Rebuilding an old abandoned 29g

[itiwhetu]

This was my Chocolate Gourami tank it also had mosquito rasboras in it.

 

[itiwhetu]

I don't think I want a single species tank are all gouramis single-species? I need to do some reading!

Chocolate Gouramis are very timid and don't like a lot of action. Other Gouramis are more robust. Except the likes of Croaking and sparkling etc.

 

[MonsieurLaGrenuoille]

I've never had chocolate gouramis, or any gouramis for that matter. I haven't decided on my stocking. I know 29g is small for a group of chocolate gouramis, but perhaps some dwarf ones are worth considering? Sounds like I need to do some research!

To do some research is still good and recommendable, the chocolate guramis are delicate regarding the water quality and the food, they need normally very soft and very acid water, if they are wild caught you cannot try to keep them (only experts), mine are reared in captivity and much more resistent, what Itiwhetu say is correct and they don't like too much action and for you perhaps isn't a good idea. You really don't have any ideas or preferences as for the fish? But that should be your only decision, are there some good shops near where you are living? And how is your tap water? If it's hard and alcaline then you had bad luck, the Orinoco fauna don't like that water. Some shrimps you have mentioned..., yes, a good idea, and somewhat you don't have tried yet, there are lots of possibilities. Seguimos charlando, vale?

 

[wgoldfarb]

I do have some ideas about stocking, but they are still broad. In my previous setup I kept tetras (rummynose and red phantoms), endlers, otos (o. Vitatus) and cories (c. Habrosus). I am probably going to do something similar now, except last time I limited myself to only fish from home. I'm not doing that now, so I have a wider selection. I want a group of schooling fish (tetras?), a group of cories, a handful of otos, and one more group. Either another group of tetras (There are a lot of tetras I like!) Out something else. I hadn't considered dwarf gouramis, but they are now in the list of candidates! I'd also like to keep endlers again, but I may setup a dedicated 10g for them so I can breed them. And, of course, I also have to find some use for the original 29g once I'm done redoing the silicone seals, so whatever doesn't go in here can go in there

Water coming out of the tap at my house has hardness 110 ppm, pH of 7.6, 1 ppm Nitrates and 0.5 ppm ammonia (although last time I tested was over two years ago, so I will probably retest again soon). All the fish I kept seemed happy. The otos even bred a few times! (My endlers were all male, on purpose)

 

[MonsieurLaGrenuoille]

Your tap water is fine, good for the Orinoco fishes, the PH can easily be reduced, so you don't have many problems..., except that you have become an fish adict! Now there are 3 tanks you want to have running while at the beginning was only the old, abandoned one! I fear your wife will send you to the motel, hahaha! I hope not mon ami! You had never kept some Apistogramma dwarf cichlides? Or the famous Microgeophagus ramirezi, which is an original Venezuelian one? You should have had some of these guys, they are extraordinary fish and I want to recommend them to you de tout mon coeur, one male and two females would work fine, with tetras and some little corydoras fits perfectly. Only an idea, you know these cichlides are quite peaceful.

And now the photos of the hexagonal tank, perhaps someone has an idea what kind of tank that is, which brand, if any known, what year approx., etc, the matter regarding the base for his bottom is important to me, could it protude or stand out a little from the base? (the bottom is entirely made of thick plastic). Or would be that dangereous and could break? Some opinions please? I would be very thankful.

 

[wgoldfarb]

Your tap water is fine, good for the Orinoco fishes, the PH can easily be reduced, so you don't have many problems..., except that you have become an fish adict! Now there are 3 tanks you want to have running while at the beginning was only the old, abandoned one! I fear your wife will send you to the motel, hahaha! I hope not mon ami! You had never kept some Apistogramma dwarf cichlides? Or the famous Microgeophagus ramirezi, which is an original Venezuelian one? You should have had some of these guys, they are extraordinary fish and I want to recommend them to you de tout mon coeur, one male and two females would work fine, with tetras and some little corydoras fits perfectly. Only an idea, you know these cichlides are quite peaceful.

