Slough Shark Posted July 15, 2008 Report Share Posted July 15, 2008 My new tile substrate is in the tank and looks pretty good I'd say. It's mostly covered by rocks and pebbles, but it still has a presence. The water is still a touch cloudy from adding all the new sand on the right-hand side, but the fish are happy to be in the tank and are all acclimated now. Here's the same tank in October of '07 And now I do miss the simple beauty of the first version, but it was not natural enough and didn't offer the fish nearly as many hiding places. The fish are quite comfortable in theri new setting, my weather loach was so relaxed that it yawned three times in a row! What do you guys think of the new tank? Taylor Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest FLIP Posted July 15, 2008 Report Share Posted July 15, 2008 Awesome! Where'd you get the bamboo? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shai Posted July 15, 2008 Report Share Posted July 15, 2008 I'm confused. I thought you were going to actually have some of the tile showing, but everything looks covered in sand, so I wonder what the point of using the tile was? Can you take another picture from a higher angle, to show more of the floor of the tank? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slough Shark Posted July 15, 2008 Author Report Share Posted July 15, 2008 Paul- Thanks! The bamboo is from some dollar/craft store in Edmonton, I think I just asked around until I found a shop that had some. It was stupidly expensive at $15 a pole! Shai- there is actually more of the tile showing than it looks. The point of this tank is not a full out river tank, so I didn't want very much tile going on. If I do a true river tank, I'll be using tile for the whole substrate, but with this tank I only covered 2/3 of the footprint with tile and that tile got covered with rocks to weigh it down. As you may have read on the tile thread in DIY, I used styrofoam to raise the tiles up which turned out to cause some bad buoyancy problems. So I wouldn't reccomend using styrofoam under the tile unless you are siliconing it to the tank bottom. Next time I will use gravel instead with an undergravel filter to keep the bad gases away (plus the usual filtration of course). Anyways, here is a pic showing the tile a bit better: Sorry for the confusion, I should have explained it a bit better. But for what I was planning, this project went almost exactly to plan Taylor Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest FLIP Posted July 16, 2008 Report Share Posted July 16, 2008 Taylor we gotta see some more pics of the fish in the tank seeing you and patrick seem to have unreal picture taking skills. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shai Posted July 17, 2008 Report Share Posted July 17, 2008 Ah, I see now! Thanks for the explanation. Good to know about the styrofoam. You have given me ideas about my 33g so I think I'll look at stacking instead. When you went to the hardware store to get the tiles, did you just ask them for plain ceramic? How did you know there was no residue etc on the tiles when you got them? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slough Shark Posted July 17, 2008 Author Report Share Posted July 17, 2008 Paul- Haha, thanks very much! I will see about it, but right now I have only got my Pangio Loaches and my Weather Loaches! Not much to photograph is it? Shai- Glad it makes sense and glad it has given you ideas too. Just makes sure that if you are going to have small fish (ex. Pangio Loaches), you need to fill in the edges of where the tile meets the glass, otherwise they will get stuck, likely die and cause a spike in harmful chemicals and gases. I didn't go to the Hardware store for the tiles, we had some left over from renovating, so I just used that. But the box says ceramic tiles on it, or you could just ask and they'll show you right. I didn't know if there was residue or not, so I scrubbed and soaked them first. There was some white powder on the bottom all of which I couldn't get off, but the fish are not gasping for breath or anything- so I think I'm safe. Regards, Taylor Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lana Bollers Posted July 17, 2008 Report Share Posted July 17, 2008 :thumbs: Your tank looks awesome! I would of never thought to use rounded rocks, they look awesome and the bamboo gives it a real tranquil feel, very cool... Lana Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Qattarra Posted July 17, 2008 Report Share Posted July 17, 2008 As for bamboo...I see those bamboo garden tiki torch things (those you fill the bottle with citronella oil to burn for mosquitoes) everywhere much cheaper than $15. One could buy a couple of those and just cut off the top. The shorter ones are available at Dollarama. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slough Shark Posted August 7, 2008 Author Report Share Posted August 7, 2008 Here's a bit of an update. When I got back from the lake last weekend, I found the lights on in my tank :shock: The fish looked pale and a bit rattled and they are still just starting to act like themselves now, but no serious problems. Luckily, this caused an explosion in algal growth which I am very much promoting in this tank as I want it to be natural. There is lots of nice hair algae going on now and nearly all of the brown algae has been covered with the attractive green stuff. And a photo: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gobies et al Posted September 10, 2008 Report Share Posted September 10, 2008 Slough Shark Posted Jul 15 2008, 05:44 PM Paul- Thanks! The bamboo is from some dollar/craft store in Edmonton, I think I just asked around until I found a shop that had some. It was stupidly expensive at $15 a pole! Qattarra Posted Jul 17 2008, 02:16 PM As for bamboo...I see those bamboo garden tiki torch things (those you fill the bottle with citronella oil to burn for mosquitoes) everywhere much cheaper than $15. One could buy a couple of those and just cut off the top. The shorter ones are available at Dollarama. If anyone is interested, the Peavey Mart in Red Deer has bamboo available now @~$6 for ~5' long and ~3" diameter! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
firestorm Posted September 11, 2008 Report Share Posted September 11, 2008 Great tank love how natural it looks!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slough Shark Posted October 12, 2008 Author Report Share Posted October 12, 2008 Thanks firestorm. Here is another update: The tank is now pretty much fully greenified as you can see. The new Rainbow Shark is starting to come out more and more and is eating more of the bloodworms instead of just algae. Next additions will be Harlequin Rasboras, Betta pugnax (maybe a pair), and maybe some shrimp. I would also like to add some more Pangios since I'm down to 2. My fish all get excited after water changes (the larger/older wether loach has gone carpet surfing 3 times in his life), the last Pangio was found sun-dried under the light fixture. It's nearly done now! Taylor Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vallisneria Posted October 12, 2008 Report Share Posted October 12, 2008 Looks great! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
firestorm Posted October 16, 2008 Report Share Posted October 16, 2008 Looking even better. I love how natural the algae makes it look Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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