Sixty Gallon Journal

[Naughts]

Entry #8
With great care my wife and I transferred the 20 gallon tank onto the newly assembled aquarium stand. I removed 10 gallons of water before we did the transfer. We had placed “slippers” on the feet of the aquarium stand so we could more easily slide it across the room to its new home. Then we move the 60 gallon tank onto my desk in the vacated space.
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New home for the 20 gallon long (above)
60 gallon on my desk next to shrimp tank (below)
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Will the desk hold the weight??
You could add a support under the desk to help.

 

[Sparx]

Entry #10
Finally, my sand came in today. I thought it would not need rinsing, but I was wrong. My tank will contain one species of cave spawners, and another species that spawns on flats. You can see in the photographs i created two separate habitats. I will place a piece of driftwood, in between the flats and the caves so there’s more visual separation. I will also place Anubias in front of each cave. I will decide on other taller plants at a later date.
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Getting there! Looks great so far

 

[MaloK]

Looking Great !!!

I see you re-enforced your desk , I wasn't sure when I saw it at first if was good to hold 500 pounds.

 

[gwand]

Fingers crossed the reinforcements work.

 

[gwand]

Will the desk hold the weight??
You could add a support under the desk to help.

Yes I added 4 reinforcements under the desk care of Home Depot.

 

[gwand]

Entry #11
This morning I filled the tank with water, turned on the sponge filter and the Aqua Clear 110 filter and plugged in the Fluval E300 heater set to 77 degrees. The water is a bit cloudy but hopefully that will clear over the next few days. I will get cycling going this week with Tetra Safe Start. I also am using some filters from my other tanks to jump start the process. I will be mail ordering fish from Dan’s Fish and The Wet Spot. So I will put this off until September when the weather cools a bit. It will take a few weeks to cycle the tank anyway.

 

[gwand]

Entry #12
Tetra safe start was added to the tank several days ago. Yesterday I added ammonia at a level of one part per million. This morning the ammonia level is 0.5 ppm. Hopefully the ammonia level will be zero tomorrow. If the ammonia levels are zero tomorrow, I will repeat the exercise one more time. If the ammonia and nitrite level remains zero, I will begin to order fish.

 

[MaloK]

I will begin to order fish.

No plants ?

 

[gwand]

I have 4 anubias and 2 corynewentii plants coming in to start.

 

[gwand]

Entry #13
Ammonia and nitrite levels are 0 ppm this morning. I added more ammonia to the tank to repeat the test. But it appears like Tetra Safe Start and an old filter are doing the trick.

 

[gwand]

Entry #14
The tank is cycled. My plants arrive this Tuesday. Once the plants are settled I will order 6 Anomalochromis thomasi to arrive the following week. I have not been able to find Pelvicachromis kribensis Moliwe yet. The Wet Spot has
Pelvicachromis drachenfelsi taeniatus, Pelvicachromis kribensis taeniatus Djanje and Pelvicachromis kribensis taeniatus Idenau. I will have to ask Gary E. If any of these Kribensis are good substitutes for Moliwe.

 

[gwand]

Entry #15
First crop of plants arrived: 6 petite anubias and 2 corynewentii pots. I will purchase some Amazon swords next for some greenery height.

 

[kpewv]

exciting project!! and i have always adored the look of a. borelli! a. hongsloi is probably my favorite cichlid but it's so hard to choose (ive never had cichlids but i love to admire them haha). great shape for the tank too! very excited for you!

 

[gwand]

Entry #16
Exciting day. I ordered 6 Anomalochromis thomasi which will arrive by overnight carrier a week from tomorrow. They will ship a week from today. I will quarantine these fish for a while before ordering a pair of Pelvicachromis kribensis and six Alestopetersius caudalis (yellow tail Congo tetras). This will complete my livestock for this tank. I will be adding more greenery. I’m considering a piece of driftwood. Gary E has given me invaluable advice on building this tank.

 

[MaloK]

Have you seen pics of your butterflies ?