OK, I've moved house, and rather than try and shift my 4 x 1.5 x 1.5 I decided to upgrade and go with a 5 x 2 x 2.5. I chose this because it was the largest tank I could reliably get in my car.
Watched the auctions for weeks, the free ads, the newspaper. In the end I found a tank, a mere 130 miles away. So in the dead of night I went to go and get it.
The thing came on a sturdy stand, this photo shows it being dismantled by the seller.
When I said this tank would reliably get in the car, I had no idea just how close it would be. I broke the rear passenger air vent pushing the tank in, and was switching on the wipers and indicators every time I changed gear the seat was that far forwards!
Believe it or not, the curvature of the rear windscreen actually allowed me to shut the boot on this. I put a few sheets of polystyrene on top of the corners, but in fairness the tank chopped through them and we had a bit of glass on glass action going on. I was genuinely frightened I'd either smash the corners of the tank or shatter my rear windscreen. 130 miles of motorway though and back in one piece!
Got the tank into the alcove it is going to live in, and tried it on for size. The photos don't do this tank justice- I am 6 foot 5 inches tall.
Sorting out the substrate- 4 sacks of play sand from B&Q at £3 a bag. Washed in a bucket in the kitchen sink. Even though it was supposed to be pre-washed, it was amazing the scum that came straight out of the sand. Hopefully soon water will start going down the plug hole properly again soon. That's one full sack of sand you can see in the tank in this photo.
Starting to fill the tank, with all the sand in there.
Half an hour later...
Getting there! Got the filters set up and tested. Filtration is from two Tetratec EX1200 filters. Need to run them both from the right of the tank due to space issues, but bought new hose and ran one two meters to the other corner.
The basis of the decor, is 8 huge rocks. These went in after the sand, but I was aware that the rocks needed to bed right down on the glass so they don't fall over when the fish shift the sand. Took a while, but they are arranged. Tested the heaters- disaster number one: wired two heaters into the same plug, set them to max, and plugged them into a heater controller/thermostat. All worked fine, so I decided to heat the tank, but move both heaters to one side to get them out of the way. There is a rule with heaters that I do know- never take them out of the water when they are on. I ignored that. Out of the water, straight to the other side back in. CRACK! Fizz. Bubble. Not good. Had to unwire the plug, and go get another heater from my old tank! Don't do that at home boys and girls.
Got the lights working. Lighting is from a 5 foot T5 unit running two 24W and two 14W metal halide bulbs, at 14,000K and 22000K.
Went and got my nice big bit of wood from the old tank (I think it was supposed to be for a lizard, but it does the job). Got a couple of new plants in there.
And another context shot, whilst heating up and running the filters.
Moving the fish. Wow, what a pain in the ass. Stock list already from two tanks in my old house.
Tank 1 (4 x 1.5 x 1.5)
1 14" BGKF
5 Colwn loaches up to 6"
1 Red line torpedo barb
3 Yoyo loaches
6 Khuli loaches
1 Pearl Gourami
1 7" Common Plec
4 Leopard Danios
3 Kribensis (a M/F pair and 1 offspring)
Tank 2 (3 x 1 x 1.5)
1 Bristlenose Plec
3 tiny little fish that I don't know the ID of and I expect to be BGKF food
1 Bolivian Ram
2 Albino Corys (mating pair)
2 Khuli Loaches
3 Zebra Loaches
Did them in two loads, species bagged basically. The BGKF is in the laundry basket (in a huge bag), the 5 clowns in the bin next to it. The Eheim external is from the 4 footer and will be kick starting/filtering the new tank.
Now we're cooking on gas
And another final shot- I've now added 20 more Leopard Danios. 5 more Red Line Torpedo Barbs will be going in this week and the stocking should be complete.
No casualties at all, the tank has been up since Saturday and I don't foresee any issues touch wood fingers crossed. Hope you enjoyed my little diary. Including the 5 hour collection, 2 hours clean, 2 hour sand clean, and 8 hour strip and reassemble and fish move, my time investment is at nearly 20 hours.
