Thin Tank.........cycling :)

[Ava_Banana]

On Saturday we went and picked up my £8.50 ebay purchase.........one long tank.

It has now been cleaned, put in place, filled, planted and is in "cycling" mode .

For those that are interested:

I initially thought that it had been a "home-build" and I was a little worried about the strength of the 5 ft long, 2 ft high and 6.5 inches wide tank. However, we found out that the tank was bought off her employer (it was in some sort of showroom) by a woman who had then split with her boyfriend and had no-where to place it.

We picked it up......which was a feat in itself as it is made of 8mm thick glass throughout and weighs A LOT and squeezed it into the car alongside the children.

Picked up a couple of uprisers for the undergravel filtration system that is in the base of the tank. We did consider other filtration, or a couple of powerheads, but (and herein is one of the "interesting" things about the tank) access at the top of the tank is limited to a 3 inch gap all the way along (there are two "strengthening straps running the length) which means that internal filters will not fit in.......not even power-heads would go through the gap....(well, the ones I saw wouldn't).

Picked up the tubes, a new air pump etc, etc, various plants and got the lot home.

Cleaned it, filled it, treated the water, planted it.........added some gravel from our other tank.......and we are now watching it for the cycle.......

Few pics of the day:

We had some help with the cleaning:


What with the weight, it was not easy to get it into place.......nearly there though:


Right......it's there.....


Logistics..... ...gardening by some kitchen implement as our arms don't go in far enough........ )


Takes quite a while to fill......


Right........now up and full................






We will keep you posted if anyone is interested.

 

[Cody]

thats a really nice tank, but its sad i cant put ne eels, arrowanas, or bichirs in it, cause they wont be able to turn around , well im sure ur gonna have it for sum fish ur kids will like

 

[enchanted]

I would like to know how this turns out. That is a really cool tank.

 

[clutterydrawer]

that appears to be a fish-slice you're planting with..remind me never to eat at yours.

serisuoly though, its looking good, and i take back my earlier opinion that it was too narrow to be any good.

 

[Ava_Banana]

Ta cluttery, yes Emma says it was a fish-slice ......have to be careful with that one........



Update:

Spare heater had a crack in it...(stored badly ) have to get one from lfs today....

 

[The-Wolf]

Wow!
That looks
I have one concern; Algea, being on a window sill you
are going to get a lot of light, and hence an algea bloom.
if you were to put a backing on it it would help, but then
it will cut out a lot of light into your kitchen.
I'm interested to see how this turns out, kepp the updates comming

 

[Elisabeth83]

Wow that is an awesome tank!! What a great place for it...seems like it was made to go there

 

[Joviella]

That really is looking good........keep us updated on how it's all going.

 

[Ben]

looks cool

what u planning on putting in there?

 

[Whiskerz]

I've never seen a tank like that before it looks great!

if you can, post some pics with fish in it too after its done up and running, I'd love to see it

 

[Ava_Banana]

I have one concern; Algea, being on a window sill you
are going to get a lot of light,

Yes, that would be a concern normally, however, there is a conservatory beyond the window, with drapes hanging from the ceiling (gets hot in the summer) and we have an awful amount of large plants out there (lots of banana plants and other jungly stuff.... ) so we are hoping not too much light will come through.


Elizabeth......s'funny you should say that.........Emma had said that "...the only place you could have a tank was if you made one to fit on the window ledge...."............then I saw this one on ebay only 20 mins drive away... .......it is a good fit....

dwarf-dude........it is going to be a shoaling/swarming tank, we are going to move the neons and harlequins in (whilst boosting their numbers).....and we have some orange wag-tail platys that are going to go straight in for a flash of colour.....

 

[bunjiweb]

Sounds great!! I can't wait to see it with fish in!!

A truly interesting tank shape, and if stocked with the right fish, a more than adequate width.

What are you going to do for light? Or are you going to rely on natural light? A small hooded flouro strip light might be perfect for it.

Ben

 

[Ava_Banana]

Cheers Ben.......as Elizabeth said.......the space was almost made for it.....

.....for some reason the previous owners of our house had a small row of spotlights installed behind the curtain (above the tank)....

.....they shine just nicely down into the tank.......


Although I will have to keep an eye on the greenery........I am not sure if they won't need a little more light.



Anyone any thoughts on what would be suitable for the bottom (or as an algae eater for the sides of the tank).......

.....Emma has taken a liking to some baby bristlenoses at our lfs..........

 

[Angry_Platy]

Nice tank.....I look forward to seeing fish in it

 

[Logitech]

That's a real nice tank.
I look forward to seeing pictures of it with fish!