My Next Venture, 5' Tank Acquired

[wrighty8529]

JDs4me Thanks.

 

[JDs4me]

Early stock thoughts for this tank...

5/6 Pantodon buchholzi; African Butterfly Fish

10/12 S. nigriventris; Upside-down Catfish

6 Ctenopoma acutirostre; Leopard Bushfish

6 Microctenopoma congicum; Congo Bushfish

1 or 2 Bichir; perhaps Polypterus delhezi/palmas sp./retropinnis

1 or 2 Erpetoichthys calabaricus; Reedfish

not cycling the tank yet as its festival season...

 

[JDs4me]

To cover the tank and prevent escape of reedfish and ABF etc. have cut up a reed mat...should keep those surface jumpers happy; home from home for the reedfish! At night if still lit in the front room the mat can hang to keep the tank dark. I want the tank poorly lit so the reeds will also diffuse the light from the overhead T5's when running - thats the plan anyway...

The top of the tank will have plants; my next task...cycling waits until the end of july to start, so keeping occupied with the bits I can do...2 Aquis 1200 filters arrived yesterday; positioning and testing this week

 

[HM Dragon Devil]

Hey, JDs4me. Are you doing a fish in-cycle with this tank? By the way I think the tank looks small in those pictures, especially with the bamboo blind covering it

Dean.

 

[JDs4me]

no, fishless cycle, but not starting until august as I am away here and there until then...small?? scares the c##p out of me every time I look at it, wondering how far the water would spread if the silicone failed!! Its 5' honest; tape measure pic to prove it?

Anyhow, the outside is planted; the inside will have to wait!

 

[HM Dragon Devil]

no, fishless cycle, but not starting until august as I am away here and there until then...small?? scares the c##p out of me every time I look at it, wondering how far the water would spread if the silicone failed!! Its 5' honest; tape measure pic to prove it?

Anyhow, the outside is planted; the inside will have to wait!

Good job, JDs4me. It's cleaned up really well and looks great! But i gotta say it looks even smaller in that jungle! By the way where are you hidng that marajuana plant? joke!

Seriously though i don't doubt the tank is 5', it just looks smaller than it actually is

Dean.

 

[JDs4me]

smoked it...luckier therefore than the poor Isle of Wight festival-goers who will struggle to light it, let alone smoke it!

Thankfully didn't buy tickets for this one...gale force winds and rain here tonight on the other side of the Solent...good luck to them...be a few tents uprooted tonight methinks.

Thanks for the positive comment Dean; by the time its stocked I will need a machete to see the fish! Beginning to think I need a larger tank for the alligator I plan to keep next! My living room is 25' long; would that be big enough do you think?

 

[Tizer]

Hampshire UK? You sure its not really Kenya?

 

[JDs4me]

Hampshire UK? You sure its not really Kenya?

Excellent compliment thanks!!!

I'm happy with the look and the plants will mature well hopefully - the grasses are outdoor though, so hope they grow...maybe not Kenyan plants but whatever!

 

[HM Dragon Devil]

smoked it...luckier therefore than the poor Isle of Wight festival-goers who will struggle to light it, let alone smoke it!

Thankfully didn't buy tickets for this one...gale force winds and rain here tonight on the other side of the Solent...good luck to them...be a few tents uprooted tonight methinks.

Thanks for the positive comment Dean; by the time its stocked I will need a machete to see the fish! Beginning to think I need a larger tank for the alligator I plan to keep next! My living room is 25' long; would that be big enough do you think?

LOL @ a gator! I think you'd have enough room for a pool

 

[michaelshawnson]

Great looking tank. I have a quick question. How do you get drift wood to stay at the bottom? Also, is there a special type needed? Every time I add driftwood it ends up getting soft and breaking from being in the water too long.

 

[JDs4me]

Thanks...I use mopani wood or bogwood as supplied from your LFS; I think some wood is too light and will just break up, depends on the sort of driftwood you have - I was lucky with this second tank as I bought from a guy who was switching from tropical to marine so the wood was already soaked, heavy, and sank as soon as added! Driftwood off the beach will likely be very dessicated so will float...hardwoods may withstand submersion but I am no expert there; weigh the wood down in the tank for a couple of weeks, if it stays there and doesn't break up you are on a winner!

 

[JDs4me]

Added JBL sansibar black sand to the tank yesterday; lovely texture with very fine, rounded grains (volcanic)...the bag says rinse briefly; well thats OK if you want seriously cloudy water. Each 2kg wash needed about 60litres of water to clear the sand so the 60kg I bought gave me about 3 hours work in the kitchen sink. But its worth it as the stuff looks lovely, and to my mind much more natural than the Caribsea I was originally going for (which is jet black, but has larger grains and a glossy finish that wasn't for me - didn't look as if it had come off the beach and straight into the tank!). JBL retails slightly cheaper over here as well...

Tank now 'plumbed in' and cycling....

 

[HM Dragon Devil]

Added JBL sansibar black sand to the tank yesterday; lovely texture with very fine, rounded grains (volcanic)...the bag says rinse briefly; well thats OK if you want seriously cloudy water. Each 2kg wash needed about 60litres of water to clear the sand so the 60kg I bought gave me about 3 hours work in the kitchen sink. But its worth it as the stuff looks lovely, and to my mind much more natural than the Caribsea I was originally going for (which is jet black, but has larger grains and a glossy finish that wasn't for me - didn't look as if it had come off the beach and straight into the tank!). JBL retails slightly cheaper over here as well...

Tank now 'plumbed in' and cycling....

How's it going dude? I like the black sand, i may even use some on my next tank! I'm still undecided on what type of setup i'm going to have, but anyhow i've been working my butt off doing 12 hour shifts the past month, so i think it's time to SPEND the extra cash!

Dean

 

[N0body Of The Goat]

Somehow missed this journmal type thread, looks great so far and a massive transformation to nicely blend in with your lounge... And yes, I can confirm this is a monster weight 5-footer, almost killed me carrying one end (especially lifting off the floor)!