Talked Someone In To Giving Me A New Tank

[Ryefish]

So whilst my mother hyperventilates at the prospect of me having more "junk" in her house, i am rather exicted about getting a new tank and planning where i am going to put it
I asked on my facebook wall (as a joke) if anybody had a tank they wanted to give me, and somebody said yes! (well, two people actually, but one of the tanks was 6 and a half foot and would have put my mum in an early grave) She said she is tired of cleaning it out and she needs the space (in the picture they have it at the bottom of the stairs behind the front door )
My BiOrb has been annoying me lately. Doing upkeep with my plants is a nightmare, and the gravel is driving me nuts.

So im arranging to pick this up:

Not sure what day yet. It comes with "some neons and a cat fish".. no idea what this "cat fish" is, so that shall be interesting (i can imagine its a plec) I dont mind the neons though
Im going to get a bag of play sand from Argos and sand it all up. Do i need to wait for the sand to settle before i can add the fish back to the tank? I have a large 40L bucket i can fill up if i do

eexxccciiitttteeeeddddd!!

Can't really afford to do anything with it until September so it will be rather bare

 

[Shelby]

I think it would be a really good idea to wait for it to settle. You can use a plate to disperse the water when you put it back in and make sure that you rinse the sand really really really good and it shouldn't take as long.

 

[Jenni84]

It took me a good couple of hours to wash all my sand!!!

It then took around 24 hours to be completely crystal clear after adding plants etc.

The look of sand is soooooo much better than gravel though!

Have fun planning your new tank

 

[Ryefish]

Thanks for the replies
Ive read about putting the sand in a bucket and putting a hose pipe in to clean the sand. Ill do it that way. Think the fish can handle a bucket for a night

May be picking it up on Thursday

 

[sted]

wow i will take the 6ft if they still want rid lol

congrats on the new tank

 

[Channti]

spend the extra time washing your sand... it's worth not having to do multiple massive water changes on a tank due to only "okay" washed sand.... do an "excellent" wash on the sand.... I know from experience.

Good luck on the tank!

 

[fshinggrl]

Great find!

 

[ian]

this will make a great planeted tank, you will find it's soooo much easier to look after as well. What ya doing about the stocking?

 

[Ryefish]

nothing at the mo as far as stocking, lack of funds until September. Hopefully my shrimp will drop some babies soon and ill have millions (jokes). No idea how many tetra's are in there atm either. Ill probably have to up the numbers of them eventually.
im going to get sand tomorrow so i can spend the whole day washing it My mum is freaking out so bad its rather funny. Ive put her through three animal cages and now a whopper of a fish tank. I think she is regretting letting me move back home Im going to ask for specific dimensions tomorrow so i can figure out how much water it holds - doubting it is 4ft at the mo.

 

[ian]

i'm going for 200 ltrs, so, are you having it planted?

 

[PDSimon]

It'd be easy to get all the sand ready in the morning and put the fish back in by the afternoon.

All I did was wash a bit of sand in a bucket thoroughly and put it in an even bigger bucket. When I washed it I washed it enough so that it settled quickly, so when I all put it in the tank within 10 minutes the water is crystal clear.

Shouldn't take that long really. Your back will ache afterwards though

As ianho said, are you having it planted? Another log for this tank I hope

 

[Ryefish]

yes, definately going planted Ill have a log when i can afford to buy new plants

We've figured out that the whole thing is 4 foot high. I am laughing so bad! Id be surprised if it is 200L. Still, 100L is quite an upgrade for me and my fishies

 

[PDSimon]

180 maybe

 

[ian]

i'd agree, around 200 ltrs. and all for nothing!

 

[stuuk1]

Thanks for the replies
Ive read about putting the sand in a bucket and putting a hose pipe in to clean the sand. Ill do it that way. Think the fish can handle a bucket for a night

May be picking it up on Thursday

Im not sure they will like just being in a bucket too much... No filter? No heater? No water movement....? Hmm