Tranquility - My low tech 186L journey

[Spartacus]

Hello World,

My name is Murray and I am from Scotland.

Many moons ago I had a 60L shrimp tank that was nothing special but at a time in my life when things were up in the air it was a welcome escape.

Fast forward 10 odd years and I have a man cave in our house that I’ve turned into a sanctuary. Sometimes I need an escape from modern day life and I wanted to reignite that escape method so I had my eye on a 60cm 100L odd size tank but noticed Waterbox had a 50% off sale and me being Scottish it seemed rude not to!

For the money spent the quality is amazing and I am very excited to get up and running but taking my time and doing it once and properly.

It’s going to be low tech - If I fancy doing CO2 in the future then so be it but right now the plants I’m tempted by are easy category (Anubias, Crypts, Moss etc)

I have attached some photos of the tank - I collect plane parts for managed to squeeze it in - Only just!) 😊

Dimensions (LxWxH):900 x 500 x 450mm
Height with Cabinet: 1350mm
Display Volume: 186 L

I have set the tank up on 18mm marine ply as I am a bit of a worrier at heart so wanted to spread the load as whilst I know it’s not as heavy as most tanks here it’s a bit of a step of from a 60L.

Equipment wise I am thinking the below but again some items to be confirmed in due course.

Filter: Oase Biomaster 600
Light: Unsure I don’t think I need anything fancy but want to get a good one

Hardscape shall be black lava rock and some form of sand in a nature style triangular orientation from the right to left as I get a good view of the left so want that to be open for the side on view.

Livestock TBC but want to get Corydoras and shrimp for a starter but again TBC.

Going to a decent fish shop (Riverside Aquaria, Livingston) as I am fussy and we don’t have great hardscape selection round my vicinity.

I will you all well in you’re own adventures and I thank you for taking the time to read my journal.

Best Wishes,

Murray 🙂

 

[ElleDee]

Can't wait to watch it develop. What kind of substrate are you thinking?

 

[Scaperinc]

I love rimless tanks, that's a decent size one too

 

[Spartacus]

Hello Folks,

Small update I am going to what appears to be a good fish shop to have a look at the hardscape selection.

Local Maidenhead Aquatic stores are pricy and poor range. Looking forward to hopefully buying some hardscape 😊

I shall be using I am thinking a base layer of small lava rock with Tropica Soil. Want to have a sand side and front for the Corys but aware I need to keep the soil separate from the sand 😊

Have a lovely weekend!

Thanks,

Murray

 

[Spartacus]

Hello,

Small update for the time being - After trailing the length of what felt like Scotland in an attempt to get some hardscape I was happy with (I’m a fussy little critter)

I struck lucky with a seller here on UKAPS and managed to get around 50kg of Seiryu and Manten stone. (Manten stone shall get used in a tank at my workplace)

I was planning on lava rock but I sure do have a soft spot for Seiryu and the rocks purchased have amazing textures and veins.

With the impending temp closure of UKAPS I plan on by the time things get back on track to have the hardscape in situ and everything progressing well.

Hope everyone is well 😊

Thanks for reading my waffle.

Murray