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Journal of The Big Tank.

Melll

Melll

Member
Joined
8 Feb 2018
Messages
381
Location
Leicester. UK
So here goes, please bear with me on this as I am in need of some help with this. The Big Big Tank, as it is known to family is 2.4 metres long, 90cm deep and 66 cm tall, made to measure and complete with cabinet. When it arrived it took quite a few men to get it in the house, on the cabinet etc, the front door was taken off as was the downstair toilet door, we had already removed the lounge door. Many thanks to the guys at Maidenhead Aquatics Leicester, Andy, Josh, James and Dave, as well as my husband, son in law and the delivery guy. This thing is huge and heavy. Unfortunately before I could get a backing on it, it was lifted onto the cabinet, I really could not ask them to take it back off but I really do want a backing on it to hide the wallpaper behind it as well as pipework, cables etc.

As it has European bracing there is a little upstand all the way around the tank, I was thinking of hanging a painted 3mm sheet of ply on padded butchers hooks from this upstand to do the backing, thoughts on this please. There is only about a 4 inch gap behind the tank to the wall. The alternative is to use 3D backgrounds within the tank itself. I do have tanks I can put the fish into for a couple of days if the internal 3d jobbies go in to give time for the glue to go off and for the smell to dissipate.

I wish I could afford one of the backgrounds from AquaDecor but that is just unattainable, unless they read this and wish to donate one to me 🙂

A photo of the tank shortly after install. Apologies for the rubbish photo.

All of the rockwork, 140 kilo of pink Granite has now gone as has the Clown Loach cave.
 

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Hello Melll,

Certainly is a big tank, i could only dream for something that big. Rather to use those 3D background panel, as your tank appear to have back rim, perhaps an simple solution would be to hang a thin board from the top of your tank? 4 inch (100mm), that should be plenty of space to fit a ridge board. You could apply what ever film color you prefer to board, would have the added benefit that you could easily change the color should you ever get bored.

Lovely hardscape btw, are you planning on to carpeting the area to the right? thou these days it quite popular to use pale cosmetic sand to create a very clean look.
 
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Hi Steveno 🙂

Thank you, that scape went, I had a Pearl Arowano in the tank and he used to chase the Clown Loaches into their "hotel" causing major upsets. He got moved out when he hit maturity, the Tin Foil Barbs became his arch enemies 🙄

Anyhoo 🙂 yes hanging the board off the back is my main idea, maybe paint it a cream colour ? I am thinking of some sort of skinny wood/roots hanging down, yes planting but not sure what yet. There will be Discus in there along with Cories and some Harlequin Rasboras, there is a Bristlenose pleco in there somewhere, rarely see him. The Tin Foils and the Silver Dollars are being moved out.

This is more what the tank looks like now.
 

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Wow, awesome woodscape, your Discus plus all your other livestock should be happy.

I personal would choose a black or darker black ground, i think it would make your scape and livestock standout more, thlu im no expert 😅.

Good luck with your tank, would be lovely to see how it turns out, it looking great already.
 
Thank you that is really nice of you 🙂

Unfortunately all of that wood has to come out to catch the fish that have been served with their eviction notice. Trying to catch Tin Foils and Silver Dollars in an 8 foot tank is not my idea of fun 😤
 
I’d suggest trying some fish traps - lots of different designs on YouTube - as your fish are bigger, you’ll want to use a fairly large trap

Alternatively, I’d just lift the wood and place aside (perhaps in the garden so no one trips on it 😉)
Drain the tank to a few inches water, pond size net and those fish should be out quite quickly - you could also cobble together a tank “divider” and just slowly move this into position (with some assistance) herding fish into a fairly small area, before bringing out the net
(just be careful of jumping)

If you’ve a CO2 System you could use this to partially anaesthetize fish before netting from lowered water volume - this is likely kinder than chasing them to exhaustion (not to impugn your fish catching talents 😉)
 
If you’re not in a hurry, George Farmer should be setting up a planted discus tank in the next while
(Oase 400 Highline - obviously much shorter length and width but similar 63cm height)

Filipe Oliveira has several large tank scapes detailed on his YouTube channel (and still has time for Q&A sessions) - so you can look at filtration, lighting, fertilization details

