strayner Posted January 20, 2010 Report Share Posted January 20, 2010 (edited) To make a long story short, 5 months ago my girlfriend got me a Betta as a present. Obviously I was impressed and realized fishkeeping is something that appeals to me. 5 months later, I've dropped about 400 dollars to set up my first 'real' tank. I didn't have the money to buy a stand, nor did I want to, so I converted a poorly built shelf/stand whatever I created back in high school (3 years ago!). Definitely over-built as it can hold about 800 lbs and it's only going to carry a 29 gallon :P. I added supports and re-stained the wood and added a polyurethane sealant. Here you can see my poor woodworking in action (but hey, it was the first thing I built out of wood!): This is my dog Chinook feeling deprived of attention as I work on the stand And here is the tank itself sitting on the couch in my bedroom! More pictures to come soon. Edited January 20, 2010 by strayner Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
catshanon Posted January 20, 2010 Report Share Posted January 20, 2010 Did you make an aquascaping plan ? If not, it will be good if you make the plan (how much slope, what plants to put where ? etc.) If you can, just put all fluorite in the tank as then it wouldn't mix with the sand, but maybe a single bag of fluorite won't cover the tank's footprint. Some driftwood will be good but that again depends on the type of scaping that you are doing. Is that a brand new tank and filter ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jvision Posted January 20, 2010 Report Share Posted January 20, 2010 I think one bag of Flourite would be a bit thin - you'll want a 2-4" layer. I have a couple tanks with Flourite mixed w. Play Sand and it looks nice. Just make sure you have a bunch of MTS to keep the substrate from compacting. The stand is definitely solid. Have fish, have fun!! :thumbs: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
strayner Posted January 20, 2010 Author Report Share Posted January 20, 2010 Did you make an aquascaping plan ? If not, it will be good if you make the plan (how much slope, what plants to put where ? etc.) If you can, just put all fluorite in the tank as then it wouldn't mix with the sand, but maybe a single bag of fluorite won't cover the tank's footprint. Some driftwood will be good but that again depends on the type of scaping that you are doing. Is that a brand new tank and filter ? I've got a general idea but for the most part i'm going to wing it. It will be a learning experience, but I do have some ideas drawn out. I've got a bag of flourite, gravel and sand. I was thinking of distributing the flourite unevenly across the tank to have one area more heavily planted and a larger open area and filling the other spaces with sand and gravel. I've got two pieces of driftwood to work with as well as plenty of rock. Tank is brand new but the filter isn't. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
strayner Posted January 20, 2010 Author Report Share Posted January 20, 2010 I think one bag of Flourite would be a bit thin - you'll want a 2-4" layer. I have a couple tanks with Flourite mixed w. Play Sand and it looks nice. Just make sure you have a bunch of MTS to keep the substrate from compacting. The stand is definitely solid. Have fish, have fun!! :thumbs: I've got a bag of pool filter sand and fine gravel as well Definitely! I need to get some MTS somehow! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LadyBlue Posted January 20, 2010 Report Share Posted January 20, 2010 Hello ..... You my dear are 2 sweet for words , I so enjoy you and your enthusiasm I think you stand is great, I dont think I could make one as sturdy {a peice of oilcloth hanging would make it match you room better and hide the goodies you will keep on your shelves}. I wish you great luck on your adventures, I respect the way you research everything {smart guy} it gives us {the old folks} great hope for the future of the planet and the creatures living on it :thumbs: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
darkangel Posted January 20, 2010 Report Share Posted January 20, 2010 If you come to the next ACE meeting, I can give you a baggie of MTS. Let me know as I have to go out to Gibbons and get them out of the tank at my wifes office. I do make it to the west end once or twice a month so you could pm me your address and a good time to drop them off and we'll see from there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
strayner Posted January 21, 2010 Author Report Share Posted January 21, 2010 If you come to the next ACE meeting, I can give you a baggie of MTS. Let me know as I have to go out to Gibbons and get them out of the tank at my wifes office. I do make it to the west end once or twice a month so you could pm me your address and a good time to drop them off and we'll see from there. when's the next meeting? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
strayner Posted January 21, 2010 Author Report Share Posted January 21, 2010 Hello ..... You my dear are 2 sweet for words , I so enjoy you and your enthusiasm I think you stand is great, I dont think I could make one as sturdy {a peice of oilcloth hanging would make it match you room better and hide the goodies you will keep on your shelves}. I wish you great luck on your adventures, I respect the way you research everything {smart guy} it gives us {the old folks} great hope for the future of the planet and the creatures living on it :thumbs: Haha you're funny. Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