And now the photos of the hexagonal tank, perhaps someone has an idea what kind of tank that is, which brand, if any known, what year approx., etc, the matter regarding the base for his bottom is important to me, could it protude or stand out a little from the base? (the bottom is entirely made of thick plastic). Or would be that dangereous and could break? Some opinions please? I would be very thankful.View attachment 149537View attachment 149538View attachment 149539


View attachment 149540

Apistogramma dwarf cichlides...
Microgeophagus ramirezi... You are making things worse! if you keep going I will need a lot more tanks!!! Regarding your tank, it seems that the bulk of the weight rests on that center piece, not along the edges like I would in a rectangular tank. I think it is safe, but you should perhaps create a thread in the forum to ask, so more people will see it? How much off the table are you thinking?

 

[FishHobby99]

I do have some ideas about stocking, but they are still broad. In my previous setup I kept tetras (rummynose and red phantoms), endlers, otos (o. Vitatus) and cories (c. Habrosus). I am probably going to do something similar now, except last time I limited myself to only fish from home. I'm not doing that now, so I have a wider selection. I want a group of schooling fish (tetras?), a group of cories, a handful of otos, and one more group. Either another group of tetras (There are a lot of tetras I like!) Out something else. I hadn't considered dwarf gouramis, but they are now in the list of candidates! I'd also like to keep endlers again, but I may setup a dedicated 10g for them so I can breed them. And, of course, I also have to find some use for the original 29g once I'm done redoing the silicone seals, so whatever doesn't go in here can go in there

Water coming out of the tap at my house has hardness 110 ppm, pH of 7.6, 1 ppm Nitrates and 0.5 ppm ammonia (although last time I tested was over two years ago, so I will probably retest again soon). All the fish I kept seemed happy. The otos even bred a few times! (My endlers were all male, on purpose)

My guppies are all male too! I have no desire for hundreds of them. Seven is a nice number. I do believe someone here said endlers are essentially guppies when another person posted photos. Pretty little fish. My guppies were sold on eBay as: Mixed Male Mutt Fancy Guppies.

 

[wgoldfarb]

Today I finally finished my lid.

I received the weatherstripping from Amazon, and stuck a strip along the back of the piece that goes in the back. The idea is to cut holes for the hoses in the plastic (it's soft plastic, easily cut with scissors). I then took the back piece with the weatherstrip in place and siliconed it into the plastic "rails". As you may remember I decided to leave some of the surfaces unpainted to make sure the lid slides easily, so I only painted the outside surfaces:

I also siliconed the plastic edges on the top piece and made a handle from the same plastic used to make the rails:

Here is a close up of the "handle":

And here is the whole assembly:

I haven't decided if I will try to seal the 3/16" gap between the two pieces. On one hand it will minimize evaporation, but it may also create a shadow in the tank because the light is right on top of the lid. I will experiment a bit, if the shadow isn't too noticeable I will add some weatherstripping to seal the gap.

 

[FishHobby99]

Seriously, I love that hexagonal tank!
Never saw anything like it before. i don’t know nothing about nothing, but I would place that tank on a square base. We modified a 30 G stand to accommodate a 40 G tank with plywood. I painted it black to match the stand, looks good.

 

[FishHobby99]

Today I finally finished my lid.

I received the weatherstripping from Amazon, and stuck a strip along the back of the piece that goes in the back. The idea is to cut holes for the hoses in the plastic (it's soft plastic, easily cut with scissors). I then took the back piece with the weatherstrip in place and siliconed it into the plastic "rails". As you may remember I decided to leave some of the surfaces unpainted to make sure the lid slides easily, so I only painted the outside surfaces:
View attachment 149541
I also siliconed the plastic edges on the top piece and made a handle from the same plastic used to make the rails:
View attachment 149542
Here is a close up of the "handle":
View attachment 149543
And here is the whole assembly:
View attachment 149544
I haven't decided if I will try to seal the 3/16" gap between the two pieces. On one hand it will minimize evaporation, but it may also create a shadow in the tank because the light is right on top of the lid. I will experiment a bit, if the shadow isn't too noticeable I will add some weatherstripping to seal the gap.

