Wall tank Journal

[KillieOrCory]

Hi all,

 

I am fast approaching the 12 month mark since we have moved into our new home and I still haven't got around to getting the wall tank done!

 

So with my wonderful wife's 'hurry up' encouragement, I am getting close to setting the tank up. I'll document how it is going here for you to point and laugh at me as I make mistakes.

 

For those that are new in the forum might not be aware of the previous work that was done to get the wall tank ready so here is a short info and reminder for people:

 

When our new house was being built I got the plans to include a wall tank between the living room and the formal lounge. In the living room the tank is going to be at eye level and in the formal lounge it is at normal tank stand height for viewing from sitting position. The space and the stand was built by our builder.

 

 

The door on the left hides the tap and the drain and the door on the right is where the quad power points are.

 

It has been finished and ready to go for close to 12 months now. For a while this space was for my tiger tank.

 

 

Now we are ready ;)

 

I just received this photo from my mate who is building the tank for me.

 

 

Once the braces are in, its read to be installed! Yay!

 

It is 1700x580x700wide. It has a decent amount of footprint for me to play with Which is great because I need to scape the tank to be viewed from two sides.

[ineke]

Can't wait for the progress reports!

[FishBeast]

Your previous journal was the most awesome of any, I am sure this will be much the same. Can't wait. 

[OzShrimp]

Try and do what they did in tanked or fish tank kings and have one theme visible on one side and different on the other lol :P 

[Squiggle]

Very cool dude, will be watching this one with eager anticipation & excitement!

[KillieOrCory]

Thanks guys!

 

I have some driftwood pieces I've been soaking for a couple of months, hope they are going to work in the set-up.

 

I wanted to have a dark substrate and got some black sand. Didn't want to use aquasoils as I wont be able to change the substrate easily so, less I need to do it better it is.

 

I also got some new gear for this tank! It is amazing the amount of aquarium related stuff I have and still I end up buying new gear!!!

 

I got a Fluval FX6 from our sponsor Age of Aquariums when it was on special. It might end up being too much for the type of tank I am setting up but we'll see.

 

I also have 2 5ft Z series LED lights. Plus a 3ft 4x T5 light to use as a back up if I need more light. If I end up using that I'll light the centre with the T5s and the edges will be darker just lit with LEDs. I would love it if LEDs worked on their own though. Another option would be to get another 2 5ft LEDs.

 

I got my CO2 gear from a mate who deals in Aquarium equipment, so I am going to experiment with using CO2 in a tank for the first time.

 

So far here are the specks for the set-up

 

Tank: 1700lx580hx700w

Filter: Fluval FX6

Lights: 2x 5ft Pro Z LED; maybe with additional 4 fluoro T5 unit

Substrate: Black sand (neutral pH), a few bags of Tahitian Moon Sand and a few bags of Black Diamond Sand; maybe with additional black gravel under the planted parts.

CO2 gear: Yes :P

Hardscape: Driftwood

Plants: All low to medium light: Anubias, Java fern varieties, Bolbitis, swords, crypts and non-invasive mosses. Going to also try UG but that might not work.

Shrimp: Either RCS or Sunkist during the tank settling in stage (most of which will become fishfood once fish are introduced.

Snails: Malaysian Trumpets and Red Ramshorn

Fish: Corydoras sp., Killifish, Angels and Bristlenose catfish

 

Basically I want open sand areas for my Corys to play in ;)

 

 

 

 

[Pyriel]

Just found this - oh how I do love Corys!  Would love to see the photos later  

 

In fact my nephew's name is Cory and I call him Corydora.

[BlueBolts]

Awesome....please hurry ! The suspense is killing me...

[KillieOrCory]

Because the tank is going to be viewed from two sides we have decided to have the front and the back panels from skyfire glass.

 

 

As you can see it is a lot clearer glass, even if it makes a tiny amount of difference I am happy to have paid extra for the glass.

[KillieOrCory]

Once the tank construction was done, I have asked for extra support to be put in to make my lovely wife happier. The tank is now over engineered to the max.

 

Euro braces for the bottom

 

Glass rods put in the corners

 

Euro and Cross bracing for the top!

 

The house should be safe now!

[ineke]

Better safe than sorry. It's going to be awesome Serkan, can't wait to see it up and running. :)

[Ronskitz]

Can never over do safety :) this is looking like a cool build

[KillieOrCory]

So the tank got delivered last night!

 

 

From the loungeroom it looks like this

 

and from the living room it looks like this

[newbreed]

Looking brilliant!! Great work on extra bracing!

[CNgo2006]

Damn you are one lucky man! Very jelly

[yeswaitnosorry]

Really exciting. Can't wait to see more.

[JPN07]

Looking good already :) Cant wait to see it when its filled up.

[sez0607]

I can't wait to see the finished product! It will be even more incredible :)

[KillieOrCory]

I have these driftwood pieces soaking for a few months.

My gravel has arrived! I got 40kg of black gravel, 80kg of black diamond sand and 3 bags of Tahitian Moon Sand (all came from the forum sponsor Age of Aquariums). The surplus is going to be used to pretty up my tanks in the fishroom.

I didn't want to use any of the aquarium soils because of the limited access into the tank. I can't change the substrate with ease.

[smicko]

Nice setup, are you putting more than one species of killis in a tank that big?

Also which type I'm sure you have a few to choose from.

Can't wait to see the end result.

Cheers mick

[KillieOrCory]

I am planning on having a school of Epiplatys guineensis; they mostly swim and hand around at the top 1/3 of the tank. Also planning on male Fundulopanchax scheeli and when they become available again to have Fundulopanchax sjoestedti 'Blue Gularis' as they get to a really good size. 😉

[KillieOrCory]

Chucked my wife in the tank to help me scape! :P

[newbreed]

Great you have a willing assistant!!

[KillieOrCory]

Slowly slowly

[KillieOrCory]

From living room

From lounge room