Come With Me On A Journey...

[LeahMay]

Right, not sure if this is the place to be posting this so do correct me if I'm wrong! 
MY NEW TANK IS HERE!!! *does crazy little dance*

Just thought I'd share my journey with you guys, and ofc get your advice and input once I'm installed and ready to go!

 
 
So, first things first a picture of my current tank,  (unfortunately the angel with the black patches is dead now

)
 


(sorry they're such big pictures I am not familiar with working these picture things!) 
 
Anyway, forgot to take a picture of my hallway before i began but i have basically ripped off all the wallpaper and cut along the line of the stairs now, and drew on a rough idea as to where the tank will sit.


 
Well then i waited...

and waited...
 
and waited...
-Now by this point i have found the resize button so picture will be small from here on! xD
 
Was then told there was a delay in the tanks manufacturing and so i decided to think DECO!
Picked up 50kg of mixed pea gravel for a fiver! And 4 lovely plants, fake ofc, got these with change from a tenner which is cheap too considering they are for the BiOrb. Check 'em out!!!  
 
 
Well i then impatiently rang the manufacture who confirmed it would be arriving that very day!!! YAY! 
Then came the task of finding two strong men to get this tank inside for me, 6ft and over 100kg. Noway was i doing it alone! 
  
 
So, we now had the tank, balancing well enough on the coffee table 

  
TIME TO DESTROY THE WALL!!! Muhahahahaha

And so i got my Dad round to get to work!

 And so, a hole in the wall so to speak. Now i get to unwrap my beauty and see if it all fits! -IT DOES!!! 
 
 
That concludes the story thus far, over the bank holiday the wall will be plastered, the tank secured and filled up!

 
Obviously there will be more pictures along the way, i hope you stick around for the duration!!!

 
 

 

[mike455555]

nice tank, whats your stocking going to be? and why not add some live plants as well?

 

[Shelster]

Wow lovely big tank!

Yes I agree, live plants would look awesome in this tank, so many you can choose from

Looking forward to the progress.

 

[Shadders]

That is going to look amazing when finished, will follow with interest, Just one thing, This may sound a stupid question but have you made sure the tank is water tight, I know its new but you never know, I would hate you to do all that work rebuilding walls and fitting tank only to have it leak and ruin all your hard work.

 

[LeahMay]

I shall be adding live plants eventually, need to have a research first. Plus i have nowhere to put live ones at the moment
Stocking wise I'm thinking a large shoal of tetra, probably cardinals maybe some penguins too- always find them interesting. Some catfish of sorts will be in there too. Gourami and Angels have always been a favourite for me also but I'm toying with idea's at the moment!
I have indeed, really wound up the delivery guy when i asked if i could unwrap and fill the tank before emptying it and wrapping it back up to bring inside before signing xD 

Hope you stick around, imma need some input with the scaping of it, not to mention the final stocking list!
 

 

[LeahMay]

Right well, first question!
would vine root, advertised for reptiles be okay in my fish tank?

picked a piece up and ive got it soaking anyway, just incase it is. If not i have a friend with a python ready and waiting! Couldn't pass it by at a fiver. Here are some pics

 

[mike455555]

iv had that sort of wood, its fine in the tank =] 

 

[LeahMay]

Right, well it was soon boarded up just needed to fix the tank in place! 
and shortly after that's what happened!
view from the living room is first, followed by the view from the hallway! (excuse the mess)

It was then time to get decorating!
Well, washing 60kg of gravel was a living nightmare! 
after 20kg this was the view...
yes i am having to use a step ladder, i'm only 5'2'' and this sits at 5' so no chance of my reaching in xD
An hour + of washing gravel and here it is, one layer of gravel. Eurgh, such tedious work.
Ooooh brought some rocks too 4 for 6£!!! Popped them in some boiling water for a few hours, picked white as it contrasts my gravel wood and plants really well! 
 
Then it was scaping time!!!

I'm not gonna bore you stepwise with how I arranged the tank so after the rocks and wood were in position i popped in my false plants... 

Anyway a few days later and this is what we have! (again living room followed by hallway view)

 
Sorry for the bad quality pictures! D:  
You cant see it in the pictures too well (my angles) but underneath the wood is extremely shallow so there is actually a large swimming space just there. 
So, this would be the perfect time to hear what you guys think i could do to improve the scape!

 
 

 

[eaglesaquarium]

That looks awesome... I can't wait to see some small shoalers darting about under that piece of wood!
 
I love this idea - the two way viewing is a GREAT thing, especially for a big tank!

 

[LeahMay]

My tank is cycled *crazy little dance*
Now for the fish!!! :O

 

[eaglesaquarium]

 

[RCA]

Awesome, just come across this project on route to update mine with photos, after the baking is done
 
I have a dream to knock the wall out between the bathroom and the spare room and do something similar, that is a long way off though as other projects and things to do first 

  Of course, in that instance I would need a blind system either side, just in case someone would be in their birthday suits in one of the rooms, would not want to embarrass the fish 

 or someone else.
 

My tank is cycled *crazy little dance*
Now for the fish!!!

 
That is quite quick I believe, how did you get it to cycle so fast?  Did you use pure Ammonia?  Also, where are you, have you seen this?
 
Look forward to more updates, very exciting.

 

[LeahMay]

It is very rewarding once its done, don't think i even need the TV in my living room anymore. I wanted mine in the bathroom but couldn't fit it due to all the pipe work in there. 
-Will have a look at your post once i've typed this

It is very quick and this may sound a little over complicated but i had a smaller tank (as well as my 'current' tank-the one before i upgrade) that i moved half my 'current' filter media +some of the *new* media into an old filter and moved over some of my fish, then replaced the half i'd removed from the 'current' with *new*  and left it for a fortnight whilst i was actually fitting the tank. So now i had already got over half of my total media cycled stuffed it all in and used concentrated ammonium sulphate. (ammonia is  a gas so we cant get it pure) -I work in chem labs so it was easy enough for me to make up a highly concentrated solution.
^i realise this make no sense now, hope you get the gist^

Yes i have seen this, but no changes need to be made as i am from the UK- England to be specific!
 
Update: Got a school of 12 zebra danio's in there at the moment as i am still undecided as to what fish i want!!!  Why is life so hard?!

 

[SLIM]

Absolutely love this. Totally awesome. Cant believe iv only just found this!
I would love to stick my tank in the wall. Infact youve given me some crazy ideas lol
Love it. All thats needed is some more live plants and job done i recon XD

 

[Shelster]

Leah can we have a video?

Tank looks great, would love to see the danios in action.

Love the way you've positioned the bogwood too, any more thoughts on your stocking plan? Exciting!