the wood in place with masking tape until the glue has set.

 

[Leaky]

Thanks for the good advice, i never thought of that tbh !!

the door situation as it stands i am going to put a door stop into the floor, but even if it hits the cabinet it is no where near the actual glass so it should be okay but will be considered.

I noticed the bowing in the cabinet straight away after taking the picture so thats why im going to reinforce the bottom bit first, stick a couple of posts under each side of the cabinet door to keep it level, then a cross of wood underneath each third of it so all the bottom is level.

In the case of beading round the corners, i may not actually do it as i never thought about the problems with cleaning and going manky from splashed water !! i will have to see what it looks like once weve resealed it and it looks a lot healthier inside and out.

As for the tanks position, i may not move it back any more so i have access for pipes for the filter and heater etc so i can keep up with general maintenance, as for moving it forward i may do depending on how sturdy the stand becomes once it is completely reinforced so it it wont be relying on the wall to keep it sturdy. As for the stand itself it is on the ground floor with floor boards so i may put a sheet of wood underneath it as well, im not sure yet will see how it goes.

With regards to the wobbly tank, i may screw some supports onto the wall itself so the cabinet cant move then the tank can be moved wherever i desire. Just a thought though, would have to convince my dad quite a lot if i was going to

Thanks for the comments, ive now taken into consideration a lot of things i never really thought of !

Cheers, Chris.

 

[Leaky]

Little Update - No pictures unfortunately,

Yesterday i discovered yet another shop that sells fish related products, at really cheap prices !!

I bought a large tube of aquarium sealent (much bigger than ive ever managed to find before) for only 7 quid for the tube !!

So on thursday, as im at work tonight im going to begin to reseal the tank and get it ready for water !! then begin to save up and buy my filter and heater.

Once the tank is resealed im going to pick up some wood (again for free) to reinforce the tank stand and get it ready to actually have water in

One of the supports has cracked across the top of the tank so im going to reinforce it with an acrylic piece just to keep it secure but im sure it wont make that much of a difference.

 

[Leaky]

Just a quick test (and in relation to the sealent) heres a pic of the sealent i took with my digi camera, finally got batteris and a mem card for it

anyone used this before ?

 

[Leaky]

you could have mollies providing your water has a PH of 7+ and a GH of 10+

Just reading back through the posts about certain fish etc that i want to keep in my tank ...

Truck you said that mollies would need GH of 10+, what does this mean ? its probably me being thick but idk

And if i was going to go the sugested route by someone on here of getting some platy and molly to start with (water permitting) then adding guppys 3 monthes later, then corys a month after that, then 3 monthes later a shoal of neons ...

what numbers of each kind of fish would i be able to have ?

also, would i be able to put an angel fish in as well as i love these fish !!

im still doing research into them all but need to conecntrate on getting bits for my tank and get it up and running.

Cheers, Chris.

 

[azzaknight]

if you want angels you cant have neons as they will get eaten by the angels.
all the rest sounds fine.

 

[Leaky]

what other types of shoaling fish are there that would go well in the tank, that maybe don't need to be in a mature one ?

Cheers, Chris