I have begun a big distraction/project and it seems like a journal dedicated to it might a good thing.
A while back my delightfully amenable husband said that if I tidied out and and emptied two cupboards in the living room, we could put a big tank in there. So I did. And I got a 250l tank and stand from a bloke of Facebook, as you do.
The tank was too low -- I was worried my daughter's wheelchair would bash it -- so we chocked it up on breeze blocks. Then @ian_m pointed out that they'd crack, so I bought some racking (Thank you, Ian!).
I messed around with the idea of a sump for a bit and couldn't make it work. We live in a rented house and I don't want to flood it and rot the floors. Abandoning that meant I had a bit of space underneath for a quarantine tank.
This was the point I went from 'let's spend minimal money' mode to 'I deserve nice things' mode.
Today we are here...
I am about to replace the big 250l with a 360l. I have been reading the 'quick' mineralising soil threads. I am going to use new Westland Aquatic Potting Compost mixed with peat moss rather than the generic 'pond compost' I used without sieving when I set it up. I'm going to cap with the same sand and put the same plants and hardscape back in and use the same filter. Old tank is 66*15*18h new one is 60*18*24h, which is approaching the max load per shelf. Filter is a Fluval 307. Needing the tank up high out of the way of the wheelchair is no longer an issue, so it can come down a bit.
My aim is for a jungle feel, with lots of nano fish and red rili shrimp as well as Amanos and Nerites.
On the bottom shelf I'm going to put a shallow tank with moss-covered bogwood coming out of the water. Not decided on the live inhabitants yet.
On the top shelf I'm going to put a row of 12l tanks with a sandy substrates, epiphytes and floaters, with a different colour of cherry shrimp in each one.
I have a 50l tank to disassemble and combine with this big one and maybe a 100l one as well.
I'm going to put fascia around the steel shelves eventually and my amenable husband is a lighting designer by trade, so is quite keen on that aspect of it all.
A while back my delightfully amenable husband said that if I tidied out and and emptied two cupboards in the living room, we could put a big tank in there. So I did. And I got a 250l tank and stand from a bloke of Facebook, as you do.
The tank was too low -- I was worried my daughter's wheelchair would bash it -- so we chocked it up on breeze blocks. Then @ian_m pointed out that they'd crack, so I bought some racking (Thank you, Ian!).
I messed around with the idea of a sump for a bit and couldn't make it work. We live in a rented house and I don't want to flood it and rot the floors. Abandoning that meant I had a bit of space underneath for a quarantine tank.
This was the point I went from 'let's spend minimal money' mode to 'I deserve nice things' mode.
Today we are here...
I am about to replace the big 250l with a 360l. I have been reading the 'quick' mineralising soil threads. I am going to use new Westland Aquatic Potting Compost mixed with peat moss rather than the generic 'pond compost' I used without sieving when I set it up. I'm going to cap with the same sand and put the same plants and hardscape back in and use the same filter. Old tank is 66*15*18h new one is 60*18*24h, which is approaching the max load per shelf. Filter is a Fluval 307. Needing the tank up high out of the way of the wheelchair is no longer an issue, so it can come down a bit.
My aim is for a jungle feel, with lots of nano fish and red rili shrimp as well as Amanos and Nerites.
On the bottom shelf I'm going to put a shallow tank with moss-covered bogwood coming out of the water. Not decided on the live inhabitants yet.
On the top shelf I'm going to put a row of 12l tanks with a sandy substrates, epiphytes and floaters, with a different colour of cherry shrimp in each one.
I have a 50l tank to disassemble and combine with this big one and maybe a 100l one as well.
I'm going to put fascia around the steel shelves eventually and my amenable husband is a lighting designer by trade, so is quite keen on that aspect of it all.
