Upgrading To A 180 Litre Bowfront

[Biulu]

A quick update:

I got myself 2 big buckets of Sera Floredepot to put as a substrate underneath the sand. It is said this provides enough nutrients to establish the tank (around 6 weeks), and then I should start adding fertilizers. I think that is fine: I have a friend which is using Azoo substrate, and he has had a lot of algae problems because of too many nutrients (you need to use this substrate on its own).

Further I have bought myself nice round pebbles for the scape. Now the only thing missing is the wood, and a new heater. I am off to China now on a business trip, and I will be buying the heater there. Last year I bought a very good one, which only cost me 1.5 USD! They also have very nice wood. I brought some pieces last year too. To comply with phytosanitary regulations, I soak the wood in a light bleach concentration for 24 hours, and then rinse them for another 2 days with clean water. Works great!

 

[DevUK]

Should look great! What sort of pebbles did you get?

 

[Biulu]

Should look great! What sort of pebbles did you get?

I got rounded river pebbles, in several contrasting ,but natural, colours to the sand, such as greens, and greys. Yeah, I think it will give a great effect to put them somewhere in the foreground as a transition to bare sand.

 

[Biulu]

I just bought myself a 300 W heater for the new tank. I am actually thinking buying one or 2 spare ones since at 3.5 USD each, this is an unbeatable price.

I also went to 'my' favourite shop (I come back every year) to try buy wood, but he has run out of it, and it doesn't look like they will be getting any before I leave... Too bad! Saw some nice rocks, but these are simply too heavy to take.

Fish prices are really amazing here; large banded gouramis for 30 cents, discus of 9 cm for 3.50 USD etc. It makes you want to take everything

For now I will have to stick to buying the heater, and micropellets though.....

 

[fatfishman]

Wow i have the same tank more or less. Its a bow front 180 liter aswell and your stand looks better than mine and mine came with the tank lol.

I have a picture of mine set up its poor quality but here it is anyway

 

[Biulu]

hi Fatfishman!

yes, your tank does look similar to mine. I like it; what kind of background do you have there?

 

[Biulu]

One of my goals while being here was looking for a nice piece of wood. Last year I had brought home one already, but a much smaller piece just for my 60 litres' tank. So yesterday I went shopping, got myself 2 heaters for 5 USD total (a 300 and a 200W), and found this great piece of wood. I put a glass beside it, so it gives you an idea of the size of it.

I wanted to look here as I knew from previous visits that they have these wonderful root plates with natural caves in it. I personally think it beats mopani wood! So today I spent soaking it in a bleach solution to ensure I am not taking anything alive with me back home.

I also bought a smaller piece but it is not as spectacular as this one. The only question now is how to get it back with me. Not so much because of the material, but the risk of overweight. Especially since I will be making stop-overs on my way back. I estimate it weighs about 3-4 kgs. I will still cut down on the weight (literally) by having somebody taking of some parts at the back that I do not want. In the worst case scenario, I will leave the small piece behind, and pick it up next year.

 

[Biulu]

Hi guys!

It has been a while that I have updated this journal. Mainly because there is nothing to say! I have been waiting for 3 months to be able to move, as I do not want to set everything up, and then move it again.

My existing tanks are stuffed with plants; I have not been able to buy anything more as there is no place to store the yet. Everything is ready, apart from the house.......

Hopefully in February I will be able to continue with this tank and the journal.

 

[omen666]

As we say down south " Well ain't that purdy"

I have 180 litre bowfront too and I love it.....Full of Livebearers!

I love your cabinet , he should do those in bulk and sell to your LFS lol

Your hood looks great , one thing I noticed. Is the wood treated on the underside of your hood? If not I would have him do it, water seal it or something as u're gonna get alot of condensation and it may just ruin it.

Otherwise u're well on your way! Looks brilliant. Here is a pic of mine

Tim

 

[Biulu]

Thanks, I will ask the carpenter, but I think he did seal it with something. I am afraid there is not much of a market for those cabinets here. Cabinets have to be brought in from the north, and there is hardly any demand. I personally buy everything a bit out of the ordinary in Mexico city, including my plants. Yours looks definitively lush green! I hope to have something like that soon too!

 

[Biulu]

Well, it looks like I can finally get something going by the end of this week. I have bought myself a black paper background (this has worked on all my tanks, and is not as definitive as paint) which I will attach to the back tonight.

Yesterday I washed the sand, I notice it is really very fine, and hope it won't get me any major problems with clouding once I start planting.......

The carpenter made the appropriate holes in the cupboard for the filter hoses, so it looks like I am all set.

The planting set up will definitively not be the final one, as I am very restricted in what i can get here. The tropica importer could not even tell me last week when a new shipment will arrive...... This means I have been stacking up on plants but don't have them in the right quantities, so it is a bit of a mishmash. I hope that over time this will get better, but at least it will be fully planted from the start.

I hope to post some pictures soon.

 

[Biulu]

HI guys,

everybody that has been following this thread, knows that I have been working for one year to get everything together for this setup. Not only in terms of equipment (with imports from the United States, Germany and China), but also being patient gathering plants (difficult to get here) and appropriate substrate.

Now I wrote yesterday that I finally had everything ready and would take pictures at night. Well, when I came home at night the tank had a major crack in the middle of the bow part! Apart from the fact that it looks horirble, it is definitively not reparable.

luckily the water was leaking slowly, and I had not yet transferred the fish (was going to do that this weekend). So, I almost emptied the tank. I do not know how to avoid that the sand and substrate mix, any good ideas are welcome, so i haven't taken these out yet.

I did take some pictures before emptying it. Here you go:

First a full tank shot (with the crack clearly visible)

Then the right hand side:

and the left hand side:

I was quite satisfied with the result so far, but I realise I am a complete novice and would have loved to get some advice for improvements. These are still welcome though....

Now I need to decide what to do with everything. It won't be easy to get a new tank with the same specifications, but I will see what I can do in Mexico city.....

Eleonore

 

[DevUK]

Oh dear, that must be so frustrating

A suggestion for the substrate removal might be to use a syphon to take of the sand? If you dare put any more water in there.

Feel sorry for you You could try to keep plants alive in buckets in the sun perhaps. I've kept plants alive like this for several weeks, though you have to make sure you change the water and try to avoid algae.

Good luck!

 

[rossyt99]

Hello,
Gutted for you about that crack!! I have a 180l bow-fronted tank also, and it makes a great living room show piece.

The Cabinet is great> wish there was a carpenter as good here in sunny North-east UK.

Adios Amigo.

 

[rossyt99]

Hello,
Gutted for you about that crack!! I have a 180l bow-fronted tank also, and it makes a great living room show piece.

The Cabinet is great> wish there was a carpenter as good here in sunny North-east UK.

Adios Amigo.

To see my tank, click on link ; http/www.youtube.com/watch?v=3PmWDOIpWJM