when did i last post something?!

well... i'm back... i wonder if anyone even remembers me here on tff

so i guess i stopped posting things on this forum 8-10 months back or something. anyways i was logging in every 2 months just to see if the forum was still there!

i ordered my first big tank (5 ft * 1.5 ft * 2.5 ft) yesterday. that's about 530 litres or so it's coming friday morning, will take some days to set up (and some more for cycling it). and 50 kilos of substrate to go with it.

ok... so if anyone's interested, i'll put up some photos of the whole thing being done
with the first year of IB starting on monday, i hope i have the time...

hi K Welcome home
of course we want step by step pics.

hi K

welcome back and we would love to see some pics, looking forward to them



dekker

i got it today, one day of delay because of heavy rain
a lot lot bigger than i thought it would be! the tank took 8 men just to move it from the shop to the truck... and from that to my house. how they managed to fit it into the lift, i don't know, but those guys did it
it's just going to sit at my house until the carpenter arrives and builds a good enough table (the guy i bought it from advised a table with 6 pillars, 4 inch thick wood, is that enough?)
i probably have to go back for more gravel (the 50 kg sack doesn't look like much)

i had to go all the way to crawford market for this thing (25 kms approx). it was raining like mad (the downpour started last night, hasn't yet stopped, almost 24 hours now) but i didn't give a damn because i was too worried about the tank. i had to sit in the back of a truck (first time experience) with my friend while it bounced along 25 kms of potholed concrete and tar

a few photos.






pic 1- just a few minutes after loading the tank in the back of the truck.
pic 2- about 15 mins later... on the road
pic 3- got it into my house, and you can see my reflection in the glass on the left

great looking tank
I Thought it was a new species of fish. in the pic
keep us updated and step by step wont you

awesome looking tank K hope you can get it up and rouning soon mate


dekker

Wow, great looking size tank.

Not sure if the duct tape will keep it together though...

I hope you have a strong floor!

hey, there's a few litres of glue to keep it together

i hope i have a strong floor too. this will be the heaviest thing in my house

Do you have a solid floor or floorboards? With that weight you have to check that the floorbooards (if you have them) are evenly spaced underneath the tank I think so that you dont get it crashing through the floor

Might be worth having a look at this - it's a bit longwinded in parts so be warned, but might save your tank from disappearing from view just when you have iy looking nice!

http://badmanstropicalfish.com/articles/article28.html

thanks for the link!

mine's a solid floor, but four storeys off the ground. i hope the tank doesn't end up on the third floor

Ok
It's time I updated this thread... There was a big big delay in the stand being made, those carpenters took a long time to come and then build the thing

anyways it's almost 100% ready. the only thing left to do is polish the wood
and it's coming into place tomorrow

then comes the nightmarish work of washing all the gravel, cycling the tank, etc

one of my friends has promised to help out. i hope he does

and now we come to the most important part

what fish am i going to put in it? any suggestions? remember that it's 530 litres so plenty of space

Looking forward to the pics K

What sort of fish do you like, you have got loads of space there to fill!

What sort of fish would I like? Mostly cichlids. I love their colours and the way they care for their kids. Getting a variety of cichlids will be difficult, though. Oscars and angelfish are everywhere, but the african lake cichlids are hard to get

I thought of bala sharks and a pleco as well. I have driftwood for the pleco (bought 3kg and will be buying more whenever possible)

And now about the ones I already have. A goldfish, a rainbow shark, and two iridescent sharks. Don't ask about the others I used to have; there's a long story behind it all, mainly involving my parents overfeeding them in my absence (but that stopped eight months ago after I started making packets of food with the right quantity)

I'm thinking of getting lots of real plants as well. But someone told me that the goldfish will eat them all- is that true??? what type of plants should I get???

Thanks

p.s. what filter should i get? It's definitely going to be an external canister filter, but I don't know how many lph i'll need.

So is the goldfish is going in a seperate tank K?

It certainly will eat live plants, although I used to keep replacing them for a while when I kept goldies.

it's a shame you cant get african lake cichlids - you could have a beautiful display in that size tank, especially as they like to be a bit overcrowded.

For filters I think the general recommendation is that the filter should be able to cycle 10 times the volume of water per hour, so for a 500litre tank you would need to find a filter that had a 5000litre per hour capacity minimum

The goldfish can't go in a separate tank, I won't be allowed to keep two tanks

5000 lph is a huge amount- won't be easy to get, but i'll try finding it somewhere or the other.

I want some non-aggressive fish that won't fight to death... How about:

- 8 angelfish
- one pleco
- 5 zebra danios
- Blue ram cichlids
- Afra cichlids
- two iridescents that i already have
- a rainbow shark (already have)
- a fantail goldfish (already have)

the last 3 on the list will have to be there no matter what. I don't want to give them away, and I can't put them in another tank

please give me more suggestions and do tell me if those cichlids are aggressive or not

Well, angelfish would be fine in that size tank but it would depend on what cichlids you are thinking of because not all of them would be compatable with the angels. The blue rams would be fine I think but it depends on what else you would be getting.

I dont think the shark and angel fish would be ok though, and I do have worries about the coldwater goldfish being kept in a warmwater tank with cichlids or anything else to be honest.

Ignoring the goldfish for a mo, it might be best just to think of what would go with the red tailed shark, and I think fish like gourami, kribs, barbs and danio.s as well as bottom dwellers like otto and plecs would be ok.

As for the filter, it might be easier to find two 2500 filters maybe?

I'd love to keep an angel-only tank. or a cichlid+angel tank
but as you said they need warm water while the goldfish needs colder water
So maybe no cichlids for now, I'll just get some danios and gourami (3 spot/marbled and pink)

How about a small oscar (3 inch). Would it be less aggressive if it grew up with peaceful fish?

sorry i haven't posted pics, high school means tons of work and sometimes i don't even get time to think about fish

i'm going to clean the gravel and put it all in tomorrow (or whatever i can finish doing). and the driftwood too

this is what it looks like right now. empty, sitting on wooden stand.



the quality of the pic is miserable, i know, but it's enough to get a fair idea of what it's all going to look like

Nice design.

simple designs are the best- i'm a minimalist

the roof is going to be turned brown as well, it looks really strange in silver.

If that doesn't look good either, then i'll just have to get another roof

I like the silver lid but now that you mention it, matching the cupboard would be better.

i thought of making the whole thing look something like this

http://www.aquahobby.com/tanks/img/801_Mike_1.jpg

with more plants of course.

but i'm being told that if i drop one of those stones while putting them inside, it could scratch/break the glass. now i'm in two minds

otherwise i could put a couple hundred plants and turn it into something like this
http://www.aquascapingworld.com/magazine/images/stories/Issues/March2008/Natural_Mystic_1.jpg

first link dont work k
second one is very nice,
but you would have to keep the plants in tip top condition.
maybe with more air/food for them.
and wouldnt you find it a problem when looking for dead fish in there?
just my opinion.

You're right, it would be difficult to look for dead fish in there. I might end up uprooting everything and then realize that a big fish has eaten up a smaller one

The first link didn't work? It was this