Fish Room Journal

[bunjiweb]

lovely looking fish, whats your plans for a bigger tank? angels are very active fish, so something big would be needed ideally, how about a 9 or 10fter with 3ft width/depth?

Ben

 

[sianeds]

The new tank is 5ft by 2ft. It will be just fine for now....

It's not even wet yet and I can already feel the next upgrade brewing

 

[Lynden]

Pomacanthus need huge tanks. They range over territories, in the wild, that are measured in acres, not feet.

Luckily, as far as I know smaller Holacanthus (including queen angels) can be comfortable in a 5' x 2' box.

 

[sianeds]

Which is precisely why I wouldn't have bought it from a shop. I was railroaded into getting this fish along with the tank.

I was originally planning a 7ft ++ tank but the 5ft x 2ft tank was such a bargain. Hopefully sometime in the future I'll be startig a bigger tank again. It'll be as big as I can fit and will be fish only so I can keep triggers etc. This 5x2 is a practice run as such and will either stay as a reef tank or will be converted to a FW oscar tank.

 

[bunjiweb]

fair enough!

I wouldnt keep large angels myself, I just don't think they are that suitable to tank life. If it was me and I couldnt afford a big enough tank I would be looking into making a wooden box and lining it with PVC liner as a "temporary" measure.

Ben

 

[sianeds]

I'm not a fan of angels either. It's not a fish I would choose to go out and buy and to be totally honest, as beautiful as she is I don't really want her. It was a case of buy the tank and fish comes too.

Anyone out there who can give her a good home let me know.

 

[Lynden]

Agree with above. I recently made the painful choice to not get huge predators for the 90.

At least you'll get big, big bucks (pounds?) for the angel! If I were you I wouldn't let her go for anything less than a hundred pounds.

 

[sianeds]

Well Lynden she had a starting price of £250.

Anyway.... Here's the latest progress. Things are going slower than I hoped due to a huge lack of funding and an almost as huge lack of time.

We have drilled the top of the stand to allow the pipework down to the sump. This was not easy as the stand is built of really thick wood but we managed.

Next job was to give the whole tank a good clean. I left this to an expert Spot the steps...the top of the tank is around 5 1/2 ft from the floor.

Now we have to collect the sump tank on Friday afternoon and sort out the plumbing. This is how it will work...

The standpipe skims the surface and takes water to the sump

This is the plumbing from the bottom of the tank into the sump

The return pump will send water up the flexible hose and through the long pipe with 3 outlets into the tank

More pics to come on Friday night

 

[sianeds]

Finally I got my sump!!

and also my "hood" which is more of a decorative trim.

I'm bringing the lighting home form work this weekend and then I'll spend Monday doing the plumbing. I get my new RO unit on Tuesday or Wednesday from Mark at Acropora House. Also he is having the Angel

 

[bunjiweb]

Looks good,

And great to hear about the angel! I bet he has a nice big tank for it.

Ben

 

[adam.crouch]

lOOKS WICKED!

i want to see it filled up with water with all the stuff from ur other tank moved over when i come over at the weekend!!

Also - do you want my 2 freshwater puffers? PM me with an answer

 

[sianeds]

OOH ooh haha I'll try my best for ya Adam but I doubt it'll be full by weekend.

Hell yeah I'll have the puffers!!!

 

[sianeds]

Sooo....Today I have been moderately busy.

I brought the lighting home yesterday. I am currently discussing with myself the best way to mount it.

First job of the day was to make a stand for the sump tank so all the pipework fitted nicely. I could have added extra length to the pipes but that seemed like harder work especially when Daddy does the woodwork for me

Once the stand was built it was quite a job to get the sump onto it as it's pretty heavy. Softlad had to climb into the stand to lift it on. Once that was done I fitted the pipes and jiggled stuff around a little to make it fit tidily.

Then I fitted the spraybar which takes the water back into the main tank from the return pump. Once that was done we got all the neighbours to help us move the whole tank and stand into place.

Next was silicone. I had to re-stick some beading on to the bottom of the tank and I also went over some of the joints where it looked a bit thin.

Then I took photos!!

1st...my lights

I think all 3 lights will be a bit overkill but I'm told one of the larger ones is faulty I think one of the big ones should be enough and hopefully one big pendant plus the small one will give me enough light. If not I will either repair or replace the faulty one. I'll see if I can get it running anyway.

Full tank shot with Softlad for perspective

And finally the famous "child in tank" shot

 

[robbhp]

looking good mate keep up the good work, i am so pissed i missed the son in the tank shot with mine

 

[bobf]

looking good mate keep up the good work, i am so pissed i missed the son in the tank shot with mine

There's time yet rob - weather's warming up and all that...

"Trip to the seaside son? -

"Just shut your eyes, keep paddling and I'll do the seagull noises..."