New big tank

[andywg]

Ok, I'm currently looking at the end of my tank swap, so I thought I'd update you all on my progress.

First up is the result of me loading the 6x2 pane of 10mm laminated glass into the car and forgetting it was there when I got in to drive away. Cue much humour as I realise that blood is dripping on the gear-stick and handbrake.

I had to drive home holding a bundle of toilet tissues to my left elbow with my right arm. As you can imagine, this made gear changes interesting...

I unloaded everything and found the living room like this:

So, I set to work drilling the new pane. Here it is marked

And here you can see the way laminate is made: 2 panes of 5mm glass with a layer of soft strong plastic to hold it together in case it should smash (think car windscreens, that's what this stuff is). It was cool to watch the guy cut it as he used a blade like you normally would on glass and then proceeded to squirt meths on the cut and burn the internal sheet to make separation easier B)

The next sequence shows the different stages of drilling the hole for the standpipe. I probably should have drilled conventionally, but I had such success before with the Dremel I decided to go with what I knew and it turned out ok (I also used the Dremel to take the sharp edges off the freshly cut pane of glass to make it nicer to handle). I like the one in the mi

I like the second last one as it is from below and shows a cool side of things. The nicer thing about this drilling (compared to my weir before) was the water stayed in the area being drilled and so cracking was less of a risk.

 

[andywg]

Next I had to work out roughly how the legs would go. The cat was keeping an eye on me to ensure everything was going ok. I couldn't put a leg in the rear right corner as it would interfere with the standpipe, however I'm sure the 2x4 frame and 4x4 legs can take a little extra load.

The stand construction is based on the Garf design (www.garf.org) but I modified it slightly on the legs as seen below. Rather than using 2x4 throughout and screwing the legs to the inside of the frame I copied someone else's design here and used 4x4 legs and cut out where the frames would sit so the weight of the tank sits onto the legs rather than being transferred by screws. To assist I used Wickes Strong Wood adhesive which was so strong I couldn't get it off my hands without losing 2 layers of skin.

You can see the basic design here (I added another two legs after this)

Here is the basic stand finished with the tank sitting on top.

And here is Vlad checking everything is to his standards

Here is the tank with the doors, architrave, and the external skin on. This has really helped it change from being a monstrosity of wood and glass nearly as tall as myself into a nice piece of furniture. The architrave will be turned upside down and used on the bottom of the hood to give an effect of framing the tank (It would be ready but a measuring error has made the hood 2" too narrow .

Finally now, to show how big 6x2x2 is, a picture of the good lady in the tank. Although she is only 5' so she was always going to fit

Hope you all enjoy. The final move should be this Saturday and Sunday. I have watertested the weir and standpipe and everything seems in order. I hope the fish appreciate the work...

Andy

 

[Fishy411]

just a question but why is air hose not an option for filling up bags? i may be being stupid but dont you just need an air pump and some tubing?

 

[andywg]

Hmm, forget to re-size two of those photos... I'll do that tonight when I get home, sorry for the inconvenience till then peeps.

The point I was making on the oxygen line is that I don't have a compressed oxygen line into my front room I can use to inflate the bags. Not to worry though. I have managed to buy some large plastic containter (including a couple with lids for the jumpy Balas and Chalceus) that I can use to hold the fish and the alfagrog.

I'll then run some airline into the containers and put a powerhead on the pump containing the filter media.

 

[Paul_MTS]

Looking very good andy, the frame design is exactly the same as mine.

Where did you get those doors from I'ved been looking for them to put on the front of it for aggggggesss!

 

[andywg]

Doors are from Wickes (those in the pic have a coat of varnish on them). Around £8.50 each (I have 2 foot by 2 foot ones on the ends at £10 each).

They are louvred a
on one side and flat apnel on the other (I have them louvred upstairs).

 

[andywg]

Well, it's about time I give you some updates.

