Huge 900g Tank Project

[andywg]

Well, what a productive day today was. It turns out that CFC and I are both Tank Moving Gods (though someone's lack of strength caused us issues shortly after that was uttered. ) and Tank Stand Manufacturing Experts. Though I must admit to CFC deserving most of the credit for the latter. Also got to meet Mark today as he dropped off a ray, which was nice.

So, I suppose some of you may want a picture? Well, first off, remember how the fishroom looked from the huge tank last Saturday? If you don't, it's below.

Well, by the end of today the old fish room (garage) looked like this:

A little sad really, and deathly quiet.

And here are some progress shots of filling the 200 gallon tank and then the 6x2x2. I seriously hope I don't have to move the 200 again. Why it weighs so much more than the 6x2x2 I am unsure, they look like the same thickness of glass. *shrugs*

Building a stand to take 6 tanks. Total build time under 1 hour 30 minutes:

And just for CFC, I finally got to build my tower...

And on to the fish. First up the larger tank, which now has 125kg of sand and 4 rays in. So have a picture of the two combined.

Next up, have a pic of a ray blowing sand, always fun to watch, though they only seem to do it near the edge, maybe they are looking for more silicone edges to gnaw on, like in the 200...

And, after getting this pretty good pic of the colours of the P bass:

I then had a go at getting the subtle but great colours of the silver aro. I came up with this which, while being a pretty bad picture, gives a pretty good indication of the scale colours

But there have been far too many pics of that tank here, so let's give the supporting cast some more light. First up, the Electric catfish, Mr Hankey, who seems to have grown to a huge size, only able to fit in the polybox diagonally.

Next up the slowly moving logs known as bichirs.

And then there is the swimming stomach Pseudopim which seems to have a go at eating anything. Here he is sulking after the move:

And a pretty bad picture of him showing his mouth through the net. He did have it wide open, which was quite the sight.

I am amazed at CFC's resilience. I would be testing this things ability to ingest large items at least once a month.

And for those that love colour on their aros, try a jardini. These are the best photos I have yet managed of this quite beautiful fish:

Adn for those that like heavy filtration, here's a good shot of keeping all the sponge filters for the other tanks alive with a jardini for size comparison.

And finally, a shot of the beautiful, yet somewhat slow growing, catfish (forget the name):

 

[mark7616]

Looking good guys vast change from yesterday. Good to see that the yepezi settled in well and was swimming around as soon as it went in.

 

[Esfa]

Woah, sexy bichirs!

Nice job guys.

 

[CFC]

Wow looks like you were busy after leaving here Andy, i didnt expect to see any pictures up until at least after lunch today, I dont know about you but when i eventually finished fiddling about with the heating and filtration and got myself to bed i think i was asleap before i even touched the pillow and my legs are feeling it today, feels like i ran a marathon yesterday

You're gonna have to give us a grand total when its all done of how much all this cost ya, its gotta be a hell of a lot of dough.

It hasnt cost as much as you would think, the building structure was aready in place when we bought the house so all i had to do was put on a new roof which only cost me the price of the felt and fixings, around £200, i get all the timber and boards from work by bringing home left over material that would otherwise be left on site or skipped, all the tank stands and racks are built from free timber and board too. The insulation for the buidling cost a little under £600 and the electrics came to around £200 for all the sockets, switches, light units and cable.

Most of the tanks in the room i already had in my old fishroom and have been mainly bought second hand over the last 7 years, not including the 900g or the 150g in our front room i have spent less than £1000 on tanks since i started fish keeping.

Obviously the biggest outlay was the 900g tank and the pump which runs its filtration, adding on the cost of the plumbing, sand substrate and concrete block base the total cost of setting it up was around £2400, the plastic water tank which holds all the fliter media was picked up free from a demolition site i was working on. The rest of the room is powered by one 75lpm airpump which runs 17 air powered sponge filters and cost £120, the room is heated by a 2000 watt oil filled radiator which a friend gave me as they no longer used it saving me another couple of hundred pounds. I've probably spent another £600 or so on bits and pieces here and there that dont seem to cost much but add up when you put them all together.

So all in all the actual cost of setting up the fish house has been under £5000, although had I had to have added timber and plyboard to the total it would have been another £1500 or so, likewise with labour costs so for someone not in the construction trade it would have cost a lot more.

 

[andywg]

How's the temp doing today CFC? And have you learnt to shut the door yet?

I got home at 11 with my Indian. Ate that and then put the pictures on before watching a game of rugby (good old Wasps). I must admit I dozed ever so slightly during the second half so at 3:30 I decided it was time to head to bed.

If we had built more towers your legs wouldn't have hurt so much

 

[CFC]

I'm having problems with keeping the temperature stable at a stable 80f at the moment without leaving the heater on full blast 24/7, i believe this is because the air pump is sucking in all the warm air and blowing it through the cooler water in the tanks, so in effect i have a water cooled air conditioning system. This will equalise out as the temperature in the tanks reaches the same temperature as the room but i'd hate to think how much power its using at the moment

 

[Underwurlde]

Farenheit.... from London?

That aside, it must be like a sauna in there!

 

[andywg]

Farenheit.... from London?

That aside, it must be like a sauna in there!

Nah, a sauna is dry heat (and about 90-110 degrees C).

It is somewhat akin to a steam room, however. And it takes a long time for the SLR lens to finally defog after bringing it in from the cold...

 

[Underwurlde]

Hehe.

This is the pic that made me snigger:

You gunna have to get a dehumidifier in there as well??

Q) When's opening day, where can I buy tickets & is the mayor going to be cutting the red tape? Better still, ask Leona Lewis...



Andy

 

[The-Wolf]

great update

just one Q
what have you done to my P.weeksii?
he is looking a bit thinner than when I gave him to you

I guess I do spoil my fish

 

[picnic]

this now looks like a hospital! dono why but just does. with all those tubes and stuff. kinda fugly. lol

 

[CFC]

great update

just one Q
what have you done to my P.weeksii?
he is looking a bit thinner than when I gave him to you

I guess I do spoil my fish

shes not skinnier, she just looks smaller when shes compared to the tail end of an 18" ornate, although i havent fed any of the fish for the last 4 days in anticipation of the move so they are all looking a little less plump in the belly. They'll all get a good feed tomorrow when the filters should be back to normal.

 

[andywg]

Hehe.

This is the pic that made me snigger:

That's the lens fogging up, that's all.

 

[paul_219]

Thats really wonderful stunning.

 

[Underwurlde]

That's the lens fogging up, that's all.

And you were naked when you took that photo because.....?