New tanks for my fishroom.

[MatsP]

I just took delivery of the 7 custom-size tanks for my fish-room, intended to replace the ones that are currently occupying 14 feet of shelf-space, but not really using the space very efficently.

Here's a photo of the tanks just as I finished unloading them from the car.

And some bits (light units, heaters, etc) to go into the tanks.

Missing from the picture is a large air-pump that I also got today.

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Mats

[andywoolloo]

wow! early Christmas!! how fun!

[L number Banana]

Wow How exciting!
Are these just replacements or have you got some new plans cooking? Keep us posted.

[MatsP]

They are replacements for other tanks that are not "size to match the rack". I originally bought a few old stock-tanks from the LFS. I then built the racks to match the other stock tanks at the LFS. But because of changed plans at the LFS, they are not renewing the remaining stock tanks any time soon. They decided to renew their marine tanks instead!

So whilst all my shelves in the racks had tanks in them, the new setup will put four tanks instead of two in one of the racks, essentially doubling the volume of water.

I have only put one of my new tanks into the rack so far. The main stumbling block was painting the three sides of the tanks - I used spray-paint on one of them, and whilst it worked OK-ish, there were silicon-finger-prints on the tank. You couldn't see them until after the paint was applied. So I had to find something to remove the silicon finger-prints. The tank in place is actually the one with the finger-prints still on it - it's not that big an issue, it's much more visible if the back of the tank is lit-up (like when it's standing outside).

The remaining tanks are being painted with International's Floor Paint (Navy Blue), and wiped with silicon remover that I got from the LFS.

I tried the kitchen & bathroom paint, but it didn't work well - it stuck on the tank well enough, but when paining a second coat, the first coat would move about and cause gaps to appear.

And of course, as usually happens, I went out to get a sheet of styrofoam from the local B&Q (DIY shop), but they didn't have that sort of thing, so had to drive all the way (12 miles/18km) to Farnborough to get two sheets of 2.4x0.6m 25mm thick styrofoam for the tanks to sit on.

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Mats

[L number Banana]

Silly question, Mats but do you put the styrofoam in the gap under the tank or sit the whole tank on top of it? Is it for insulation? Strength? I've never done that before.

I used those el cheapo gloves available at chemist/pharmacy shops when I made my slate towers, latex-free about $4 for 100. If you try that though, you have to rinse the talcum powder off them first. They work good though and no fingerprints. Good for painting too.

Now that you have double the volume, any new fish ideas for you? I'll have to look at your "my cats" to see who already lives there. Exciting!

[MatsP]

The styrofoam goes under the tank, since it's an all-glass tank, it can not stand straight on a flat surface, because it may crack the base of the tank.

I know about using gloves, but this is not my finger-prints, they are from the original manufacturing, and contain silicone (as far as I can tell) - it's only a tiny bit, but enough to cause the paint to go funny over it.

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Mats

[Richard B]

If an all glass tank is placed on a flat surface, both the base of the tank & the surface it goes on must be spotless. if there is any small particle it causes terrific pressure at the contact point & as the tank fills with water it'll cause a break at this point. The styoroam or polystyrene layer should prevent this & i'd reccommend doing this for all tanks.

[Jools]

Yup, old carpet works well too, but is not so good when it gets wet!

Jools

[Birger]

Silly question, Mats but do you put the styrofoam in the gap under the tank or sit the whole tank on top of it? Is it for insulation? Strength? I've never done that before.

I use the 1/2 " foam as well under most of my tanks, all except anything that is custom fitted to a stand.

It helps with leveling off imperfections as stated and I think it also helps a bit with adding insulation both for temperature and sound. (people stomping , dropping items etc.)

Birger

[L number Banana]

(people stomping , dropping items etc.)

People with 320lb bull-in-a-china-shop husbands....I've always wondered if that bugs the fish. I'll do that for the new tank.

Edit: Bigger half says he's adding to the natural ecosystem by adding the feel and sounds of tectonic plate movements under the ocean....

[MatsP]

Sorry to bring this back to the original topic.

I now have four of the new tanks painted, drilled, installed and running with fish in them. Three left to prepar/install.

Will post photos later (and need to update "My aquaria").

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Mats

[Jools]

Will post photos later (and need to update "My aquaria").

As you'll be working with that section quite a lot by the looks of it, please let me have any bugs, observations or suggestions!

Cheers,


Jools

[MatsP]

Will post photos later (and need to update "My aquaria").

As you'll be working with that section quite a lot by the looks of it, please let me have any bugs, observations or suggestions!

Cheers,


Jools

Don't you trust me to offer such things without reminding ;) Of course, I will do. It may not be until tuesday that I re-arrange my fishes and tanks in there, but I will let you know anything I think should be different.

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Mats

[MatsP]

Some rather quickly taken snap-shots (not up to Haavards standard, for sure):

The rack.

