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Kakarot
Member
Finally!!!
Now to get all the wiring in place and start the annoying month wait for my tank to cycle! :'( and that's only in the small one as i'm still waiting for my large filter and heater to arrive.
Now to get all the wiring in place and start the annoying month wait for my tank to cycle! :'( and that's only in the small one as i'm still waiting for my large filter and heater to arrive.
tim
Member
Superb cabinet build mate, can't wait to see what you do with the tanks.
Fantastic project so far 
(unless you want to add shrimp etc)
you might also ask around for a bit of sponge or whatever filter media 😉
no need - you can plant immediately after set up 🙂
(unless you want to add shrimp etc)
you might also ask around for a bit of sponge or whatever filter media 😉
Kakarot
Member
Thanks guys! 🙂 At the moment i'm thinking of doing an amazon river based aquarium on top and something different in the bottom, maybe a local river biotope... when I went to get my driftwood i could see loads of tiny fish and shrimps, and since its around 25 degrees most of the time at the moment (I managed to find a local river monitoring station's online results!) I can keep it around that temperate with no probs, only thing is I don't know what type of fish they are yet, if I do with that option there will be a lot of research to make sure I can look after the inhabitants before I get them.
I have a little more work to do with the wiring then I can get the bottom tank filled and start the cycling, the top one is going to be a sand covered dirted planted tank and i'm still waiting for my heater and filter for that aquarium so I cant start that one just yet 🙁 I'll ask around for some mature media! that's a great time saving idea, thanks Alto.
I have a little more work to do with the wiring then I can get the bottom tank filled and start the cycling, the top one is going to be a sand covered dirted planted tank and i'm still waiting for my heater and filter for that aquarium so I cant start that one just yet 🙁 I'll ask around for some mature media! that's a great time saving idea, thanks Alto.
Kakarot
Member
Ok so I think I have a final idea on stocking for the aquariums, the main is going to have 6 diamond tetras, 4-6 panda corys, a couple of ottos and probably a dozen or so neons,
The mini me tank isn't going to be a biotope and have a dozen or so spotted blue eye rainbow fish (those i know i can get) and a betta (girlfriends choice) with an otto or two for algae clean up.
The first tank is up and running, I picked up some amazon frogbit (they are for the main tank when it's up and running) to slow down any algae, the light wont be on either, that was just for the photo, it should get enough natural light to survive.
I think I should have washed the sand a bit more than I did, it went a little cloudy... I've learnt for the big tank though!
I'm going to make the bottom tank more rocky than the top, I don't want them looking too similar. maybe granite angular rocks as opposed to the river pebbles in the top, any thoughts?
The mini me tank isn't going to be a biotope and have a dozen or so spotted blue eye rainbow fish (those i know i can get) and a betta (girlfriends choice) with an otto or two for algae clean up.
The first tank is up and running, I picked up some amazon frogbit (they are for the main tank when it's up and running) to slow down any algae, the light wont be on either, that was just for the photo, it should get enough natural light to survive.
I think I should have washed the sand a bit more than I did, it went a little cloudy... I've learnt for the big tank though!
I'm going to make the bottom tank more rocky than the top, I don't want them looking too similar. maybe granite angular rocks as opposed to the river pebbles in the top, any thoughts?
Kakarot
Member
No updates for a while due to not having internet! Anyway, after seeing how bad the aquarium stand looked next to the new tv stand (still being built) I decided to back to my original plan of having it stained black. Almost finished the lighting rig too! just need to feed the wires through and wait for the LED lights to arrive. But apart from that I now have all the bits to get both aquariums up and running 😀 😀 😀 .
What do you all think of the light pendants? there's a copper/rose gold theme in the house thanks to the girlfriend ha.
The light in the bottom is the same as what's going in the top, just 3, 15w instead of the 1, 12w. If light spilling out becomes an issue i'll buy or build some narrow focused lampshades to direct the light straight down as much as possible, this is only a low tech build so I'm not too worried.
The back of both aquariums are going to painted black too.
What do you all think of the light pendants? there's a copper/rose gold theme in the house thanks to the girlfriend ha.
The light in the bottom is the same as what's going in the top, just 3, 15w instead of the 1, 12w. If light spilling out becomes an issue i'll buy or build some narrow focused lampshades to direct the light straight down as much as possible, this is only a low tech build so I'm not too worried.
The back of both aquariums are going to painted black too.
chrism
Member
This is awesome. Love the copper light pendants! Looking forward to seeing how this progresses... Great work 
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Gary Murphy
Member
The copper pendants are awesome they look nice against the black stand. Really nice build 
Greenfinger2
Member
Hi Kakarot, Super build 10/10 Nice DW pieces too looking forward to seeing your tank planted 😉
Nice DW pieces too looking forward to seeing your tank planted 😉Have you thought about back-lighting the tanks for viewing when the main lights are off (assuming 6-8h photoperiod) - you can add an opaque window film (automotive shops depending on your area) or change between grey, blue, black etc
The copper & black sounds great 🙂
In terms of tank décor, you may want to link them together in some way as your eye will tend to see both at once, eg both with river cobbles but one with large stones, the other with small, rather than using very dissimilar stone types
Manisha
Member
Looking good I personally really like black backgrounds but two of my tank's have the back panel black as 'default' & I don't like not having the 'option' to change it (even though I'd prob choose black anyway!) so i'm kinda with Alto on having an opaque windows film....
Kakarot
Member
Thanks everyone 😀 I have thought about evening lighting, but I only really thought about lighting it from above...only because I didnt know of another method, and I wish I had seen these messages yesterday and I wouldnt have been so hasty to spray them black so I could fill them! So I guess i'm stuck with lighting from above as there isn't room behind to scrape it off. I filled the larger tank earlier and despite washing the sand countless times its still a cloudy mess right now, hopefully by the morning it'll be clearer, although I haven't finished my DIY large filter so I'm only using the small filter for now.