Wonderful! So you even made the handles? Nice. Those lazy YouTube DIY lid makers bought acrylic handles on eBay.

 

[MonsieurLaGrenuoille]

Till next spring it would have time, I thougth the same as you regarding the tank's bottom, it would not be much off, first I need some thick wooden boards for the base, in addition I want this tank at the same level of and nearby my 150 L. tank to unite the two tanks one day to each other, that way I want to create a marine ensemble, this hexagonal could contain some of the devices as skimmer etc, but not only, it could be a biological algae tank with mud and even some animals too, the 150 l tank would be free of devices, I also want to build in an inverted gravel filter in the 150 l, so to flood the soil from underneath with a water pump or external filter, I have this system already running in my 30 l tank with a canister filter of 440 l/h (Eheim), and it works enormous, the Corydoras hastatus there are breeding all the time like crazy, the inverted gravel filter is an excellent idea I have finally realized and tried out, first I have heard of this in the seventies especially for marine aquariums, as I was a child. That's my plan.

 

[wgoldfarb]

I also took advantage of nice 60 degree weather today to paint the back of the tap. It's now back inside, drying:

You can also see part of the spray bar and filter intake, which I also painted

 

[itiwhetu]

Till next spring it would have time, I thougth the same as you regarding the tank's bottom, it would not be much off, first I need some thick wooden boards for the base, in addition I want this tank at the same level of and nearby my 150 L. tank to unite the two tanks one day to each other, that way I want to create a marine ensemble, this hexagonal could contain some of the devices as skimmer etc, but not only, it could be a biological algae tank with mud and even some animals too, the 150 l tank would be free of devices, I also want to build in an inverted gravel filter in the 150 l, so to flood the soil from underneath with a water pump or external filter, I have this system already running in my 30 l tank with a canister filter of 440 l/h (Eheim), and it works enormous, the Corydoras hastatus there are breeding all the time like crazy, the inverted gravel filter is an excellent idea I have finally realized and tried out, first I have heard of this in the seventies especially for marine aquariums, as I was a child. That's my plan.

I love under gravel filters my new setup has one.

 

[FishHobby99]

The guy who sold me the big tank with the sump included a large bin full of equipment with a gravel filter such as you describe. It’s in the original box & I’ve never used it.

Love your design plan for sitting tanks at same level!

 

[MonsieurLaGrenuoille]

The guy who sold me the big tank with the sump included a large bin full of equipment with a gravel filter such as you describe. It’s in the original box & I’ve never used it.

Love your design plan for sitting tanks at same level!

Thank you Jenny, since I want to connect the two tanks to make an ensemble, according to the law of communicating vessels they must be at the same level, but that's also for me an experiment that has to be realized yet. It's like a kind of weird sump not under but next to the main tank, and not a sump but two separate working aquariums each with their own ilumination, one next to the other, yes I would like to make them marine this way, maybe one day (once I have had a very little sea aquarium in Spain as I was a child). Who knows, maybe you will one day also want to set up a sea tank, they are really interesting!

The gravel fiter can be used in two different ways, normally it works with an air pump, that way the tank water and the mud is sucked into the soil and the water circulates back from the bottom in the tank, the inverted gravel filter as I have this running is the opposite, the filtered water comes into the soil and from the very bottom of the tank through the soil back in the tank. The normal way with the air pump isn't very effective, and you should clean the whole gravel of the tank very often, and maybe take the filter out, once a year or so, the inverted way with a powerful external filter pumping the water into the soil prevent the bottom from accumulate the mud and to rot, the water circulation makes also the tank's temperature uniform (as it is anyway with gravel filtration) and the complete aquarium more salubrious, so is this inverted gravel filter in my eyes especially suitable for sea aquariums but also for fresh water fish breeders (checked and found to be good).