And a couple of tank shots (self-portrait included for no extra cost)

It is far from finished, there are some random wires and air hoses that need tidying up, but it shows the idea.

You can also see the inflow pipe for the fourth tank in the rack, which is just waiting for me to do the second coat of paint and plumb the overflow into the main overflow draining section. [that's where all the tools and other rubbish is currently collecting - I'm not set up to be a surgeon or some such wher neat and tidy is a strict requirement!]

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Mats

[andywoolloo]

I like the sand and the small pipes and the driftwood and plants! Looks nice! is that an albino on the wood in the 3rd picture? The terra cotta looks nice! I like the first picture also with the misc items! Coke and algae wafers!!

[MatsP]

Yes, there are albino bristlenoses in there - when any of my fry from Gus breeds, some will be albino. I have a few of them, as they tend to get eaten more often than the normal coloured ones, and I don't really TRY to save any of the fry (I've get enough without trying!)

And no, there's no secret scheme of using Coke to make the fish happier - that was for me.

The white pipes are actually just leftover cut-offs from the connections I make between tanks and sump system. Often I cut a pipe "roughly to length", so it will be about 2-3" too long first, then cut the last bit when I have it in place (because it is often hard to get it perfect with various joints and bends, and I can't really put a 10 ft pipe in the fishroom to "try it in place", so I often do a first cut outside, and then get it in place and do a second cut). If I don't need a tiny bit [there are plenty ot times I do], these bits go in whatever tank it seems to make sense to put them in at the time. Fish like them (most of them). Some seem to not like white pipes for some reason.

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Mats

[andywoolloo]

mine all love them , white or black they do not care.

Yeah for Gus, making babies!! I remember seeing his picture , he is very handsome.

[MatsP]

mine all love them , white or black they do not care.

Yeah for Gus, making babies!! I remember seeing his picture , he is very handsome.

Actually, Gus is a girl - we didn't even know she was an Ancistrus when we got her, never mind what gender. As my understanding and knowledge grew, I realized that Gus wasn't the right name, but at that point, it was too late [we tried changing the name, but it's not easy to do that on someone that already has a name].

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Mats

[Jools]

I like the blue background colour, goes well with the green.

Jools

[MatsP]

Yup, I like blue background. My original tanks (that these replaced) had blue "paper" backgrounds, as you can buy in most LFS.

I prefer the blue on the second shot (which is the first one I bought), but it's spray-paint, and whilst you can't see the deficiencies in the paint in the shot, it does show up "in person". The darker blue is fine (as the floor paint comes in some 12 or so different shades, and only one of them is blue, the choice is pretty much "blue or not blue", rather than which shade of blue).

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Mats

[andy75]

looks really smart. more pics?

[Graeme]

Very nice!!!

[MatsP]

I've added my new tanks to "My Aquaria" now, and some updated photos.

I quite like the latest addition, which is Rack 2 - Tank 3 - my "drift-wood-snag".

Edit: Fix up tank-number and spelling msitake.

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Mats

[andywoolloo]

They are wicked! my fav is #9 rack 2 tank 3

How do you find the sticks that go up like that? I need sticks that go up? All my driftwood is bottom driftwood or driftwood that lays over slate or caves but it's all lower and no sticks or branches. I jave been wanting the height that that brings. Looks awesome!!!!!! I'd behappy in there if i was a plec!

#11 second fav

just beautiful! Again you have the branches going up that I can't seem to find. With the plants attached it givs a whole other dimension to the tank that I haven't been able to achieve yet. Can I go collect branches? We have lots of forests here? I am close to yosemite and sequoia? Or there are many lakes around with brush? How would I treat it? I have only purchased it prior? What is the big fish in this tank? They look like big cichlids which I do not see listed. They are very pretty. Can I hire you as aquascaper? Just kidding. That's the whole fun part!

#1 rack one tank two

very pretty too. Amazing stock list! how do you keep it so nice, 40 ancistrus??

too bad you do not have your filtration system listed. Is there a spot for that? and you take very good pictures, mine always come out too dark.

[MatsP]

Sticks that "stick up" is just apple-tree branches that rest on other stuff. In this case, I have about a 5 gal. bucket full of Mopani and thicker apple-tree bits (many drilled to make caves). By using longer, thin branches, they can easily be laid on top of things, or even leaning diagonally across the tank.

The filtration in Rack 2 is my home-built sump system.
See: http://www.planetcatfish.com/forum/view ... =4&t=24511

Rack 1 Tank 1 & 3 are using a smaller version of the same, but currently not using automatic water-changing [I've got plans to do that too, but in time].

Other tanks have TetraTec or Eheim external filters - subject to change into DIY sumps there too - but I need to experiment with doing the automatic water-change idea there too.

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Mats

[Martin S]

Have to say I've seen Mats fish house in 'the flesh' and it's pretty impressive - last time I was there, the tanks were still being painted, but I got to see most of it up and running. There's a great selection of fish too, though haven't seen the new aditions from the weekend.
Martin