Here is the whole tank setup. First with a nasty flash reflection

And three more different views

Here�s a nice shot of the Chalceus macroplepidotus

And a lovely shot of Dude the pleco (possibly P. gibbiceps, possibly P. radiatus)

The larger balas (5-6") looking for food

And a couple of the smaller ones (the lighter coloured one on the left is our blind bala. He was bought at the same time and the same size as the two smaller ones in the above pic). Also note the bush fish on the left.

Finally a nice shot of the two Chalceus erythrurus looking somewhat full after a feed.

 

[andywg]

Well, once the lights go out the 84 blue LEDs (£15 from Focus) then the tank is still viewable (essential considering some of the future stocking).

Here are some night tank shots

 

[Paul_MTS]

looking great andy, love the Chalceus, some awesome colour in there tails.

that liana wood looks good, may be persuaded to get some myself!!

we now have 4 6-7" silver sharks at work!!

 

[andywg]

I'm going to get some more of the liana wood (cost me like £15 for the three bits in there and two others in the 4 foot community tank). I want to get a bit more and a couple of giant pieces of bogwood so that there will be bogwood up to around 1/3 or 1/2 way up the height with another 1/4 or so taken up with the liana and then some floating plants on the top.

I am in love with the Chalceus, their colours and their feeding habits. Not to mention their ability to be darting around as quick as a bala shark and tos top dead, like on a sixpence.

I would love to increase the shoal of balas but I think 6 will be sufficient, and I plan on trying to find a small shoal of Platydoras costatus to go in there (hence the moon light LEDs).

I wish I could get some good pictures of the two Black Ghost Knives in there. One has a tendancy to sit under bogwood and just poke a head out of a gap to take bloodworm and dissapear, much the same way as I have observed Moray Eels at an lfs. To date I have seen no serious problems with two (though it is early doors, and I plan on introducing a third once it has grown out somewhat) just the occasional chase where one has food the other wants, or is hovering over the other's prefered sleeping spot.

I still need more alfagrog to finish off the sump (there's already over 15kg of the stuff in there, should take about anouther 5-10 to finish it off nicely).

Other than that, I'm extremely happy with this tank (though not with the thought of moving it downstairs when we move...)

 

[andywg]

Well, well, well.

Ask and ye shall receive. It appears that the good lady managed to get some pretty good snaps of one of the black ghost knives (the smaller of the two) whilst it slept right out at the front of the tank

Fianlly there's a nice pice of one of the bush fish hanging out

Andy

 

[Bloo]

WoW - loved reading the thread. @ that crack - I would have hit the roof as well as cried my eyes out !
But the new tank is looking stunning ! and the pics are fabulous. Well done ! Brilliant job
What's happening with the "small" tank ?

 

[garbodude]

very good job, great fish , how long have you had them all?

alex

 

[andywg]

WoW - loved reading the thread. @ that crack - I would have hit the roof as well as cried my eyes out !
But the new tank is looking stunning ! and the pics are fabulous. Well done ! Brilliant job
What's happening with the "small" tank ?

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The "small" tank (I never thought I'd refer to a 6x1.5x1.5 like that) will go downstairs into the pram shed to await our move to another location that has room to have two 6 feet tank set up. Once it is set up again it will become a marine reef as it is already drilled and has most of the plumbing (though I have stolen the sump tanks for it).

very good job, great fish , how long have you had them all?

alex

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The fish in there I've had the longest is the largest Bala Shark (Sharky - yeah I know... ) ) Whom I purchased around April 2004. The pleco was bought around May/June 2004 and the rainbow shark was purchased around April/May.

Other than that...the BGK we have had for a couple of weeks, the Chalcheus a couple of months and the butterfly (one is currently AWOL...) and other Balas a few months.

They are all really young. To give an idea of growth of plecos and balas, here is a pic of Dude and Sharky when we first bought them

And you can see the size of them in the pics above (Sharky is the largest of the sharks, on the left of the group pic)

 

[garbodude]

its amazing how fast things grow in big tanks when their not crowded, the pleco has grow sooo much.

good luck- but u wont need it.
al