Lets Get Cheap!

[Miss Wiggle]

i agree, buy a proper stand!!

as Jonesy said pond stuff is great for saving money, all the filter media is designed for a much bigger scale so you can buy a massive sponge for a few pounds which will literally last a lifetime considering you only need to replace sponges when they're totally falling apart. Pond dechlor and medicines are also made on a larger scale, the concentrations are higher so instead of using 1ml for 10 gallons you'll use 1 ml for 100 gallons, so they do go much further. I'd only recommend using pond meds on large tanks though, with dechlor it doesn't matter if you double dose or more, but on a small tank with pond meds you'd be trying to dose 0.05ml or something silly like that which is pretty tricky to get right and overdosing on meds is obviously a bad thing!!

 

[raptorrex]

The stand on my Clearseal 50ukg tank stand is

made of chipboard covered with veneer ect,

and it has stood for 4 years with no problems. indeed many stands are made of just that! you could look around for old furniture. stuff made in the 1920-1940- period is very well made and should have no problem holding, even, that weight. it does however need a bit of work to make it look more "contemporary". you often find old "chest of draws on "Freecycle" they only cost the petrol to pick them up.

 

[shelaghfishface]

i went to the beach this morning, and after finishing my Aero chocolate,decided that it was way too windy, and nipped in the pet shop opposite and got some mopani wood- really lovely peice too and only £4.99-- well its the thought that counts eh??

crikey.. all my stands are made of chipboard and covered with veneer i think... they are the original stands : /

 

[bordercollie05]

Sand from the hardware store instead of the pet store....~$3.50 for 50 lbs. I got some great rocks from lake michigan, but IDK what country you are in.

 

[raptorrex]

crikey.. all my stands are made of chipboard and covered with veneer i think... they are the original stands : /

Don't worry, most are! and we don't find many posts on collapsed stands.

 

[shelaghfishface]

true.. thank goodness

 

[jourdy288]

If this goes on like this, it should get a pin!

 

[raptorrex]

If this goes on like this, it should get a pin!

well this may make an interesting thread:
http/www.fishforums.net/content/Tropical...owtopic-256003/

 

[Ficious]

all of my tanks have rocks and driftwood from the lake.



its a beautiful thing when your tank looks amazing with all the things you found. even some valls that i have are from the lake (after a long quarantine).

just be sure to do the vinegar test on your rocks. just yesterday i found the perfect piece of rock for my 20 gallon and it failed the vinegar test. i heard the fizzing for the first time and realized i cannot use it!

for the driftwood. a pressure washer to it will the grime off in no time. you can even, on some softer woods, change the color and appearance of the wood. its a good idea to pre-rig your driftwood. i use fishing line to tie rocks on the bottom of it so it stays sunk. soaking it takes too long sometimes and the driftwood in my old tank still wont sink!

 

[Dave Ehl]

the stand i built for my tank is so sturdy it could hold a bus. it didn't save me too much money but knowing that i built it makes it cooler.
i have a substrate in my tank called turface pro league. its actually used for baseball infields but theres nothing harmful in it, it looks nice, and it was only $20 per 50lb bag. in my 6ft tank 2 bags was too much.
i also found a perfect piece of driftwood at the beach that stretches from one end to the other.
i also switched to mechanical and bio filtering only instead of using chemical filtering. chemical filter media always needs to be replaced. mechanical filter media only needs to be replaced when it is falling apart and bio media almost never needs to be replaced. as long as you do regular water changes, there is no need for chemical filtering.
food alternatives also can save you money. for me, it was cheaper to buy a giant bag of frozen prawns than a can of cichlid sticks. i have a variety of foods of course, but the longer you make the expensive ones last the less you spend on food.
T5 and LED lighting will save you tons on your electricity bill.

 

[Aphotic Phoenix]

This site: [URL="http/www.fishandtips.com/index.php"]http/www.fishandtips.com/index.php[/URL] will create diagrams, and calculate the approximate expense of building your own tank stand.

*Disclaimer: I have not ever tried to build my own tank stand, nor personally used the plans from this site.

 

[rachael.chesnutt]

The only water I live near is the Mississippi, and that river is DIRT! So I went the extra safe mile to purchase the store decor, but I got some great deals!

I asked for a few free clippings of the plants they had in their tanks, and they had overstock of driftwood for like, 2 bucks!
The only thing I really splurged on was the gravel and rocks!

 

[jourdy288]

The only water I live near is the Mississippi, and that river is DIRT! So I went the extra safe mile to purchase the store decor, but I got some great deals!

I asked for a few free clippings of the plants they had in their tanks, and they had overstock of driftwood for like, 2 bucks!
The only thing I really splurged on was the gravel and rocks!

Yeah, it's rather polluted.

the stand i built for my tank is so sturdy it could hold a bus. it didn't save me too much money but knowing that i built it makes it cooler.
i have a substrate in my tank called turface pro league. its actually used for baseball infields but theres nothing harmful in it, it looks nice, and it was only $20 per 50lb bag. in my 6ft tank 2 bags was too much.
i also found a perfect piece of driftwood at the beach that stretches from one end to the other.
i also switched to mechanical and bio filtering only instead of using chemical filtering. chemical filter media always needs to be replaced. mechanical filter media only needs to be replaced when it is falling apart and bio media almost never needs to be replaced. as long as you do regular water changes, there is no need for chemical filtering.
food alternatives also can save you money. for me, it was cheaper to buy a giant bag of frozen prawns than a can of cichlid sticks. i have a variety of foods of course, but the longer you make the expensive ones last the less you spend on food.
T5 and LED lighting will save you tons on your electricity bill.

I don't use chem filtering unless I really need it either. ANd I'll check out the turface, thanks.

This it?

http/www.profileproducts.com/sports_fiel...ategory/item/38

 

[Dave Ehl]

yeah, thats the stuff. the colors on the site don't really do it justice however. the brown and charcoal are much darker when submerged. it also doesn't compact all the way, so water flows through it and helps with additional biofiltration. if you can track some down, its great stuff. for 12 square feet i only needed 75lbs.

 

[davidblackson]

i live in australia if that helps im close to a major river and close to a couple of little streams and the outback. wheres the best place to look do you think, and what is the vinager test?