As for decor, I'm set on a river look for the larger one, I have some large pieces of driftwood and huge river stones in there now, but even with a month of soaking they are still boyant so I've got a rock on top weighing them down until they are fully waterlogged, I still need to get a bunch of smaller pebbles to make it look more natural. But as far as the smaller tank goes I haven't made a final decision yet, I'll be using the same sand but I think I'll use different plants for some contrast (maybe just a moss and pygmy chain sword tank), I'll try and get more pebbles than I need so I have some spare for options.
I'll try and get a photo up tomorrow if it's clear, but bare in mind the wood is being weighed down so the scape is far from complete!
As for decor, I'm set on a river look for the larger one, I have some large pieces of driftwood and huge river stones in there now, but even with a month of soaking they are still boyant so I've got a rock on top weighing them down until they are fully waterlogged, I still need to get a bunch of smaller pebbles to make it look more natural. But as far as the smaller tank goes I haven't made a final decision yet, I'll be using the same sand but I think I'll use different plants for some contrast (maybe just a moss and pygmy chain sword tank), I'll try and get more pebbles than I need so I have some spare for options.
I'll try and get a photo up tomorrow if it's clear, but bare in mind the wood is being weighed down so the scape is far from complete!
If you've not planted, you might consider attaching the wood to slate - more delays though as the silicone needs to dry thoroughly - faster if you're able to screw them in place
This will obviously bring up sand fines but just drain & refill the tank a few times - garden hose works if you don't have a Python type system - to remove fines from sand, just leave the hose running in the bin at the washing stage (not as easy as it sounds & rather water-consumptive)
This will obviously bring up sand fines but just drain & refill the tank a few times - garden hose works if you don't have a Python type system - to remove fines from sand, just leave the hose running in the bin at the washing stage (not as easy as it sounds & rather water-consumptive)
Kakarot
Member
Hey fish peeps! This is what it looked like this morning next to the tv stand I've just finished 🙂
As you can see the natural pine wood finish would have looked like a right mess next to the Marri wood tv stand.
I added a small school of neons and three peppered corys yesterday after a friend gave me some mature media to add to the cycled tank so I could get a jump start on filling the tank with fish, All of this happened after I gave it a massive water change to get rid of the tannins and gave it a new scape as I wasn't happy with it (most of it was just dumped in anyway to waterlog the wood)
So here's where I'm at now
Still slightly cloudy and tannin coloured but I'll be doing more water changes over the next few days after disturbing all the sand, I want to double up on the amount of wood in there, but more branches rather than thick pieces like I had soaking. I've added a heap of java moss and a few bits of java fern a friend gave me (they aren't staying as I only want amazon type plants) so I'll put them in the smaller tank at some point.
I think I need to add a bunch of different sized smaller stones and some thin braches to make the aquarium look bigger. Getting there!
As you can see the natural pine wood finish would have looked like a right mess next to the Marri wood tv stand.
I added a small school of neons and three peppered corys yesterday after a friend gave me some mature media to add to the cycled tank so I could get a jump start on filling the tank with fish, All of this happened after I gave it a massive water change to get rid of the tannins and gave it a new scape as I wasn't happy with it (most of it was just dumped in anyway to waterlog the wood)
So here's where I'm at now
Still slightly cloudy and tannin coloured but I'll be doing more water changes over the next few days after disturbing all the sand, I want to double up on the amount of wood in there, but more branches rather than thick pieces like I had soaking. I've added a heap of java moss and a few bits of java fern a friend gave me (they aren't staying as I only want amazon type plants) so I'll put them in the smaller tank at some point.
I think I need to add a bunch of different sized smaller stones and some thin braches to make the aquarium look bigger. Getting there!
Manisha
Member
I love it! ☺
Raptorendame
Member
That's very very nice! 🙂
Kakarot
Member
Lights arrived 😀 ....eventually. I was given a few black mollies that I hadn't really wanted in the tank as it was going to be an Amazon but they look really nice in there so I may just go with an Amazon based one haha. all the plants and almost all the fish are.
So the fish list now:
The big tank:
5 Black Mollies (4 girls 1 boy)
25 small neon tetras (some will go in the mini tank as they get older as I don't want to overstock)
2 ottos
3 peppered corys
and 3 mosquitofish fry (Gambusia affinis - the wild fish I caught)
The mini tank:
1 bright red siamese fighter (girlfriends choice)
and one otto 🙂
Please ignore the wires, they're on the to do list for tomorrow, and I've just done a water change so it's a little cloudy still! I'll try and take another photo when the sun's gone down so there isn't as much reflection.
Love how tightly the neons shoal!!! they swim all over the place like that so they aren't doing it through fear 🙂 maybe that'll stop when the plants grow in more and there isn't as much free swiming space.
So the fish list now:
The big tank:
5 Black Mollies (4 girls 1 boy)
25 small neon tetras (some will go in the mini tank as they get older as I don't want to overstock)
2 ottos
3 peppered corys
and 3 mosquitofish fry (Gambusia affinis - the wild fish I caught)
The mini tank:
1 bright red siamese fighter (girlfriends choice)
and one otto 🙂
Please ignore the wires, they're on the to do list for tomorrow, and I've just done a water change so it's a little cloudy still! I'll try and take another photo when the sun's gone down so there isn't as much reflection.
Love how tightly the neons shoal!!! they swim all over the place like that so they aren't doing it through fear 🙂 maybe that'll stop when the plants grow in more and there isn't as much free swiming space.
sanj
Member
So talented, well done.
Neons though, they wont keep the tight schooling for ever.
Neons though, they wont keep the tight schooling for ever.
