Tropical Fish Forum
Tropical Fish Keeping => Gallery Showcase => Topic started by: Stuart on March 28, 2013, 11:05:15 AM
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I picked this up for nothing from a website called "Freecycle". It hadn't been used for some time and I wasn't crazy about the trim and cabinet colour.
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It cleaned up really well and the new trim & cabinet colour make it look much nicer. The trim is actually pieces of, cut up, laminate flooring.
I am by no means the worlds best D.I.Yer but everything to did with this tank seemed to go smoothly. The flooring panels were loose so were cheap. I brought 1 light, starter unit from a guy off e-bay but 2 arrived. By the time he replied to my emails he had been slated by the guy that should have got the other one so he told me to keep it.
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My first layout changed quite a bit before adding my first fish. I ended up with a large arrangement of rocks in the middle of the tank with lots of hide aways for the fish (which were predominantly Cichlids). And long stemmed and leafed plants at each end for my Angels.
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As my Cichlids started growing things got a little heated and after trying and failing several things to keep the peace I ended up trading them all for a couple of Large Red Severums. These had been in and out of the fish shop several times as they wouldn't get along with any other fish, so I had no idea how old they were when I got them.
Although they laid eggs numorous times and fertilized them a few times they always ended up eating them. These 2 fish had a massive impact on my bio load and I started having to do large water changes twice a week to try and keep the Nitrate down. The fact that they ate every plant I put in there didn't help.
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After they both died :'( I went for a nice easy community tank. Now I am slowly changing that over to a Discus tank. I have found homes for my breeding pair of Kribs and their many, many offspring. The Keyholes, Angels and Bristlenosed Plec. All I have now are some Tetras, Threadfins, Guppies and a Horsefaced Loach.
More pics to follow soon.
Stuart.
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You did a really good job with that tank. Great idea about the laminate flooring - inspired :)
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This is the latest setup. I did paint the background Blue but I thought Black would be better, I'm glad I did.
The filter pipes no longer stand out although the wood in the right, back corner hides most of the down pipe and surface skimmer. The water is heated by an external inline heater. My next step is to buy one of them thermometers which just dangle a wire into the water.
The surface plants are a real success. They filled a Chinese takeaway tub a few weeks ago, now they cover half my tank and my son says it makes the wood on the right hand side look like trees. The plant on the left (in the miniature goldfish bowl) will go before I get my discus.