strayner Posted January 21, 2010 Author Report Share Posted January 21, 2010 (edited) Potential layout of the tank: The slate on the bottom is being used as a support for other pieces to give it some extra height, and won't be very visible when substrate goes in. I've seperated two halves of the tank with some slate - my intention is to have one side that is primarily sand (left) and the other primarily fluorite with lots of plants (right). The sand portion is for my future corys to dig in :P Comments, critiques, suggestions are all welcome! Edited January 21, 2010 by strayner Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
catshanon Posted January 21, 2010 Report Share Posted January 21, 2010 Potential layout of the tank: The slate on the bottom is being used as a support for other pieces to give it some extra height, and won't be very visible when substrate goes in. I've seperated two halves of the tank with some slate - my intention is to have one side that is primarily sand (left) and the other primarily fluorite with lots of plants (right). The sand portion is for my future corys to dig in :P Comments, critiques, suggestions are all welcome! I would pile all the slate in one place and place them in the back 2/3rds of the tank and create a mountain and cave like structure with them. If the base of the slates get covered with hair grass, it will look like grass growing at the base of the mountain. Your driftwood is also unique. If you can manage to grow some java fern on the very top of it, it can look like a coconut tree, especially a coconut tree that is extending out to sea. if you place that wood close to your sand bed, then you can mimic the sand bed as a shoreline. i would create the sand bed in the front right corner of the tank and create the mountainscape towards the left and to the back. You have to raise the heights of the slates if you want to creat the illusion of mountains, so you can create a raised sand bed in the back left corner. Having slopes and valleys gives a more natural feeling and thats what I like, but to each his own. I think just by using sme mosses and hair grass and java fern, you can have a nice aquascape. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jvision Posted January 21, 2010 Report Share Posted January 21, 2010 I would paint the back of your tank black to hide all of the cords (I use plain black spray paint). I like your idea of having separate spaces for sand and Flourite. I had a tank like that with Eartheaters and Corys. Both fish loved to dig in the sand area. If you can get ahold of some whiteworms or similar food and drop it in the sandy area, your Corys will go crazy! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
strayner Posted January 21, 2010 Author Report Share Posted January 21, 2010 Potential layout of the tank: The slate on the bottom is being used as a support for other pieces to give it some extra height, and won't be very visible when substrate goes in. I've seperated two halves of the tank with some slate - my intention is to have one side that is primarily sand (left) and the other primarily fluorite with lots of plants (right). The sand portion is for my future corys to dig in :P Comments, critiques, suggestions are all welcome! I would pile all the slate in one place and place them in the back 2/3rds of the tank and create a mountain and cave like structure with them. If the base of the slates get covered with hair grass, it will look like grass growing at the base of the mountain. Your driftwood is also unique. If you can manage to grow some java fern on the very top of it, it can look like a coconut tree, especially a coconut tree that is extending out to sea. if you place that wood close to your sand bed, then you can mimic the sand bed as a shoreline. i would create the sand bed in the front right corner of the tank and create the mountainscape towards the left and to the back. You have to raise the heights of the slates if you want to creat the illusion of mountains, so you can create a raised sand bed in the back left corner. Having slopes and valleys gives a more natural feeling and thats what I like, but to each his own. I think just by using sme mosses and hair grass and java fern, you can have a nice aquascape. I like the sloped idea, i'm going to have to rearrage things to see if I can find anything else I like. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
strayner Posted January 21, 2010 Author Report Share Posted January 21, 2010 I would paint the back of your tank black to hide all of the cords (I use plain black spray paint). I like your idea of having separate spaces for sand and Flourite. I had a tank like that with Eartheaters and Corys. Both fish loved to dig in the sand area. If you can get ahold of some whiteworms or similar food and drop it in the sandy area, your Corys will go crazy! I've got a solid blue background that I'm going to seal on the back of it. Where are whiteworms found? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
darkangel Posted January 21, 2010 Report Share Posted January 21, 2010 when's the next meeting? I believe the next meeting is on Feb 2/10 at St. Benedict School (18015-93ave) at 7:30pm. enter via west entrance. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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