Oliver Knott also has some planted discus scapes
🙂
 
Morning and thank you for the suggestions, I don`t run Co2 on the tank as there are no plants in it. There used to be but when I found the Silver Dollars and Tin Foils, they had to come home with me 🙂

As for watching Big Tank videos, I`m all for that, especially if done by Filipe Oliveira or Oliver Knott. First things first though, increase the caffeine level in my blood stream
 
Hello Melll, it would be interesting to hear what your maintenance route is for your hugh tank. I have 2 tank, and their tiny in comparison ( 60 litre and 12 litre), still takes a hour or two the maintain them both each time.

Interesting videos Alto, his tank was a monster 😳
 
For the tanks over 90 litres we use a pond pump and a hose pipe to empty, a long clear hose with a wooden chop stick on the end to gravel syphon/clean. Tank refills are done via a hose pipe from the kitchen tap, we have a hose pipe connector permentantly on the mixer tap. Ugly as anything but saves faffing around 🙂 de-chlorinator is dumped in the tank and then refilled. Filters cleaned once a month apart from the smaller internals which run in most of the tanks, filled purely with filter floss, they are changed weekly.
If the hubby and I work together, one syphoning/cleaning glass while the tank is emptying, the other providing coffees and keeping an eye on the tank refilling, we can do 50% on 8 tanks in one day. We have takeaway dinner that night 🙂🙂

Usually though it is a tank a day and a joint effort on the Big Big Tank which is done on a Sunday.
 
I couldn`t do it all by myself, especially over the last four years. I did my back in moving a manhole cover, you know the sort that has a concrete slab in it, I lifted it to do a partial water change on the pond but it slipped and took me with it, couldn`t move properly for about 18 months 🙄 Since 2018 I have had problems with vertigo, migraines, blurred vision etc, had surgery this February in my head and now only just getting right again, hence the tank revamps, plural 🙂 But enough of the pity party, time for coffee and a bite to eat 🙂
 
Melll said:
I couldn`t do it all by myself, especially over the last four years. I did my back in moving a manhole cover, you know the sort that has a concrete slab in it, I lifted it to do a partial water change on the pond but it slipped and took me with it, couldn`t move properly for about 18 months 🙄 Since 2018 I have had problems with vertigo, migraines, blurred vision etc, had surgery this February in my head and now only just getting right again, hence the tank revamps, plural 🙂 But enough of the pity party, time for coffee and a bite to eat 🙂
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Sorry read this, hope your making a full recovery.
 
I still have days were the floor seems to be rising up by itself 🙄 but yes a lot better than it was.

Thank you for asking 🙂
 
Okay I think I may have come up with a plan, maybe 🤔

Move the fish out of the 1400 into the 2 700 litre tanks taking the filtration with them. Drain down the 1400, so I can mess around in there without livestock of water. The Discus will not be going into the 1400, the heat coming off that tank if cranked up to 28C would be unbearable, they will be moving into the 540 litre.

This is now the tricky part, what sort of planting, scaping to do? I have various large bit of wood, getting some more on Sunday 🙂 I have about 140 Kilo of pink Granite to hand already.
I will be running 2 x FX6 fluvals on there, I`m running 3 at the moment, I can add an Aquamanta600 . The Tinfoil Barbs and the Silver Dollars will not be moving back as they will eat any plants they can. The fish going back are all small Tetras, Cories, male Bristlenose plec and a slack handful of Hoplos.

The lighting I have are 4 x 4 foot Interpet trispecs or I have 2 Radion xr30 gen 3 ( I think ) which I would need to buy suspension cables for as I cannot find anywhere that does an 8 foot hanging bar set up. I would rather not have to go down the Co2 route for the planting as I think it would cost a fortune in gas.

If anyone knows of anywhere that does 8 foot light suspensions bars, please add links and any simple, I suppose low tech scaping idea videos again please link.

Thank you in advance 🙂
 
Hi Mell, this sounds like an amazing project!

I am sure you have seen the Tropica Video on the 3 meter tank Scaped by Liquid Nature. It has co2 injection , however a lot of the plants seem to be the ones that would thrive in a low tech environment.


 
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