The cost, for the tank, stand, filters, light, and heating? £100. Bargain.
Like the Photos? Watch the video!
Watched the auctions for weeks, the free ads, the newspaper. In the end I found a tank, a mere 130 miles away. So in the dead of night I went to go and get it.
The thing came on a sturdy stand, this photo shows it being dismantled by the seller.
When I said this tank would reliably get in the car, I had no idea just how close it would be. I broke the rear passenger air vent pushing the tank in, and was switching on the wipers and indicators every time I changed gear the seat was that far forwards!
Believe it or not, the curvature of the rear windscreen actually allowed me to shut the boot on this. I put a few sheets of polystyrene on top of the corners, but in fairness the tank chopped through them and we had a bit of glass on glass action going on. I was genuinely frightened I'd either smash the corners of the tank or shatter my rear windscreen. 130 miles of motorway though and back in one piece!
Got the tank into the alcove it is going to live in, and tried it on for size. The photos don't do this tank justice- I am 6 foot 5 inches tall.
Sorting out the substrate- 4 sacks of play sand from B&Q at £3 a bag. Washed in a bucket in the kitchen sink. Even though it was supposed to be pre-washed, it was amazing the scum that came straight out of the sand. Hopefully soon water will start going down the plug hole properly again soon. That's one full sack of sand you can see in the tank in this photo.
Starting to fill the tank, with all the sand in there.
Half an hour later...
Getting there! Got the filters set up and tested. Filtration is from two Tetratec EX1200 filters. Need to run them both from the right of the tank due to space issues, but bought new hose and ran one two meters to the other corner.
The basis of the decor, is 8 huge rocks. These went in after the sand, but I was aware that the rocks needed to bed right down on the glass so they don't fall over when the fish shift the sand. Took a while, but they are arranged. Tested the heaters- disaster number one: wired two heaters into the same plug, set them to max, and plugged them into a heater controller/thermostat. All worked fine, so I decided to heat the tank, but move both heaters to one side to get them out of the way. There is a rule with heaters that I do know- never take them out of the water when they are on. I ignored that. Out of the water, straight to the other side back in. CRACK! Fizz. Bubble. Not good. Had to unwire the plug, and go get another heater from my old tank! Don't do that at home boys and girls.
Got the lights working. Lighting is from a 5 foot T5 unit running two 24W and two 14W metal halide bulbs, at 14,000K and 22000K.
Went and got my nice big bit of wood from the old tank (I think it was supposed to be for a lizard, but it does the job). Got a couple of new plants in there.
And another context shot, whilst heating up and running the filters.
Moving the fish. Wow, what a pain in the ass. Stock list already from two tanks in my old house.
Tank 1 (4 x 1.5 x 1.5)
1 14" BGKF
5 Colwn loaches up to 6"
1 Red line torpedo barb
3 Yoyo loaches
6 Khuli loaches
1 Pearl Gourami
1 7" Common Plec
4 Leopard Danios
3 Kribensis (a M/F pair and 1 offspring)
Tank 2 (3 x 1 x 1.5)
1 Bristlenose Plec
3 tiny little fish that I don't know the ID of and I expect to be BGKF food
1 Bolivian Ram
2 Albino Corys (mating pair)
2 Khuli Loaches
3 Zebra Loaches
Did them in two loads, species bagged basically. The BGKF is in the laundry basket (in a huge bag), the 5 clowns in the bin next to it. The Eheim external is from the 4 footer and will be kick starting/filtering the new tank.
Now we're cooking on gas
And another final shot- I've now added 20 more Leopard Danios. 5 more Red Line Torpedo Barbs will be going in this week and the stocking should be complete.
No casualties at all, the tank has been up since Saturday and I don't foresee any issues touch wood fingers crossed. Hope you enjoyed my little diary. Including the 5 hour collection, 2 hours clean, 2 hour sand clean, and 8 hour strip and reassemble and fish move, my time investment is at nearly 20 hours.
The cost, for the tank, stand, filters, light, and heating? £100. Bargain.
Like the Photos? Watch the video!
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