Aquatics hobbyist resurrection

[haggerstonian]

Hi guys

After dabbling around for a while now, looking into salt-water options, back and forth
what to do etc. I've finally decided to get into aquascaping. Think it looks just amazing
and the calmness it induces by just sitting back and gazing into this mini world is incomparable
to any aquarium set-ups I've had before.
So to introduce myself I've been having aquariums since i was about 10 or 12 about there,
ending up building my own when i was about 19 using plywood and kept F1
Malawian cichlids which their descendants still survive to this day.
I was in a aquarium club back home in Norway for a few years back then and we got introduced to a guy who
went down to Malawi a couple of times a year to get his own cichlids, so seeing how he did his own tanks in plywood
and having read about it i thought some DIY trials would be fun and ended up building a really great tank in the end
which is still running after almost 20 years.
After moving to London i stayed out of the hobby for almost 12 years now
but think its definitively about time to get into it again. 🙂

My plan is to try to get a similar set-up as the "ADA" tanks. I've seen a couple of nice ones using aquascapes and Discus. Something I think i want to try to get going.
Not sure if that's good or bad on this forum to talk about adding discus to an aquascape 🙂

Anyway, I'm sure I'll be posting a whole range of questions when i finally get my set-up some time in January.
Until then hello to all and cant wait to get started and thanks to the freshwatershrimp guys at the Aquatics live show a few weeks back that finally got me to decide what to get and got my spark for this hobby burning again.

Until my next post!

Ed

 

[LondonDragon]

Welcome to UKAPS 🙂 feel free to ask the questions in the relevant sections, use the search function before posting 😉

When you get the tank don't forget to start a journal 😉

 

[haggerstonian]

Happy Christmas everyone. At home with the family and thought i'd share a few photos of the wood tank i buildt years ago.
It needs a good cleanout but its still going strong 16 years later with no leaks or any other technical problems.
"cabinet" is probably not as attractive as it should be. 🙂
The tank is made using one large plywood sheet, enough for the bottom, sides and back.
Wood frame is insert in front then i painted the tank inside with non toxic epoxy paint.
Glass is using 8 mm hardened glass held into place using normal silicone glue.
Lightbox is also made to measure using thinner plywood.

Originally its all brickRed paint on the inside to waterproof it, but over the years its been covered with algea and turned nicely dark-black.
Back also features a DIY styrophome rock insert made by covering it with epoxy paint dipped in rockdust from
a local quarry.

It was mainly just rocks and a few plants when it was first started, housing many various Malawi cichlids.

The fish remaining is all decentants from the original stock that was mostly F1 fish.
Pseudotropheus Zebras (marmelade cat) and labeotropheus fuelleborni katale (maremlade cat female)
and a much larger stock of java ferns
My apologies for the poor quality (using my phone here) 🙂

Its nice to see still that my mum's been able to keep it going since i moved,
and its a reminder how much i used to love this hobby and i cant wait to get back
into it in the new year!!

 

[sdlra]

So much potential look forward to your updates

 

[stu_]

Now that's a centrepiece
It reminds me of the traditional tanks used by Dutch scapers